Our Founder's Journey to Starting IMH Healthcare

Three years ago, I was working a full-time job at a large healthcare system, taking graduate-level classes, and planning a new business venture while still taking care of my primary role, husband and father. I had spent the past three years with that healthcare system supporting capital planning and looking at the various firms across the country that provide varying degrees of operations readiness services and became convinced the market had room for more competition along with a deep need for a better mousetrap.

I spent several months talking to healthcare planning leaders across the country and became convinced the need was real. This started a conversation with my wife to convince her leaving a solid job with good benefits was the right thing to do. Her request to start the business was twofold, give the company a name that was personal to us and have work when I started the business. Our company name, IMH, is our daughter’s initials so that was an easy ask. The funny thing is our daughter routinely asks when she is getting her cut. The second request, with a contract, took time but was the right request.

During the months of planning for IMH Healthcare, I talked to several people that I wanted as partners in the firm to help launch a company that would be unique in the market and stand out for the high quality of service that our team brings to clients. Through the spring of 2021, IMH Healthcare formed a strong leadership team with diverse healthcare planning, operational, process optimization, executive leadership, and international backgrounds. On my birthday—June 1, 2021 —we officially launched IMH Healthcare.?

The reason for the launch and the services we provide at IMH Healthcare is the same today as it was when we opened: provide high-quality operational planning services from project concept through First Patient Day. From 2013 to 2012 I owned a company called The Pioneer Group which provided transition planning and activation services for healthcare customers throughout the country.? This is important work to be sure, but it misses a golden opportunity to realize operational efficiencies that naturally arise during initial operational planning to support conceptual design and programming. These operational efficiencies, if addressed throughout the lifecycle of a capital project help the client realize their operational goals set forth during their initial planning engagements. Sadly, far too many projects do not take advantage of this opportunity and bring broken processes to new facilities.

When speaking to healthcare leaders across the globe who are about to embark on a major capital planning process, I ask a simple question. “Is your goal to spend hundreds of millions on a new facility or facilities and operate the same way you do today, or do you wish to be transformational in the delivery of care in your new facility?” Of course, the answer is transformational. Once that answer is clear, IMH Healthcare can then help a client develop a plan to achieve this transformation, beginning with project concept and programming.

Over 2024, IMH Healthcare will share with you a deeper understanding of our process to help clients achieve transformational operations and improved patient and team member experiences. Our team looks forward to engaging the marketplace in this conversation. Reach out to the founder of IMH Healthcare, Rick Hood, to learn more. We look forward to our conversation together.