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Crossing Rivers colleagues remember CFO as man of high character

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Dave Breitbach was the CFO of Crossing Rivers Health for 22 years until his untimely death as a result of a motorcycle crash in late June. (Submitted photo)

By Correne Martin

 

In his profession, Dave Breitbach was the chief financial officer of Crossing Rivers Health for 22 years. Apart from such a staid title, Dave was so much more as a human being.

He wasn’t the kind of person who could be summed up in just a few words. If that were the case, the 60-year-old McGregor, Iowa, resident, who died as a result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident June 29, would be remembered as a family and business man of high integrity and knowledge, with a great sense of humor and joyful spirit, who had the ability to mentor confidently and lead with empowerment. 

However, Dave’s life, character and accomplishments touched so many people’s lives that his nature is not so easily encapsulated. 

Dave was first a husband of 36 years and dad to five adult children. He most recently resided in McGregor, where he served as a park board member and was an active parishioner at St. Mary’s Church. 

As a business man, Dave worked at a Dubuque-based accounting firm until joining Crossing Rivers Health, where his fellow coworkers became like a second family. Though he was CFO, and worked many long hours in an office in one corner of the large complex, he was the type of employee who was loved by everyone at the hospital. 

“He was really the creative force behind [the hospital move in 2015],” said Bill Sexton, Crossing Rivers’ chief executive officer. “Other than writing the loan for the new facility through the USDA, he found financial potential in many places, which was a great strength for that project. He set aside funds for the (second level) construction that’s going on right now.”

Sexton explained that Dave’s responsibilities went beyond financial management of the institution and into systematizing all of the hospital’s leadership teams. “He always had a great sense of commitment, fairness and justice to keep all of those efforts on the right track. He never missed an opportunity to see what else could be done.”

“The main reason we’re here is to provide health care for people locally the best that we can,” added Charlie Connell, treasurer of the Crossing Rivers Health Board of Directors. “Our vision is to have the best outcome for every patient every time. He tried to live that.”

Because of Dave’s relationships, one of his colleagues from the health care industry—Bob Daley, CFO from Black River Falls Memorial Hospital—who had retired, has stepped forward to help carry on some of Dave’s work in the business office. 

Jill Morovits and Jeanne Moris, charge master and patient accounts manager, were among those who worked closest with Dave, for 38 and 22 years, respectively. They believe there will forever be a hole left by his untimely departure.

“We’ll have another CFO but we’ll never have another Dave,” Moris said. “He was the go-to person in his field, even with people at other hospitals.”

“We always joked he could associate with a peasant or the president,” Morovits smiled. “He was the perfect role model for all of us who are trying to be somebody.” 

Joni Gisleson worked with him, as a controller, for only a year, but she knew him for years prior too. “He was endlessly patient. Someone in his position would have to be stressed, but he carried it with a smile,” she remarked. “This building was very much an achievement of his. He loved this place.”

Connell said he was amazed at how Dave knew all of the details about the old facility, the construction and the new medical center. “He could tell you where everything was,” Connell said. 

“He was brilliant here. Some of [what we’ll miss] is the work, but most of it’s the man,” Sexton declared, then, being nostalgic with Connell about one of Crossing Rivers’ golf outings with Dave. “At one of the holes, the men wore women’s clothes and the women wore men’s clothes. We have a picture of Dave in action. At another outing, the theme was superheroes, and we have a picture of him in a Superman costume on top of a golf cart. It was a good laugh.”

Sexton expounded, noting that Dave came to accounting a different way than most. He said Dave was a carnival worker, drove semi delivering steel and traveled doing audits. 

“He was great to listen to, he could tell stories about all the back roads all over northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin,” Connell said. “Dave was a true definition of age being really just a number.”

Connell and Sexton traveled with Dave frequently, especially during the research period preceding the new hospital construction project. “He was very well-liked and highly respected in and out of [Crossing Rivers Health,]” Connell noted. “He was totally unpretentious. He could explain things well. He was very serious about what he did but you could joke around with him. You can tell there’s kind of a big hole here. He was such a presence all over this whole building.”

For accountant Chris Trentin, who worked with Dave since he started, she’ll never forget one particular time when she was having a bad week. “I just made every mistake imaginable. When I went to apologize, he said, ‘When I stop making mistakes, I’ll expect you to.’ He was always very kind,” she remembered. “He was focused on constant improvement.”

“Dave had a great way about providing context and allowing people to be successful,” recounted Chris Brophy, revenue cycle director. “He had a quiet confidence about him that put people at ease. It didn’t matter who you were and what you needed, he’d help anyone. No one will ever fill the shoes he left.”

Brophy, who knew him professionally as well as personally, reflected further, “There are people who come into your life from whom you can learn how to be or how not to be. Dave will always inspire me how to be. The qualities he had are what I hope lives on a little bit in all of us.”

In consensus, all those from Crossing Rivers Health, who will miss Dave, are grateful for the many lessons he taught them.

“His contributions here were nearly countless. He basically spearheaded the new hospital project. One of his motives was the pride he took in being able to have this community hospital and continue to offer additional services for the vitality of this area,” Brophy stated, “and we’ve seen unparalleled growth because of him.”

Morovits concluded, “He truly was an amazing man—a role model, a teacher, the best boss—and he had the most incredible work ethic. He worked so much it just made everybody want to work hard too.”

According to Trentin, Dave was, to the core, someone whose calling was to have a significant impact on his family, his work and his community. 

“He built such a solid foundation for all of us. He was a giving person to the very end,” Morovits added. 

In fact, Breitbach was an organ donor, whose gifts will have a lasting effect on over 50 individuals. 

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