Michael Stapleton

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CEO, UR Medicine Thompson Health

Years in current role: 13

What was the most significant challenge your organization faced in 2024, and how did you address it?

We have had enormous upward pressure on our expenses similar to all health systems in Rochester. This has been driven by outside agency costs. Through aggressive recruitment and retention strategies we were able to eliminate all agency positions in our nursing home. In the hospital we peaked at 48 travel nursing positions in 2023 and by the end of 2024 we were down to four. This was one of the contributing factors to a very successful year financially for Thompson Health in 2024.

What trends or innovations in your industry do you anticipate having the biggest impact in 2025?

We are only scratching the surface of the impact of Artificial Intelligence in health care. We recently introduced ambient listening technology to 20 of our Primary Care providers. This allows a more interactive experience with the patient. We are seeing more applications in radiology, and we are using a telehealth sitter program for patients who need supervision at all times to maximize their safety. The ability to implement risk stratification with our patients has enormous potential to get our sicker patients in faster and mitigate future cost and improve health outcomes.

What role do you see Rochester playing in your organization’s growth over the next few years?

We are so fortunate to be part of UR Medicine. This is a very exciting time with Dr. David Linehan as CEO of URMC. He has a very clear vision. I am confident he will bring all of the regional affiliates closer together. As we align more as a system, the health of our communities will improve, and costs will decrease.

What community initiatives or partnerships are you most excited about engaging with this year?

Our leadership team had a presentation from United Way last year. The presentation was on Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) members of our community. The numbers were shocking to all of us. This strengthened our desire to continue investing in our human capital. We are the largest employer in Ontario County, and we want to do our part to help everyone we can.

How do you balance fostering innovation while managing day-to-day business operations?

Staying involved at the state and national level. Will attend a few conferences this year where we share best practices and innovations. As I mentioned, AI has all of our attention.

This profile is part of our Power 100 list for 2025. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. View the full list at rbj.net.