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Dr. Pate’s Prescription for Change

St. Luke’s Health System’s Journey to Transform Health Care

St. Luke’s Dr. Pate gives thanks for a great team – and for a great decade

By Dr. David C. Pate, News and Community
November 26, 2019

Editor’s note: What follows is the note Dr. Pate sent to the St. Luke’s Health System team for his last Thanksgiving as the organization’s president and CEO.


As we gather with our friends and families for Thanksgiving this year, I am especially grateful. This is my last Thanksgiving opportunity to convey to each of you my deep appreciation for all you do for St. Luke’s, our patients and our communities, and for the support you have provided me over the past 10 years.

The St. Luke’s team has achieved incredible things. Working together, we have kept our position among the top health systems in the nation for six years in a row. We have improved children’s health in amazing ways, through our partnership with the Elks on the new Children’s Pavilion and with our incredible physicians and clinicians through our pediatric trauma program. St. Luke’s Virtual Care Center is off to a fantastic start, and we expect great things to come there. Our shared services groups, including Supply Chain, Finance, Food and Nutrition and many, many others, have found ways to strengthen us and to innovate in meaningful ways small and large.  

Over and over this past year, you have shared stories with me of the dedication and commitment of your colleagues and your own passion and enthusiasm for our organization and its mission. I’ve heard of the many extraordinary things our employees and physicians have done, and exceptional experiences delivered each and every day by housekeepers, gardeners, our facilities teams and the wonderful nurses throughout St. Luke’s Health System. I have heard from many patients and families about the ways that St. Luke’s physicians and employees have impacted their lives, and their gratefulness for the outstanding care and caring they have benefited from.

The ways you have served and supported St. Luke’s, our patients and their families this past year and decade are so very meaningful, and your acts of compassion have moved me deeply. You all inspire me, and you make me feel very proud to work alongside you and to be part of this extraordinary family that is St. Luke’s. It has been such a tremendous honor and privilege for me to lead this organization and to have so many opportunities to brag on the amazing people and caregivers you are, as stakeholders and others across the nation have become aware of our organization as a leader in quality and in the transformation of the health-care business model.

Thanksgiving and every day, I am so honored to be part of St. Luke’s. You top my gratitude list, and I will forever remember how truly exceptional you are as I head for retirement next year.  

Blessings and happy Thanksgiving to you all.


About The Author

David C. Pate, M.D., J.D., previously served as president and CEO of St. Luke's Health System, based in Boise, Idaho. Dr. Pate joined the System in 2009 and retired in 2020. He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.