Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Darin Roark on Leading With Purpose and Expanding Access at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

Transcript

Darin Roark on Leading With Purpose and Expanding Access at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  - This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:03
  - Podcast.
• 0:04
  - I'm thrilled today to be joined by a
• 0:06
  - leader who's had a fantastic career in health
• 0:08
  - care. We're talking today
• 0:10
  - with Darren Rourke,
• 0:12
  - and Darren is the president and chief operating
• 0:14
  - officer of Wentworth Douglas Hospital,
• 0:17
  - which is part of the Mass General Brigham
• 0:19
  - system, one of the great systems in the
• 0:20
  - country.
• 0:21
  - He's had a fantastic career.
• 0:23
  - Darren, we'll talk today about some of the
• 0:25
  - highlights of what you're working on and what
• 0:28
  - what Wentworth Douglas is working on, plus your
• 0:31
  - career and some of the trends you're watching
• 0:32
  - in in health care. Can you take a
• 0:34
  - moment and introduce yourself and tell us a
• 0:37
  - bit about yourself and about Wentworth Douglas?
• 0:40
  - Absolutely. Thank you, Scott, for the opportunity to
• 0:42
  - to to be with you today.
• 0:44
  - My name is Darren Rourke. I'm the president
• 0:46
  - and chief operating officer, and I have the
• 0:48
  - pleasure of serving here at, Wentworth Douglas Maschin
• 0:50
  - Brigham Hospital located
• 0:52
  - in, the New Hampshire Seacoast in the great
• 0:54
  - city of Dover, New Hampshire.
• 0:57
  - And, we are a 187
• 0:59
  - bed non for profit hospital that's been serving
• 1:02
  - the Seacoast for a hundred and twenty years,
• 1:05
  - believe it or not.
• 1:07
  - Amazing. Amazing. And tell us about Wentworth Douglas.
• 1:10
  - Tell us about some of the highlights of
• 1:12
  - what you're working on today. Has it always
• 1:14
  - been affiliated with Mass General? Is that more
• 1:16
  - recent?
• 1:17
  - Tell us about both, Wentworth Douglas and and
• 1:20
  - Mass General and and then yourself.
• 1:22
  - Absolutely. Wentworth Douglas is a, was a a
• 1:25
  - stand alone independent hospital for for much of
• 1:27
  - its hundred and twenty year history and had
• 1:30
  - a affiliation
• 1:31
  - with Maschin and Brigham that went all the
• 1:33
  - way back into the,
• 1:35
  - two thousands. And in 2017,
• 1:37
  - Wentworth Douglas was acquired by Mass General Brigham
• 1:40
  - and became part of the Mass General Brigham
• 1:42
  - family. And it's been a a great opportunity
• 1:46
  - for us to be able to,
• 1:48
  - take a community hospital
• 1:50
  - that was always wonderful and had a tremendous
• 1:52
  - reputation in the community and make it even
• 1:54
  - better. And that's what we continue to do
• 1:56
  - every single day. You know, Mass Gen Brigham
• 1:58
  - is is an amazing organization with, a history
• 2:01
  - of providing great care, research, and training some
• 2:04
  - of the brightest
• 2:06
  - minds in in the country, if not the
• 2:07
  - world. And and our goal at Master and
• 2:09
  - Earl Brigham is really to become the most
• 2:11
  - impactful patient focused and equitable academic health care
• 2:14
  - system in the world with the highest quality
• 2:17
  - research infused at all of our care sites,
• 2:19
  - which is the unique opportunity that Wentworth Douglas
• 2:22
  - has to be a part of this organization
• 2:24
  - and bring that world class care to the
• 2:26
  - residents of New Hampshire so that care is
• 2:28
  - delivered closer to home. And that's the exciting
• 2:31
  - part about being a community hospital in such
• 2:34
  - a large academic medical center setting is the
• 2:37
  - great care that we get to replicate in
• 2:39
  - the community setting, which is highly unusual for
• 2:42
  - most community hospitals.
• 2:44
  - And talk about some of the highlights. I
• 2:46
  - know that, like, so many houses are are
• 2:49
  - slowing down or or reducing their ob gynae
• 2:52
  - capacity and so forth. And you're doing the
• 2:54
  - opposite. You're also expanding some other procedures.
• 2:58
  - You're working on a new freestanding
• 3:00
  - ED.
• 3:00
  - Talk about some of the things that allow
• 3:02
  - Wendell Douglas to do that in a very
• 3:05
  - challenging economic environment.
• 3:07
  - And and you hit the nail on the
• 3:08
  - head. Just the fact that we are a
• 3:10
  - non for profit health system and focused on
• 3:13
  - growing our services and really designing care with
• 3:16
  - patients at the center enables us to identify
• 3:19
  - the the health needs that our community needs
• 3:21
  - and how we can better serve the the
• 3:23
  - residents of New Hampshire and even Maine because
• 3:25
  - our hospital is located just two miles from
• 3:27
  - the Maine border.
• 3:28
  - And
• 3:29
  - the challenge we have in health care today
• 3:31
  - is everyone wants health care, and the challenge
• 3:33
  - is how do we find a way to
• 3:35
  - pay for health care in in in this
• 3:36
  - modern setting with the latest tech with technology
• 3:39
  - ever changing and the the the the challenges
• 3:42
  - that we see from payers and the focus
• 3:44
  - on quality care. And, unfortunately, a lot of
• 3:46
  - health systems in New Hampshire have found it
• 3:48
  - very challenging to continue to
• 3:50
  - produce,
• 3:51
  - the the labor and delivery product and be
• 3:53
  - able to support the wrap around services
• 3:56
  - and the expenses that go with with delivering
• 3:59
  - a safe labor and delivery comprehensive women's health
• 4:02
  - program.
• 4:03
  - And we at Mass Gen Brigham Wentworth Douglass
• 4:05
  - have the advantage of being a part of
• 4:07
  - this larger academic health system that enables us
• 4:09
  - to be able to tap the resources,
• 4:12
  - in Boston and and at Mass Gen Brigham
• 4:14
  - to continue to
• 4:16
  - provide that great care and and double down
• 4:18
  - on those services with our NICU, which is
• 4:21
  - full every single day to to near capacity.
• 4:23
  - And being the only hospital here in the
• 4:25
  - Seacoast that continues to provide that level of
• 4:27
  - care,
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  - It gives us a unique privilege to be
• 4:30
  - able to serve that community from cradle to
• 4:33
  - grave as the saying goes and enable us
• 4:35
  - to to deliver high quality care in in
• 4:38
  - addition to maintaining
• 4:39
  - the the fact that you can still say,
• 4:41
  - hey, I was born in Dover, New Hampshire.
• 4:43
  - And, unfortunately, with the closure of a lot
• 4:46
  - of labor and delivery services in New Hampshire,
• 4:48
  - folks can't say they were born at their
• 4:50
  - local hospital anymore.
• 4:51
  - And I think that's something that we really,
• 4:54
  - value and we wanna continue to support and
• 4:57
  - and and care for those services. In fact,
• 4:59
  - as we've seen the continued
• 5:01
  - change in evolution in health care and as
• 5:03
  - smaller hospitals join larger health systems across the
• 5:07
  - New England and the New Hampshire market, a
• 5:09
  - lot of those health services have had to
• 5:11
  - make the tough decision to close services.
• 5:14
  - And, we have made the decision to continue
• 5:16
  - to enhance and increase services and have yet
• 5:18
  - to close any service line that we had
• 5:21
  - here at Wentworth Douglas as a part of
• 5:23
  - our merger opportunity. We've been able to double
• 5:25
  - down and expand those services, and that's why
• 5:27
  - we're honored and privileged to continue to be
• 5:29
  - able to provide that labor and delivery service
• 5:31
  - here.
• 5:33
  - That's fantastic. And and
• 5:35
  - as far as I could tell, I think
• 5:37
  - you have led and worked in Illinois,
• 5:40
  - in Florida, in now the Northeast.
• 5:43
  - Talk a bit about are there big differences
• 5:45
  - in how health care is delivered in the
• 5:47
  - different places, different communities?
• 5:50
  - What what are some of the how do
• 5:51
  - you see that? Or is it is it
• 5:53
  - is it largely
• 5:55
  - fairly similar? How how do things differ from
• 5:57
  - area of the country to area of the
• 5:58
  - country
• 6:00
  - in terms of workforce,
• 6:01
  - clinical delivery,
• 6:03
  - and more?
• 6:04
  - Scott, I think the saying that we as
• 6:05
  - health care executives use that health all health
• 6:08
  - care is local is 100%
• 6:10
  - true. I think I've certainly learned that over
• 6:12
  - my career. And as you said, I've been
• 6:14
  - fortunate
• 6:15
  - to work for great health systems such as
• 6:16
  - Advocate Health Care in Chicago and the Baptist
• 6:18
  - Health System in Florida.
• 6:20
  - And I would say that different areas of
• 6:22
  - the country
• 6:23
  - definitely have different health care needs, different health
• 6:26
  - care opportunities.
• 6:27
  - And
• 6:28
  - and and despite the fact that we're all
• 6:30
  - taking care of patients and our goal is
• 6:31
  - to deliver the best possible care that we
• 6:33
  - can, the model of care that each of
• 6:36
  - us use in different geographies is different, and
• 6:39
  - I've learned that for sure. One example of
• 6:41
  - that is if you look at the Florida
• 6:43
  - market
• 6:44
  - in in other areas of the country, they've
• 6:46
  - been very quick to embrace the freestanding emergency
• 6:49
  - department model. And as you alluded to, we're
• 6:51
  - getting we just recently, as a matter of
• 6:53
  - fact, broke ground on our freestanding emergency room
• 6:56
  - that we're gonna build in Rochester. And this
• 6:58
  - will be the first freestanding emergency room that
• 7:00
  - master general Brigham has built. And if you
• 7:02
  - look at other health systems in other areas
• 7:04
  - of the country, they have now, you know,
• 7:06
  - several dozen,
• 7:08
  - freestanding emergency rooms because they've identified that as
• 7:11
  - a way to continue to be able to
• 7:13
  - serve the consumer where they are closer to
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  - home. And that's certainly true here because we've
• 7:18
  - seen other hospitals that have had to cut
• 7:20
  - back on services due to economics
• 7:23
  - in New Hampshire and roughly thirty percent of
• 7:25
  - the patients who come to our hospital every
• 7:27
  - day here in Dover originate
• 7:29
  - in Rochester and parts North of Rochester. So
• 7:33
  - our goal is to build a freestanding ETA
• 7:35
  - in Rochester and be able to deliver that
• 7:37
  - world class care closer to home so that
• 7:39
  - patients don't have to travel because we know
• 7:41
  - in an emergency, you know, seconds matter.
• 7:44
  - And, so while other areas of the country
• 7:46
  - have really embraced the freestanding ed model,
• 7:49
  - New England has been slow to adopt it.
• 7:51
  - And I'm,
• 7:52
  - just proud and privileged to be able to
• 7:54
  - bring that freestanding
• 7:55
  - ed model to mass general Brigham, and we're
• 7:57
  - excited to be able to break ground and
• 7:59
  - get this freestanding ED built so we can
• 8:01
  - continue
• 8:02
  - to expand and and provide that care to
• 8:05
  - residents in New Hampshire.
• 8:07
  - Now now I understand that you went to
• 8:09
  - school in two of my favorite places in
• 8:11
  - in both Illinois and in Wisconsin.
• 8:13
  - Did you grow up in the Midwest and
• 8:15
  - then move to Florida and to now to
• 8:18
  - New England, or or did you grow up
• 8:19
  - someplace different?
• 8:21
  - No. I was born and raised in the
• 8:22
  - Chicago Suburbs and, as you alluded to, got
• 8:25
  - my, my master's degree at Northern Illinois University,
• 8:28
  - which is a a great,
• 8:30
  - college opportunity that I had. And they had
• 8:32
  - a great MBA program, and I enjoyed that
• 8:35
  - tremendously. I had some amazing professors who challenged
• 8:38
  - me,
• 8:39
  - and integrated some strategic thinking and some critical
• 8:42
  - thinking, and and I had a great experience
• 8:44
  - at Northern Illinois.
• 8:45
  - I was also fortunate enough to go to
• 8:47
  - the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
• 8:49
  - for my bachelor's degree in nursing, and that
• 8:51
  - was a great school, a great opportunity. I
• 8:54
  - had some amazing professors there who inspired me
• 8:57
  - every day. And I was fortunate enough to
• 8:59
  - work, at a local emergency room, which was
• 9:02
  - right across the street from the Nursing Building
• 9:05
  - where I attended school and worked as an
• 9:07
  - emergency room tech while I was attending
• 9:09
  - nursing school and had a great experience in
• 9:11
  - Milwaukee.
• 9:12
  - And as we all you know, the the
• 9:14
  - shocking part is you travel across the country,
• 9:16
  - you do learn that things are very different.
• 9:18
  - And as each as I've made each move,
• 9:20
  - I've I've learned the the differences in each
• 9:23
  - geography. And I'll never forget one of the
• 9:25
  - things that shocked me the most was when
• 9:27
  - I got to Milwaukee, I was trying to
• 9:28
  - find a cash station, and everyone was like,
• 9:31
  - a cash station? What's that? And I'm like,
• 9:32
  - well, you know, the place where you go
• 9:34
  - when you get money, you put your card
• 9:35
  - in. And they're like, oh, you mean a
• 9:37
  - time machine, because there was a company called
• 9:40
  - Time that had all the cash station machines
• 9:42
  - in Milwaukee. So everywhere you go, you you'll
• 9:44
  - learn the the the dialect. You'll you'll learn
• 9:47
  - the the the language, and, it's a great
• 9:49
  - opportunity to experience just how great America is.
• 9:51
  - You
• 9:52
  - you you love that. I guess the question
• 9:55
  - it it leads to is,
• 9:57
  - have you become a New England Patriots or
• 9:59
  - Boston Red Sox fan, or you're far up
• 10:01
  - the up the coast
• 10:03
  - that you don't yet share for the New
• 10:04
  - England sports teams? Or or where's your head
• 10:06
  - at on that?
• 10:08
  - You you you know, I I love New
• 10:10
  - England sports teams and, been, able to go
• 10:13
  - to some of those wonderful Red Sox games.
• 10:15
  - And, Scott, they remind me of a great
• 10:16
  - Cubs game, and I think the Cubs and
• 10:18
  - Red Sox are bound forever because they both
• 10:21
  - have
• 10:22
  - stadiums that are located in the the heart
• 10:24
  - of of the community,
• 10:25
  - and and both stadiums are a lot of
• 10:27
  - fun. And I love Red Sox games, and
• 10:30
  - I still love my Cubs, and I still
• 10:31
  - love my Bears. It's really hard to give
• 10:33
  - up on my Chicago sports teams. Haven't been
• 10:35
  - born and raised there, but but root for
• 10:37
  - New England,
• 10:38
  - when when we're not playing the Chicago teams.
• 10:42
  - And and and the Red Sox are having
• 10:44
  - a heck of a turnaround this year, aren't
• 10:45
  - they? They're having a heck of a season.
• 10:47
  - They are doing fantastic. And the season started
• 10:49
  - slow, and now they've picked up, and it's
• 10:51
  - been exciting to watch. And we're excited to
• 10:54
  - see where this goes.
• 10:56
  - Fantastic. And now, Taryn, you've had this great
• 10:58
  - leadership career,
• 11:00
  - served as president in Florida of a hospital
• 11:02
  - system,
• 11:03
  - serving as president of a hospital here that's
• 11:05
  - part of one of the most prestigious systems
• 11:07
  - in the world,
• 11:08
  - a very centered person, a nursing background, just
• 11:11
  - a fantastic background.
• 11:13
  - Any advice that you would give to emerging
• 11:15
  - leaders? When when you think about advice to
• 11:17
  - emerging leaders or as you're coaching your leadership
• 11:19
  - team,
• 11:20
  - what thoughts do you have? What advice do
• 11:22
  - you give?
• 11:23
  - The advice I would have to new leaders
• 11:26
  - is to stay focused on the heart and
• 11:27
  - the mission of what health care is. And,
• 11:29
  - you know, we're here every day to really
• 11:31
  - take great care of the community and treat
• 11:33
  - each patient like a member of our family.
• 11:35
  - And and that is a huge honor and
• 11:37
  - a privilege to be able to lead the
• 11:39
  - very talented clinical teams that enable that work
• 11:42
  - to occur.
• 11:43
  - You know, here at Mass Gen Brigham, we
• 11:45
  - we we are around such expertise every single
• 11:48
  - day, and it's it's humbling to me to
• 11:50
  - see the humility
• 11:51
  - in in these great leaders here at Maschin
• 11:53
  - and Brigham and how they continue to remind
• 11:55
  - us that our our sole responsibility every day
• 11:58
  - is to get up and come to work
• 11:59
  - and take great care of the patients that
• 12:01
  - we're really fortunate enough to serve. And I
• 12:03
  - would say that means that as leaders we
• 12:05
  - have to really keep an open mind. We
• 12:07
  - have to be great listeners.
• 12:09
  - We have to be able to to motivate
• 12:11
  - our teams and and to lead them down
• 12:14
  - the clinical pathway that enables them to excel.
• 12:16
  - And I say that my job as a
• 12:18
  - leader is to make sure that my team
• 12:20
  - has the tools and resources they need every
• 12:22
  - single day to deliver that mission.
• 12:24
  - And and I can't do that if I'm
• 12:25
  - not being a good listener and if I'm
• 12:27
  - not fully understanding the work that they're doing
• 12:30
  - so that I can help them
• 12:32
  - be success
• 12:33
  - at the work they do as we continue
• 12:35
  - to take great care of our communities.
• 12:37
  - Being a health care leader is very humbling
• 12:39
  - and and I I love it. I I'm
• 12:41
  - very passionate about
• 12:43
  - the the opportunity to to lead clinical teams
• 12:46
  - as we deliver great care
• 12:47
  - And I would just, encourage those leaders to,
• 12:51
  - to continue to stay focused on the mission
• 12:54
  - and and listen to your team.
• 12:57
  - And, and and there's not a day where
• 12:59
  - you won't go home knowing that you've made
• 13:01
  - an impact and made a difference in your
• 13:02
  - community, and and and that is very fulfilling.
• 13:06
  - Thank you. And with and with so much
• 13:08
  - noise out there about reimbursement, about challenges, about
• 13:10
  - everything else,
• 13:12
  - it it is so refreshing and so important
• 13:14
  - to just focus on the patient, make sure
• 13:16
  - you're taking care of patients, And a lot
• 13:18
  - of other things seem to work out if
• 13:19
  - you do that in a really high quality
• 13:20
  - way.
• 13:21
  - I totally agree with you, Scott. If you
• 13:23
  - take great care of your patients, you deliver
• 13:24
  - a fantastic patient experience and and excellent quality
• 13:27
  - care like we do here at Master and
• 13:29
  - Brigham, then you don't have to worry about
• 13:31
  - the finances because the finances will work themselves
• 13:34
  - out. And I've been a big believer in
• 13:35
  - that my entire career, and and it's great
• 13:37
  - to work for an organization that supports that.
• 13:40
  - I I love that. Darren, what a pleasure
• 13:42
  - to visit with you. I share your love
• 13:44
  - for the Cubs and the Bears. I like
• 13:46
  - the Red Sox. I'm not sure that I'm
• 13:48
  - there on the Patriots, but overall,
• 13:51
  - love the alliances and and love the work
• 13:53
  - that you do at Mass General Brigham and
• 13:54
  - Wentworth Douglas. And congratulations on what you're doing
• 13:57
  - up there in New Hampshire on the Seacoast.
• 13:58
  - Just fantastic. Thank you so much for joining
• 14:00
  - us. Thank you, Scott. Appreciate the opportunity.