Grafton CEO Jim Gaynor to Retire in June 2016

WINCHESTER, Va., June 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Grafton Integrated Health Network (Grafton) CEO Jim Gaynor has announced his plan to retire on June 30, 2016.

"Jim exemplifies a true visionary leader," said Janice LeBel, chairman of the board and Director of System Transformation for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. "He leads with courage, clarity, humility and humor that motivates and elicits the best of his team and engages his colleagues, partners and the people and families he serves."

Grafton's reputation and success as an industry leader is largely due to Jim's exemplary leadership. His journey at Grafton began in 2002 when he set a directive for the organization to minimize the use of restraint and seclusion without compromising client or employee safety. Leaders throughout the organization developed remarkable tools to make this mandate a reality, ultimately creating the "Ukeru"program to help other organizations benefit from its own successful experience. Over the past fourteen years, Grafton has achieved a remarkable 98% reduction in the use of physical restraints and a total return of more than $15 million through savings in employee lost-time, workers' compensation costs and employee turnover.

Under Gaynor's leadership, Grafton won the Negley President's award for excellence in risk management practices in 2008 and again in 2012. The organization also won the National Council 2013 Impact Award for Excellence in Behavioral Healthcare Management, recognizing effective and innovative programs to minimize risk and liability as well as other national and international honors. The Grafton model was also highlighted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2011, in The business case for preventing and reducing restraint and seclusion use. 

In addition to spearheading the minimization of restraint initiative, Gaynor developed several new services and affiliations and brought greater focus to using a technology-based innovation to support the workforce, shape care and improve outcomes for those served. One such example of this is REBOOT (Reliable Evidence Based Outcomes Optimization Technologies), a software-as-service platform integrating treatment goal mastery, real-time communication between members of the transdisciplinary team and clinical decision support capabilities.

The patents for both Ukeru and REBOOT are believed to be the first in the behavioral healthcare industry.

As a result of Gaynor's vision and insight, other organizations are embracing and employing the Grafton and Ukeru models. In November 2014, he founded ProEventa, Inc. as an opportunity to bring the intellectual property and best practices developed at Grafton to organizations across the world.

Locally, Jim has spearheaded many work groups to improve access to quality healthcare services in Grafton's community. Most recently, he was appointed chair of the Regional Behavioral Health Work Group formed in collaboration with Valley Health Systems. He has also served as the regional United Way Board chair and served on the Northern Shenandoah Alliance for Children, Youth and Families.

In addition, Jim has served on the Board of Directors of Mental Health Corporation of America. He has been a special invitee to Virginia's State Executive Council's strategic planning process and appointed to the lieutenant governor's roundtable on Quality Payment Reform and Health Information Technology in Virginia.

Prior to Grafton, Jim was the CEO of North Pointe Behavioral Healthcare Systems in Michigan and later served as the CEO of Unity, Inc., the largest not-for profit behavioral healthcare provider in Oregon. He led the successful turnaround initiative of Portland, Oregon's $80M publicly funded mental health system as the county's Director of System Redesign.

Over his career, Jim has presented and consulted extensively at worldwide conferences on best practices and leadership development in Singapore, Ireland, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Canada.

"We are so grateful for Jim's tenure at Grafton," said LeBel. "We wish him all the best as he charts this new path."

About Grafton Integrated Health Network
Grafton Integrated Health Network (Grafton) is a private, nonprofit organization that has served children, adolescents and adults with disabilities and significant emotional and/or behavioral challenges for more than 57 years.

Grafton provides a continuum of services to children, youth and adults including applied behavioral analysis, early intervention, psychiatric residential treatment, a short-term stabilization program, special education programs, community-based group homes and outpatient services.

For more information on Grafton Integrated Health Network's services and expertise, please visit: www.grafton.org.

Contact:
Shweta Adyanthaya
Director, Communications
Tel: 540-542-0200 ext. 7260
Email

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SOURCE Grafton Integrated Health Network

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http://www.grafton.org