Health care group names innovation, business leader

SARASOTA – Stratum Health System, parent company of Tidewell Hospice, named R. Scott Gassett executive vice president/chief innovation and business development officer.

The chief innovation and business development officer is a new position at Stratum Health System. Gassett joined Stratum June 3, according to a press release. 

He is charged with the growth and expansion of Stratum and its affiliated health care organizations — Tidewell Hospice, Approved Home Health, Avidity Home Health and Connexis Medical Services — through strategic planning and business relationships. He also will provide executive leadership for Stratum’s marketing and communications and professional relations departments.

Tidewell Hospice serves patients in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. 

Gassett comes to Stratum with more than 25 years in C-level and senior strategy and business development positions and 15 years of experience leading large health care organizations, according to the release. Most recently, Gassett served as a senior vice president at Schwartz Heslin Group, a management consulting firm in Albany, N.Y.

He began his professional career as a physical therapist at several large teaching hospitals in the Boston area. After becoming a health care executive in 1998, Gassett worked for and with several private equity firms, mostly related to home health care, where he was responsible for growth, strategy and new channel development, the release adds. 

“The Stratum family of companies is fortunate to have Scott joining the executive team,” says Jonathan Fleece, president and CEO of Stratum and Tidewell, in the statement. “He is an accomplished, forward-thinking and goal-driven senior health care executive leader with years of experience growing hospice, home care, medical groups and health care systems. Scott’s proven track record of growth and strategic visionary leadership has made him to be a trusted advisor in the industry.”