John Bartkowski's moxie, heart spurred growth of Milwaukee's 16th St. health centers

With John Bartkowski, there's always a story.

Like the time he was an MP in the U.S. Army, stationed in Europe in the early 1970s. He was scheduled for a game of racquetball and when the appointed hour came, he rapped on the door and told the guy it was time to get off the court. The guy asked Bartkowski, "Do you know who I am?" Bartkowski didn't have a clue.

The next day, Bartkowski was summoned to a four-star general's office. And, wouldn't you know it, the general was the guy Bartkowski had booted off the court. No problem. The general liked Bartkowski's "moxie" and made him a bodyguard.

It's that moxie that has helped Bartkowski be in the right place at the right time. And for the last 30 years, including 27 as president and chief executive officer, his place has been with Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers.

At the end of the month, Bartkowski retires. But he's sure going to leave a legacy.

What started as a small grass-roots organization working out of a storefront on Milwaukee's south side has mushroomed into a vital health resource serving nearly 40,000 patients annually at five locations.

Community health isn't so much a career as a calling. Bartkowski and a staff of 380 provide a medical safety net, serving primarily a Hispanic population. Two-thirds of the patients live in households at or below the federal poverty level.

"You have to have compassion and passion for this stuff," Bartkowski said.

Life experience helps, too. He was trained as a clinical nurse and rose to become director of nursing at the old Family Hospital at N. 27th and W. Wells streets. He was also personable and keenly interested in politics.

When then-Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist sought to reorganize the city's Health Department in the late 1980s, he tabbed Bartkowski to help lead the effort.

The chance to oversee Sixteenth Street Community Health on an interim basis opened in 1990. Bartkowski was already on the board and recalled that taking a leadership role sounded "kind of cool."

At the time, the organization had 45 employees and the area where the Women, Infants & Children Nutrition Program was located needed a lot of work.

He set about expanding the organization's footprint, first at the Chavez Health Center location and then taking over the old Bank One building on S. 16th St. and Greenfield Ave. Not an easy trick to pull off, especially when you're sitting opposite a loan officer in a bank, trying to explain the financials of a non-profit providing community health care.

But he made it work. "A lot of this job is shaking the bushes for money," he said.

Bartkowski remembered one hot summer day when the air conditioners blew out in the clinic. "I needed 50-grand to replace the two units," he said. So he put in a call to John Illingworth, a local heating and air conditioner contractor. He told him about patients waiting in a building where the temperature had risen to 110 degrees. Illingworth responded: "What do you need?" and agreed to replace the units immediately even though Bartkowski didn't have the cash on hand.

Bartkowski contacted Jon Vice, then the chief executive officer at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, and explained the problem. Vice got him the money. Bartkowski said the chief financial officer at Children's Hospital used to joke with him, "Oh, God, lock the door. He's going to walk out with $100,000."

"John has always been dedicated to people who don't have a lot of means. He knew the rules inside and out and he was good at getting federal dollars," Vice said.

Vice said the work at Sixteenth Street and Children's Hospital was complementary.

"He helped us with our reimbursement for certain patients. So if I could help him stay afloat and stay in business, it helped Children's, John and the patients," Vice said.

Bartkowski said that in running the organization, there are good years and bad years, but the trick is to put away money for lean times and keep everything on an even keel. He points with pride to the organization's lead prevention program as well as taking the lead early on to spur redevelopment of the Menomonee Valley.

Sixteenth Street has planned well for the leadership transition. Julie Schuller, who has been with the organization for 20 years, most recently as executive vice president, was picked by the board to move into the top job after Bartkowski's retirement.

"I know I stand on big shoulders," said Schuller, an internist who still recalls one of her first patients at the clinic, a street vendor who suffered complications from diabetes.

"Sixteenth Street is the best place to get health care in the world," she said. "We have passionate people who take care of grateful patients."

Schuller lauded Bartkowski as a keen strategist and a hands-off boss.

Bartkowski said the thing they have in common is an ability to see the big picture.

"We weren't buried in the weeds," he said. "She studies stuff. I'm more of a seat-of-the-pants guy. She'll do a great job. She's passionate about this place."