Siskin Hospital's Robert P. Main Named Chattanooga Area Manager of the Year
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Robert P. Main, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation, is the recipient of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce’s Chattanooga Area Manager of the Year Award for 2011.
Photo: Robert P. Main, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation
CHATTANOOGA, TN — The Manager of the Year Award is made annually by member organizations of Chattanooga Area Manager of the Year (CAMOY). Now in its 24th year, the award recognizes an executive manager who has made a significant contribution to the Hamilton County area.
Robert Main is serving in his 23rd year as President and Chief Executive Officer of Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation. He was instrumental in the development of the hospital and officially became the first employee in 1987. He has remained steadfast in his leadership for the past 23 years, providing paramount insight and direction in establishing Siskin Hospital’s presence as one of the most successful regional rehabilitation hospitals in the country. Mr. Main remains the longest tenured healthcare Chief Executive Officer in the Chattanooga area.
The Chattanooga community has directly benefited from Mr. Main’s vision of providing specialized programs such as the Brain Injury Unit, the Lymphedema program, the Balance and Dizziness program, and the Driving Evaluation program. These programs provide the Chattanooga community with localized specialty care that would otherwise be unavailable in this area. Mr. Main and his team continue to search for new ways to better serve patients with special needs.
As a way to continue serving the disabled population, Mr. Main has worked diligently with staff to develop the Fitness Center at Siskin Hospital. The focus of the Fitness Center is to provide a place where disabled and able-bodied people, whether former patients or not, can exercise side-by-side with the benefit of using specially designed equipment developed to accommodate their needs. The Chattanooga community directly benefits from the Fitness Center, since it is the only full-service adaptive exercise facility in the region.
Mr. Main is an active member of the boards of directors of United Way, Blood Assurance, Hospice of Chattanooga, and The Jordan Thomas Foundation. He is also a member of the Rotary Club of Chattanooga, and a past board member of the Chamber of Commerce and Notre Dame High School. In his professional life, he has served as Chairman of the Chattanooga Area Hospital District. He has also served as Chairman and is currently a board member for the Tennessee Hospital Association.
Mr. Main is past Chairman and a member of the American Hospital Association Governing Council for Rehabilitation, and is the past Chairman and current board member of the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association. He also serves on the Regional Policy Board of the American Hospital Association. He was the founding Chairman of the Southeast Rehabilitation Network. Mr. Main is a past member of the Professional and Technical Advisory Committee of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, as well as continuing to chair a number of other committees and task forces on a national level.
Robert Main’s community service also includes past board membership on the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Association and membership on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chancellor’s Roundtable.
Locally, Mr. Main’s leadership was essential in enhancing the field of rehabilitation education. Under his direction, Siskin Hospital joined in a three-way partnership with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to offer a Master’s Degree program in Occupational Therapy on the UTC campus.
Mr. Main has also been very active on a state and federal level with lobbying efforts for the disabled to ensure their access to rehabilitation care. On a federal level, Mr. Main was a founding member of the FAIR Fund, a common legal fund formed to preserve access to inpatient rehabilitation care. The members of the FAIR Fund pursue test cases across the country challenging inappropriate medical necessity denials of Medicare/Medicaid.
In his professional and personal life, Robert Main values and rewards hard work, encouraging growth and promotion within his organization. He worked his way through his own schooling to earn a Bachelor of Science in Education from State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo and a Masters of the Arts in Hospital and Health Administration from the University of Iowa. He has a special fondness for those who are willing to work hard and have the motivation to excel in their field. He is a great teacher and mentor, as witnessed by a large number of Siskin Hospital’s staff members who were recently honored for their longstanding employment terms ranging from five to 20-plus years.
About Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation
Siskin Hospital is the only freestanding, not-for-profit rehabilitation hospital in Tennessee, employing nearly 400 people. Mr. Main’s primary objective for Siskin Hospital is to provide services that will enable patients to return to an active lifestyle within the community. For many Siskin Hospital patients, this includes returning to work and volunteer activities, allowing them to discontinue disability benefits, and ultimately saving taxpayer dollars.
Congratulations Mr. Main. So glad to see of this honor several weeks ago in the newspaper. You certainly deserve this recognition. What would Chattanooga be like without Siskin Hospital and you too? It's hard to imagine after 20 years of having such a wonderful place to work and heal in our own community. I miss the patients and employees at Siskin after nearly 3 years of retirement, but I don't miss the alarm clock at 4:40a.m. and the 12+ hours days. Being a new Grandmother and expecting a second grand in mid August have filled the gap of time and energy very nicely. Many thanks for all you have done to further the health care options in our town, Carolene Perry