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ACH Opens Program Management Office, Hires John Grady as Director

Publication Date: Thursday, August 28, 2008

LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (Aug. 28, 2008) – As business continues to grow at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH), so does the need for innovative Information Technology (IT) initiatives. To capitalize on those opportunities, ACH is establishing a Program Management Office and has brought a veteran in the specialty on board to facilitate it.

ACH has hired John Grady, an experienced former consultant and IT leader, as its director of Program Management. Grady will be responsible for establishing an enterprise-wide Program Management Office that will foster consistency, project management rigor and business value among ACH’s ongoing IT initiatives. He also will coach the hospital’s other project managers and develop ACH’s project portfolio.

A 2007 assessment of the hospital’s Information Technology and Telecommunications operations indicated the need for starting a Project Management Office at ACH.

“John will build a Project Management Office function that will help manage the large IT projects that are being implemented and will help us start future projects off on the correct path from the very beginning,” said Darrell Leonhardt, the hospital’s senior vice president of Information Technology. “This program is a first for ACH IT, and we are looking forward to John making it a huge success.”

Grady brings to ACH a wealth of experience in the field of Project Management. Most recently, he was a professional consultant in Ernst & Young’s Program Advisory practice. Previously, he served as director of IT for Stryker Corporation, a medical manufacturer. Grady has served as a program management consultant to many large companies, through which he experienced leading practices and assisted in facilitating several project management office start-ups. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Memphis’ Herff College of Engineering.

“This job dovetails with my background beautifully, and the hospital has an exceptional reputation of stability and growth,” Grady said. “I am very excited to have the opportunity to leverage my background in leading project management office efforts at ACH.”

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