VERONA, WI, February 26, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Gretchen M. Dahlen with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Ms. Dahlen celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all considered during the selection process.
Ms. Dahlen has led a distinguished career over four decades in healthcare management and consulting. She became CEO of a hospital and skilled nursing center at the age of 28, when the field of healthcare administration was just beginning to open up to greater numbers of women. She went on to achieve success as both healthcare executive and management consultant. In 2006, she introduced Consumer Health RatingsTM, a novel guide to both online quality ratings and the cost of healthcare. Consumer Health Ratings was ranked as the third most common primary source in a 2017 national survey of people who used ratings and review sites.
Ms. Dahlen began her administrative career in Detroit with Metropolitan Hospital and Health Centers, which was at the front end of the health maintenance organization (HMO) movement, and backed by the United Auto Workers. Tutored by the expertise of Henry Ford Hospital, and learning how to recover from economic downturns, Ms. Dahlen brought the organization's ambulatory care program into its first-ever Joint Commission accreditation, while also addressing financial shortfalls. She joined the Meriter Health System in Madison, Wisconsin in 1985, ultimately becoming president and chief executive officer of Meriter Health Enterprises from 1988 to 1993. She swiftly expanded and diversified services to quadruple the organization's revenue to $20 million. Years later, Ms. Dahlen also led operational turnarounds of healthcare organizations in Hayward, Wisconsin, and in Decorah, Iowa under a management contract with Mayo Clinic Health System. She became expert at simultaneously improving quality, expanding services, and restoring profitability to struggling healthcare systems that were vital to their communities.
Currently president of The Dahlen Company, LLC in Verona, Wisconsin, Ms. Dahlen established her health care consulting business in 1993, initially focused on seminars in quality improvement. Over the years, she has provided healthcare boards and C-Suite executives with services that help them better understand and meet consumer demands. Her expertise includes strategic planning, quality improvement, interim executive leadership, and retreat facilitation. Ms. Dahlen displays a remarkable blend of dedication to quality and excellence, a passionate commitment to the mission of serving patients, and a highly developed business acumen.
Committed to public service, Ms. Dahlen was appointed to the national advisory council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2020. The federal agency seeks to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable and affordable. Ms. Dahlen formerly served six years as a board director for AARP in Washington, D.C., from 2012 to 2018. She served on the audit and finance, governance, and other committees. Among other important positions, she was a member of the national panel of judges for the Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award from 2013 to 2015, a program that recognizes exemplary efforts by nonprofit organizations across the U.S. who improve the health of populations in need. Ms. Dahlen was also an examiner for the state-level Malcolm Baldrige quality award in Wisconsin from 2005 to 2010, and a steering committee member for Wisconsin's participation in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's ground-breaking 100,000 Lives Campaign from 2005-2008. Early in her career, she volunteered her time and expertise as president of the Wisconsin Women Entrepreneurs, as an advisory board member for the University of Wisconsin Whitewater Entrepreneurship program, and as an advisory council member for the WI Small Business Development Center. She has been active as both a volunteer and child sponsor with Compassion International since 2011.
Ms. Dahlen has been a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Healthcare Executives since 1998, where she notably served on the regent's advisory council between 2002 and 2004. Furthermore, she became a governance fellow (2015) and board leadership fellow (2016) in the National Association of Corporate Directors. In 2009, Ms. Dahlen was an invited participant to a National Health Service dinner discussion at the House of Commons in London.
A graduate of St. Olaf College, Ms. Dahlen received a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in 1977. She received a Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) degree in 1979 from the University of Michigan.
About Marquis Who's Who®
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
# # #