Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Malisha Patel, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Hermann Southwest and Sugar Land Hospitals

Transcript

Malisha Patel, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Hermann Southwest and Sugar Land Hospitals · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  The most important health care decisions don't happen
• 0:05
  in isolation.
• 0:06
  They happen when leaders come together.
• 0:08
  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings together more than
• 0:11
  3,500
• 0:12
  hospital and health system executives this April in
• 0:15
  Chicago.
• 0:16
  With 800 speakers from Ascension,
• 0:18
  Cleveland Clinic, CommonSpirit and more, the conversations get
• 0:22
  real. Leaders will share how their scenario planning
• 0:24
  for policy shifts, breaking through value based care
• 0:27
  barriers, and building clinical teams that translate
• 0:36
  sixteenth. For the agenda and
• 0:38
  event details, visit beckershospitalreview.com
• 0:41
  and click on the events tab in the
• 0:43
  upper right.
• 0:46
  This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:48
  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  Melisha Patel, senior vice president and chief executive
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  officer at Memorial Hermann Southwest and Sugarland Hospitals.
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  Melisha, it's a pleasure to have you on
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  the podcast today.
• 1:00
  Laura, thank you for having me on.
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  Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation. I
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  know you always have so much going on
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  at Memorial Hermann in such a innovative system.
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  And so I'm looking forward to learning a
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  little bit more about what you've been up
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  to as well as how you're thinking about
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  the future. But before we dive in, can
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  you tell me a little bit more about
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  yourself, your background, and the hospitals you oversee?
• 1:21
  Yeah. It'd be my pleasure. Again, thank you
• 1:23
  for having me on and and the Becker's
• 1:25
  team as well.
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  I I really enjoy listening
• 1:28
  to the podcast and to be a part
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  of it is, something I'm really excited to
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  be a part of. My name is Melisha
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  Patel, and I have the privilege of serving
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  as the CEO and senior vice president
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  of two acute care hospitals in the Warner
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  Hermann
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  health system in Greater Houston.
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  Starting with highlighting our system, you mentioned the
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  system. Moore and Hermon is one of the
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  largest nonprofit health systems in Texas
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  with 17 hospitals and over 280
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  care delivery sites.
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  We have over 7,000
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  employed and affiliated physicians and providers
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  and over 35,000
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  employee partners
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  that truly practice
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  the highest standards of care
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  for 2,000,000 patients that we serve annually.
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  I'm proud of our our rich history.
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  For over a hundred and eighteen years,
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  Memorial Hermann has been committed to improving health
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  in the greater Houston community,
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  contributing nearly millions annually in charity care and
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  our community benefits program.
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  I I just one more thing. I'm a
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  woman.
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  At at the health of our all that
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  we do is
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  the health of our communities.
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  Our goal is to deliver high value care
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  for our patients and our populations,
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  and I'm fortunate to work alongside teams who
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  show up every day with a deep sense
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  of purpose and commitment
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  to patients and each other. So I have
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  the privilege of leading the system's Sugar Land
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  and Southwest hospitals,
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  which have been serving the communities
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  for twenty years and fifty years, respectively.
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  Memorial Hermann Sugar Land is a 179
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  bed hospital in Suburban Sugar Land, which is
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  in Fort Bend County, one of the fastest
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  growing counties in the country.
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  And Memorial Hermann Southwest is a 541
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  bed,
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  facility in Inner city Houston,
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  which both
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  15 miles apart serve
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  very different populations
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  but with the same mission and vision, improving
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  health in the communities
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  we serve
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  now and for generations to come.
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  And a little bit about more about me,
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  I started off my career in health care
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  over twenty years ago
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  after attending Trinity University in San Antonio where
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  I received my master's in health care administration.
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  And prior to Memorial Hermann, I worked with
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  Tennant Healthcare Corporation,
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  and I have worked with the, VA Healthcare
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  System as well.
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  The wow. What a great experience you have
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  in then bringing to your,
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  you know, current role in Memorial Hermann. I
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  think that's amazing to have that type of
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  background and history and then being able to,
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  implement that with your current care teams and
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  make an impact on those 2,000,000 patients that
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  you've served per year. Now,
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  when you think about the last year or
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  so, could you zero in on an initiative
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  that you led? What did you do, and
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  what were the results?
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  Well, there are a lot of
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  initiatives,
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  but,
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  the the one that comes to mind,
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  that I would say was the most important
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  and transformative initiative we undertook in the past
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  year was our epic implementation
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  and now our ongoing optimization.
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  People often focus on the go live, but
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  the real work started long before that.
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  We spent years planning, Laura,
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  for this transition, aligning leaders,
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  redesigning workflows,
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  spending time with our workforce
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  to just really understand how this change is
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  going to impact care delivery.
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  Go live itself was intense. I think that
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  could be an entire different conversation,
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  but what really mattered most was what came
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  after.
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  We're now deep into optimization.
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  We're listening closely
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  to our workforce, to our employees,
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  to our physician partners,
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  just continuing to refine our workflows and
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  make the system work better for our team.
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  The results
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  of this digital transformation initiative have surpassed
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  our expectations.
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  Hospitals across
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  this system
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  have implemented Epic. Across the nation have implemented
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  Epic to digitalize
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  patients' health records in which it's been critical
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  to advancement to ensure accuracy
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  and consistency
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  across the continuum of care.
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  And we have navigated,
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  past Epic's initial implementation and optimization
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  as a system.
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  We have been able to significantly stretch the
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  boundaries of what this technology can do to
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  improve
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  care delivery, patient safety,
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  physician and provider information
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  sharing,
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  and the patient's own ability to take ownership
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  of his or her own health care journey.
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  And I think that's been
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  the the the biggest thing that I really
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  enjoyed watching is just the connection
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  of having this type of information
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  in our patients' fingertips.
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  I love that. And, you know, I I
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  really appreciate
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  what a big change that is because having
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  that information can make that difference can help
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  them think differently about how they're caring for
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  patients to lever the care pan plans and,
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  you know, really make sure that you are
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  aligned and, moving forward in a strong way.
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  But I I'm curious. Can you talk a
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  little bit more about that, period with as
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  you were doing the planning and the go
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  live, and making adjustments over time?
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  What did you learn over that process? What
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  are, I guess, advice would you have for
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  other systems that are preparing to go through
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  the same thing as they're trying to implement
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  a whole new or or unified
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  version of their EHR and get it up
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  and running as quickly as possible and have
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  the same type of success that you've had.
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  Well, I wanna make sure that I give
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  credit to where credit's due, and we had
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  an
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  instrumental number of leaders
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  and,
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  frontline
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  employee partners, physician leaders,
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  you name it.
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  We had folks that touch our patients,
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  touch different components
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  of the the electronic medical record that were
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  involved in this space. So we had work
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  groups with patient
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  access. We had work groups with perioperative services,
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  perinatal,
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  with
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  med surg. So we had multiple councils and
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  structures,
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  leading up to this work, and we,
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  we did exactly what you're asking. We learned
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  from other organizations.
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  We had site visits with other large,
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  organizations
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  that had a significant transition such as us.
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  We sent our teams to UGM for with,
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  Epic to
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  to learn from our our friends in Wisconsin.
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  And but, really, we were
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  we're doing the same thing.
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  Really gaining insights from other organizations that went
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  through this, created structures
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  that were beneficial that we created here as
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  well.
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  And I think the thing I I'd like
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  to stress the most
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  is ongoing communication
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  and
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  the willingness to to be agile
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  and
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  and be able to make changes where we
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  could help optimize
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  the flow. And I think that was instrumental.
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  First and foremost is getting the stakeholders that
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  are gonna be impacted the most,
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  to be a part of the change process.
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  There's a lot of change management that went
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  here, and,
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  having all the key stakeholders was really important.
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  That's helpful to know and understand. Thank you
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  for sharing that with us and, you know,
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  really digging a little bit deeper. Now looking
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  ahead for 2026,
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  what are some of the big priorities as
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  well as headwinds that you're focused on?
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  Looking ahead to to 2026,
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  our priorities
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  center on
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  sustainable growth,
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  workforce stability,
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  operational excellence,
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  very similar to
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  health care organizations across the country.
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  For me, including,
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  a major expansion at the Sugar Land campus
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  that will significantly increase our ability to serve
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  the community.
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  The expansion is exciting,
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  but it's going to require
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  discipline to ensure rescale responsibility,
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  while protecting quality and and culture.
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  At the same time, the headwinds we're facing
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  are real.
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  Rising cost,
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  policy changes,
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  reimbursement pressure,
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  increasing patient acuity,
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  and, in workforce challenges.
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  But recognizing that, there's there's a lot of
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  work that our system is doing.
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  One that I'm really proud of when it
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  comes to our workforce challenges is we recognize
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  that our greatest asset,
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  and most indispensable asset is our workforce. And
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  so we have developed a a comprehensive and
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  focused human capital strategy.
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  The principles aim
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  of our human human capital strategy include being
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  the employer of choice for the best talent
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  in health care,
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  and equipping and empowering and enabling them to
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  deliver high value care to create healthier communities
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  now and for generations to come.
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  We're also investing in internal growth opportunities to
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  advance the career pathways of our existing talent
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  within the system.
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  These investments include personal career coaching, tuition support,
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  reimbursement for continuing education opportunities,
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  and efforts to promote from within our existing
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  talent pool when openings arise.
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  I also wanna highlight we're also actively engaged
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  in proactive workforce development strategies.
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  How are we building our our pipeline?
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  We have partnerships with local high schools,
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  community colleges,
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  universities,
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  just a lot of great work in this
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  space.
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  That's amazing to hear, and I really appreciate
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  that work towards building a great pipeline of
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  talent and leadership as well as,
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  you know, employee growth and,
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  retention and satisfaction. I think that's something that
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  so many health systems are trying to accomplish
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  today in really figuring out where that speaks
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  about is for their own teams, to
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  continue to, retain a great workforce and stuff.
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  And when you talk about, you know, some
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  of the different advancement opportunities, the,
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  career coaching, tuition support, and more,
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  is there anything that you are hearing from
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  your team members or things you've,
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  planning to try new this year that you're
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  excited to roll out to the team?
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  You know, we're continuously
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  assessing
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  our our benefits that we provide to the
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  team.
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  And and so the the continued,
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  improvements and the offerings that we offer to
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  our employee partners is something that I'm really
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  excited about,
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  whether it's,
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  their continued professional growth
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  or personal needs that they may have at
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  home,
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  how we could help connect them
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  to,
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  you know, helping find a daycare that best
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  meets the need for what they need.
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  But there's,
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  our partnership with Bright Horizons
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  and the tools that we could offer for
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  for tutoring,
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  for our employees and their families. So there's
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  just a lot of,
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  great offerings that we're continuing to evaluate to
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  make sure we could,
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  help meet the needs of our employee partners.
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  Fantastic. That's helpful to understand and, you know,
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  really seems like it,
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  meets a lot of the the trends of
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  the time in terms of how,
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  you know, different folks wanna be personalized and
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  have different options and opportunities with those benefits.
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  What do you think the hardest thing you'll
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  have to do in the next year will
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  be?
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  No. In the coming year,
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  the manner in which we provide health care
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  services will
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  will continue to change just due to recent
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  federal legislation and ongoing conversations shaping
• 13:58
  the legislative and regulatory landscape across a multitude
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  of issues impacting the delivery of care.
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  As a nonprofit hospital system, we're monitoring
• 14:08
  those policy changes closely
• 14:11
  and determining the best way to continue to
• 14:13
  provide high quality care
• 14:15
  to the communities that we serve while complying
• 14:18
  with federal and state policy.
• 14:20
  We can't predict what those changes will be,
• 14:23
  but we're absolutely living in a transformative
• 14:27
  time for health care policy and its impacts
• 14:30
  on how hospitals, health care systems,
• 14:33
  and providers will deliver care.
• 14:35
  So I think the hardest part will be
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  continuing to make tough prioritization
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  decisions,
• 14:40
  where to invest, where to slow down,
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  and how to balance
• 14:44
  financial realities
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  with our responsibility
• 14:47
  to people.
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  And then those decisions affect real lives, and
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  and they're gonna require
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  transparency and empathy and
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  and courage.
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  But as I shared earlier,
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  and, Memorial Herman, the health of our communities
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  is at the center of what we do.
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  And so with the headwinds,
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  the quintuple aim,
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  will remain our guiding principle
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  for our value based journey.
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  This includes how we're gonna continue to deliver
• 15:16
  the greatest outcomes at optimal cost,
• 15:20
  create exceptional experiences for our patients in a
• 15:23
  fulfilling work environment for our workforce,
• 15:25
  and improve health care access in the communities
• 15:28
  that we serve.
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  That makes a lot of sense. And, you
• 15:33
  know, that word access, is such a a
• 15:36
  huge talking point right now and thinking about
• 15:39
  how health care needs to change, whether it's
• 15:41
  driven by policy or demographics or a convergence
• 15:44
  of many different factors as communities still need
• 15:47
  to have care and, you know, need to
• 15:50
  be able to,
• 15:51
  have the means to access it as well.
• 15:53
  And so when you're looking at that idea
• 15:55
  of transparency
• 15:56
  and empathy and trying to continue to,
• 16:00
  grow those access points within the hospitals that
• 16:03
  you need to serve.
• 16:05
  You know, what does that look like for
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  you? Is there a digital component?
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  Are you looking at, building
• 16:10
  additional
• 16:12
  ambulatory locations? How does that idea come into
• 16:15
  the strategy for for what you're looking at
• 16:18
  in the next few years?
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  I shared earlier that we have a large
• 16:23
  footprint
• 16:24
  across the Greater Houston area.
• 16:26
  You know, I I think when it comes
• 16:28
  to access, that's not something we could do
• 16:30
  alone,
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  and we're very fortunate with the different partnerships
• 16:33
  that we have in the community.
• 16:36
  And
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  as we think about access,
• 16:39
  those community partnerships are going to be really
• 16:41
  important.
• 16:42
  How we partner with,
• 16:45
  our FQHCs,
• 16:47
  how we partner with
• 16:49
  our
• 16:51
  YMCAs,
• 16:52
  how we partner with different medical homes, how
• 16:55
  we partner with,
• 16:57
  our community benefit corporation
• 17:00
  and,
• 17:02
  identify
• 17:03
  where
• 17:05
  our community health needs assessment tells us we
• 17:08
  need to spend some more time in.
• 17:11
  You know, this past year,
• 17:13
  we launched our first,
• 17:16
  maternal
• 17:17
  van
• 17:18
  where we're able to bring,
• 17:20
  health care services
• 17:22
  for women,
• 17:23
  in their communities. They're in vulnerable communities. And
• 17:27
  so that's really neat for us to be
• 17:31
  delivering care by meeting people where they are.
• 17:36
  Absolutely. I I love that. And then, you
• 17:39
  know, it really is helpful to understand some
• 17:41
  of those partnerships in places where you're finding
• 17:43
  it most valuable in in spaces in the
• 17:45
  community too where you're able to connect and,
• 17:48
  expand services in your network. Now before we
• 17:50
  wrap up here, how else are you thinking
• 17:52
  about growth? What are some of the big
• 17:53
  opportunities that you're excited about and looking forward
• 17:56
  to?
• 17:59
  I I see the greatest opportunities for growth
• 18:01
  at, you know, the intersection of people, innovation,
• 18:04
  and technology,
• 18:07
  developing leaders at every level,
• 18:09
  strengthening
• 18:10
  our physician and community partnerships,
• 18:13
  and and thoughtfully integrating
• 18:15
  AI into how we deliver and support care,
• 18:18
  I think, is going to be,
• 18:20
  really important now and,
• 18:23
  in the years to come.
• 18:24
  You know, AI isn't about replacing people. It's
• 18:27
  about freeing up time, improving decision making, and
• 18:30
  allowing teams to focus more on what matters
• 18:32
  most.
• 18:34
  And and when strong leadership and smart technology
• 18:36
  are aligned with purpose,
• 18:38
  sustainable growth will follow.
• 18:40
  And so with that being said,
• 18:42
  Memorial Hermann has established an AI governance council.
• 18:45
  And with guidance from the council, AI technology
• 18:48
  is helping to accelerate
• 18:50
  our digital transformation in support of
• 18:53
  our organization's transition to to value based care.
• 18:57
  And so I'm really excited about the work
• 18:59
  that we're doing
• 19:00
  in this space.
• 19:04
  That, Melissa, thank you so much for joining
• 19:06
  us on the today. This has been a
• 19:08
  really fun conversation,
• 19:10
  very informative and inspiring to think about all
• 19:12
  you've gone through over the last couple of
• 19:14
  years and then, you know, continue opportunities,
• 19:17
  you know, the future too. It's just,
• 19:19
  really an exciting time to be in health
• 19:21
  care. So thank you for, your time today,
• 19:23
  and, you know, looking forward to seeing you
• 19:25
  as well at our annual meeting. I know
• 19:26
  you'll be speaking on a panel and sharing
• 19:28
  additional,
• 19:30
  perspective
• 19:31
  and thoughts along these lines. And so I
• 19:32
  look forward to continuing the conversation there.
• 19:35
  I appreciate it. Thank you, Laura.