DISCUSSES ACCOMPLISHMENT — Matt Grimshaw reflects on his service as president of Trinity Health System. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — When he drives away from the Upper Ohio Valley two months from now, outgoing Trinity Health System President Matt Grimshaw says it will be with a sense of accomplishment.

Grimshaw, 50, has accepted a position as market president for CHI St. Joseph Health in Kentucky. CHI St. Joseph Health and Trinity are part of the South Region of CommonSpirit Health, which was created by the alignment of Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health in 2019.

He will leave Trinity in mid-December after seven years at the helm.

“There are four things that really will stick with me as what we focused on, that were keys to setting Trinity up for long-term success,” Grimshaw said. “Of course, the big, obvious one is really this project here, the new tower, and consolidating our services on one campus. That was the dream from 1996, and to finally deliver on a long-term hospital solution for Steubenville … that’s a big deal, and that was my No. 1 task.

“The second was really looking at our clinical services and re-strengthening those programs: We recruited five cardiologists to join our cardiovascular program in the last five years and we’ve rapidly expanded our cardiovascular structural heart program.”

In 2022, Trinity introduced a left atrial appendage occlusion program for patients looking for an alternative to blood thinners in treating their atrial fibrillation

The year before, Trinity introduced a transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure, a minimally invasive procedure that Trinity Health offers to treat patients with severe aortic valve disease. It enables a collapsible aortic heart valve to be placed inside the heart.

“Our TAVR program (just) celebrated 200 TAVRs performed here, all with remarkable outcomes,” Grimshaw said. “It’s really a best-in-class structural heart program, right here at Trinity.

“But it’s not just cardiovascular,” he added. “We’ve grown our cancer program — our partnership with UPMC for cancer has been great. That program has been strengthened and grown significantly over the last seven years.”

Grimshaw also pointed to Trinity’s decision to build a 20,000-square-foot acute care service hospital in St. Clairsville. The two-story building will feature 10 emergency rooms — two of them for traumas — along with three fast-track rooms on the second floor; six inpatient rooms, including one intensive care room and two operating rooms; and will offer services ranging laboratory services to high-end imaging services. There will also be a room geared toward bariatric patients and another dedicated to behavioral health patients. Hospital officials expect to get their certificate of occupancy next summer.

“What we’re doing in Belmont County has been important for that community, and it’s important for us here: A lot more patients are driving to Steubenville for care than were (doing it) seven years ago, and it really has been the strategy of helping take care of Belmont County. But it’s also the relationships we’ve built in Martin’s Ferry with East Ohio to provide access for their patients to come up here in a seamless way for advanced services.”

He said Trinity is “having conversations” now with East Liverpool City Hospital focused on “helping strengthen care.”

“In East Liverpool, they have some clinical needs that we’re exploring with them and how we can partner, so it’s really building that clinical network to take care of patients.”

And he said Trinity’s residency program has taken root as well.

“There was a dream here of becoming a teaching hospital,” Grimshaw said. “Before I came in, Trinity explored those opportunities, and it didn’t materialize. (But) in 2019, when Ohio Valley Medical Center closed, we had an opportunity to step into that gap and provide a place here in the Ohio Valley for doctors to continue to learn, and that program is rapidly growing.

“I have 54 residents here learning in our internal medicine and emergency medicine (departments), that’s a big deal for hospitals and it’s a giant, giant step forward for this community. And, we’ve recruited out of those programs — we’ve had multiple ER physicians who finished their training program here and have stayed, and multiple internal medicine physicians who trained here have stayed. That was part of the plan, to use those as recruiting tools to build that pipeline of physician for the future.”

He said the other piece of the puzzle is “people.”

“None of this happens without people,” he said. “It really is about building the talent, the clinical expertise and the leadership skills to help lead this ministry going forward.”

He also pointed out Trinity School of Nursing’s incoming class this summer was full “for the first time in a long time.”

“They see a future here and we’ve built that pipeline, and everyone’s right there,” he said. “We’ve recruited next generation physicians to come to Steubenville and have strengthened the care we provide, but it takes people … people who want to be part of this, who want to work in a faith-based organization, live out the mission and care for community.”

Grimshaw said leaving is hard for him and his family, adding it “was a very difficult decision.

“We’ve built deep friendships here, and I feel a lot of sadness in talking with my team. But in the words of St. Francis, I can say ‘I’ve done what was mine to do’ and now I’ve been called to another market to help them on their journey.”

He said the Kentucky market has eight hospitals spread across Central Kentucky, plus clinics in eastern and western parts of the state.

“We have opportunities there to help advance their ministry, help them grow the number of touch points they have, and I’m excited for how we can take what we’ve done here and leverage it there,” he said. “But I’m not that far away, and I will always be available to my team and assume they’ll always have a very (big) place in my heart.”