Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Tanner White, FACHE, CEO of Altru Devils Lake

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Tanner White, FACHE, CEO of Altru Devils Lake · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  This is Laura Dierdahl with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:02
  Podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 0:04
  Tanner White,
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  CEO of All True Devils Lake. Tanner, it's
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  a pleasure to have you on the podcast
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  today. Thank you, Laura, for having me.
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  Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation.
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  I know we're gonna talk a lot about
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  some of the cool things that you're doing
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  at Ultra Devil's Lake and how you're thinking
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  about the future. But before we dive in,
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  can you tell us a little bit more
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  about yourself and the hospital?
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  You bet. Excited to share what we have
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  going on up here in Devil's Lake with
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  Altru.
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  But before we do that, just a little
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  background on myself. So I was born and
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  raised in the great state of North Dakota
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  in a rural community with a population of
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  only 1,200.
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  My background is actually in kinesiology,
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  which is unique for someone in a health
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  care administrator role.
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  But that
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  background has allowed me to kind of see
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  the human element of helping people on their
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  journey to wellness and, you know, living healthier.
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  So out of college, I started working at
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  a local YMCA and then eventually started my
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  own business known as Temple Training, where we
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  offer personal training and health and wellness consulting
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  services.
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  So I I won't say that that got
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  me, you know, looking at health care per
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  se, but, again,
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  kinda seeing the the human side of things.
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  And I I think I like to share
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  that just for context kind of where I
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  came from. And And in 2017,
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  I had the opportunity to sell my business
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  to Avera St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen, South
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  Dakota, which is part of the Avera Health
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  Network.
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  And I joined that team to develop a
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  human performance center that aimed to promote a
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  healthier community
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  and focus on prevention to reduce hospital visits.
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  And so that shift in my career
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  opened my eyes to the health care field,
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  and I quickly realized that I wanted this
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  to be my career and my calling.
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  And so I went back to school, earned
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  my MBA in health care management,
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  became a fellow of the American College of
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  Health Care Executives.
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  And then when COVID nineteen came, like many
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  of us in this industry, our roles evolved.
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  And so that gave me a chance to
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  take on new leadership responsibilities.
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  I gained experience in,
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  excuse me, therapy services,
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  business development,
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  philanthropy,
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  and then network operations where I supported critical
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  access hospitals,
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  in the region we served. And so it
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  was in that role that I got to
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  see the importance of rural health care delivery.
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  And I told my wife I wanted to
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  someday run my own critical
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  access hospital.
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  But where we were at, she kinda gave
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  me a four hour window. And I think
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  she probably wanted me to move further south,
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  but yet we did not. We went the
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  opposite direction and ended up here in Devil's
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  Lake where I serve as CEO. And for
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  those of you who don't know, Devil's Lake
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  is just south of the Canadian border.
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  And,
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  a little bit about our hospital here, we
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  are a critical access hospital, so 25 beds.
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  We serve a population of around 25,000
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  known as the Lake Region.
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  That's amazing to hear. And, you know, what
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  a unique journey that you've had throughout your
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  life and career, but always kind of coming
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  back to this rural space and
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  being part of the wellness and health care
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  and taking care of the community. So that's
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  really cool to hear and, what a unique,
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  kind of foundation that you've got in order
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  to be in this current role. So I'm
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  curious. If you think back for the last
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  year or so, what were some of the
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  most important initiatives that you led? What did
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  you do, and what were the results?
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  Yeah. You bet. So I had the unique
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  opportunity
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  to lead an organization through an acquisition
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  process
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  where CHI Saint Alexis, Devil's Lake,
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  own which was owned by CommonSpirit
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  was acquired by AltruHealth
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  based out of Grand Forks, North Dakota,
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  and that transition went live on March 1.
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  So,
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  two months ago.
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  And so it's been a busy couple of
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  months, you know, learning new processes, integrating our
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  services, and we implemented a new EMR
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  switching from Meditech to Epic.
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  So, yeah, been a heavy lift, but I'm
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  super grateful for our team members who have
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  they just have never wavered in in their
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  compassion
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  while providing health care, for the Lake Region
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  residents during this transition.
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  Absolutely. And, you know, that is a huge
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  transition to make. I know there's so much
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  that comes with that type of,
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  kind of acquisition, but then, you know, like
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  you said, having to switch EHR systems and,
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  be in a process of where you're learning
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  a new organization and figuring out what's going
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  to work,
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  the best for
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  the hospital and the community. So,
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  from a leadership perspective,
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  what do you do in order to just
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  make sure that the team is ready for
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  these types of transitions and can carry forward
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  the needed changes, but also, you know, making
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  sure you keep the local culture of the
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  hospital and what works well, you know, front
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  and center for the patients.
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  Yeah. It well said, Laura. And it's been
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  a challenge, you know, that when you throw
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  people through change, you know, not we don't
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  like change. And so that's it's been a
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  huge,
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  evolution,
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  yet we've always tried to maintain our core
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  identity, you know, of of the health care
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  services we provided to the Lake Region. So
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  I think just walking that path with our
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  teens, knowing that they're, you know, not in
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  it alone, utilizing the resources that we have,
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  in front of us. You know, now we
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  have our flagship hospital
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  90 miles down the road. So we have,
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  you know, resources and support that we have
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  never had before.
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  So we're just trying
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  to endure the change,
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  you know, make the necessary
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  improvements that are out there, but also giving
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  our teams time to adapt
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  and and get ready for the journey that
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  we are on.
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  That makes a lot of sense. And, you
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  know, it seems like it's,
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  by and large going to be a,
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  transition that, you know, you'll be able to
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  come out of. And it and it seems
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  like, like you said, have more resources and
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  support, for the future. So as you're looking
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  ahead, what are some of your big priorities
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  and headwinds that you're focused on for the
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  next twelve months or so?
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  So as we are beginning this journey, we
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  have two themes
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  guiding us, and that's keeping care close to
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  home and building our culture.
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  So we do plan to bring specialty providers
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  back to this region so folks don't have
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  to travel to get care. We also want
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  to increase the number of acute and swing
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  bed patients,
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  within our care. But to do those things,
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  you need the right people on your team.
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  And so that's where our second team comes
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  in in improving our culture through trust and
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  transparency
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  so that folks want to join us in
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  our mission,
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  and stay with us in in our mission
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  to make a difference for those we serve.
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  As far as headwinds are concerned, that's you
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  know, up here in Devil's Lake, that's not
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  really something we deal with, actually.
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  Obviously, Joe.
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  Rural health care, like all health care, faces
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  major challenges, you know, rising costs, inflation,
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  workforce shortages, regulatory hurdles. I could go on
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  and on. And we are actually designated as
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  a frontier rural area,
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  so I believe these challenges are even more
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  significant for us.
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  Fortunately,
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  now that we are part of the Altru
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  family, we do have reasons to be optimistic.
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  It's the people we have, the independence we
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  maintain, and the integration of our services now
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  will enable us to effectively handle all the
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  challenges that are ahead of us.
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  That's helpful to understand. And like you've mentioned,
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  always good to have a a strong partner,
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  on your bench when you're kind of going
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  through these. And one of the things you
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  mentioned,
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  really struck me in particular in talking about
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  obviously keeping care close to home and,
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  bringing in additional specialty providers to the region.
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  I know that's something that a lot of,
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  hospitals, rural or not, are are trying to
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  figure out what to do in order to
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  attract,
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  specialists and, you know, keep some of those
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  services in. So,
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  is there anything that you found
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  already that works well, or or what are
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  your, I guess, plans as you're thinking about,
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  how you want to bring additional folks in
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  to,
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  really attract them to the region and then,
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  you know, make sure that they stay?
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  Yeah. Great question. We have had some early
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  success,
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  in the month of April. We,
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  had a a hand specialist come out and
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  and do a couple procedures, which is really
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  our launch into this space. So,
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  it just really comes down to building the
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  right teams,
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  making sure that we have a welcoming environment.
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  You know, our core values at Altru are
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  to win as a team, go above and
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  beyond,
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  be kind to one another. And so when
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  you have, again, the flagship hospital just down
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  the road, you're pretty close. And so,
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  just thankful for the providers willing to give
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  it a try to come out here and,
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  get them to understand,
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  you know, what our patients need and make
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  sure that those services are provided to them.
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  That's a great example. And definitely, it seems
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  like a a good start, to many more
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  specialty procedures,
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  being able to come out to the hospital
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  there. Now,
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  I know, you know,
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  headwinds are are definitely deep in in, you
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  know, some of the regulatory hurdles you mentioned.
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  I I think our audience is all too
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  familiar with, as well as the other
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  financial and and, just industry challenges. So what
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  do you think the hardest thing you'll have
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  to do in the coming year will be?
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  Yeah. There's just so much, you know, coming
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  at us. And while I am optimistic about
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  our ability to handle those challenges, it certainly
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  won't be easy. This is certainly tough work
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  we do, but the health care industry is
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  resilient, and I know we will get through
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  this. If I had to identify the most
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  difficult challenge that keeps me up at night,
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  it's hiring quality staff, retaining them, and reducing
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  our dependence on locums and travelers. Because really
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  when it comes to providing good quality care,
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  you want people who are, you know, tied
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  to our mission, you know, from the community,
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  and are you know, provide consistent quality health
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  care.
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  So to achieve this, again, I keep going
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  back to this. It's it's all about building
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  our culture through trust and transparency, which takes
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  time, And and we just need to make
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  sure we do the right things to get
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  there.
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  Absolutely. I think that's helpful. And, you know,
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  kind of talking about culture, I love that.
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  And I'm so happy that you mentioned some
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  of the core values you have at the
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  hospital
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  there. Is there anything else that you do,
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  especially, I I think, in the,
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  smaller communities that can be, so helpful
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  to have a great culture?
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  What really makes you unique from the culture
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  perspective, and how do you maintain that?
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  Yeah. We
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  are working, internally,
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  so I didn't really share the background of
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  it. But the clinic here in Devil's Lake
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  was actually already owned by Altru,
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  and the hospital side was what was acquired.
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  And so you got a culture, you know,
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  integration
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  between those two teams.
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  You have the culture development between our community
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  and now our hospital, and then you also
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  got Devil's Lake
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  Hospital and Clinic
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  trying to build that culture
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  with
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  Grand Forks,
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  Altru Hospital. So
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  tons of moving parts.
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  It all comes down to just being open
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  with folks,
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  building relationships.
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  Again, it takes
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  time. But, you know, one one of the
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  initiatives that we think is gonna help us
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  out,
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  is developing what we're gonna call a community
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  voice coalition,
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  where we it's not not a governing,
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  board, but a
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  committee of community members who can come together
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  monthly and share feedback,
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  you know, what's working well, what's not. I
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  just think it's so important for us to
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  hear the voices of those we serve.
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  And then subsequently of that too is having
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  those types of, you know, groups,
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  meeting together
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  between our hospital clinic teams, between our hospital
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  and Grand Forks, etcetera.
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  That's such a great idea, and it really
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  truly can help solidify,
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  you know,
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  that community focus within the hospital and ability
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  to, have such a great culture across the
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  board. Before we wrap up here, where do
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  you see some of the best opportunities for
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  additional organizational growth? Yeah. We have opportunities of,
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  you know, bringing care close to home, as
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  I mentioned, and the demand to account for
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  it. In the next year, I foresee us
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  adding specialty outreach such such as general surgery,
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  ENT,
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  maybe some cardiology services.
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  Urology has been thrown in that mix. So,
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  lots of opportunities and and excited that we
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  have providers,
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  within the Altru system who are willing to,
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  you know, travel out this way to make
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  sure that our Lake Region residents are cared
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  for. From a strategic standpoint, our market actually
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  is quite untapped to our West, so I
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  do foresee us,
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  hopefully gaining some market share in that area.
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  And, additionally, I expect us to increase our
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  average daily census, allowing residents
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  of the Lake Region to stay close to
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  home, where families can visit.
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  I love that. Tanner, thank you so much
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  for joining us on the podcast today. This
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  has been such a fun conversation,
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  so informative and and really full of ideas
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  and passion for the health care you're providing.
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  So thank you so much for your time
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  today, and I look forward to connecting again
• 13:24
  soon. Yeah. Laura, thank you for the opportunity,
• 13:27
  and thank you and all your colleagues at
• 13:28
  Becker's for what you do for the health
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  care industry.