Peter Fine, president and CEO of one of largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the nation, , once again has been named among the most important influencers in the industry.  

For the eighth time, Fine made the annual by Modern Healthcare, a leading provider of healthcare business news for industry executives. 

Now in its 19th year, the program honors individuals who are deemed by their peers and the senior editors of the magazine to be the most influential individuals in the industry in terms of leadership and impact.

Focus on pandemic in 2020

Fine, who has been CEO and president of Banner Health since 2000, made the No. 92 spot in the 2020 rankings. This year, the program focused attention on individuals who excelled in guiding the industry through the public healthcare crisis.

Frontline workers took the No. 1 sport in the rankings as “the true heroes of this pandemic,” writes Ginger Christ, post-acute care and staffing reporter at . 

CDC estimates that more than 2.2 million health care workers have contracted the novel coronavirus and nearly 900 of those workers have died, Christ wrote.

Employees are the real heroes

Like a true leader, Fine refused to take any credit for the honor, saying Banner employees did all the real work during an incredibly tough year.   

“Banner’s frontline health care workers, support staff and leadership team have gone above and beyond during the pandemic, overcoming extraordinary obstacles to keep our patients’ care and safety at the forefront throughout,” he said. “Our people are what make Banner Health among the very best in health care.” 

When Covid-19 erupted last year, Banner swiftly established test collection sites, expanded telehealth technology for patient care to all Banner providers, and increased public awareness with the in Arizona.

Leading Banner through substantial growth 

In addition to guiding the organization through Covid-19, Fine has also steered the hospital system through considerable growth over two decades to become one of the nation’s largest secular nonprofit healthcare organizations.

Today, Banner operates 30 hospitals and other facilities with more than 52,000 employees across six western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. 

Over the past few years, Fine has led projects like integrating an academic enterprise in partnership with the , partnering with Aetna on a commercial insurance product, growing its portfolio of ambulatory companies, growing Banner’s footprint in positive health outcomes, and expanding the geography of Banner’s Medicaid plan. 

Currently, Banner Health is investing nearly $400 million in expansion projects in the East Valley at Banner Desert in Mesa and Banner Gateway medical centers, including a $243 million expansion project at its hospital in Gilbert. 

Long career in healthcare, public service 

Prior to his appointment at Banner, Fine held a number of administrative positions with healthcare systems. Before arriving at Banner, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care, a large integrated system serving all of eastern Wisconsin. Before taking that role, he was president of Aurora’s West Allis Memorial Hospital near Milwaukee. In addition, he was president and chief executive officer of Grant Hospital and senior vice president of operations at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, both in Chicago, and assistant administrator of Porter Memorial Hospital in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Fine also holds a number of professional and public service posts. He is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and previously served as a member of its Board of Governors. He is a member of the American Hospital Association, Health Management Academy, Greater Phoenix Leadership, and serves on the board of directors for Premier, Inc., Greater Phoenix Leadership, and Banner Health.

Honored for his administrative leadership

Over the years, Fine has received many honors and titles such as Modern Healthcare and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s CEO IT Achievement Award, Phoenix Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO Award, Arizona Business Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Healthcare Leadership Award, and B’nai B’rith International’s National Healthcare Award.

Top 20 influential healthcare professionals

Here’s the top 20 honorees of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare — 2020:

1. Frontline healthcare workers 
2. Michael Dowling, president and CEO, Northwell Health
3. Marc Harrison, president and CEO, Intermountain Healthcare
4. Samuel Hazen, CEO, HCA Healthcare
5. Beverly Malone, president and CEO, National League for Nursing
6. Susan DeVore, CEO, Premier, Inc. 
7. Gene Woods, president and CEO, Atrium Health
8. Judith Faulkner, founder and CEO, Epic Systems
9. Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
10. Jason Gorevic, CEO, Teladoc Health
11. Stephen Hahn, commissioner, Food and Drug Administration 
12. Tom Inglesby, director, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
13. Melinda Estes, president and CEO, St. Luke’s Health System
14. Larry Merlo, president and CEO, CVS Health
15. David Wichmann, CEO, UnitedHealth Group
16. Seema Verma, administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid   Services
17. Bonnie Castillo, executive director, National Nurses United
18. Gail Boudreaux, president and CEO, Anthem, Inc.
19. Greg Adams, chair and CEO, Kaiser Permanente
20. Susan Bailey, president, American Medical Association

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Executives from three of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing companies said Wednesday that they are racing hand-in-hand to get a viable vaccine for COVID-19 out to the world by next year. 

They all said there has been “unprecedented” international cooperation to develop a vaccine. They also explained why it could come sooner than any other in history. 

“We want to have more than one vaccine. We want to have several vaccines that are approved so there are options and there are opportunities for everyone around the world to get vaccinated,” said Joaquin Duato, vice chairman of the Executive Committee for Johnson & Johnson. 

Duato was joined by the chairman and CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, and the CEO of Sanofi, Paul Hudson, who spoke during a virtual town hall Wednesday to update the world on their progress. 

The forum was hosted by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which represents America’s leading biopharmaceutical research companies.

Of the 1,227 active clinical trials underway to fight the coronavirus, almost half — 47 percent — are using PhRMA member products, said Stephen Ubl, president and chief executive of PhRMA who moderated the event. Of those, there are in clinical trials and 135 vaccines in clinical studies. 

Optimism about having a vaccine by 2021

At the town hall, the executives said their companies are working “24/7” to find treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus. They’re moving to human clinical trials as early as this month. 

Everything has been moving at breakneck speed to find a solution, Hudson said. In a matter of months, the international community has mobilized an effort that normally would take 10 years.  

“We’re now going again to set new records in less than a year,” Hudson said.  

The executives are optimistic their companies can create a viable vaccine, or at the least, more treatments to aid patients’ recovery by next year. A number of therapies are promising including anticoagulants, fusion proteins and antibodies. 

In the meantime, the companies are preparing to or have submitted approval from regulatory agencies like the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture hundreds of millions, and possibly billions of doses, ahead of time to prepare for the hope that one or more of the human clinical trials will succeed.     

They emphasized four key points:

Affordability for all

All three company executives stated emphatically that their mission is to put patients’ health first. That means the vaccine must be affordable and available for all, in both developed and developing nations. 

“We are committed to provide a vaccine for emergency pandemic use and on a not-for-profit basis to make sure price is not a barrier for anybody,’’ Duato said.

If patients and communities can be taken care of, then shareholder profits and economies will follow, he said. 

A vaccine can be developed more quickly today  

There are a number of factors helping their mission move at record speed, they said.

One is the unprecedented sharing of research and results. The industry is expanding and sharing vast global libraries to try to repurpose existing therapies and develop new ones.

“There are multiple vaccines out there. I wish success to all of them,” Bourla said. “This is not a competition among us. This is a competition against the virus.” 

New vaccine platform technologies is another reason companies are able to move at a faster pace. They can utilize the same building blocks to make different vaccines, and have proven particularly useful in vaccines that utilize genetic DNA and RNA. 

Finally, the government is also setting a precedent to speed up the process. The FDA released new June 30 to fast track treatments that are proven safe in trials. 

President Donald Trump’s newaims to deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine by January as part of the strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. 

Major public and private agencies, as well as public funding, are contributing to the effort.  

Clinical trials to include adults, diverse groups 

As the companies begin human clinical trials this month, testing and development of a vaccine will pull from diverse populations for clinical trial participants, including people of color, the elderly and people with underlying conditions. Clinical trials are now signing up participants, both with and without the virus. 

Once a vaccine is approved, the FDA and other regulatory bodies will determine who receives it first. It likely will appear in batches to be distributed to front-line health care workers and those at highest risk including the elderly and people with underlying conditions.

Centuries of experience should pay off 

With hundreds of years of experience, a vast amount of resources between the three corporations, there is hope one can succeed.  

“We have a significant amount of resources in science and manufacturing,” Bourla said. “If we put it to work, we can find a solution. If not us, who?” 

Biopharma supports 120,000 high wage manufacturing jobs

In Arizona, the biopharma industry is a major contributor to the economy with an estimated annual impact of around $9.1 billion. Since 2000, member companies of PhRMA have invested more than half a trillion dollars in the search for new treatments and cures, including an estimated $58.8 billion in 2015 alone, according to PhRMA.

Across the U.S., the biopharmaceutical sector directly employs more than 854,000 Americans, and invests more than $90 billion in research and development every year — more than any other industry in America. 

Because of its large supply chain, the biopharmaceutical industry supports more than 4 million jobs across the U.S. 

It also is becoming a larger force in manufacturing, according to PhRMA.The industry supports nearly 120,000 high-wage manufacturing jobs. In 2017, wages for biopharmaceutical manufacturing jobs were 72 percent greater than the average wage for all U.S. manufacturing jobs.

To read more about PhRMA and its members, go to: .

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I am writing to provide you with another COVID19 update. So far, 2.1 million Americans have been infected, and around 120,000 have died, despite the fact that only a minority of our population has been exposed. To put this in perspective, more Americans have died from COVID19 than every war since 1950 combined, and we have the highest death toll in the world.

With my last update dated May 4, I wrote that “daily cases and deaths remain steady” and that “We seem to be on the verge of a downward trend, but only time will tell.”

On May 15, the Arizona stay at home order was allowed to expire, and though many of us have continued to stay at home, socially distance, and assiduously wear masks, we have witnessed large social gatherings, lack of masks in many public places, and general increase in non-distanced activity.

Many of us in medicine and public health have been worried that this would lead to an increase in caseload after about 1-2 weeks, and indeed, that has come to pass. Compared to our daily caseload in the 300-400 range in early May, we are now seeing about 1500 new cases per day. Arizona has received national and international press because our numbers are so concerning. According to rtlive.com, Arizona currently has the highest rate of COVID19 spread in the country.

Why are these numbers concerning?

First, they indicate that the virus is spreading rapidly. Some may ask whether the increased case counts simply reflect an increase in testing. After all, if we test more, we would expect to find more cases. But if increased testing were the only explanation, the percent of positive tests would also decrease. In Arizona, the percent of positive tests has actually increased, which is an ominous finding. The virus really appears to be on a tear through our state.

Second, our biggest concern must remain the ability to provide optimal medical care to anyone who needs it, especially critical care. This includes not only COVID19 patients, but also anyone who is very sick with a heart attack, stroke, traumatic injury, or other serious condition. Over the past week, we heard that two of our major hospital chains were nearing ICU bed capacity. Per the DHS website, we have about 20% of our ICU beds available, or 350 in total. The hospitals can indeed increase capacity beyond this level and are making plans to do so. We also have other hospitals such as Phoenix St. Luke’s here in my district on standby as necessary.

I am currently working with a modeling team at a major university to determine whether we will exhaust our resources and if so, at what time. I hope that a better understanding will guide our public policy decisions.

But the risk here is significant. The COVID19 virus spreads in an exponential way, meaning that in the next two weeks, we could see much higher case counts. That could overwhelm our medical system, and we would then see unnecessary death in Arizona. The decisions we make right now affect our experience two weeks from now.

What can we do about it?

Looking at the evidence that has emerged over the last few months, we can learn a few important lessons. We have several public policy options that would avoid another shutdown and taken together, would significantly slow the virus and protect health care capacity.

First, the best available science now strongly suggests that widespread use of masks reduces community spread. This refers to surgical masks or any cloth covering of the mouth and nose (not N95 masks which are designed to protect health care workers). Masks may not protect the wearer, but rather protect everyone around the wearer. Masks are not a perfect solution, but they do make a significant difference, especially when we consider the millions of interactions across society every day. Short-term use of cloth or surgical masks is also very safe and not associated with adverse medical outcomes.

Second, we have learned that spread is far more likely indoors than outdoors. Taking these two points together, if all members of the public wore masks indoors, we would see a significant decrease in transmission. Other countries have had positive experiences with such mask policies.

Third, physical distancing has also been shown to decrease transmission. All of us must take great care to maintain distance in public. Businesses should limit indoor customers. Restaurants should not seat people close together. Hygiene and disinfection procedures should be through and routine. We must continue to avoid crowds and large gatherings.

Fourth, age continues to be the top risk factor for death, and so targeted strategies to protect seniors are crucial. Along with many stakeholders, I am personally working on a package of common-sense initiatives to protect those in facilities such as assisted living, nursing homes, etc. We hope to have these initiatives fully developed soon in case the legislature returns for a special session.

Fifth, some have asked about the possibility of another stay-at-home order. Personally, I hope we do not ever see another shutdown, because the economic effects are devastating, especially to people in certain industries and those with lower income levels. But if the medical system approaches catastrophe, I believe that it should remain an option of last resort.

Finally, many of you have also asked about children’s safety. The national press has reported on a COVID19-related illness termed Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PMIS) that resembles Kawasaki’s disease. The CDC has issued a call to physicians to be watchful. This illness still appears to be VERY rare and only based on a case-series. Until more data become available, I believe that most children are still extremely safe with regard to COVID19 risk.

The way forward

In comparison to the last three months, the way forward is more uncertain and we have no easy or ideal societal response. We have learned a lot and prepared much during the lockdown. We had flattened the curve considerably. But unfortunately, Arizona’s numbers are now rising fast, and our ICU bed availability is somewhat low.

Unlike many of the political debates of our time, this situation does not lend itself to sound bites, slogans and rhetoric. Our discussion should be thoughtful, science-based, empathetic and nuanced rather than cavalier or driven by ideology or fear.

As a public health professional, I ask you to imagine you are in a grocery store and someone’s beloved grandmother is nearby. For the safety of your neighbors, friends and fellow Americans, please wear a mask so you do not accidentally give them a deadly disease. Please stay at least six feet away from others in all settings, but especially indoors. Let’s work together to provide protection to our most vulnerable groups.

If you are a senior or in a vulnerable group, please try to stay home and avoid other people as much as possible. Younger people should realize that by spreading the virus, they increase prevalence and that puts others at risk by direct infection and also by consuming hospital capacity.

Thank you again for all of your consideration and your courage through these difficult times. Though it seems as though the social fabric of our country stretches thin, I believe that our national discourse has helped us see and understand ourselves more clearly, make us stronger, and continually make us a more perfect union.

Dr. Amish Shah is a state legislator and an emergency medical physician in Phoenix, Arizona.

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