Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Swannie Jett, DrPH, MSc, MHA, Chief Executive Officer of Park DuValle Community Health Center

Transcript

Swannie Jett, DrPH, MSc, MHA, Chief Executive Officer of Park DuValle Community Health Center · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - understand what it takes to lead a health
• 0:05
  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
• 0:08
  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
• 0:11
  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
• 0:14
  - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
• 0:17
  - And it's why the most effective c suite
• 0:19
  - leaders are deliberate about where do they go
• 0:21
  - to pressure test their thinking.
• 0:22
  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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  - brings together more than 1,500
• 0:28
  - executive level attendees
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  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
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  - around growth, financial sustainability,
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  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
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  - have easy answers.
• 0:39
  - Join us November second through the fifth in
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  - Chicago.
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  - For the agenda and event details,
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  - visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  - and click on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
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  - This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  - podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  - doctor Swanny Jett, chief executive officer at Park
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  - Duval Community Health Center. Doctor Jett, it's a
• 1:01
  - pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
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  - Hey. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be
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  - present.
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  - Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation. I
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  - know we're gonna focus on some of the
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  - great things you're doing at the health center,
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  - as well as how you're thinking about the
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  - future. But before we dive in, can you
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  - tell us a little bit more about yourself
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  - and your background?
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  - So I've been in public health health care
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  - for thirty years.
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  - I have ran,
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  - been CEO of three different health departments.
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  - I'm an epidemiologist by trade,
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  - and,
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  - I'm also a TV show host. I have
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  - a a TV show on local TV in
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  - Louisville, Kentucky,
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  - and it's called CEO Live Talks with Doctor.
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  - Jett.
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  - Oh, that's amazing to hear. How fun.
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  - What is it like doing a TV show?
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  - Are you, now famous in the community? Do
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  - people recognize you?
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  - People do recognize me.
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  - I'm on billboards and buses.
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  - So
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  - I'm a
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  - people walk up. They tell me all the
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  - time they love seeing the show, because sometimes
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  - it's controversial
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  - topics,
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  - and we do explore issues happening in the
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  - community that people don't wanna talk about.
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  - Absolutely. So you kind of open that door
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  - and give, you know, a little bit shed
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  - some more light on some of the those
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  - issues and, how to to think about them
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  - a bit or or education about them for
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  - the community?
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  - Yes.
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  - You know, one of the things that happened
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  - a few years ago during COVID was we
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  - had a trailer shooting
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  - by police.
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  - And so, you know, I make sure that
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  - some of the issues that police deal with
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  - along with the school system
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  - stay at the forefront, and I bring different
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  - community leaders together to talk about it.
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  - Yeah. Yeah. That's a huge responsibility, but so
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  - important within the community to make sure you've
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  - got public health and interests and safety in
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  - mind too.
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  - Yes.
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  - Absolutely. Well, could you give us a state
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  - of the union of
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  - Park Duvall Community Health Center? What, has gone
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  - well so far this year, and what are
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  - you focused on for the rest of 2026?
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  - Well, this year,
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  - with,
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  - a lot of the issues with billing and
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  - reimbursement,
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  - We kinda like our profit margin has withered,
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  - and cash on hand has withered.
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  - But I've taken some corrective actions.
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  - What I've noticed is that insurance companies are
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  - using AI to deny claims.
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  - And so
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  - I've had to,
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  - utilize outside organizations,
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  - to actually help. And so some of what
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  - we used to do,
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  - I now farm out.
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  - Yeah. Absolutely. And I think, you know, that's
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  - something I'm hearing more and more, it seems
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  - like, from,
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  - leaders
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  - at health care organizations is just,
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  - how they're having to balance and rethink their
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  - strategy with the those AI denials,
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  - you know, in the outsourcing side. How has
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  - that kind of changed or shifted the way
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  - you think about your internal revenue cycle and,
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  - you know, the time it takes in order
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  - to to bring in,
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  - the the money for those claims?
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  - Well,
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  - we probably have claims a hundred and twenty
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  - days out in February.
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  - So that's roughly about $3,000,000.
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  - I noticed we were having issues with conventionally,
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  - and so I've actually
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  - had people to I formed that source out
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  - as well.
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  - But not only with credentialing,
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  - even the billing aspect.
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  - And so to me, it's very critical
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  - that we focus on the revenue cycle manager
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  - and make sure you have the talent in
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  - house.
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  - The talent that you don't have in house,
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  - you have to outsource.
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  - And so that's kind of the battle that
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  - we've been having in trying to find a
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  - reputable company, not just any company.
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  - And then someone we can actually follow-up with
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  - and have a one on one conversation to
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  - make sure that we can correct it.
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  - Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. I
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  - know it takes some extra work, but really
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  - is meaningful,
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  - for the patients as in the facility after
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  - you've provided that type of care. Now I
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  - know, obviously,
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  - the health care
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  - insurance and payments reimbursements are as an issue,
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  - but what are some of the other big
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  - headwinds that you're keeping your eye on and
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  - preparing for?
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  - Well, probably the you know, I have a
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  - public health man, so
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  - I actually do everything upstream
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  - as much as possible.
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  - Part of all has provided health care for
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  - almost sixty years,
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  - and we have constantly told people to eat
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  - healthy,
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  - exercise,
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  - and,
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  - and and and change your diet as much
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  - as possible.
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  - But what we didn't do was provide healthy
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  - foods for people or show them how to
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  - eat.
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  - And so three years ago, I had an
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  - idea to buy a grocery store.
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  - The grocery store is across the street from
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  - one of our sites.
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  - So I bought the building.
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  - I rehabbed the building, renovated it,
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  - and, actually, I poured in probably $2,300,000
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  - after I bought the bill.
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  - And so that building has become,
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  - it it is now a farmer's market
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  - with,
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  - a food bank
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  - and a training kitchen. It's a commercial kitchen
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  - for chefs to come in
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  - and show people how to
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  - eat. So I've I've contracted out with farmers
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  - to actually come to this farmer's market, and
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  - it's indoor. So it can operate year round,
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  - along with different types of vendors to provide
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  - a healthy source of food
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  - for people. So we have a population
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  - size
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  - in the West End, which is predominantly African
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  - American of roughly about 30%
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  - in Louisville.
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  - That covers about a 100,000 people. There is
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  - one grocery store in the community.
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  - So people go outside.
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  - There is no farmer's market.
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  - So I just opened the first indoor farmer's
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  - market in the state of Kentucky.
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  - Wow. That's amazing. You know, what a huge
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  - accomplishment in feed and, you know, to your
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  - point, pouring in a good amount of financial
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  - resources, time, effort, and energy to put this
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  - together,
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  - rehab the building, and then,
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  - have it as a resource for the community.
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  - And, you know, when you're doing all of
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  - this, how do you make sure that, you
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  - know, as you're putting the resources in, of
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  - course, it's a great benefit to the community,
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  - but making sure you'll be able to sustain
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  - it going forward.
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  - Yeah. That's a good point. So
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  - on both sides of the indoor it's 24,000
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  - square feet.
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  - So, eventually,
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  - I only use 12,000 for the farmer's market.
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  - I have a event center, but I have
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  - this size event center on the other side,
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  - which is 12,000 square feet. I intend to
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  - renovate that
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  - and rent that space out in order to
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  - pull money back into the farmer's market.
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  - Also,
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  - I have a old storage via T Mobile
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  - next door to the farmer's market.
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  - It's within the building space. I've turned that
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  - to a daycare facility,
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  - and I will send that space out. That
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  - will pull money back into the operation.
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  - And then
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  - three years ago,
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  - I received $4,800,000
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  - from Mackenzie Scott,
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  - and I put that in a wealth management
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  - fund.
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  - And every year, the yield,
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  - the interest that we received was, like, 250,000.
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  - That would pay for the operational cost of
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  - security
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  - and staff.
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  - And so,
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  - and the food,
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  - the farmers, really, I just contract the space
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  - out to them.
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  - So they sell directly to the patients
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  - and people in the community. So I have
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  - no investment in that piece besides the contracting
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  - space.
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  - Absolutely. That makes ton of sense. You know?
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  - It's really great to understand and see how,
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  - you know, you can use different resources and
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  - then pour it back into the community, back
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  - into,
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  - those, you know, the grocery store and all
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  - the other spaces that and services that are
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  - so well needed. So that's incredible. I I
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  - love that.
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  - When you look into the future, where are
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  - some of the best opportunities you're seeing for
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  - additional growth?
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  - Well, some of the best opportunities for additional
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  - growth. So I have
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  - two additional sites.
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  - I'm looking at purchasing or building a new
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  - a motor,
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  - probably in the next few years in Inland,
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  - Kentucky.
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  - Right now, we have a module system,
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  - but but if we continue to grow, we
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  - probably need a stand alone.
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  - And, you know, who knows? Usually, my ideas
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  - come. I think that's the last part of
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  - the expansion because I've already expanded us to
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  - two other sites.
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  - But I'm very careful
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  - in this climate, in this environment to date
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  - of expanding
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  - just because of the nature of health care
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  - and the profit margin.
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  - Absolutely. That makes sense. And, you know, I
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  - think,
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  - having that physical footprint and and the things
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  - that you've already been able to accomplish are,
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  - outstanding. And, you know, I think to the
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  - next point then, how do you make sure
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  - that, you know,
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  - the different resources and things you're doing, the
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  - community, is utilizing them and,
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  - you know,
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  - is finding the kind of value and benefit?
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  - How do you bring people in the door,
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  - I guess,
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  - and and make sure that they're comfortable and
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  - trusting of the different things that you're doing.
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  - You know, the thing is is
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  - and I learned this the years I serve
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  - as a health commission.
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  - Once you move into a community,
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  - it takes two years
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  - for people to welcome you and adapt.
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  - You have to be present in a community.
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  - So
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  - I'm I'm not only just running a health
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  - center,
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  - but I'm a community leader.
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  - So I invest in the time.
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  - I provide advice to 14 different boards.
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  - People watch a TV show, and I'm attached
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  - to the critical issues in the community.
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  - I also engage in the community.
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  - And I make sure that I'm a steward
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  - of the funds I do receive to do
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  - credit good for the community.
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  - The secular of that,
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  - I spent a lot of time doing
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  - public relations and marketing.
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  - So
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  - the investment is in the TV show.
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  - The investment is in the radio.
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  - The investment is on the billboards and marketing.
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  - All those strategies
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  - bring people into.
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  - Got it. That makes a ton of sense.
• 12:16
  - You know, it just really, really
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  - cool to hear how
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  - it it takes time to build those seeds
• 12:22
  - into the community, but then, as you grow
• 12:24
  - and develop to your point and and become
• 12:26
  - a true leader in that space,
• 12:29
  - you know, so much benefit to be had.
• 12:32
  - Who do you admire as a leader from
• 12:34
  - really any industry and why?
• 12:39
  - Who do I admire as a leader?
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  - You know, I really have never thought about
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  - that.
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  - There's nobody that I look to, and and
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  - simply because
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  - I think people carve their own lane,
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  - and they work based on
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  - their work ethic.
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  - The people that
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  - I admire,
• 13:02
  - has always been
• 13:05
  - Martin Luther King,
• 13:07
  - Malik al Shabazz, Malcolm X,
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  - because of what they stood for, believed in,
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  - but also,
• 13:16
  - Michael Jordan and
• 13:19
  - Walter Payton
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  - because of the work ethic
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  - that they've
• 13:24
  - used to become great.
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  - And I think you have to be passionate
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  - about what you believe in,
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  - and you have to have that work ethic
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  - because everybody has ability.
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  - And I learned that
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  - young playing sports,
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  - everybody has the ability. Everybody has something of
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  - a god given talent
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  - for the football field
• 13:46
  - or basketball.
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  - Right?
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  - There are some people that are naturally more
• 13:52
  - athletic,
• 13:53
  - and so things come easier.
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  - And there are some people that have to
• 13:57
  - work at it.
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  - But once they work at it, they were
• 14:01
  - surpassed the people that rely on the natural
• 14:03
  - ability and don't work at it. And so
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  - I've always had that philosophy.
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  - Wasn't the best. I wasn't the greatest.
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  - But if I work at it, I will
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  - be better at the end.
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  - That's amazing to hear. And, you know, it's
• 14:17
  - such a a true testament to thinking about
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  - what it takes in order to be great
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  - and and truly build what you wanna build
• 14:23
  - and and what the community needs. That work
• 14:26
  - ethic is so critical. Doctor Jett, thank you
• 14:28
  - so much for joining us on our podcast
• 14:30
  - today. This has been, you know, a really
• 14:32
  - fun and inspiring conversation to think about everything
• 14:34
  - that you've been able to accomplish.
• 14:36
  - And I'm excited to,
• 14:38
  - see you and connect with you as well
• 14:40
  - this fall in person here in Chicago. I
• 14:42
  - know you'll be speaking on a panel, and
• 14:44
  - it'll be there's really a lot of fun
• 14:45
  - to continue the conversation.
• 14:47
  - Alright. Thank you, and it's a pleasure.
• 14:51
  - I look forward to seeing you soon.