While the hospital had been expanding almost since the time it opened, it was in that period – the late 1980s – that it entered an unprecedented period of near-constant growth and expansion that has continued throughout Portie’s tenure.
As he departs, Portie – who is only the third person to serve in his position since the hospital’s founding – will be turning over the keys to not just the 715,000 square feet of the health system’s main hospital building but also to some two dozen satellite locations.
At the same time, he’ll be taking with him the sort of encyclopedic institutional knowledge that is next to impossible to replace.
At a retirement celebration on Thursday (Oct. 28), health system President and CEO Joan Coffman shared a story about a tour Portie was once giving to a new employee. Portie, who was walking backwards while talking, approached an overhead pipe. Without missing a step or pausing to look behind him, Portie ducked the pipe and continued talking and walking.
It’s that sort of seemingly innate familiarity with the health system’s facilities that Chief Operating Officer Sharon Toups said made Portie such a value to the organization.
“You’ve worked with me since I’ve been here, and I truly was never worried about facility issues,” Toups said. “Whether it was a storm coming or a hurricane, I knew we were always prepared.”
For his part, Portie said that among his biggest challenges throughout his 37-year tenure has been keeping on top of the constant change. That includes the eternal expansions, he said, but also the always-changing rules, regulations and requirements that are part of the modern healthcare industry.
While that has had him at times feeling like he’s spinning plates, Portie said he’s been well-served along the way by a few guiding principles.
For starters: “I want the place kept like new,” he said. “My guys are always hearing me say that. It doesn’t mean everything is going to always look like new, but we try to keep it like new.”
He also knows he can’t do it alone, so he works hard to keep his department an enjoyable place to work – a place where good people will want to stick around.
And then, there’s thoroughness, which is the word Portie says his staff would probably use to describe his style.
It’s also a word members of the hospital’s senior leadership team, including Coffman, would use to describe him.
“Yesterday,” Portie said. “I was standing next to Joan at our morning huddle, and she said, ‘How do you feel?’
“I said, ‘I’m not really sure how to feel.’
“She said, ‘You should feel proud.’”
As for what’s next for Portie, he says he doesn’t intend to sit still very long. That’s not his style.
An RV is probably in his future, so he and his wife can hit the road and explore America. “It’ll be something outdoors: hunting, fishing, camping,” he said.
He might also eventually start his own small business, although he said he’s not sure what form such a business would take.
What is for sure is that he will be missed.
“Thank you for truly being the humble servant that you are,” Coffman said. “Each and every one of us are better off for having worked with you. Thank you for making us shine.”