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Trinity HR led by new vice president

Brent Mallek works in his office at Trinity Medical Center West. He became Trinity Health System’s vice president of human resources in February, replacing longtime HR vice president Lew Musso. — Paul Giannamore

STEUBENVILLE — Trinity Health System welcomed its new vice president of human resources, Brent Mallek, in February, replacing longtime human resources VP Lew Musso.

Mallek, who comes to Trinity from being chief of human resources at Conemaugh Health System based in Johnstown, Pa., has been in health care human resources for more than 25 years.

He has seen the human resources profession change from a full focus on operational resources to a job with a more strategic role.

“It is assuring that the organization has talent in place that is trained and capable and that is committed and passionate about the work they do to provide the care that is needed today, and to assure the same occurs for the future.

“It’s really focusing on the talent as a resource, more than process and policy and procedure and performance reviews,” Mallek continued. “All of that still has to be done, and it is still important work, but it doesn’t add value that the real strategic component adds.”

Mallek said talent development is another major change for human resources as a profession. Too often, he said, the best person in a department is made a manager without any of the skill sets for being a leader or a manager.

“The most difficult job in a hospital is the middle manager, and we have to make sure that we have those folks who are trained on management and leadership skills to do what they do to be the best that they can be,” he said. It’s a case of taking a person and recognizing there is a skill gap between being the best at their job and being a manager of others doing the job.

“You recognize there is a skill gap there and a talent gap there and determine how you grow to make sure that the employees who work for that person are getting a good, strong leader,” he said.

Trinity, he said, does a good job at providing top-level quality, top-level service and doing the work efficiently and in a cost-effective manner.

“I think we are providing really high-quality care. I think we are providing high-touch care and we’re doing it in a community where people can access that level of care close to home,” Mallek said. “You don’t have to go to Pittsburgh or Columbus or Cleveland to get world-class care. You can get it right here.

“This is a great organization and now, as part of Catholic Health Initiatives, I think it has even more potential to access best practices and resources on a national level,” he concluded.

Mallek, who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Michigan State and a master’s in business administration from Edgewood College in Madison, Wis., offers a story of being in the right place at the right time that can be an example to young people looking to develop their career.

He said he got into hospital human resources when he had finished graduate school in 1989 and was working for a manufacturing firm and was considering his next career move. One day, he was playing golf in Oconomowoc, Wis., when two ladies — nurses at the local hospital, it turned out — asked him to play through. Instead, they struck up a conversation and he finished the last three holes with them. During the conversation, the nurses found out he was a human resources professional and told him the hospital’s HR director had just quit.

“I turned the score card sideways and wrote in the little squares the hospital president’s name and phone number. That’s how I ended up in health care,” he said.

(Giannamore can be reached at pgiannamore@heraldstaronline.com.)

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