On Jan. 15, the USF College of Public Health hosted COPH graduate Kathryn Gillette, CEO and market president of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. Gillette came to speak at the monthly meeting of the Healthcare Management Student Association, which is sponsored by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Gillette shared her story of climbing through the executive ranks, her journey aided by a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of West Florida and a master of health administration degree from COPH.

Gillette spoke about Bayfront Health’s transformation from nonprofit to for-profit system after its purchase by Health Management Associates. Transformational leadership was needed to make the change successful, she said, and when asked about leadership, she emphasized the importance of honesty and follow-through, noting that physicians do not always receive such common-sense basics from administration.

Prior to her position at Bayfront Health, Gillette served as CEO of Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, and before that, as CFO, COO and then CEO at Community Hospital in Tarpon Springs. She was instrumental in the construction of the facility’s $200-million state-of-the-art replacement hospital and medical office building, which opened in 2011. She began her career at Tampa General Hospital, where she was CFO and senior vice president of finance, leading all phases of financial management and oversight for the 1,018-bed teaching hospital and helping to navigate its transformation from a public to a private nonprofit entity.

Gillette said she believes the greatest challenge she will face going forward is the push for increased volume and maintaining Bayfront Health’s rapid growth. Otherwise, her message for students was simple and direct.

“Some of the best advice I was ever given,” she said, “was to get a degree in something I can use.”