David Shade has had a successful 40-year career in healthcare consulting. He helped form Wellspring Partners in 2000 to focus specifically on implementing results for hospital clients. In 2006, Huron Consulting Group acquired Wellspring, allowing Shade to bring in more resources. Today at age 70, Shade still spends 80% of his time with clients and has no plans to retire, enjoying the challenges of helping healthcare systems improve performance and stay competitive.

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The Top 25 Consultants of 2008: David Shade of Huron Consulting Group 6 / 4 / 2008
E-Mail If you’ve had a positive experience at a hospital lately, you might want
to thank David Shade. Over the past nearly 40 years, Shade has
worked with 50 percent of the U.S.’s largest healthcare systems.
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Shade’s route to consulting was a little unconventional. First he studied
to get his MBA, and upon the program’s completion, received an
RANKINGS unwelcome surprise: a draft notice. Shade spent three years in the
» Best Firms to Work For 2009 military, from 1967 to 1970. “I was shocked when I got back. The whole
» The Best Places to Stay, 2009 world had changed. And I was way behind. I had a lot of catching up to
do.”
» Seven Small Jewels 2009: The
Hidden Gems of the Profession
But Shade didn’t just catch up—he got ahead. He joined Ernst & Young
» View all in its healthcare division, where he made partner in 10 years. After 20
years in the profession, he struck out on his own for a while. Then in
INTERVIEWS 2000, he and a few other colleagues created Wellspring Partners. With
» One on One with Accenture's Wellspring, Shade was able to have more control over the kind of
David McCurley projects he and his colleagues took on.
» Consulting One on One with
Romil Bahl “We formed Wellspring,” he says, “because we wanted to operate
» One on One with OMNI's Frank differently with our clients. We wanted to have a firm that was focused
Bernhard totally on serving hospitals, and we wanted to have a very significant
» Out of Office: Roz Savage impact on their affairs, and we wanted to focus on implementing results.
And in our prior times in the consulting business, we always studied things. We did a lot of studies, [but] we never
» View all
had the opportunity to implement.”
CONSULTING MAGAZINE
UPCOMING EVENTS Then a little less than two years ago, Huron Consulting Group’s CEO Gary Holdren saw the value in Wellspring,
Consulting Firm Leadership and the firm subsequently joined the Huron ranks. Shade says he couldn’t be happier with Huron’s decision.
Roundtable 2010 - Chicago - May “Huron has deeper pockets [and] access to capital [so] we can build resources faster, we can invest in more
4, 2010 senior people, and we can do this with confidence,” he says.
Consulting Summit - Adapting to Shade says he spends about 80 percent of his time with clients, who he classifies in three groups. For those in
Market Realities - May 5, 2010 the first group, which Shade defines as being in crisis mode, “we basically come in and help them turn their
» View all operation around. Those tend to be very challenging.”
The other two groups are more proactive when they reach out to Shade’s team. There are those looking to
improve performance, Shade says, and then there are the large hospital systems and academic medical centers
looking to stay on top. “We’re focused on getting on the same page with the client, understanding what the issues
are, putting together an implementation program and then working with them to see the results through to the
end,” he says, regardless of which group a client falls into.
Today, Shade says, Huron is focused on bringing in younger talent. “We have a lot of people who join us at
Wellspring who are just like I was in 1970,” he says. “We’re making more and more opportunities here for younger
people to join us, so that’s a good thing.”
However, life is not all work and no play for Shade, who is an avid boater and wine and coin collector. Boating
provides him ample time to spend with his family, he says.
And though Shade has had a long and successful career, he says he has no plans to throw in the towel just yet.
“This is not old hat after 30 years. It’s never been better. We’re excited, and we’re enthusiastic.”
—Jacqueline Durett
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