Salem Hospital Official Honored with IT Executive of the Year Award for Oregon

Dennis Sato was honored for implementing a hospital-wide clinical-information system for Salem Hospital.

Salem Hospital's Dennis Sato Photo courtesy: Salem Hospital

(SALEM, Ore.) - Dennis Sato, Chief Information Officer for Salem Hospital Regional Health Services, was recently recognized by the Society of Information Management as its IT Executive of the Year for the State of Oregon and Southwest Washington.

"This is a significant honor, for both Dennis and Salem Hospital" says Norm Gruber, president and CEO of Salem Hospital. "The award recognizes excellence in information technology for all industries, not just healthcare."

Sato was honored for implementing a hospital-wide clinical-information system for Salem Hospital. This project had been identified as a key initiative for the hospital to improve quality, helping to reduce medical errors and employing evidence-based medicine. The system is used by 2,500 employees, including nurses and other clinicians. Physicians currently use the system to review patient information in electronic medical records.

Community participation was also a criteria for the award. Sato demonstrated his involvement in the community as a member of the state Commission of Asian Affairs, the City of Salem's Human Rights Commission and Community Policing Advisory Committee, and Chemeketa Community College's Diversity Leadership and its IT Council.

Prior to his employment at Salem Hospital, Sato was the chief information officer at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, California. He previously held the position of CIO for the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation and was responsible for technology for 12 hospitals located on five Hawaiian Islands. He was instrumental in linking hospitals, educational institutions, and businesses together with the use of telemedicine. He was also the interim CEO for the Oahu Region.

Sato is a Fellow of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, member of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems.