Sam Terese isn’t fixed on creating a personal legacy, but he acknowledges that the impact he leaves behind is significant to him.
It’s not about personal glory. Instead, his priority lies in leaving the company he has guided for more than a decade in a stronger position than when he assumed leadership.
That commitment starts with prioritizing the well-being of patients, employees and the industry as a whole.
Alverno Laboratories operates 34 hospital laboratories in Indiana and Illinois, providing clinical and anatomic pathology services to the hospitals, physicians’ offices and senior care facilities it serves.
As CEO and president since 2011, Terese has positioned the company to be a leader in the industry by priding itself on seeking innovations to improve quality diagnostic data and laboratory services. The goal, Terese said, is to advance health care as a whole, benefiting both health care facilities and the patients they serve.
People are also reading…
“When we look at the world we are in — where we’ve made innovations in microbiology and increased the speed of a diagnosis to a patient who is in a life-threatening septic state, to where we are today with digital pathology and artificial intelligence to finetune the interpretation of biopsies — these are classic ways we have taken a leadership role,” Terese said.
What may surprise some is what Alverno does with the information it gains in the field.
“We’ve created programs where if anyone asks us how we do it, we’ll tell you how,” Terese said. “It’s fundamentally important to our community, whether it’s within our community or another community across the world, where we don’t keep secrets. If an innovation or technology has a broader implication for health care, we have an absolute responsibility to share that with the world.”
In the end, the sharing of information positively impacts all parties, including Alverno.
“Maybe they’ll do it better than we did, and maybe it comes back to us 100 times better than what we created, but now we can do it better,” Terese said. “We can’t be isolationist to the rest of the world.”
Among some of the latest projects Alverno Laboratories has spearheaded is the implementation of Ibex AI cancer diagnostic software that aids pathologists in prostate, breast and gastric biopsies. The company will roll out the technology first with prostate biopsies this spring.
Alverno Laboratories has also partnered with Genomics Testing Cooperative to provide oncology patients who have more complex cases with access to GTC’s advanced tests.
Terese earned his MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in strategic planning and marketing, and his bachelor’s degrees in medical technology from Rosalind Franklin University Chicago and in biology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Yet Terese’s drive to position Alverno Laboratories on the cutting edge of innovation stems not only from his business acumen, but his clinical experience as well.
Terese joined Alverno in 2005 as a member of the senior executive team, but got his start in the field as a phlebotomist and lab technician where he worked both in diagnostics and research.
“I think having that knowledge in both places allows you to have a deeper understanding of an initiative or project, not only from the lab science piece of it, but also the impact on patients and providers,” Terese said. “It helps you understand the ‘why’ question — why we are doing this and what’s the value of it, versus only putting it in the frame of ROI.”
With a staff of nearly 2,000 employees, Terese says company culture is everything.
“About eight years ago, we took a different approach and asked our 1,000 employees at the time what our culture should look like,” he said. “That’s where our mission, vision and values come from. It’s very deeply rooted within the workforce because they created it.”
In addition to nurturing company culture, Terese emphasizes the importance of fostering growth by offering opportunities for workers to enter the industry and make a meaningful difference.
The N.O.W. career programs at Alverno Laboratories offer those who have a bachelor’s degree in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology or another physical science with the opportunity to join the team by becoming a medical laboratory scientist in just 90 days. The histology training program offers on-the-job training.
Alverno also offers an emerging leader program for team members who are interested in management positions.
“The Alverno model we’ve created is that of a high-quality organization, and we continue to see it grow,” Terese said.
As health care continues to consolidate and transition due to economic factors, Terese says Alverno is positioned to help other facilities and organizations.
“It’s what we’ve done and it’s the core of who we are,” he said. “We’re well positioned to continue to help organizations through these challenging times, and the scientific and care innovation side of it will continue to take a position in adding value-based care.”
