Taller than the Trees: How Commitment to Excellence, Quality of Care, and Passion Led to 46 Years of Healthcare Success

"You have stage three cirrhosis. Your liver is functioning at 10 percent. John . . . you have three months to live." These words shocked John Stewart into questioning whether his healthcare career would end where it all began-in a hospital emergency room. From humble beginnings in a small Kentucky town, to working at an ER registration desk, and eventually to leading national organizations, John's story details a journey of servant leadership. Throughout his 46-year tenure, John was blessed to lead administrative teams across various healthcare systems, transform a cornfield into one of the nation's top cardiac care hospitals, and support the acquisition of one of the country's largest medical groups. Whether he served as a respiratory therapist at Norton Children's, as CEO at the Heart Center of Indiana, or as a board member at Acesis, John lived by a mentor's words: "It's always about the doctors." Taller than the Trees is not simply a memoir-in many ways, it's also a textbook. John imparts invaluable lessons drawn from his career by emphasizing diverse thought within organizations, empowerment over micromanagement, and the value of strategic leaders who work on the company, not in the company. Above all, he places patient and physician care, quality, and satisfaction at the heart of his philosophy, creating a powerful guidebook for "serving those who serve others."