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G. Fred DiBona, Jr., a son of South Philadelphia who became President and CEO of Independence Blue Cross and a leading force among Philadelphia’s business executives for more than three decades, died January 11th after a courageous fight with cancer. He was 53.
Mr. DiBona’s career in the business of the Philadelphia region was a remarkable combination of public and private service. From untangling the stifling bureaucracy of the city’s zoning board, to invigorating the local Chamber of Commerce, to transforming a struggling health insurance plan into one of the nation’s leading managed care companies, Mr. DiBona gained a reputation as a decisive leader who fearlessly championed-with equal passion-the best interests of his businesses and his community.
A product of Philadelphia’s public schools, he achieved a level of success that gave him access to Presidents, kings even a Pope. But despite numerous opportunities to accept lucrative positions in companies headquartered in other parts of the nation, Mr. DiBona elected to stay here at home, in Philadelphia, and close to the Jersey Shore he loved.
He was, in many ways, a throwback to another time. When Fred DiBona gave his word, he kept it; he had no use for those who did less. He offered unquestioned loyalty to those whom he trusted, and expected loyalty in return. He believed that public officials were to be, above all else, public servants, and that those in the private sector had an equally sacred responsibility to act in the best interests of the community-at-large.
He loved to laugh and to make others laugh with him. Blessed with a crisp sense of timing and hearty sense of humor, his speeches were spiced with jokes and funny observations-most of them impromptu. Many a sleepy board meeting was interrupted by a quip that left the room in laughter (and no one, their title notwithstanding, was exempt from his sharp wit.)
First and foremost, G. Fred DiBona Jr. was a businessman who played to win, and who made things work. During the 15 years in which he led Independence Blue Cross, Mr. DiBona guided his company through nothing less than a complete transformation. He inherited a company with a reputation for outdated products and indifferent customer service, and within a year had reestablished IBC as a competitive force. Local media heralded IBC’s turnaround in customer service, and the company quickly engaged US Healthcare in a fierce battle for membership. Indeed, under Mr. DiBona’s leadership, Independence Blue Cross-the same company that was hemorrhaging members by the thousands each month-increased its revenues from $1.3 billion to nearly $10 billion, and its membership from 2.1 million to nearly 3.5 million members at the close of 2004.
We’ve made a promise to our members, Mr. DiBona often said, to be there when they need us. Keeping The Promise became the Independence Blue Cross mantra; Mr. DiBona placed it squarely at the core of his company’s mission and business strategy.
In addition to expanding its portfolio of managed care benefit plans to include the highly popular Keystone Health Plan East HMO and Personal Choice PPO, IBC under Mr. DiBona become the region’s leading provider of Medicare products, and introduced the first Medicare+Choice PPO in the nation.
Mr. DiBona’s tenure also saw IBC expand beyond Southeastern Pennsylvania. Through a subsidiary, AmeriHealth Inc., IBC introduced managed care products in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, and became a national player in the third-party-administrator business. IBC and AmeriHealth also entered into a 50-50 partnership with the Mercy Health System to market Medicaid products in Pennsylvania and other states across the country.
As the success of Independence Blue Cross grew, so did the national profile of its chief executive. During the mid-1990s, Mr. DiBona served consecutive terms as Chairman of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the country’s largest association of private health insurers. He also is a former member of the Harvard Health Policy and Management Executive Council, a think tank group at the Harvard School of Public Health. His business and management expertise was often sought out by CEOs and leaders of companies and not-for-profit organizations ranging from neighborhood-based organizations to Fortune 500 companies. At the time of his death, Mr. DiBona was serving on the boards of Aqua America Inc. (formerly Philadelphia Suburban Corporation), Crown Holdings, Inc., Exelon Corporation, The GEO Group, Inc. and Tasty Baking Company. In addition, he served on the boards of a number of not-for-profit organizations including the Peter Nero and Philly Pops Board which he chaired.
But for Mr. DiBona, business fortunes only provided one measure of his company’s success; equally important was IBC’s dedication to a Social Mission a commitment to investing IBC’s people and resources in the overall health of the Philadelphia region. For Mr. DiBona, Social Mission took on a variety of forms-from providing 150,000 needy children with health insurance over 15 years through the Caring Foundation, which he founded during his first year at IBC; to granting $6 million in financial assistance to the region’s Charitable Medical Clinics; to encouraging the volunteer efforts of hundreds of IBC Blue Crew members in all manner of worthy causes.
Whatever the initiative, Mr. DiBona insisted that it be designed to have a measurable impact. For example, when IBC decided in 2004 to dedicate funds to address the region’s nursing shortage, Mr. DiBona invited experts on the problem to his office and asked, How can IBC best help? Their answer, he said, surprised him: We need more nursing teachers. We’re turning away nursing students because we need teachers. In response, IBC launched its Nurse Scholars Program, a three-year commitment of $3 million for nursing scholarships. In its first year alone, the program-administered in partnership with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation-provided financial aid to nearly 600 graduate and undergraduate students in nursing or nursing education.
Mr. DiBona believed all good companies commit to giving back to their communities-and he often saluted the leaders of Philadelphia’s business community for their long tradition of giving back. Honoring that tradition, he was a willing and effective fundraiser-as well as benefactor-for a variety of worthy causes. In 1996, he served as Chairman of the annual fund raising campaign of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and was credited with reversing a six-year downward financial slide by raising nearly $50 million. In tribute to the success of this campaign, Mr. DiBona was named United Way CEO of the Year for 1996. In April 2001, his contributions to the overall civic life of the region were recognized with the William Penn Award from the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the highest award given by the business community.
Others also saluted his community work, presenting him with honors that included: in 1995, along with former President George Bush, the National Patriot’s Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society; in 1996, the Thomas Cahill Leadership Award for his efforts in economic development from Roman Catholic High School, and the Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award; in 1997, the Annual Business Leadership Award from LaSalle University; in 1998, the Good Scout award of the Cradle of Liberty Council, Boy Scouts of America; and in 2002, the 95th Annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Leadership Award from the Urban League of Philadelphia.
In December 2003, he was the recipient of the 50th annual Business Leader of the Year award from Drexel University. In accepting the honor before the largest crowd in the award’s history, Mr. DiBona pointed to the legacies of the award’s previous recipients, saying:
How lucky we have been to have business leaders who worked as hard outside their boardrooms as they did inside. Always determined to give back and improve our community’s quality of life. These were leaders who believed in their companies and worked tirelessly, but not just for themselves; these were leaders who sought value for their shareholders, their customers, their workers and their communities.
And like those other business leaders, Mr. DiBona left a mark on the customers he served and the community he loved.
He also had a special relationship with the people he employed. To the nearly 9,000 associates of Independence Blue Cross, he was simply Fred. He greeted them on the elevator, traded opinions about the Eagles and asked about their families. Many are the associates who credited their careers with Fred giving me a chance and many were the occasions when Mr. DiBona credited the associates of IBC for making the company a success. Frequently during his illness, Mr. DiBona thanked the associates of IBC for their outpouring of support and prayers. He said they gave him the strength to continue his fight.
His was a Philadelphia story, through and through. Born in South Philadelphia, G. Fred DiBona, Jr., was the son of a legendary Common Pleas Court Judge, G. Fred DiBona, and the former Rose D’Amico-the woman described by her son as the soul of our family. Following graduation from South Philadelphia High School and Davis and Elkins College, Mr. DiBona gained a law degree from the Delaware School of Law and immediately embarked on a career that, at every stop, left its mark.
Just 25 years old, he assumed the chairmanship of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment, an agency all but paralyzed by a six-month backlog of cases. By the time Mr. DiBona relinquished the job three years later, cases were moving through the board in just 18 days.
His next stop was the Philadelphia Port Corporation, where for three years he served as President. His tenure saw the corporation transform itself from a landlord for riverfront property into a full-service marketing operation.
In 1983, Mr. DiBona assumed the presidency of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and led the business association through the greatest period of growth in its history. In just three years, the Chamber increased its membership from 1,800 businesses to 4,800. In addition, Mr. DiBona was credited with dramatically increasing the organization’s political clout, leading the Chamber’s successful lobbying efforts in Harrisburg to support funding for a new Convention Center in Philadelphia. Even after leaving the chamber in 1986, he maintained a close relationship that included a term as Chairman of the Chamber Board.
In 1986, Mr. DiBona ended speculation that he might be a candidate for mayor by moving into the private sector, where he entered the revolution that was overtaking America’s health care system. Here is how one local newspaper evaluated his decision to join Pennsylvania Blue Shield as president and CEO of the newly-formed HMO, Keystone Health Plan East:
DiBona's decision to move into an entirely new field-health care-could prove to be a stern test of his management abilities. DiBona will find himself a neophyte in a highly complex and competitive area that is changing dramatically on almost a daily basis Keystone Health Plan East will face severe obstacles in its attempts to position itself in this crowded market, according to HMO officials and health-care experts.
Their concerns proved unnecessary. Eventually, in the years following Mr. DiBona’s move to Independence Blue Cross in April 1990, Keystone became a subsidiary of IBC and the leading HMO in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Today it has an enrollment of more than 1.1 million members.
For his part, Mr. DiBona liked to reminisce about the days when Keystone had only four members-he, his wife, Sylvia, and their two children, Fred and Christine. Such was the role of family in Mr. DiBona’s life: they were involved at every level. Whether he was speaking of life in South Philadelphia with his parents, or life in Villanova with Sylvia, Fred and Christine, Mr. DiBona had a ready selection of stories, and he told them in voices ranging from tender to excited to proud. He was a grateful son, a devoted husband, a proud father-and he delighted in telling others how much his family meant to him.
Despite his achievements, Mr. DiBona always seemed more comfortable acknowledging the accomplishments of others. Those who collaborated with him on his speeches learned quickly that the pronoun I was to be used sparingly, if at all. Those who planned promotional campaigns for Independence Blue Cross knew how uneasy it made him to brag about the company’s work in the community. Even in accepting the Drexel’s Business Leader of the Year Award, Mr. DiBona insisted on deflecting the spotlight toward the award’s previous winners. He told his audience:
These were leaders whose companies made this community one of the best places in America to work, but they did more than that. These were leaders whose endless civic contributions made this community one of the best places in America to live.
So on this 50th anniversary, let this not be a tribute to today’s honoree, but let us salute all of these special leaders of the past 49 years.
His efforts notwithstanding, everyone in the audience knew that G. Fred DiBona, Jr., had earned his seat of honor among the leaders he so admired.
In addition to his wife and children, Mr. DiBona is survived by a brother, Dr. Francis DiBona; and two sisters, Emily Presenza and Lynn Parish.
Awards and Recognitions
Business Leader of the Year, Drexel University-2003
Whitney M. Young, Jr. Leadership Award, Urban League of Philadelphia-2002
William Penn Award, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce-2001
Dr. Edward Cooper Award, American Heart Association-2000
Richard J. Caron Foundation Award of Excellence, Caron Foundation 2000
Purple Aster Award, Sons of Italy 1999
Community Leadership Award, Alliance of Italian American Associations 1998
Business Leadership Award, LaSalle University-1997
Good Scout Award of the Cradle of Liberty Council, Boy Scouts of America -1997
CEO of the Year, United Way-1996
Thomas Cahill Leadership Award, Roman Catholic High School-1996
Tree of Life Award, Jewish National Fund-1996
National Patriot's Award, Congressional Medal of Honor Society-1995 |
