In Lifespan leadership role, Sampson’s a natural

2019 C-Suite Awards | CAREER ACHIEVER: ARTHUR SAMPSON | LIFESPAN CORP.


HE’S A CLASSICAL PIANIST and a cooking enthusiast who happens to run a hospital really, really well.

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Arthur Sampson is a member of the Lifespan Corp.’s CEO Council and president of The Miriam Hospital in Providence. But he’s also well-rounded, and not afraid to learn new things or make the best use of resources on hand for the greater good.

“Leadership, to me, is getting a cohesive team working in the same direction,” he said. “We have each other’s backs and we protect patients.”

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Sampson, of Tiverton, has played piano by ear since he was a child. Music came easily.

It was when he tried to learn Baroque compositions – such as work by Bach and Handel – that he had to hire an instructor to learn how to read music. “I was using all the wrong fingers” all those years, he said.

Initially, his knowledge of hospital work was developed somewhat “by ear” as well.

In high school, he worked at a small hospital in his hometown of Gloucester, Mass. He loved it. “I wasn’t sure what hospital administration was,” he acknowledged, but he knew he wanted to work in such a facility, exploring all aspects of the hospital environment.

Sampson earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Union College in Kentucky, although by his junior year, he wondered whether an English degree would be useful for the career he desired.

So he bolstered that degree with a master’s in health care administration from George Washington University. He completed administration residencies at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and at what is now Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River.

In Fall River, “I was given the opportunity to join the staff in the summer of 1975,” said Sampson, “and I ended up staying for 10 years.” He served in senior leadership before moving to Newport Hospital, where he rose to president and CEO.

In 15 years under Sampson’s leadership, Newport Hospital, a Lifespan facility, acquired innovative medical and information technology, added an outpatient wing, underwent an extensive renovation and opened a diagnostic-imaging facility.

Sampson was named president at Miriam – a teaching affiliate of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University – in 2012 (he served as interim president at Newport for another two years), and he’s made his mark.

Recognition includes the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Advanced Certification for total hip and knee replacement in 2017 and 2018; a 2018 No. 1 ranking in the Providence area in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Regional Hospitals list; and six consecutive “A” grades from The Leapfrog Group.

Lisa Abbott, Lifespan senior vice president of human resources, said Sampson has successfully guided the hospital amid turbulent times in the industry, such as when the closure of Pawtucket’s Memorial Hospital in 2018 created additional demand for services at Miriam.

“In the nonprofit health care space … Arthur has done a remarkable job managing the budget, which has contributed to the overall financial solvency of Lifespan,” she said.

Sampson credits teamwork in the hospital’s success.

“Growth of systems is a challenge. How we pay for health care is becoming increasingly difficult,” he said. Add to the list of challenges, advances in technology, rising drug prices and labor shortages – such as those that exist with nurses – that are made that much more difficult to fill in a state with below-average reimbursements, Sampson said.

But understanding and maximizing available resources has become his formula for success.

For example, Miriam – located in a dense neighborhood on Providence’s East Side – is running out of space, said Sampson. A master plan is underway for new construction that will remain within the hospital’s existing footprint.

Solving such problems while celebrating successes keeps Sampson motivated.

“Three of us just [went] to a lab at Brown,” he said. “I presented an Employee of the Month Award to a phlebotomist in the lab. That is the best part of my job.”