Gary Light, CIO, Memorial Hospital & Health Care Center, Chapter 3

There’s been a lot of discussion about the transformation the CIO has undergone in recent years, and the skillsets that are needed to drive the industry forward. One attribute that’s often overlooked, however, is the ability to manage expectations, says Gary Light of Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center. He believes a core function of the CIO is in marrying “the reality of what we want to do versus what can be done.”

In this interview, Light discusses the essential role IT plays in translating business needs into technical solutions, the importance of engaging stakeholders like the CNO in planning a major migration, and how his team is working to stay ahead of cybersecurity threats. He also talks about the many value lessons he has learned through mentoring, and how he has benefited from a diverse career background.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* CHIME’s mentoring program

* “I get as much out of it as the mentee I’m working with.”

* Lessons learned from consulting

* “It helped me understand how to work with different customers.”

* Bridging the gap between needs and wants

* The need for diversity in leadership

* “We’re still here to take care of our patients.”



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Bold Statements

How people choose to work with the CFO, CEO, and physician leaders are very common concerns, along with what we’re doing as far as our approach to selecting a record, what we’re doing in cybersecurity, and what technologies we’re looking at. When you get CIOs together, those are the things that come up in conversation.

Ultimately, it’s about trying to meet an individual’s needs. It’s appreciating what’s driving them, what’s motivating them, and what their pain points are, and not just trying to apply an IT solution to it.

Organizations recognize the need for a CIO to be somebody who can help the rest of the organization understand the limits and the reality of technology — what applications can do and what they can’t do, and how long it takes to get there.

Change happens, and at the end of the day, we’re still here to take care of our patients. That aspect of it hasn’t changed. It’s just how we do it — more efficiently, and more cost-effectively. These are the things that will continue to challenge us.

Gamble:  When you think about the mentoring you’ve done through CHIME, are there different areas in which people seek advice, whether it’s budget issues or interacting with different leaders?

Light:  There are. It really spans the spectrum of everything that a CIO will come into. Some are aspiring CIOs who want to know about how to work with the other members of the IT leadership team, and what they can do to better position themselves to take on increasing roles and responsibilities. I’ve had people talk to me about staff issues they’re having and how they might handle certain disciplinary discussions.

There was a case in one of the organizations where they had lost a member of the leadership team — how that was affecting the atmosphere of the organization and how they were processing that. Of course, how people choose to work with the CFO, CEO, and physician leaders are very common concerns, along with what we’re doing as far as our approach to selecting a record, what we’re doing in cybersecurity, and what technologies we’re looking at. When you get CIOs together, those are the things that come up in conversation.

Gamble:  I would imagine.