News

St. Vincent administrator retires

By Nancy Barthel
Compass Correspondent

	STEPS DOWN: Joseph Neidenbach pauses at his desk at St. Vincent Hospital, Green Bay, where he has been the administrator for 25 years, before his retirement on March 31. (Rick Evans photo)

In 25 years as administrator of St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay Joseph Neidenbach has seen plenty of advances in technology and in the business of healthcare. But what hasn't changed and why he's stayed is the faith dimension St. Vincent Hospital brings to the Green Bay area and the Diocese of Green Bay, said Neidenbach, who retired on March 31.

Neidenbach, who said he decided when he was young that "I really wanted to get into something that made a difference," chose to work for Catholic healthcare because "I believe in it. That's who I am. It's the reason I'm still doing it."

In retirement, he plans to do some teaching for the Hospital Sisters Health System of Springfield, Ill., with whom he has spent his entire hospital career. This ministry of the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis is one of the nation's largest private healthcare systems, sponsoring 13 hospitals in Wisconsin and Illinois, including St. Vincent Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay.

Catholic healthcare is "part of the healing ministry of the church," Neidenbach said.

Neidenbach said his life goals have always been driven by the teachings of the church, which he learned as a student at Fenwick High School, a Dominican Catholic college preparatory school in Oak Park, Ill.

After graduating from the Jesuits' Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., he joined the Air Force and entered Officer's Training School. He served a year in Vietnam in air traffic control, earning the rank of captain. When he left the military, Washington University in St. Louis was looking for people with the discipline the military provided to study healthcare administration. "It just felt like a nice match," he said.

On May 25, 1982, at age 37, Neidenbach became administrator of St. Vincent Hospital after six years as administrator of St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan. He was a rarity, a professionally-trained hospital administrator. It wasn't until the 1960s that hospital care became big business with the influx of federal Medicare and Medicaid money, Neidenbach said.

That's why keeping everything in perspective is so important for Catholic hospitals, Neidenbach said. "The challenge is we're still not doing this for business."

Keeping the business side in order allows St. Vincent Hospital to do the ministry it is meant to do: treat, teach and preach, he said. The goal is to keep all this in perspective "in a world that is very secular," he said. "You've got to find a balance."

The pastoral care patients and family get means that St. Vincent Hospital focuses on both medical and spiritual needs, he said. The pastoral care staff is truly on "the firing line every day" as they care for the "whole person," Neidenbach said. Medicine can't always save a person's life, he said, and it's after those times that he often receives the most beautiful letters from family members expressing their thanks for the compassionate care by hospital staff.

Neidenbach said his personal relationship and the one St. Vincent Hospital has with the Diocese of Green Bay has meant a lot to him. He fondly remembers Bp. Aloysius Wycislo, who was here when he came to Green Bay and even in retirement was always there when the hospital asked him to help or to celebrate a special Mass.

He recounts all the bishops who have led the diocese during his tenure: Bp. David Zubik, retired Bp. Robert Banks and Bp. (now Cardinal) Adam Maida. Plus, he said, Auxiliary Bp. Robert Morneau has always been there for him and the hospital.

Some 60% of St. Vincent's patients come from the immediate Green Bay area. The other 40% come from throughout the region and Diocese of Green Bay. As a regional hospital, St. Vincent provides specialized care in eight priority services: Regional Emergency Center, Regional Cancer Center, Heart Center, NeuroScience Center, Orthopedic Center, Regional Pediatric Center, Regional Rehabilitation Center and Women's Services. St. Vincent Hospital is a Level II trauma center, a primary stroke center and a chest pain center and provides a broad spectrum of outpatient services and clinics.

The St. Vincent Regional Cancer Center is one of only 61 hospitals nationwide to be a designated member of the National Cancer Institute's Community Clinical Oncology Program. That means cutting edge cancer research and clinical trials are available in the Diocese of Green Bay. Marshfield Clinic is the only other Wisconsin site.

Neidenbach said he's proud of the relationship St. Vincent has with its across town sister hospital, St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center and with Prevea Health. Both St. Vincent and St. Mary's hospitals are in partnership with Prevea to provide healthcare.

But at age 62 and with his 25th anniversary just ahead, Neidenbach decided it was time to move into the next phase of his life. He and his wife Jeanne plan to remain in Green Bay. He's looking forward to spending a lot more time with his 10-month old grandson, Joseph, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Besides their daughter in Colorado, the Neidenbachs have two sons, Michael, who is a senior at Notre Dame Academy, and Jeff of Eagle River, and a daughter, Katie, living in Minneapolis.

Neidenbach said he has no regrets about retiring and that good people are in place at St. Vincent Hospital to lead it forward.

"It's right for me and for my family," he said, "and I think it's a good time for the hospital."