Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Leading Through Change at Strong Memorial Hospital with Deirdre Salanger

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Leading Through Change at Strong Memorial Hospital with Deirdre Salanger · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  This is where health care leadership comes together.
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  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 Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  Deirdre Stallinger,
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  chief operating officer at Strong Memorial Hospital. Deirdre,
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  it's a pleasure having you on the podcast
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  today. Morning, Laura. Happy to be here. Fantastic.
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  Well, I'm excited for our conversation because I
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  know there's so much happening in health care
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  right now, and it's truly an innovative time.
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  So I'm excited to learn a little bit
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  more about what you're doing at Strong Memorial
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  as well as your perspective on the future.
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  But before we dive in, can you tell
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  us just a little bit more about yourself
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  and the hospital?
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  Sure. So my name is Yorta Salinger. As
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  you mentioned, I'm the chief operating officer of
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  Straub Memorial Hospital, which is part of the
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  University of Rochester Medical Center, which is part
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  of the University of Rochester Medicine more broadly.
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  We're primarily located in Rochester, New York, which
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  is not quite as far West as Buffalo
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  and not quite as central as Syracuse, but
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  more in that Finger Lakes region. And Strong
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  is the region's only level one adult and
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  pediatric trauma center.
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  We're a busy place. We discharge over 43,000
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  patients. We have heavy transfer request volumes every
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  day. We have close to 120,000
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  ED visits and we perform over 46,000
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  surgeries.
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  And we have an expansive ambulatory network
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  of primary and specialty care services as well
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  as urgent care.
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  We are academic. Our faculty are part of
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  the University of Rochester School of Medicine and
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  Dentistry and we are so fortunate to have
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  the School of Nursing where we collaborate and
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  partner on many things.
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  And we actually just celebrated our 100 anniversary
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  for the medical school, nursing school, and the
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  hospital.
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  So we're really proud to be part of
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  our community in this way.
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  That's great to hear. You know, what a
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  great legacy to have a hundred years of,
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  serving the community and really doing a great
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  job there. Now could you tell me a
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  little bit more about the last year or
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  so? What was an initiative that you led?
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  What did you do, and what were the
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  results?
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  Yeah. So the last year was not an
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  average one for me. I came back from
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  a maternity leave, and I started a new
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  job with a new organization. So the role
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  I'm in today as a COO of Strong,
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  I started last summer.
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  So I suppose you could say I've been
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  in orientation,
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  learning the organization, the people, the culture,
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  that expansive network I mentioned, and just asking
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  a lot of questions.
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  There are certainly things I've had to jump
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  into headfirst such as regulatory readiness given the
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  nature and timing of those things, and some
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  major capital projects we have going on. But
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  as I've come to understand the priorities and
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  where we are as an organization, I've spent
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  significant time assessing and where appropriate,
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  really implementing the structure to achieve and support
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  our initiatives.
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  I love that. I I think it's, so
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  critical to have that kind of base and
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  then being able to,
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  you know, understand what's needed today as well
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  as think through the future, which it can
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  be a challenge with how quickly things change
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  right now. But especially as you're getting onboarded
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  and and really getting acclimated,
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  in in thinking through all the projects that
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  you had, what are were some of the
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  most helpful,
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  ways you're able to do that? I know,
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  you know, right now, there's so many leaders,
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  that are are going through a similar process
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  as you in in kind of jumping into
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  new roles and and taking on new leadership.
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  So, what advice do you have for them,
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  I guess, to,
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  really make sure they're making the most of
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  the time and,
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  getting acclimated as quickly as possible?
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  Yeah. You know, when I think about some
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  priorities,
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  really regardless of where you are, first and
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  foremost,
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  we cannot provide health care without our people.
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  I think COVID taught us that in a
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  more acute way as well as with the
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  great resignation that followed with that.
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  And I would say our leadership's top priority
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  is supporting and engaging our workforce,
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  and this means enabling team members to perform
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  their job and to do that well in
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  a way that allows them to feel good
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  about the work they do when they're here.
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  So for example, helping interact with the electronic
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  medical record is an area of focus for
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  us,
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  as well as you know retention and recruitment
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  strategies and there are many things that go
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  into that, but building a stable workforce that
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  feels productive and safe at work is important.
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  You know, I would think about this as
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  well from what I consider a balancing act
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  between access and capacity.
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  And when I say access and capacity, I'm
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  referring not just to the inventory setting but
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  our inpatient services in the post acute network.
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  These topics are, I would say, really foundational
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  at this point for most health systems, I
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  think, when you talk to colleagues across the
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  country.
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  And when I consider, you know, headwinds that
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  we're actively managing and dealing with and what
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  I've had to get up to speed on
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  pretty quickly are are those financial pressures and
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  uncertain uncertainties.
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  These conversations at the federal level and the
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  state budgets, they acutely impact us on the
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  provider side.
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  We're closely watching the three forty b discussions,
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  actively planning how best to support patients who
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  we know will be impacted by changes to
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  Medicaid funding.
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  And of course, being a university based academic
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  medical center, the funding impacts to NIH are
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  real.
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  We also have major capital commitments that are
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  necessary for us to continue to provide modern
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  health care and to meet our community's needs.
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  And, you know, all that said, I do
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  think Strong is well positioned to handle and
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  take these in stride.
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  That's great to hear. And I think as
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  you mentioned, you know, so many of the
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  areas that you talked about are critical for
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  organizations across the country, whether you're looking at
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  EHR,
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  implementations or
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  or or, interactions and then thinking about recruitment
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  and retention on the workforce side, and then
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  three forty b, I know, comes up in
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  so many of our different conversations. And so,
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  having that kind of backbone, and then looking
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  forward is so critical. What do you think
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  you'll have to do, 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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  It's always challenging to stay disciplined with resources.
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  As I say that health care will always
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  revolve around people and the human nature of
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  what we do, but the amount of change
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  we are experiencing in health care right now
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  is really requiring us to consider the right
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  investments.
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  Our challenge is that the demand is now
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  and we have to meet it. So building
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  in and planning flexibility so we can more
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  nimbly adapt is really going to be critical
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  as we manage investments and costs. As I
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  think about the way we train people, that's
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  probably going to have to be reimagined,
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  the roles we hire into and what we
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  expect them to do. Again, we anticipate that
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  to be changing as we move down the
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  path with digital tools and whatnot.
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  So all of it is exciting work, albeit
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  challenging, like you mentioned, and hard, but I
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  do think we're gonna rise to meet the
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  occasion.
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  Absolutely. That's amazing to hear, Anghino. Certainly,
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  always a challenge, but love a good challenge
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  for being able to, come out on the
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  other end. Where do you see some of
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  the best opportunities for organizational growth as well?
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  I've kind of been alluding to it, but
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  I really think leveraging digital tools and some
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  of which most of which may we may
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  already have access to. But in doing so,
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  we can really enable access in a way
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  that makes sense for our patients
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  and a work experience that is efficient and
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  what I would say frictionless for our team
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  members.
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  So keeping the patient and workforce experience top
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  of mind is going to be a beacon
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  for us as we continue to be innovative
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  and serve the region in our community.
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  I love that. Deirdre, thank you so much
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  for joining us on the podcast today. This
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  has been such a a fantastic conversation. Really
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  helps get the pulse of everything that's on
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  your mind and then certainly how you're planning
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  to to move it forward. So I appreciate
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  your time today, and I look forward to,
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  seeing you as well at our annual meeting.
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  I know you'll be speaking on a panel,
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  so this will be a lot of fun
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  to catch up and, keep the conversation going.
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  Thanks, Laura. I really enjoyed this.