Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Crystal V. Brown on Expanding Trauma Care and Driving Operational Excellence

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Crystal V. Brown on Expanding Trauma Care and Driving Operational Excellence · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  This is where health care leadership comes together.
• 0:04
  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
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  hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
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  speakers to Chicago
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  April.
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  This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
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  Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
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  w Bush. 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. We're looking forward to hosting you
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  in Chicago.
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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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  Crystal Brown, vice president and chief operating officer
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  of administration at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. Crystal,
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  it's a pleasure to have you on the
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  podcast today. Thank you for having me. I'm
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  excited to be here.
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  Absolutely. And we're excited to have you. I
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  know there's so much happening in the health
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  care space, and, you know, it's truly fascinating
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  to see how,
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  hospitals and health systems have navigated the last
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  year or so. And then, you know, looking
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  ahead,
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  how they're thinking about growth and development, innovation,
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  and more. So I think this will be
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  a fun conversation. But before we begin, can
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  you introduce yourself and tell us a little
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  bit more about your background as well as
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  Methodist Mansfield Medical Center?
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  Definitely.
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  So my name is Crystal v Brown.
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  I am a North Texas native. I grew
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  up nearby here in Arlington, Texas,
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  and I serve as the vice president and
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  chief operating officer at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center,
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  which is located in the Dallas Fort Worth
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  market of North Texas.
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  So I have been in health care for
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  about twenty five years now.
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  I started in health care in human resources,
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  transitioned after about a decade into supply chain
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  operations,
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  and then ultimately moved into hospital operations. And
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  it has been an amazing journey.
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  So Methodist Mansfield is where I'm at now,
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  as the chief operating officer, and it's so
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  exciting to be close to where I grew
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  up.
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  It's a part of the Methodist Health System
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  that was founded in Dallas, Texas,
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  back in 1927.
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  Methodist Mansfield was actually the first hospital,
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  built in the man the city of Mansfield
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  in 2006.
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  And we started as an 88 bed small
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  town
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  acute care hospital,
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  and now we have grown over the last
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  almost twenty years now,
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  into a 294
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  bed
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  level three trauma center,
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  advanced primary stroke and heart attack center, and
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  then also a level, three
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  maternal
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  facility and NICU center. So we are staying
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  busy.
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  Absolutely. Wow. That's incredible and impressive to see
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  how much the organization has grown and truly
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  been able to, serve the needs of the
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  community. And, you know, from your perspective,
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  especially when you think about the last year
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  or so, could you tell me about an
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  initiative you led? What did you do, and
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  what were the results?
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  Definitely. So when you talk about, you you
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  said it correctly,
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  growing population in this area, we have continued
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  to have to be prepared to meet the
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  needs of our patients. And so over the
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  last year, specifically,
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  the team and I have been actively pursuing,
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  a level two trauma center, which the only
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  difference between a level one and a level
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  two is that we have actual trauma surgeons.
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  We do not have a GME fellowship program.
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  So we have actual trauma surgeons that are
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  in house and will be doing these,
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  surgeries. Based on the data that was collected,
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  by partnering with our EMS providers over the
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  years, we knew that there was a strong
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  need for a high quality, high acuity trauma
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  center within our service area. Before that, our
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  patients had to either go to the big
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  city of Fort Worth or Dallas,
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  to really receive that higher care,
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  trauma care.
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  And so we knew that we were ready.
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  We were capable. We were up for the
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  challenge. And so over the last year, you
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  have to be an active pursuit for a
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  year to become a level two trauma center.
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  So we, have done that and been doing
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  that for the last year.
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  Most importantly, and and what I really was
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  excited about was a part of this initiative
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  is that we launched
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  our first whole blood transfusion program in Ellis
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  County,
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  in partnership with the Midlothian Fire Department.
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  This innovative advancement really allows us and our
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  paramedics
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  to begin
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  those life saving trauma level,
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  blood transfusions
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  at the scene or in the route to
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  the hospital.
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  So that really improves the outcomes for our
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  patients that are suffering from hemorrhagic shock caused
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  by trauma or medical emergencies. And so they
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  can start that care in the field before
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  they even get to the hospital now, and
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  that just allows us to be ahead of
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  the game when we start care once they
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  get there. And so that has been probably
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  my proudest,
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  initiative that we worked on in the last
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  year.
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  Well, it's really cool to hear about and,
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  obviously, a very needed service for the community
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  is something that can really mean the difference
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  between,
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  you know, in many ways, life or death
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  and and how you can, you know, serve
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  those patients well is so important.
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  I I'm curious, you know, when you think
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  about setting up the program, is there anything
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  that you've learned? How did you, you know,
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  make sure you have the right resources in
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  the right places, and the team was really
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  working,
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  in tandem in order to set up something
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  that was gonna be as beneficial as it
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  is?
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  Yeah. It really took, being community partners.
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  I I mentioned that we partnered with the
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  Midlothian fire department. And so we host an
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  EMS provider,
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  monthly meeting at our campus,
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  and we are talking to our EMS providers
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  that bring patients to our hospital on a
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  regular basis, and we're asking them, you know,
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  what do you need in resources? What could
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  we do to improve the care that we
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  provide in our community? And so it was
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  really us being attentive to what they specified
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  to us as the challenges they were having
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  that made us realize, okay. Let's get ready.
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  Let's partner together. If your team is willing
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  to do the care in the field, we're
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  willing to partner with you and provide the
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  blood. And so that's really what had made
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  that initiative so,
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  successful
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  in a short period of time is because
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  of those community partnerships,
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  that we're willing to step up to the
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  challenge as well with us.
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  That's helpful to understand. Thank you so much
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  for digging a bit deeper there. Now 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 2026?
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  Well, our biggest priority, probably like many other
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  health systems, is to continue to find ways
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  to provide high quality care services
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  that are affordable
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  and yet convenient for our patients. There's a
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  lot of uncertainty,
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  about how, initiatives like the big beautiful bill
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  and others will impact these goals. And so
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  we as an organization,
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  are partnering with other organizations. We're a part
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  of the DSW hospital council, which includes about
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  50 other hospitals,
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  in this market. And we're talking about what
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  are ways that they are tackling these issues,
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  and we're collaborating on ways that we can
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  do the same.
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  Got it. Absolutely. I I know there's a
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  lot of that, uncertainty around some of the
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  policy issues and updates from the last year,
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  how they'll be implemented. I know even, you
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  know, as we speak, there are are always
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  things happening and going through,
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  Congress or or the White House and policy
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  changes. And so when you look at especially
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  the OBB
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  BA,
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  how how do you think about the future
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  in, you know, making sure you preserve access,
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  to care for your patients and then, you
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  know, for your teams as well to stay
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  nimble as these changes are coming down the
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  pipe?
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  Yeah. I would definitely say, you know, we
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  are our CFO at our health system is
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  amazingly keeping abreast of the legislation and the
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  things that are coming down the pipe and
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  helping us kind of digest that into palatable
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  bites that we can all understand. And so
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  I am so thankful that we have,
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  people like our c n our CFO, excuse
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  me, that makes us understand what that all
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  means. Because, you know, you could ask one
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  person, and and they may interpret it one
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  way, and you can ask another person. But
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  I think the biggest thing is how do
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  we continue to stay ahead of it, by
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  negotiating best pricing,
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  and doing things that we can
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  to afford to be able to provide great
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  quality care and for our patients to continue
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  to be able to access it.
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  That makes a lot of sense. And, you
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  know, it's just such a a big challenge,
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  I know, across the board for folks today.
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  What do you think the hardest thing you'll
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  have to do in the coming year will
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  be?
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  Yeah. So, you know, the North Texas area
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  is continuing to be an area that is
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  experiencing rapid population growth.
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  They're so I would say probably the hardest
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  come thing that's coming in the next year
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  is for us to find ways that we
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  ensure that we're keeping up with this rapid
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  growth.
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  We cannot build,
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  additional care,
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  accesses to care fast enough to keep up
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  with the growth. And so,
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  we have several teams throughout our organization that
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  are working on process improvement initiatives
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  that will help with these challenges, such as
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  reducing the length of stay so we can
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  get, patients out faster,
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  and home to where they can heal in
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  their environment,
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  and then also improving patient throughput when they're
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  in the hospital. So finding ways that we
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  can kind of, you know, remove the barriers
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  or the challenges or obstacles
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  while they're in the hospital,
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  so that we can continue to provide beds
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  for the next group of patients that's coming
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  in. So I would definitely say that's probably
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  one of the hardest things because
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  space is not always as rapidly available as
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  the amount of people that are walking in
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  or being rolled in to our emergency department.
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  Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense and,
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  you know, is,
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  helpful to understand kind of where you're thinking
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  about things and especially in a place that
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  has population growth.
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  So when you look at areas like the
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  process improvements, reducing length of stay, and and
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  trying to,
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  you know, have patient throughput,
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  you know,
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  speed up just a little bit.
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  What types of what is your approach to
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  doing that with the team, I guess? How
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  do you decide
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  what areas are, ripe for improvement and then
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  actually implement some of those strategies and and
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  tactics to,
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  you know,
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  function in the way you wanna function.
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  Yeah. We definitely can accomplish these these,
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  challenges,
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  or overcome these challenges in silos.
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  So I am really big on creating collaborative
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  teams
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  that look at these different challenges from various
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  different standpoints. Right? So we work with our
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  care management and care transition team. We may
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  work with our revenue cycle team at corporate.
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  We work with our nursing team. So our,
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  our CNO and I,
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  being the COO,
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  and I'm responsible for the ancillary and support
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  services areas, we're all seeing it from different
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  lenses. Right? And so it's so important that
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  we get in the trenches together. And so
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  we do a lot of collaborative initiatives,
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  at my organization.
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  We have a program called our silver fellows
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  program, which each year,
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  there's a group of collaborative leaders that work
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  together to tackle any one of these issues.
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  And so one group may be working on
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  reducing the length of stay. Another group may
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  be looking at how can we improve outpatient
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  services.
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  And we may be working on these different
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  groups in tandem. But sometimes the solution is
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  technology. Sometimes the solution is capital and resources.
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  But we work with these different collaborative groups
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  to help us figure that out. And then,
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  thankfully, our senior leaders at the corporate,
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  at our at our corporate office, they see
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  these presentations, they see these opportunities,
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  and that's where they decide where they're gonna
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  allocate funds for the next year. So that
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  is how we get that accomplished, but it
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  definitely takes a collaborative effort.
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  That makes a lot of sense, and it's
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  great to hear you're able to put together
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  those many teams, to get things done quickly.
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  Now before we wrap up here, I wanted
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  to talk about growth as well. Where do
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  you see some of the best opportunities for
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  organizational growth in the near future?
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  Yeah. So, you know, our consumers have grown
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  accustomed
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  to receiving products and services quickly through advancements
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  like Amazon and DoorDash. Right?
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  Therefore, we must consider ways to make our
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  care more consumer centric. Patient experience,
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  is definitely hot topic right now,
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  and it continues to to really drive
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  how we,
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  shape our services and opportunities based on how
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  the patient wants to receive care, making it
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  rapidly accessible,
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  but then still providing high quality care. Right?
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  Because we don't want to jeopardize that
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  in the event of trying to make it
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  consumer centric and rapidly accessible.
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  So I see new care deliveries
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  and alternative service models really being a heavy
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  focus
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  for all of health care organizations to consider.
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  Some of the ways that, organizations are tackling
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  that, including ours, is, you know, looking at
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  outpatient centers of excellence,
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  ambulatory surgery centers,
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  short stay hospitals where they don't have to
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  be there as long after having a surgical
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  procedure,
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  hospitals at home, you're hearing that as a
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  hot topic.
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  And then, like, telehealth expansion. You know, during
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  COVID, telehealth really got us through the trenches
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  when we could not physically see patients.
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  And you're just gonna continue to see virtual
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  options like that continue to expand. So I
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  really see that being the way of growth.
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  I think you'll start to or or continue
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  to see,
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  the brick and mortar locations really be reserved
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  for those higher acuity
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  strokes, heart attacks, you know, things like that
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  that really have to be in the four
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  walls of a hospital. But there are so
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  many other areas,
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  that I think you will start to see,
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  patients be able to access care.
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  I love that. You know, the virtual world
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  is coming quickly to health care, and it's
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  it's really cool to see how much innovation
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  and,
• 13:44
  progress they're making in order to really make
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  sure that patients can gain the services they
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  need, in the most convenient and comfortable way
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  possible.
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  For sure.
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  Well, thank you so much, Crystal, for joining
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  us on the podcast today. This has been
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  such a fun conversation,
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  and I I look forward to connecting with
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  you again soon. I know you'll be speaking
• 14:02
  at our annual meeting coming up here in
• 14:05
  April, and so it'll be fun to have
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  you,
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  see you there and and have us continue
• 14:10
  to dig a little bit deeper into some
• 14:11
  of the things we talked about today.
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  I look forward to it. Thank you so
• 14:15
  much for having me again. This has been
• 14:17
  has been an amazing conversation.