Latest / Conservation Stories / The Heart of UMC: Healthcare, Stewardship, and Serving a Region

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The Heart of UMC: Healthcare, Stewardship, and Serving a Region · Conservation Stories

• 0:08
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• 1:01
  Speaker B: Hello, friends. This is Hillary Timmons Sims. Back again with you for another episode of Conservation Stories. Conservation Stories is brought to you by the Sand Hill Area Research Association. And I am so excited, as always, we have the most amazing guest today. We have Mark Funterberk with us. And Mark is with umc. Not just with umc, he is umc. I don't know if that's exactly how you would give yourself. You would tie.
• 1:30
  Speaker C: All right. It's quite all right. I'm privileged to be here. I'm the president and CEO of UMC. I've been there for almost 35 years, and I've been CEO for about nine years.
• 1:42
  Speaker B: Yeah, I. I read an article, an interview on the Baptist Standard.
• 1:47
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
• 1:49
  Speaker B: That was really a while back.
• 1:50
  Speaker A: Yes. Yeah.
• 1:51
  Speaker B: That was really good.
• 1:53
  Speaker C: Appreciate that. It was a pleasure to do that as well.
• 1:55
  Speaker B: Yeah, we were reminiscing while ago. So you. You married a Brownfield girl?
• 2:01
  Speaker C: I did. I married Cynthia Noble from Brownfield. Who, you know her family and. Yes. And so we both met at Baylor.
• 2:10
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 2:10
  Speaker C: Back in the day.
• 2:11
  Speaker B: I wondered about that.
• 2:12
  Speaker C: Back in the day, we met at Baylor. I'm from Louisiana, she's from Brownfield, met at Baylor. And then we ended up, over the course of next three or four years, we ended up in Brownfield for a couple of years.
• 2:23
  Speaker B: What were you doing there?
• 2:24
  Speaker C: Well, her dad, Bill and his brother Bob.
• 2:29
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 2:29
  Speaker C: You know them? They had an insurance agency, and Bill was a real estate appraiser, and I was in the insurance business in Dallas. And so I moved to Brownfield to kind of work with him in real estate appraisal. And then Cynthia and I both decided we wanted to go to tech to get our master's okay. And I was contemplating, she did hers first and then I decided to get mine. And I wanted an mba. And I was really discovering what I wanted to invest my time in or what would be best for me. And about that time, lo and behold, much to my surprise, I was diagnosed with cancer. And I was a young man, didn't have children yet, and so went through treatment and surgery and drug therapy and all that. And I'm fine. Of course, I was fine. You know, I was a young man. But it led me to realize healthcare is my place, healthcare is my calling. I never looked back. It led me to UMC as a fellow or an intern really. And I've been there ever since.
• 3:35
  Speaker B: Yeah. So you started. You've been all the way up from
• 3:38
  Speaker C: the bottom of the intern who didn't know anything to the CEO who knows a little bit more, maybe not much, but a little bit more. So it's been a great, great place for me and we've loved being in Lubbock raising family here. So it's been nice.
• 3:51
  Speaker B: That is really, really neat. And you got a son.
• 3:54
  Speaker C: We have a son who lives in North Carolina with his fiance. And so we're looking forward to a wedding next year.
• 4:01
  Speaker B: Oh, that changes a lot of things.
• 4:02
  Speaker C: It does, it does. So we're very blessed.
• 4:05
  Speaker B: Yeah, that's really great. Well, it's really nice to have somebody that you know, is long term committed, you know, and explains a lot about the commitment UMC has to.
• 4:18
  Speaker C: Absolutely. We are very mission minded. The mission of UMC has not changed since it started in 1978. We're almost 50 years, which is pretty amazing. And so our mission is really about the people of Lubbock county and beyond charity, of course, we don't turn people away. We are a charitable organization. And then man, our partner with Texas Tech is so incredible. We train Tamara's healthcare professionals. Right. So as a conservator, we want to make sure we can serve healthcare here. So if you train them here, some of them will stay here. That's the great thing about being an academic medical center. And then lastly, we've got to have stewardship. Some would call it financial prosperity. I'm going to call it stewardship. We've got to have that because if we don't, we really can't continue this pretty expensive mission.
• 5:17
  Speaker B: No, it's so true. And I mean we talk a lot in sustainability in terms of sustainability. So you know what we've, I think what people in and truly the way then like what you would think of as the Environmental movement started with one, only one singular goal in mind, which was how do we save X, how do we save this, how do we save this species? Or which are, you know, good goals, but often at the expense of other things. Which means it's not sustainable.
• 5:53
  Speaker C: Right.
• 5:54
  Speaker B: It can't be sustained. And so we, we take that triple bottom line model where it's, you know, if it impacts people and the planet.
• 6:04
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 6:04
  Speaker B: You know, and profit, prosperity.
• 6:07
  Speaker C: Right.
• 6:07
  Speaker B: That Venn diagram. So we're all. That's. Then that is where the word sustainability becomes something of meaning.
• 6:13
  Speaker C: Absolutely. And that means a great deal to us as well. If I don't have as much as I love Lubbock, not everybody wants to be here, you know, to move here, maybe out of medical school or something. And so, man, if we don't have the talent, the people that want that kind of vision and want to be a part of our mission for healthcare, then we really have a problem. So it's our job to create. It's our job to create a sustainable culture. I can put it that way. A sustainable culture at UMC Health System to where people want to be there. They want to give up their heart and soul and their hands to the patients we serve and do that year over year, decade over decade. That's what builds trust. Right. In an organization. So we've got to be sustainable.
• 7:04
  Speaker A: And.
• 7:04
  Speaker C: And that always starts with talent first because talented people always have an option.
• 7:10
  Speaker B: Right. Well, and you know, it also overlaps because people, you know, there's study after study that shows that the environment people live in, it impacts.
• 7:23
  Speaker C: Absolutely.
• 7:24
  Speaker B: Has a complete, I mean, really correlates to their health. And. But also people don't want to stay somewhere that's miserable.
• 7:32
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 7:32
  Speaker B: You know, and that's why, you know, I worry some about, look, we don't have any. We're not building green spaces right out here.
• 7:39
  Speaker C: Right.
• 7:39
  Speaker B: We have eight parks and recs maintenance workers for Lubbock. You know, and these things are, you know, it just never has been a priority for our area. They're harder to maintain here than they are in other places.
• 7:52
  Speaker C: And you see that your neighborhoods, et cetera. Yes, that whether it's a green space or an internal space, people want to feel like they have a safe space, even a space to get away. In fact, in the hospital we have what we call replenishment lounges. Because I can be honest with you, since 2020, when Covid started and then it evaporated a bit. Not totally, but a bit. The expectations of people are different and the mindset and mental health needs of people are totally different. And I don't mean just Gen Zs versus Millennial, versus me, a baby boomer. I mean, really, people that are working in healthcare today, they've got to feel like they have somebody has their back, that the place is safe and what you want to do. And this doesn't. I don't mean to make this sound very light hearted, but you really want to bring joy in the workplace. You must to keep people and keep them resolute for the, for the work at hand. You must bring joy in the workplace and you've got to drive out whatever misery might be there. And so you. We have replenishment lounges and we have full time counselors that do nothing but have open office hours for our employees. Because Covid cast a shadow on the healthcare environment and that shadow remains for some. And so we've got to be there to make sure they're resilient and their mental well being, which I was concerned about before COVID but now it's a whole different priority. If you don't focus on that in a real, tangible, invested way, I think your employees will perhaps just not be able to give you that last bit of discretionary energy that sometimes you have to have.
• 9:44
  Speaker B: You know, it's interesting because I think Covid brought about changes because people, people kind of aren't willing to necessarily just give all to the man.
• 9:59
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 10:00
  Speaker B: They're not, they're not going to do that anymore.
• 10:02
  Speaker C: That's not. There's, there's really a work life balance.
• 10:06
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 10:07
  Speaker C: Which is some, for some, non negotiable.
• 10:09
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 10:10
  Speaker C: And for a baby boomer, I'm like, you know, you work to get the work done and life balance means you retire one day. That's kind of my life balance.
• 10:17
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 10:18
  Speaker C: No, no, that's different now. And we have to acknowledge that it is. And so the workplace, I don't consider myself now just the CEO or president. You're now really the nurturer and the sustainer. And you've got to perhaps even if their life is not what they want at home, you've got to make sure you're bringing joy in the workplace at work.
• 10:43
  Speaker B: Right. The work. And work is a safe place.
• 10:45
  Speaker C: Yes. And there's got to be a lot of well healed training and gratitude. In fact, just this week, literally just this week, this is not by accident, we had a speaker come in, which we do frequently, and this speaker's name was Zach Mercurio and he wrote a book Called the joy of mattering. Mattering. Now, mattering is a word that you didn't hear maybe 20 years ago, but now mattering is a word.
• 11:15
  Speaker B: Well, language always evolves, and it evolves.
• 11:17
  Speaker C: And the word mattering means, do I feel a actual connection? Your job may matter, but do you feel like you matter in it? And that's the question he had for us this week. And so, as we begin to further align ourselves with a positive, strong culture environment, the narrative is changing and the words are changing, and we've got to get on board with those. So it's an interesting evolution. Yeah.
• 11:47
  Speaker B: But I think it's a good one, though.
• 11:49
  Speaker C: I agree.
• 11:50
  Speaker B: You know, I asked my husband the other day, I was like, who did decide we were supposed to work 40 hours a week? I mean, I've never thought about, like, that. We have a whole structure.
• 12:01
  Speaker C: Right.
• 12:02
  Speaker B: That's built out of. From decades ago.
• 12:05
  Speaker C: Right.
• 12:06
  Speaker B: And it came out of what's not best for my employees, but what's best for my corporation. What's best for the bottom line and
• 12:14
  Speaker C: the outputs that you're desiring.
• 12:16
  Speaker B: Exactly. Right. Yeah, I remember. I have a favorite preacher. He's. He passed away from cancer a few years ago. Tim Keller. He's New York preacher, and he talks about a lot about, you know, how when we try to maximize profits at the expense of everything else, you know, he's like, maybe it's not maximizing profits, and if we don't. And that might mean we pay our employees more and maybe our product costs less, you know, but. Which is a completely foreign idea.
• 12:53
  Speaker C: It is in our world and especially perhaps in healthcare. And this is just the way it is. If you're in a for profit.
• 13:00
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 13:00
  Speaker C: Or somebody else is governing your outputs and the expectations.
• 13:04
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 13:05
  Speaker C: Gratefully, thank God we are a community hospital, a public hospital. Yes. We're responsible to our county. But I'm awfully glad to say we've never, ever had a layoff. And we've just been really able to, if I can put it this way, use the culture for the benefit of the patients. So patients and employees feel like this is a good place to work. It's a good place to receive care. And out of that grows good outcomes. Right. Good quality, good outcomes, and then loyalty and trust and all those things that every business really wants. But it's awfully hard to sometimes solidify all that.
• 13:44
  Speaker B: Yeah, that's. I think that the. This whole idea of. Of how we work and the morality that we've attached to our work and our work ethic Is, I think, really deep rooted, especially like. Yeah. In, in more older generations. Yes, yes. And it's not as linked to, you know, and it may just be this, you know, kind of a. How you kind of swing the pendulum swings, but definitely I see younger generations, like their, their moral compass is not. It doesn't. The sun is not work.
• 14:29
  Speaker C: Right, right, exactly. It's not quite as traditionally based.
• 14:32
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 14:32
  Speaker C: What mom and dad did is not perhaps as attractive.
• 14:35
  Speaker B: Right.
• 14:36
  Speaker C: And so, yeah, the workplace has to then be a lot of things other than just work.
• 14:40
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 14:41
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 14:41
  Speaker C: It's got to be a place of joy and a place of safety and a place of training and gratitude. You would be surprised. Maybe you're not. When I, when I do studies on the workplace today and what it means to keep our employees engaged, there is a lot written on this Power of gratitude, scientific power of race retaining engaged employees based on how much gratitude they feel and hear in the workplace. Now, my mom would have said that's just a nice thing to do. That's just good manners. Say thank you. Well, now gratitude is scientifically proven. If it's given appropriately, with a reason, and it's tied to something bigger than they are perhaps, and so they can connect the dots between your work and the, the output of your work, then gratitude just has an enormous value and it's free. You know what I mean? It's not. It just. But it has to be practiced and it's, it's, it takes the knowing. It takes a knowing of what's happening around you.
• 15:44
  Speaker B: But gratitude shows that they are mattering
• 15:47
  Speaker C: absolutely 100% and it puts those words into practice.
• 15:52
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 15:53
  Speaker C: And so again, Covid opened our eyes to all of this.
• 15:56
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 15:57
  Speaker C: Not to mention the fact that after Covid, we then had a ransomware attack, you know, a couple years ago. And then just, what, last year we were at the epicenter of the measles outbreak. So it's really not been anything but one opportunity after another to prove that what we think we know is actually working.
• 16:14
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so interesting. I just, I, you know, I think that, I mean, as, as we look at rural west Texas. So I, I'm not sure how many people that live in Lubbock are aware of how impacted their day to day life is by the people that don't live in Lubbock.
• 16:35
  Speaker C: Oh, yes.
• 16:36
  Speaker B: That the places that we eat and shop are making decisions based on the people you get mad at in the loop because they don't turn on their blinker.
• 16:46
  Speaker C: That's right. That's Right.
• 16:48
  Speaker B: Like, it's the folks that are coming from outside of Lubbock have a huge impact. And what happens in their communities really does impact us.
• 17:01
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 17:02
  Speaker B: And how do you see that connection that you guys. I mean, you obviously have a vision for more than I see that at umc. So similar to I was in Amarillo, this is several years ago, and the mayor then said, we don't see ourselves as a city, we see ourselves as a region. And we've taken even into New Mexico. And I thought that. Is that it? I mean, what a great way to think of it. And I see that. That kind of is what I see with umc.
• 17:36
  Speaker C: Umc, it's grown over the years. Our. We will receive around 9,400 transfers this year from communities. And here's the deal. And Dr. Griswold told me this, who was our former chair of bern center for 30 years. Our catchment area for certain services for Lubbock, Texas, for umc, is roughly the size of the country of France. Now, that means I'm getting patients from Oklahoma, southern Colorado, all of West Texas, practically two thirds of New Mexico, and then down even into a bit of the Valley. Because if you're the only Level 1 trauma between Dallas and Albuquerque, and if you're the only burn center between Dallas and Phoenix, well, then when something happens and there are many patients that have been injured, whether it's oil field or agricultural or whatever there are, they're looking for a bed. And so we get patients from all over the region. And when I'm out visiting with smaller hospitals, their CEOs, whether it's new Mexico or Texas or whatever, and we get patients from 50 to 60 different hospitals, what they want to know is, can I get in? Can I depend on you? Is it easy to get in? And when I'm filling up on certain days and I have to deny transfers and they have to go somewhere else because I don't have enough beds because the Lubbock's growing. Right. And so as those things are happening, we are. We're very much trying to be as efficient as possible, so we can say yes more often. But it's a big catchment area. The cancer center, as an example, which just opened, you know, two weeks ago, they will receive patients from all over the region because where else are you going to go if you need cancer care? It's very hard to deliver that type of care in a small community. And so when people ask me sometimes, why does Lubbock get such large amounts of health care? Well, why does Lubbock get large amounts of people coming to shop here and to eat here and to enjoy. This is a hub, right? It's a hub. And so we are a medical hub as well as a economic hub. And I'll tell you something interesting. We just did a study by the Perryman Group in Waco, and that's an economic analysis group. Ray Perryman, he does this all over the state. He works for tech and he does a lot of analysis. And he said that Lubbock, UMC, specifically the operations of UMC, contribute. Right. At $1.3 billion to the economy of Lubbock.
• 20:27
  Speaker B: I can believe that.
• 20:28
  Speaker C: Well, you think about. And then about 12,000 jobs. Well, I don't have 12,000 employees, but I'm using employees who work elsewhere to support UMC and to support our patients. So the long arms of a big organization reach reach quite far. And so we're looking at that. And it's. It's rather extraordinary how many small communities depend on Lubbock.
• 20:52
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 20:53
  Speaker C: And. And we want them to, frankly. We want them to do as much healthcare in their community as possible. Do as much as you can. And then you come to Lubbock because, man, oh, man, if a small community loses its health care, especially those that are really close to Lubbock, if they lose that, then you really lose a great sense of your prosperity.
• 21:13
  Speaker B: Right. No, it's so true. What advice. What advice do you have for a community like that who's got a hospital and they're struggling?
• 21:21
  Speaker C: That's right. My advice first is to the individuals who live there. Seek and find a primary provider, whether it be an md, a DO or a nurse practitioner. You find one that you can relate to and let them be your source. You don't have to come to Lubbock for those types of things. You can let them be your source of referral. They'll determine where you need to go. Let them be your prescription authority. Let them be the provider of care for your family. You don't have to come to Lubbock just because, well, I don't know them or I don't trust them. Find somebody in your community and build up those local providers. They want to do the work and they're living in your town for a reason. Right. And so we want that. Secondly, any way possible, you can support your local hospital, whether it's Brownfield, Denver City, Clovis, wherever it is. Any way possible, you can do that as a local business. They need it. They need it. They don't have perhaps all the resources naturally, that A larger hospital can perhaps just not have. But some of the. Just a little bit comfort room we have when we go through a difficulty like Covid or ransomware attack, we have some reserves set aside. Not a great deal, but we have some. Right. More resilience. And so I really think supporting the local providers in a small town, smaller town, excuse me, is just incredibly important.
• 22:56
  Speaker B: So, you know, my, my fourth child, be my fourth C section was born in Seminole.
• 23:04
  Speaker C: Okay.
• 23:05
  Speaker B: And we chose there because we had no insurance. And, and at that time, he's hate to admit he's in his late 20s and he is he. So nobody at that time, nobody knew what to do with people that were cash paid.
• 23:23
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 23:23
  Speaker A: That's right.
• 23:23
  Speaker B: And you couldn't like even like just say, just tell us how much is it going to be? No one could say.
• 23:28
  Speaker C: Yeah, that's right. That's right.
• 23:29
  Speaker B: But Seminole could say yes, and, and we could afford that.
• 23:33
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 23:33
  Speaker B: And so we were able to. And there was no nursery.
• 23:36
  Speaker C: Right.
• 23:36
  Speaker B: He stayed at the nurse's station, you know, and. But the doctor that delivered him was by far and away my favorite doctor.
• 23:45
  Speaker C: Absolutely.
• 23:46
  Speaker B: And he got there because Seminole paid his medical school in exchange for him to come. And I don't know if he's still there or not, but he was happy and raising his kids there at that time, you know, and I mean, it was such a good experience. Here's my cell phone. And in fact, I saw a note one day at his. He said, the next time you do not give one of my patients my cell phone number when they call, I'm going to fire you.
• 24:12
  Speaker C: Oh, wow. Wow.
• 24:13
  Speaker B: He was like, you're in big trouble.
• 24:15
  Speaker C: He's loyal to the community very well. Here's a great story about that. So I'm going to Seminole tomorrow.
• 24:21
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 24:21
  Speaker C: We go out and do rounds on the communities that we serve and I'm going to see them tomorrow. And there's a lot of business in Seminole.
• 24:31
  Speaker B: Oh yeah.
• 24:32
  Speaker C: And there's. And so here's an example for you. So a newborn baby is born in Seminole and perhaps they need neonatal intensive care unit. Well, the nurses in those communities have to know how to handle those babies before they can get here to a neonatal intensive care unit. So we have training, we go out to communities and we are training nurses on high risk pregnancy on neonatal care. And they don't pay for this. We just go out and do it. We train on burn and trauma because when they arrive in those small communities. Is it an hour, is it 2? Hours. How fast can you get to where you need to go and which doctor has to make that determination? And so we. We are out in the communities all the time doing all kind of training with a specialty, trained individuals. Right.
• 25:25
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 25:25
  Speaker C: And so they're doing that. And one of the best ways we're doing training right now, which I think is a wonderful thing, is our EMS here in Lubbock. Our EMS does stop the bleeding training in schools all over the community because, well, schools are required to have a plan and we don't really charge for it, but they're. And it's unfortunate. Sad thing. We have to talk about this. I know, but they are in schools and they are making sure that teachers at least have the basic information on what they might need, you know, as a preparatory event.
• 26:01
  Speaker B: I mean, those kids are doing those active shooter drills.
• 26:04
  Speaker C: Absolutely.
• 26:04
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 26:05
  Speaker C: But the small communities depend on us and we talk to them to find out, what do you need? What kind of training would you need to help you keep what you got, be prepared and then send to us when you need to. That's really the goal we have.
• 26:20
  Speaker B: Right, right. That's so. I love that. That's, you know, in anything that people can do to stay. Stay home. I know in Brownfield, you know, just when people were older and going through the dying process.
• 26:36
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 26:37
  Speaker B: To have a place for them.
• 26:39
  Speaker C: Right.
• 26:40
  Speaker B: You know, where the family didn't have to come.
• 26:41
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 26:42
  Speaker B: And go to Lubbock.
• 26:43
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 26:43
  Speaker B: You know, and I mean, you know, there's an also. Hospice, of course, can be part of that process. But I know that I've seen that several times, you know, where not just their family, but people that they've known their entire lives.
• 26:57
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 26:58
  Speaker B: Can come.
• 26:58
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 26:59
  Speaker B: And say goodbye.
• 27:00
  Speaker C: That's right. It's what's needed and it's appropriate closure. And it brings community stronger and together and, you know, all those things that you want in a smaller, smaller area.
• 27:09
  Speaker B: Yeah. Well, it's a. And we, you know, it is a huge region and I don't think I even realized how far for you guys the region goes.
• 27:22
  Speaker C: And that's really. Because you've got things that simply aren't that common. There's not that many burn centers in the country. So if you're going to invest in a burn center, burn surgeons, burn intensivists, burn burn or's all those things you have to have, you just can't do those in every city. Right, right. And so you're gonna.
• 27:43
  Speaker B: So those are Gonna be somewhat infrequent, like those kind of things. So you have a cancer center now you have the burn center. Like, I don't think I realized that that was like, so unique. I know very.
• 27:54
  Speaker C: I mean, I'm probably the things that are most known about UMC over the years. Goodness. All the way back almost the beginning. So of course we have ems, right. And so that serves the entire county. We're one of the very, very, very few hospitals actually owns their own ems.
• 28:10
  Speaker B: Well, let me story. Yes, I had a allergic reaction like maybe two, almost two years ago, went into anaphylactic shock. And I mean, I would have died without the Ms. And not only that, I got a bill I could pay for. Without insurance. Yes, I got a bill I could afford and was like, I am happy to pay this bill.
• 28:34
  Speaker C: Right.
• 28:34
  Speaker B: Because it makes sense to me.
• 28:37
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 28:37
  Speaker B: That this is what it should cost.
• 28:39
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 28:40
  Speaker B: And I, I didn't want to cry. I think about it because I'm just, you know, really grateful, you know, not just that the service was there and so they knew what they were doing.
• 28:52
  Speaker C: They are so brilliant. They're one of the only. They're one of only like 48ambulance services in the world that are doubly designated and certified for both the person doing the work at the home where you were doing the actual paramedic work, and then also the person at the dispatch who's taking all the phone calls every day, determining where to send the ambulances. My own wife had an accident at home about three years ago and I saw EMS and in action in my living room. And it's an amazing thing. They do a great work. They were 50 years old last year. They started two years before the hospital even opened. But they're also, it's totally funded by umc. Most cities, Dallas, El Paso, Austin, EMS is paid for by some municipality.
• 29:42
  Speaker B: No, that's, that's what surprised me.
• 29:44
  Speaker C: It's funded 100% by UMC and we pay the loss on it. But they are, man, they just do a remarkable, remarkable job. I just can't say enough about them. So beyond ems, you've got level one trauma, and that's of course there are limited of those around the country. And that means we would handle and be referred the most complex, difficult trauma cases. Right. You hear that on the news, et cetera. What comes to us, what, oil field accidents, what injuries, et cetera. And then level one burn that defines UMC beyond those three. Yes. There's a brand new cancer center. We have a very highly rated neonatal intensive care, ors, et cetera. So there's many great things, but the things that probably have defined UMC the most over the years would be burn level one trauma, and now cancer, and of course, children's. The children's hospital.
• 30:39
  Speaker B: Yeah. Wow. And that's amazing. So looking down the road, what do you see? What do you think we need to be looking at and investing in and. And thinking about?
• 30:52
  Speaker C: Well, that's a wonderful, wonderful question. I believe you mentioned something a minute ago how Amarillo kind of visions themselves. I don't think Lubbock sees themselves as the size of city they are. I think there is a great ownership and pride in Lubbock that we're going to do this ourselves and we're going to make sure this happens. We're going to have as least amount of taxes as possible. And that all sounds wonderful, but we're going to hit 500,000 people in a matter of years. And I have got to have. I've got to have a larger footprint. I've got to have more ER beds, more urgent care beds, and those are working four fantastically. I've got to have more hospital beds. And so I'm going to be visiting with my county commissioners about, okay, what are we going to invest in to make sure Lubbock is ready for growth and not. It approaches us by surprise. And all of a sudden, well, why are we having to send patients away? I'm already sending some patients away. And so we've got to be very, very strongly aligned on the cost of investment, regardless of whether that increases the tax rate or not. What is the cost of being ready? So our children and their children have hospital health care at the ready right when they need it.
• 32:15
  Speaker B: Yes. You know, so I been doing a deep dive into the budget. Just.
• 32:23
  Speaker C: Oh, okay.
• 32:23
  Speaker B: Out of curiosity, because, you know, you hear things and I'm like, but is it actually true? You know, people are mad because this happened.
• 32:34
  Speaker C: Sure.
• 32:34
  Speaker B: This is this. And, you know, and so I've just thought, I probably need to figure this out for myself if this is actually true. And yeah, there are some weird search. Weirdness. I will say that. Well, but like, I. At the same time, I'm like, I am. We have a tendency to think that being a conservative means that we never spend money.
• 33:01
  Speaker C: Yes, ma'.
• 33:02
  Speaker B: Am. And. And the fact is that that actually lends us to a situation like where we are with our water.
• 33:08
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 33:10
  Speaker B: We have not been thoughtful in where. Why, where should this money be going? And like, honestly, I saw someone complaining about Their water bill in Amarillo on Facebook the other day. And I was like, you know, the time of cheap water, almost free water is quickly coming to an end.
• 33:31
  Speaker C: That's true.
• 33:32
  Speaker B: And you know, I know that my brother pays a lot in Wolfworth for his water. You know, it's. It's probably double what it is and love it. Well, that's, that's going to be the reality for most of us, you know, and the fact is, is that y' all are serving, you know, people that are like, like us that don't carry insurance.
• 33:51
  Speaker C: Right.
• 33:52
  Speaker B: Or people that, you know, are falling in the cracks and they can't, or you're not actually getting reimbursed for the actual cost of your services because of the, the cuts on a national level. And so I, I know that there's ongoing issues and I hope that we in this region don't cut off our nose to spot our face. You know what I mean?
• 34:18
  Speaker C: Sure, I know what you mean. I don't think the intent of having minimal tax is a bad intent. Nobody wants to spend money foolishly at all. But growth is growth. And when Lubbock grows, we've got to be ready. We've got to be prepared for the needs of our community.
• 34:39
  Speaker B: Also, I think it's, you know, what kind of growth do we want? Because I know if you look at economic development, those small businesses are the things that really are the things that invest the most. I mean, they matter the most to our communities. And I see a lot of times, you know, places are like growth at any cost.
• 35:02
  Speaker C: Right.
• 35:02
  Speaker B: And that, that's not. And I do appreciate, I read an article about the data centers and how they're looking at them and they're being more strategic and not going come, we
• 35:11
  Speaker C: don't care, just come.
• 35:12
  Speaker B: You know, there's none of that and I really appreciate that.
• 35:16
  Speaker C: There's something that I want to mention to you and I do talk about this to small businesses, especially if you're a small business in Lubbock and you are, let's say you have insurance for your employees, but it's self funded.
• 35:29
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 35:29
  Speaker C: You don't have a plan, you just pay for it yourself. And so we have done something in the last about three years that I think has just been pretty remarkable and I'm just really blessed by it. We opened up Lubbock's first 247 urgent care clinics. Now when I say that, what I mean is the ER is a busy place and you could wait hours and hours in any busy ER. However, about 60% of people who are in the ER today are not emergent.
• 36:01
  Speaker B: Right.
• 36:02
  Speaker C: But they're hurting and they're distressed and they don't know where to go and they don't have insurance or they don't have a Doctor or it's 2 o' clock in the morning on a Saturday morning. Right. And so the urgent care clinics were built to offload the non emergent business. Well, we've built two of them now and they're going to see 80,000 people this year. 80,000 people because number one, the wait time is around 57 minutes on average. Yep. It's far cheaper than the cheapest bill in any er and it's available and it's accessible. There's one by the hospital and there's one out in Southwest. And I'm saying that because we added up. What does this mean then to the consumer? Perhaps somebody who owns a business? Well, the savings we calculated to be around $15 million a year to either self funded payment plans or, or to patients. It's $15 million cheaper to do that versus to go to an expensive ER for non emergent care. And so when you start trying to put things in that perspective, you are in fact helping a small business. You're helping somebody that perhaps, obviously is going to have an emergent need at some point, but perhaps they won't have to do a full ER visit if it's not perhaps at that level. So, so there's some things, you know, between that and between EMS and between not having any tax increase. We've been at the no new revenue rate for 13 of the last 16 years. So we have tried to be. Well, frankly, we have been gratefully very good stewards of the dollars we receive. We receive around $36 million in taxes. And our unfunded bill, if I can call it that, unfunded, those that we are absorbing the cost of their care because there's no resources. There is about 106 million. And so you've got to be really innovative.
• 38:05
  Speaker B: Please go back and say that again.
• 38:06
  Speaker C: Okay, so the taxes we receive are around 36 million.
• 38:10
  Speaker B: I thought you were saying. I thought maybe you meant 366 million.
• 38:14
  Speaker C: And the cost of care for unfunded individuals, who is our mission right. Is about 106 million. Now the reason for that, we're conservative, Lubbock's conservative. We've been in the habit of this for quite some time. My budget is around a billion dollars to run the entire organization, almost 6,000 employees, 800 doctors, et cetera. We have great partners With Texas Tech. But that's my budget. $1 billion. Only 3.7% of my budget comes from taxes, not even 4%. So if I compare myself in Lubbock, this community that we love, if I compare Lubbock to every other public hospital, Midland, Odessa, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, the average in those communities is almost 22%. I'm at 3.7, they're at 22. So we are grateful for every dollar we get. But it's not what I would call particularly sustainable into the future. As inflation and the cost of care and the cost and the aging of America happens, we are going to need more public support from our commissioner's court. And we're having those conversations because 3.7% simply is. It's admirable. But I can't say it's particularly sustainable.
• 39:39
  Speaker B: You know, I always think there's got to be. There's got to be. You know, you look at the hotel tax, sure. For people that come in, you know, that's not. It's not much. People are paying. It adds up.
• 39:54
  Speaker C: It does add up.
• 39:55
  Speaker B: It adds up, you know, and I always think about that in terms of, like, how do we add, you know, how do we value those pennies? You know what I mean? That can add up over. Over the years, you know what I mean?
• 40:08
  Speaker C: Because it's the. It's a multiplier effect.
• 40:10
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 40:10
  Speaker C: Of those dollars you receive this year into the coming years. Right. And so that's why, even if it's a moderate or small amount, it helps you grow for the future, because you don't know what the next pandemic will do to you or perhaps the next outbreak or whatever the case is.
• 40:30
  Speaker B: Well, and also, you guys need investing, too, in. In, like, things that the community should be investing in. Things that are preventative.
• 40:38
  Speaker C: Absolutely.
• 40:38
  Speaker B: Show that, you know. You know, we spend a lot of money on, of course, police and, like. Well. Well, more. A lot more, yes. Than most cities our size. And it's still. We're still like half. Half staff.
• 40:55
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 40:55
  Speaker B: For police force, you know, and so. But I'm like, well, are there things that we're doing that could be preventing some crime? You know, are there ways that we can invest in areas that are proven to work?
• 41:09
  Speaker C: So some of the things we're doing right now, and I'm really so pleased about this, we have a care coordination group that does nothing. But these are RNs. They are working with patients who are perhaps new to diabetes. Okay. My life is changing. I've been diagnosed. How do I Grapple with this. How do I change my life, my diet, my lifestyle when I have a family at home? And so they are working with them and training them, and they're going to classes. And we are seeing folks gratefully come out of the class with a better A1C. And they're lowering their need for medication and they're lowering their weight and that kind of thing. And so now you're having to get in front of people and be compelling and they're having to see a need for it, but it's actually happening. And we're seeing some real improvement with diabetic patients, both adults and pediatrics. And those are just programs that we implemented, because if you don't, they're going to come in my hospital anyway.
• 42:10
  Speaker B: That's exactly.
• 42:11
  Speaker C: And so why not help them now in those regards? And that same thing is happening with. Gosh. One of the biggest areas in the cancer center, of course, is women's breast cancer. And so we're trying to work with.
• 42:26
  Speaker B: We need the more mammograms, ladies who
• 42:28
  Speaker C: are working who can't get away to get a mammogram. So we have these at night now, and they're called Ladies Night Out. And we have these throughout the year. And you make an appointment and you can do it at night instead of having it during the day. So this is something we started a couple of years ago, and it's worked out pretty well for us.
• 42:47
  Speaker B: There's so many things that you're doing that. I mean, that is. What a brilliant idea. Super exciting. How do we. How do we. How do people know? Well, all these cool things.
• 43:00
  Speaker C: I know, I know. We. We don't advertise it as much as we should, most likely because we're just, you know. Yeah, we're just doing it. But you're exactly right. We do quite a bit on social media now, quite a bit now than we ever did in the past.
• 43:13
  Speaker B: So we are on Facebook and Instagram
• 43:15
  Speaker C: and all that things.
• 43:16
  Speaker B: Is it just basically UMC Hospital, or are you broken into different departments?
• 43:21
  Speaker C: No, it's pretty much just UMC Hospital. Within that, you'll find the children's and you'll find the other programs and the classes and that kind of thing. You'll find the cancer center. That's one way to get it out. And then we do meet. Like, I. I'm visiting with two different businesses today at lunch. We're out in the community quite a bit. Just talking about. Here's what we offer. If you know somebody, for instance, last week out At Health and Wellness on Slide Road, we had three physicians, all ladies, talking about women's health, and it was free. And they're in the building. There's about 150 people there. And we advertise that as well. And they're just hearing about women's health and infertility and menopause and the things that really, they are wondering, what about medications, et cetera.
• 44:06
  Speaker B: Yeah. This is. Because this is something that really, just now people are starting to.
• 44:10
  Speaker C: So. So we're trying to really use that building, use the talent we have. The doctors are willing. We've got to be more vigilant about being.
• 44:20
  Speaker B: Is this the 114?
• 44:23
  Speaker C: Yes, ma'. Am. The new hospital out on.
• 44:25
  Speaker B: My parents live right out there. That is a fantastic place.
• 44:27
  Speaker C: We are very grateful.
• 44:29
  Speaker B: We had an issue needed to get in. Like, we were in within, you know, like, less than 24 hours.
• 44:36
  Speaker C: We had an appointment, and the ER, the physicians there. The urgent care clinic behind it also is just got. It's just.
• 44:43
  Speaker B: It's just like a beautiful lobby. You walk in and you don't feel immediately stressed.
• 44:49
  Speaker C: Right. I'll tell you something. A couple of things, because people ask me questions all the time about this. Number one, we paid for that entire building with cash reserves. No debt, no tax. We've been saving for a way to expand. Now my hospital is kind of landlocked. We're downtown, you know, by tech. And it's. It's a big building.
• 45:11
  Speaker B: Right.
• 45:11
  Speaker C: But we're trying to push a lot of business out to that so we can take on more business where we are. Right. And then thirdly, that's a lovely area. It's a lovely building. Every. Every dollar we make out there helps pay for that gap. I just Talked about the 36 million versus the 106 that helps pay for it. And so that's a piece of the strategy. It's not just helping Southwest Lubbock. It's helping us take care of those that are vulnerable on the main campus. So that building's worked out great for us. It really is about wellness, and they're doing a wonderful job.
• 45:50
  Speaker B: Well, you know, I think it's. It's pretty obvious that this is not like. This isn't just a. I'm gonna make these decisions with my heart.
• 46:04
  Speaker C: Right.
• 46:04
  Speaker B: And it's also not. I'm gonna make these decisions just with my logic.
• 46:08
  Speaker C: Yes, ma'.
• 46:08
  Speaker B: Am. But you have found a way to really take those two things and combine them so well.
• 46:16
  Speaker C: We appreciate that. We have a great team. Oh, my goodness. I'm so blessed with the vice presidents and the people that I have working and the doctors we have there. And you're right, we want to have a good strategy for the next 10 years for Lubbock and then we also want to do it though with the same service minded culture. Yes. Because that attracts people.
• 46:36
  Speaker B: I'm sorry, I just didn't expect this to be such a. Just a. You know, I'm just overwhelmed.
• 46:43
  Speaker C: The culture's everything. It really is everything. And people feel that when they come there. And I'm just so grateful. That's something we've worked on for a long time. Having a culture of service, not just to our patients, but to each other, especially now in this post Covid world we live in. So we have plans for the future and we're gonna need the public's support and we're gonna be coming to our county court for their deliberation. And yeah, we're excited about what's coming with Lubbock. Absolutely.
• 47:12
  Speaker B: I know it is really gonna. It's going to change over the next few years. And you know, something that I've been reading a couple of different books on economic development, you know, and, you know, city growth and investment also. And one of the books I've been reading is called put your money where you live.
• 47:34
  Speaker C: Okay.
• 47:35
  Speaker B: And this guy's argument is for people to spend less money investing on Wall street, spend more time investing. It's harder to do.
• 47:48
  Speaker C: Right.
• 47:48
  Speaker B: But in the rate of returns are about the same. Except that there's this part that can't be quantified, which is your schools and your street.
• 47:55
  Speaker C: That's correct. Safety and a sense of safety.
• 47:59
  Speaker B: Yes. Yeah.
• 48:00
  Speaker C: And dependence on your local providers.
• 48:02
  Speaker B: And I recently met with a guy that actually has spent several years doing that here in the community. I had no clue. And he mentioned several things that he and a group of investors had invested in and you know, that have been beneficial to the community. And I just, you know, I think that's something else that we just as, you know, people that are middle class, upper class, that are looking at our retirement, they're looking at investment things. It's a wise idea to think what are businesses that have been here and they've been healthy and they want to expand and that's a great place to put my business, you know.
• 48:38
  Speaker C: And that same thing would be applicable to philanthropy.
• 48:43
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 48:43
  Speaker C: You know, it's just where your heart is, where your dollars are, where you want your life to be.
• 48:48
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 48:48
  Speaker C: People have been very, very generous, not just in Lubbock. Beyond Lubbock to UMC to Children's Miracle Network. And we depend on that.
• 48:58
  Speaker B: Yeah. You know, and that's something I was talking about yesterday with some of partners from another couple of other nonprofits that they were saying, you know, it's a really difficult time right now for organizations that have depended on grants. And so I know recently I was at a really important facility in Texas and they lost six grants. And, you know, the director spent the entire year just going around trying to what, what do we do? And he's like, no one cares about us out here.
• 49:29
  Speaker C: Right.
• 49:30
  Speaker B: You know, but what these two nonprofits are saying is what they're seeing is that the private side, like even the corporate side, you know, a lot of those corporations, they're not feeling the pressure from the United States anymore on what we used to call ESGs, environmental social governments, but they're feeling that pressure. They're global organizations and they're feeling that pressure from other places. That pressure is not going to go away. It's going to stay. And finding ways to partner to give them the stories that they need and the outcomes that they need, that is going to be. That's really been part of the goal of this organization is how do we find those people and then bring the value of our region to their attention.
• 50:17
  Speaker C: You know, a story, oh my goodness, a story has such power.
• 50:21
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 50:22
  Speaker C: A well placed, well articulated story about the need. Right?
• 50:26
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 50:26
  Speaker C: And then about how you get there and what the outcome has been. We have used stories for years and it just turns perhaps a possible to a yes. Because the need is so compelling and people's hearts are moved. Right. And so having a great story about the need and how, what, what conservation means to you into the community, it just makes a difference. And it really has long arms to it, perhaps the like of which we'll never know, you know, exactly this side of heaven.
• 50:55
  Speaker B: No, I think that's very true. I mean, you know, the things that we talk about, you know, that we're investing in, we've had some people say we don't do ply lakes because it won't, it didn't, it won't have any impact now. And I'm like, like, since when should that be our goal?
• 51:09
  Speaker C: Right.
• 51:09
  Speaker B: You know, just today. Like, if it doesn't help today, then it doesn't have value.
• 51:14
  Speaker C: Right.
• 51:14
  Speaker B: You know, and so we really have to set, I think as our generation, these kids, the kids that are coming up, the young ones that are coming up behind us, my kids are saying, do you where Do I see you reflecting my right values? You know, and that has been a challenge to me. It's really one of the things that has driven me more into conservation and the awareness of needs around me. Is my kids challenging me.
• 51:41
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 51:42
  Speaker B: And they see those needs and they're pointing them out and they matter to
• 51:46
  Speaker C: them, and they see the fractured world they live in. And so looking for permanence. Right. They're looking for stability and permanence, whether it's in life or faith.
• 51:56
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 51:57
  Speaker C: Or whatever the case is. They want permanence. They want something they can depend on.
• 52:00
  Speaker B: Right, Exactly. This has been so good.
• 52:03
  Speaker C: Oh, I'm glad. I've enjoyed it.
• 52:04
  Speaker B: It's been great.
• 52:05
  Speaker C: I've enjoyed it very much.
• 52:06
  Speaker B: Thank you so much for taking the time to be here. Welcome visiting with us. You're welcome that you'll come back.
• 52:12
  Speaker C: I shall.
• 52:13
  Speaker B: Okay. All right. Well, friends, thanks for joining us on this kind of emotional, for me journey as I learned more about just the heart of umc. I think that's important. That's important. And I hope that everybody listening to us is really from this region and so that you. You have learned more about the value that they bring and. And what the goal is, which is service.
• 52:41
  Speaker C: Absolutely.
• 52:42
  Speaker B: That's. That matters.
• 52:43
  Speaker C: Absolutely does.
• 52:45
  Speaker B: So hope that you will join us again on another episode of Conservation Stories. Thanks for listening.