Riverside Healthcare to provide student health services for GSU students starting fall 2014
It is a busy time for Riverside HealthCare president and CEO
Phil Kambic. Riverside, located in Kankakee, continues to expand access to
award-winning quality heathcare. With
locations in four counties, Riverside will be breaking ground on an ambulatory
care campus featuring specialty and immediate outpatient care services in the
South Suburbs with plans to break ground on the new facility in Frankfort this
fall. Growth, expansion and being busy isn’t new to Kambic. It has been a steady
rise for him at Riverside. He has gone from computer programmer straight out of
college, to chief information officer, chief operations officer and ultimately,
CEO.
Kambic is one of only three CEOs in the fifty-year history of
the organization.
So what are the keys to his success? Kambic attributes it to
hard work and keeping focused on a vision, certainly. However, having the right
education to prepare him for career advancement has been absolutely essential,
he said.
Kambic came to Riverside in 1985 straight out of Eastern
Illinois University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science
and management. He started out as a computer programmer, writing code for
business applications.
But he wanted his career to grow and knew if that was going
to happen, he’d have to build upon his undergraduate degree. So at 25, and as a
young husband and father, he decided to go back to school for his master’s in
business administration and continue to work full time while going to school. Finding
the right school with experienced faculty, and flexible scheduling that would
allow him to balance work, school and his family life was central to his
decision Kambic said. Governors State provided everything he needed and
more.
“Governors State was the right choice. It had the right
location. It was convenient and it was accessible,” he said. “What I also liked
was that many instructors worked out in the field, so they brought a
tremendous amount of practical experience into the classroom.” Kambic has fond memories of his
time at GSU. He describes himself as a lifelong learner. Some of his best memories are working on group projects and the interaction with other
students it provided.
As CEO at Riverside Hospital Kambic is continuing his
relationship with Governors State as we transform into a four year full service
university in the fall of 2014.
Riverside has partnered with GSU to provide immediate care
services for students out of Riverside’s Monee facility. Kambic, with his
passion for education, said he would like to see the partnership between GSU
and Riverside continue to grow to provide professional development
opportunities for GSU students. And he would also like to encourage Riverside
employees to continue their education, whether that is seeking additional
certifications, a bachelor’s degree or graduate degree at GSU.