St. Luke’s University Hospital President Richard Anderson sat for an hour to discuss his career and how to seek success in modern medicine during a “fireside chat” at Northampton Community College March 8.

Though advertised as little more than a friendly conversation between Anderson and his colleague and NCC President Mark Erickson, the second floor community room was nearly full of curious listeners.

With the projected image of a fireplace behind them, Erickson introduced the 30-year CEO, citing his many accomplishments and awards, and played an introductory video for St. Luke’s and its nursing school; the oldest still operating in the country. Erickson opened the conversation, and Anderson faced the waiting audience, saying, “I’m no Oprah, but I’ll give it my best shot.”

The next hour was spent partly reminiscing about his early career and about how his hospital has evolved and grown in recent years.

He said he has no doubt healthcare is too expensive, and that half the hospital’s revenue comes from Medicare and Medicaid, while the rest comes from insurance, and technology drives a lot of the cost. St. Luke’s made $155 million in technology improvements last year while maintaining a 2.5-3 percent profit margin. He said running a hospital like this is not easy, but he’s not worried. “St. Luke’s isn’t cheap, but it’s cost-effective.”

He told those wishing to enter medical fields that what has to drive them is passion. Students have to be passionate and ready for hard hours. “You’re not paying to sleep, you’re paying to get woken up,” he said. He also said one has to be ready to make sacrifices; long hours or moving one’s family to a new city may be necessary to grab the next rung of the ladder.

Anderson also cautioned against resting on one’s laurels. Taking a moment to appreciate a job well done can’t become complacency. “You can accomplish great things, but you have to go to work the next day.”

His most-used refrain was, “Success is about culture.” He said what’s most important for an individual is to pick up good values from people – co-workers, mentors – and collect good advice as you go. When making decisions, what’s most important is, “You don’t have to be right, you should just try to do the right thing.”