When many doctors get into their 60s, they retire and do a lot of fishing or golfing.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Dr. James Blute is the new chief medical officer at Auburn Memorial Hospital. Blute, whose background is in obstetrics and gynecology, has worked at hospitals in Oregon, Arizona and Wyoming.
Dr. James Blute is the new chief medical officer at Auburn Memorial Hospital. Blute, whose background is in obstetrics and gynecology, has worked at hospitals in Oregon, Arizona and Wyoming.
But Dr. James Blute isn’t quite ready for that lifestyle.
Blute, 64, is Auburn Memorial Hospital’s new chief medical officer. With a background in obstetrics/gynecology and quality review, he hopes to bring his experience to a facility that is on the up and up.
“I need the challenge,” Blute said of taking a new step in his medical career as opposed to retiring. “I would probably drive my wife crazy, anyway.”
When he started his tenure last month, it was the first time Blute had lived in central New York since he was an undergraduate college student at Cornell University.
Since his Cornell days, he has worked as a consultant, private practitioner and hospital physician in Oregon, Wyoming and Arizona.
But Blute’s experience with medicine dates back much farther than that. When he was a child, he would follow his father — who was an internal medicine physician — on house calls, he said.
“Medicine has changed a lot since then,” said Blute.
As the chief medical officer, Blute will essentially serve as the liaison between AMH’s medical staff and executives.
He will also serve as an ex-officio member of the hospital board of trustees and finance committee.
Blute has been board-certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians.
He has been on both the manager’s office and the emergency room, and Blute said he thinks it is a good fit for him.
Blute was working as a consultant for a Asante Health System in southern Oregon when he received a call from a recruiter at AMH.
He was not expecting much to come of the inquiry, as it was unlikely that he would want to move across the country, he said.
“I thought you’ve got to be kidding me,” Blute said. “But then I spent some time here (in May), and I was very impressed.”
Before his consulting work, Blute was chief of staff at Tucson Medical Center in Arizona. While he was there, he did work with patient safety and quality review programs, and he also had connections to the University of Arizona’s medical school.
In a written statement announcing the hire, AMH Chief Executive Officer Scott Berlucchi said acquiring Blute was another giant step forward for the hospital.
“His experience in obstetrics and gynecology will bring leadership to a service area that is essential to our community,” Berlucchi said. “And his extensive background in quality assurance provides the ‘big picture’ thinking needed to ensure a patient-focused approach to health care.”
Blute was most impressed by the staff he met at AMH, especially considering all of the new physicians that have been acquired in the past year.
“It’s the people who make the hospital,” he said. “And I think this is really on the upswing.”
There are a lot of advantages to working at a smaller, community hospital like AMH, he said.
For one, staff and management tend to build closer rapport. Hospitals like AMH also have a location advantage, Blute added.
“Most patients would rather stay close to home than travel 50 miles to a hospital,” Blute said.
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or
christopher.caskey@lee.net
Blute, 64, is Auburn Memorial Hospital’s new chief medical officer. With a background in obstetrics/gynecology and quality review, he hopes to bring his experience to a facility that is on the up and up.
“I need the challenge,” Blute said of taking a new step in his medical career as opposed to retiring. “I would probably drive my wife crazy, anyway.”
When he started his tenure last month, it was the first time Blute had lived in central New York since he was an undergraduate college student at Cornell University.
Since his Cornell days, he has worked as a consultant, private practitioner and hospital physician in Oregon, Wyoming and Arizona.
But Blute’s experience with medicine dates back much farther than that. When he was a child, he would follow his father — who was an internal medicine physician — on house calls, he said.
“Medicine has changed a lot since then,” said Blute.
As the chief medical officer, Blute will essentially serve as the liaison between AMH’s medical staff and executives.
He will also serve as an ex-officio member of the hospital board of trustees and finance committee.
Blute has been board-certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians.
He has been on both the manager’s office and the emergency room, and Blute said he thinks it is a good fit for him.
Blute was working as a consultant for a Asante Health System in southern Oregon when he received a call from a recruiter at AMH.
He was not expecting much to come of the inquiry, as it was unlikely that he would want to move across the country, he said.
“I thought you’ve got to be kidding me,” Blute said. “But then I spent some time here (in May), and I was very impressed.”
Before his consulting work, Blute was chief of staff at Tucson Medical Center in Arizona. While he was there, he did work with patient safety and quality review programs, and he also had connections to the University of Arizona’s medical school.
In a written statement announcing the hire, AMH Chief Executive Officer Scott Berlucchi said acquiring Blute was another giant step forward for the hospital.
“His experience in obstetrics and gynecology will bring leadership to a service area that is essential to our community,” Berlucchi said. “And his extensive background in quality assurance provides the ‘big picture’ thinking needed to ensure a patient-focused approach to health care.”
Blute was most impressed by the staff he met at AMH, especially considering all of the new physicians that have been acquired in the past year.
“It’s the people who make the hospital,” he said. “And I think this is really on the upswing.”
There are a lot of advantages to working at a smaller, community hospital like AMH, he said.
For one, staff and management tend to build closer rapport. Hospitals like AMH also have a location advantage, Blute added.
“Most patients would rather stay close to home than travel 50 miles to a hospital,” Blute said.
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or
christopher.caskey@lee.net
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