Michael Argir became president of the health care asset management company, Medxcel, in August and he brought 25 years of leadership experience in health care organizations along with him. He spent some time speaking with DOTmed News about his new position and the near-term and long-term goal he has for the company.

DOTmed: What made you decide to join Medxcel Facilities Management?

MA: It is really about three things-leadership, culture and opportunity. The Medxcel Leadership team is made up of excellent leaders with vision, who truly embody the culture of a faith-based organization.

The idea of servant leadership is rare in the business world and successfully integrating that culture into a growing organization is even more unique. I have watched the TriMedx journey over the past five years as they were a competitor. Their success within Ascension and in the open health care market really piqued my interest.

A faith-based, family-oriented culture is also very unique. Our values are service of the poor, reverence, integrity, wisdom, creativity and dedication. We do not just talk about our values-we live them every day with the customers we serve, patients, our staff and the communities that surround us.

This is very unique in the business world and our culture will be a strategic differentiator as we continue to grow and become the employer of choice for talented individuals that are looking for a supportive culture to thrive and grow in.

The last really attractive thing that drew me to Medxcel Facilities Management was the pure opportunity of the engagement. At the end of 2016, we will have grown the Medxcel Facilities Management organization into the one of the largest health care facilities management companies in the U.S. with over 120 hospitals customers.

The key difference to our competition is that each of these hospitals will operate as a full service model where all the employees and managers are employed by Medxcel. We are accountable for the full facilities management spectrum of services.

In many instances, our competitors have management fee arrangements. Our goal is to consolidate, standardize and optimize the facilities management operation. Through insourcing, we are able to strengthen the onsite facilities management talent and expertise while balancing the reliance on external vendor services thus reducing our overall expense.

DOTmed: What prepared you for your role as president?

MA: My 25 years of experience in health care allows me to really understand the facilities management operations within a hospital. I have had the privilege of working for both large and small organizations and feel that I understand the customer environment.

My alignment skills were honed at a previous employer, as I was fortunate enough to have participated on a team to create one global entity in a major restructuring project. As part of this team, we were tasked with standardizing procedures, creating an efficient and quality workflow model, and developing reporting dashboards to measure success. Many of the same tasks we are doing here at Medxcel Facilities Management.

To do this, we need to attract the best and brightest. We are looking internally within Ascension Health and externally within the industry to invite these individuals into this process. Our competitors focus on other areas and purchase their expertise from external vendors. We are investing in our employees.

DOTmed: What skills did you acquire at ABM Health and ARAMARK Healthcare that you were able to bring to Medxcel?

MA: At ABM, I was part of the team that launched their health care group. Their model was based upon their mobile health care service expertise. My time at Aramark was marked by a global restructuring project.

We were challenged with creating a global business by combining and streamlining multiple organizations into a consistent global structure. This included human resource and talent development activity, operational efficiency, policies and procedures and financial reporting.

These experiences have provided me with a depth of knowledge that I truly value and I believe are very applicable to the development of a world class organization at Medxcel.

DOTmed: Were there any challenges you had to initially overcome?

MA: The rapid growth our company has experienced is truly amazing. We started this adventure in December of 2013. Since that time, we have consolidated more than 40 hospital facilities across the country.

We have utilized the best implementation and service operation resources available at Medxcel to support this rapid growth. So, one year into this process, I arrive and have been very challenged to catch-up.

Again, the executive leadership team here at Medxcel has given us complete autonomy to build this service model. We are continually challenged to communicate and grow as a team.

DOTmed: What near-term and long-term goals do you have for the company?

MA: Our near-term goals focus on the Ascension Health implementation process and our goal of consolidate, standardize and optimize.

We are building a strong foundation for a growing business but our number one focus is on the success of this company for our customer base. We understand that we are a part of the patient experience and, to be successful, we must make this our priority.

Our long-term goals focus around growth and our ability to truly transform facilities management in the health care arena. We want to be the employer of choice and the service partner of choice for all health care facilities.

We can do this by focusing on developing a truly best-in-class service model, with a skilled workforce. The opportunity for Medxcel Facilities Management to become a billion dollar organization within five years is very real.