Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Positioning an Academic Health Center for Financial Stability and Rural Impact

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Positioning an Academic Health Center for Financial Stability and Rural Impact · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  Every year, Becker's annual meeting brings healthcare leaders
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  together to unpack the most pressing issues facing
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  the industry.
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  And every year, those conversations shift in profound
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  and unexpected ways.
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  This April, more than 3,500
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  health care executives will return to Chicago for
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  Becker's sixteenth Annual Meeting.
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  Seven ninety five elite speakers will offer new
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  lessons, new case studies, and predictions about what
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  comes next.
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  Join us April 13 through the sixteenth.
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  For the agenda and event details, 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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  Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast. I'm Scott King, thrilled today to be
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  joined by Raj Kurapati,
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  executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer, University
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  of Tennessee Health Science Center. Raj, how are
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  you doing? Thanks so much for joining us.
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  Doing very well. Thank you for having me.
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  It's really good to, spend some time with
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  you.
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  Of course. Here we are. We're, you know,
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  we're kicking off the new year. You know,
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  a lot there's a lot going on in
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  health care. Some things are going on before
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  the new year, obviously, and and a lot,
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  of new things,
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  going on now in 2026.
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  And, Raj, before we kinda dive into all
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  those topics and trends, I was wondering if
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  you could please just tell us a little
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  bit about your background and your career journey.
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  Sure.
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  Well, thanks again for the opportunity.
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  As you as you, rightfully stated, I have
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  the privilege,
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  of serving as the executive vice chancellor and
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  chief operating officer for the University of Tennessee
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  Health Science Center here in based in Memphis,
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  but our our mission is actually statewide. We
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  have four campuses across the state of Tennessee.
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  I've been in this role about two and
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  a half years.
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  I've been in higher ed
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  for about twenty five years, and, I spent
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  some time in the private sector, started my
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  journey,
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  my career journey,
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  with with the stint with Deloitte Antush.
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  I spent ten years with him, and I
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  did,
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  banking for a couple of years. I was
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  CFO for a community bank for a couple
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  of years. And then,
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  but my parents were educators. So I figured
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  that somebody should follow their footsteps and, and
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  and and in an effort to to honor
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  their legacy,
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  I got into higher education. I fell fell
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  in love with higher education, and and I
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  have had the as I stated earlier, I
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  had the privilege of, being in the in
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  this industry for about twenty five years.
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  Well, thanks so much for sharing all that
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  background info, Raj. And the first thing I
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  wanna ask you
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  is what was the most important initiative you
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  led in the last year? You know, what
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  did you do, and what were the results?
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  Well, you know, there are there are few
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  that come to mind.
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  I think what's relevant given our current,
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  circumstances
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  is,
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  you know,
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  sort of,
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  given my role,
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  it's really about setting the operations
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  on a trajectory that allows us to
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  continue to be successful in meeting,
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  our mission, which is, really a tripartite mission.
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  We have the academic mission, obviously. The and
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  we have a research and a service mission
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  as well, with a lot of our service,
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  tilted towards the clinical services that we provide
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  to through various hospital partners.
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  One of the things we need to do
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  was really think about how do we position
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  ourselves going forward
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  financially.
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  And that meant, some diff difficult decisions,
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  because resources are always constrained,
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  and, and and especially in this environment,
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  with a lot of the, changes afoot,
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  at the federal level and also at the
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  local level, there was a need for us
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  to really think about our finances and whether
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  or not we were
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  strategically positioned
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  to make the best, use of our resources.
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  To that end,
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  we did have to,
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  adjust our workforce a little bit. We took
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  a a couple of efforts at doing that.
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  We we did do a a strategic reduction
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  in force
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  early on,
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  that resulted,
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  in in some difficult decisions. Obviously, you don't,
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  do a reduction in force and,
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  unless unless there's a need to do so.
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  We did that. I think,
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  we were
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  very judicious about,
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  doing the right things.
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  And fortunately,
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  we were able to come out of that
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  relatively
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  strong.
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  You know, rifts are never easy things to
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  do, but I think,
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  we're able to come out,
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  get that accomplished and and and, and,
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  position the institution,
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  in a better place.
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  We also offered a rally earlier retirement incentive
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  as part of the the broader efforts,
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  and, that was extremely successful.
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  It was a voluntary
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  retirement,
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  incentive program.
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  And,
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  we not only met our targets, but, significantly
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  exceeded it.
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  That allowed us to
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  recover some savings,
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  that, will then be reinvested in
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  strategic areas of opportunity and growth,
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  both on the research front and also on
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  the academic and service front. So I I
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  would say that that was probably
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  a difficult but needed
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  initiative.
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  And I'm pleased that,
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  so far the results of of some of
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  the efforts we did on that front.
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  What are the big priorities and headwinds you're
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  focused on for 2026?
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  Well, you know, the focus for 2026
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  is really how do we reinvest back into
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  areas of opportunity and growth.
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  There's a renewed focus,
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  I think nationally, but certainly in the state
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  of Tennessee
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  to to do a better job at addressing,
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  rural health care needs, both in the form
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  of,
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  service services that are available,
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  to rural populations, but also addressing some of
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  the the workforce,
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  health care workforce shortages that exist
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  and and appear to continue to grow.
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  So,
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  we were fortunate,
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  that the state recognized that we bring some
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  strengths to the table as the state's premier,
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  health sciences,
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  university.
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  And, we will be focusing on how we
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  take advantage of some,
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  state grants that we received,
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  to lead that effort, including being named,
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  the center of excellence for the state in,
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  rural health care development and and,
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  initiatives.
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  And I think, we'll also be investing,
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  our resources,
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  to ensure that, we are delivering what's expected
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  of us as a state institution in this
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  space broadly, but but also specifically to address
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  the the larger
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  rural health core, health care deficits in the
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  state.
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  It's great to hear about the the state
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  recognition there and and how you'll be diving
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  in to help the rural health care needs.
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  Do do you see that being a long
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  process for things to go the way they
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  should in in addressing the needs for rural
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  rural health care?
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  I I would say yes.
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  You know, I think,
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  it's easier to say you gotta go work,
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  the the needs of, rural rural,
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  communities.
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  It's it's it's
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  very complex. The issue is, you know,
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  is very complex and and requires,
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  significant effort and,
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  and and very thoughtful strategies.
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  You know,
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  saying is is one thing. Doing is a
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  totally different thing. You know? As as as
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  they say, the devil is always in the
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  details.
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  I I see this as being a multiyear
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  effort and and one that needs to continue
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  to,
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  be refined.
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  I think some strategies may may pan out
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  the way you hope they would, but I
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  think you should be prepared to adjust those
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  strategies
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  to ensure that, you know, you're being nimble
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  and rethinking
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  approaches,
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  as,
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  as you as you go through the process
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  of implementing them and identify some gaps.
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  So I would say this is probably going
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  to be a a multiyear exercise, and and
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  it's gonna take quite a bit of effort
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  and thought.
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  Sure. But you'll be helping make a big
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  difference there, Raj.
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  And when you look at your own
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  kind of workload and things you have to
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  personally do for your org and and the
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  community in 2026,
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  what do you think is the hardest thing
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  you're gonna have to do in 2026?
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  Decide what you can do.
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  I think,
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  the demands on our time are pretty significant,
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  all of us,
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  and the needs are
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  tremendous
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  and and and
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  and, probably,
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  cannot all be met.
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  So it's really the the most difficult choices
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  will be what what is it that we
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  don't do. You know? All of all the
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  things that need to get done are important,
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  but you have to prioritize and have to
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  accept for the accept the fact that not
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  everything can be done. But making sure that
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  you make the choices on what you don't
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  do
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  thoughtfully and and and and also have a
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  strategy on how you get back to getting
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  those things done as well as, time and
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  opportunity presents itself.
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  Where do you see some other
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  great opportunities for organizational growth?
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  You know,
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  we as an institution,
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  as as an academic institution, our focus is
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  on education.
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  But it's it's like I said, it's a
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  tripartite mission. Right? There's a research aspect of
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  it and the service aspect of it. I
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  think some opportunities we have is as we
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  look at,
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  how we play as, a role in addressing
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  the rural health care needs of the state,
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  You know? How do we build partnerships
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  to do that? We can't do it ourselves.
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  We we don't run our own hospital. We
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  work with hospitals across the state.
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  So it's really about how do we leverage
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  those relationships and how do we expand those
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  relationships,
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  to to some of the rural,
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  institutions, hospitals, clinical sites, and the like to
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  ensure that, we are truly identifying partners that
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  we need in order for us to be
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  successful in delivering the expectations to the state
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  in the rural health care space.
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  I think that sounds like a great plan,
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  Raj. And and the last thing I wanted
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  to ask you is how do you think,
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  you know, throughout your career
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  up to now, how do you think you've
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  evolved as a leader?
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  That's a great question.
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  I think
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  evolution of as a leader is is is
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  never stops. I I I think,
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  I think, the minute you you you think
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  you've done it all is, I think, is
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  the minute that you you should look at
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  retirement.
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  I I I am grateful for
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  mentors and
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  and, partners that, I've had the privilege of
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  working with, throughout my career.
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  I I've learned a lot, and and I
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  think as leaders,
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  you have to accept the fact that you
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  won't you don't have all the answers.
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  And and you should be willing to admit
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  that,
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  that sometimes,
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  you're probably not the right person to,
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  to,
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  lead an effort or make a decision, and
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  you need to lean on your colleagues to
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  do that. And I've had the privilege of
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  working with some phenomenal
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  colleagues throughout my career, and I had the
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  privilege of working with some brilliant,
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  colleagues now. And I think how I'm involved
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  is being able to accept that, the fact
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  that, you know, there's always somebody that's smarter
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  than you in the room,
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  and and it's always better to listen first
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  before you speak. And, these are these were,
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  you know, they seem pretty these things seem
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  pretty standard,
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  to say, but are difficult in practice, because
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  you always wanna have the answers because you
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  feel like people are always looking to you
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  to have all the answers as a leader.
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  And you you don't always have the answers.
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  In fact, in most cases, there's somebody else
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  in in at the table that probably has
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  the right answer and a better answer. So
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  it's you know, I think evolution of leadership
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  in my
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  in my, in my case, has been learning
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  from others and and continuing to learn from
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  others and accepting,
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  good ideas when they're brought forth and not
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  always thinking yours is the best.
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  Really some incredible perspectives there on on leadership,
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  Biraj. I appreciate your thoughts there, and thank
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  you for joining the podcast and for a
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  great conversation. It was it was wonderful talking
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  to you, and I look forward to working
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  with you again soon.
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  Absolutely. My pleasure, and and thank you for
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  the opportunity. And I and I wish you
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  and and all the listeners and colleagues,
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  a very,
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  productive and blessed 2026.