Compass Health CEO Tom Sebastian Receives Seattle Business Magazine's Executive Excellence Award
Compass Health is proud to announce that CEO Tom Sebastian has been selected as an esteemed honoree of Seattle Business Magazine's Executive Excellence Award. The award recognizes Washington executives who have demonstrated extraordinary, consistent leadership in guiding their companies or nonprofit organizations to success.
Sebastian began his career at Compass Health three decades ago as a mental health professional, and together with other talented executives and clinicians, has helped the organization grow into Northwest Washington's behavioral health care leader. In 2018 alone, Compass Health's 800 dedicated and highly skilled team members provided inpatient and outpatient mental health care, crisis prevention, youth services, housing, and substance abuse treatment to more than 22,000 clients throughout Snohomish, Skagit, Island, San Jan and Whatcom counties.
"Tom has been integral to Compass Health's growth and vitality ? and today, its size and comprehensive spectrum of services allows it to innovate and expand access to care at a scope and scale that no other provider can match regionally, and few statewide or nationally," said David Schneider, Compass Health board chair and principal of Waycross Investment Management Company. "Tom is quick to divert attention and accolades to others, and that's part of what makes him such an effective leader. We feel incredibly fortunate to have him at the helm of a team that is directly addressing some of the most critical needs facing our communities today."
Sebastian has been a key figure in pioneering the organization's commitment to the integration of behavioral health and medical care to support whole person health. His dedication is one of the driving forces behind an organization-wide approach to health care that seeks to treat individuals with multiple chronic needs?including mental and physical conditions?comprehensively.
The award recognizes Sebastian's vision and leadership through several other recent initiatives, including preparing Compass Health to successfully navigate the statewide transition to contracting all Medicaid funding through managed care organizations, his commitment to leveraging an electronic health record (EHR) system to support collaboration and improve the security of personal data, and his ability to champion innovative, new technology that will bridge geographic differences for clients.
Notably, Compass Health is also embarking on its most significant capital project in its 118-year history. Its Broadway Campus Redevelopment will create a state-of-the-art regional center to bring together a full continuum of behavioral health care, primary health care and permanent supportive housing in downtown Everett.
"For me, this is really an opportunity to showcase the amazing team at Compass Health, and to reflect on their remarkable efforts to advance our vision for whole person health," Sebastian said. "I'm proud to lead our mission of improving outcomes to help our clients lead lives of hope, recovery and purpose."
For Sebastian, transforming behavioral health care isn't merely a reflection of the Compass Health mission statement, it's a lived experience that he shares on local and national stages to help reduce stigma around behavioral health.
Sebastian participates as an event speaker and member for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Council for Behavioral Health, Open Minds, MHCA Leaders in Community Health Solutions, Washington State Reform Healthcare Policy Conference, TEDxSnoIsleLibraries, Snohomish County's Edge of Amazing Summit, and many others.
As Washington's most acclaimed C-Suite executive leadership honor, the judging panel at Seattle Business Magazine received a record-breaking number of entries, including some of the state's most respected business leaders and executives. Sebastian received one of just sixteen Executive Excellence Awards at the magazine's event on Thursday, January 23, 2020 in Seattle.
"As you might expect, transforming health care isn't always easy?thank goodness I have more than 800 people on my team that share my passion," Sebastian said. "This vision isn't just Compass Health's alone, we share it with our health care partners and our communities, and I'm honored to represent that effort."
About Compass Health:
Compass Health is Northwest Washington's behavioral healthcare leader. A community-based healthcare agency, Compass Health integrates behavioral health and medical care services to form a key section of the community safety net and serve clients and others in need of care and support. From comprehensive mental health treatment to crisis prevention and intervention, supportive housing, children's services, community education and much more, the non-profit organization serves people of all ages throughout Snohomish, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and Whatcom counties.
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