Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Matthew Wolthoff, President of Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley

Transcript

Matthew Wolthoff, President of Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

0:00
Welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast. I'm Chris
0:02
Sosa, your host. I'm thrilled to be joined
0:04
today by Matt Wolthoff. He, of course, is
0:06
president of Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley
0:08
in Texas.
0:10
Matt, thank you for joining us today.
0:11
Yeah. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
0:14
Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to talk over
0:16
you, Matt. But It's okay. We're so happy
0:18
that you're on today. We have a whole
0:19
lot to talk about. Let's start with this.
0:21
Could you please just let our audience know
0:23
a little bit more about you and your
0:24
background?
0:25
Sure. Yeah. So I've I've been, in health
0:28
care for for over twenty years. I I
0:30
started in the military. I was in the
0:32
Air Force for five years. I was an
0:33
Air Force Academy graduate
0:35
and served in the, medical service corps of
0:38
the Air Force, for five years as a
0:40
health care administrator.
0:42
When I, I had the opportunity to get
0:44
my master's degree at, UTSA,
0:47
during in during the course of that five
0:49
years
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and, and then
0:52
got out after five years and joined the
0:54
private sector and came straight to the Rio
0:56
Grande Valley. My my wife is born and
0:58
raised in Harlingen,
1:00
and I had an opportunity to work for
1:01
Valley Baptist Health System in in Harlingen,
1:04
for a few years. And then I joined
1:06
HCA,
1:07
had a had nine I've spent nine years
1:09
with HCA both in San Antonio and in
1:11
the Valley,
1:13
and and was the chief operating officer at,
1:15
at the HCA hospital here in McAllen for
1:18
six years.
1:19
Then I, was the, CEO over at Harlingen
1:22
Medical Center for a few years.
1:25
And then about four years ago, I got,
1:27
the the I was blessed to have the
1:28
opportunity,
1:30
to join the Driscoll team. And,
1:32
they were looking for a,
1:34
president of their of their new,
1:36
hospital that had not yet been built,
1:39
here in the valley. And and, and again,
1:41
I was I was fortunate enough to to
1:43
be given that opportunity.
1:46
Thank you for sharing that, Matt. So I
1:47
do wanna follow-up very shortly on your, military
1:52
career, and that just simply is is there
1:54
something that you brought or learned from your
1:57
time in the military
1:58
to health care that you've found has been
2:00
very important to you?
2:02
Yeah. That's that's a great question. I I
2:04
I think,
2:05
you know, I think both
2:07
resilience and and discipline,
2:10
I I think are both two things that
2:12
that,
2:13
that have stuck with me and and it
2:15
it started with with my, experience at the
2:17
Air Force Academy and and then my active
2:20
duty experience for five years. I think the,
2:22
you know, the that those experiences, I think
2:25
built both, like I said, resilience and and
2:27
discipline. So, you know, really,
2:30
not,
2:30
not ever giving up and and, you know,
2:32
and then having the discipline
2:34
to to, do the do the hard things
2:36
every day. So,
2:38
those are, you know, those are, I think,
2:40
two things I I could say I definitely
2:42
took away from from my military career.
2:45
Makes total sense, especially you're definitely gonna need
2:48
those two qualities given what health care is
2:51
going through,
2:52
in in the past three years and certainly
2:54
moving forward. As you mentioned, Rio Grande Valley
2:57
is a relatively new
2:58
enterprise that Driscoll Children's has. So as you
3:02
guys have marked two years since you opened
3:04
and maybe a little more than that, what
3:06
do you think have been some of,
3:08
the hospital's most important initiatives and accomplishments?
3:13
Yeah. You know, we've we've had a lot
3:14
of milestones in the two years of that
3:16
we've been open and, really proud. You know,
3:18
first of all, just to be the first
3:20
designated children's hospital in a in a region
3:24
that was so in need,
3:26
of a of a children's hospital. So,
3:29
we are the only,
3:30
designated children's hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.
3:33
And, you know, that that is a,
3:36
a geography from Cameron County and Brownsville
3:39
all the way to Star County,
3:41
in Rome Roma, Texas,
3:43
and north to, you know, to Willacy County
3:46
and and,
3:48
and and, you know, to and and Raymondville
3:51
and and just a it's a it's a
3:53
very, very large geographic area.
3:56
And and it, you know, act a large
3:58
popular large and growing population here in the
4:01
Rio Grande Valley,
4:02
that,
4:03
you know, has has,
4:05
probably close to 2,000,000,
4:07
total in in the in the,
4:10
you know, in the whole region.
4:12
And the
4:13
the thing about the Rio Grande Valley is
4:14
that you really it's that the border has
4:17
been so fluid
4:18
that you really don't know exactly how how
4:20
many people are are here. But,
4:22
it's a large and growing area
4:24
And, and, you know, really
4:26
they really had it's been a long time
4:29
overdue to have a designated children's hospital for
4:32
our for our our community.
4:33
And so I'd say that first milestone or
4:36
the, you know, the really the first thing
4:37
I'm really proud of,
4:39
of our organization and and our team is
4:41
that, you know, we were able to to
4:43
open that this hospital and and it's a
4:45
119 licensed beds.
4:48
You know, it's it's it has a level
4:50
three NICU, 63 bed NICU
4:52
that's physically attached to a a large women's
4:55
center from, with a with a general acute
4:57
care hospital
4:59
and,
5:00
you know, and and eight pediatric ICU beds,
5:04
and then 48,
5:06
you know, medical surgical pediatric beds.
5:09
And so so that was that was the
5:11
the first big accomplishment is getting the hospital
5:13
built. It was it was a two over
5:15
a two year process,
5:17
in terms of construction,
5:18
and planning was much longer than that obviously.
5:23
But we've, since then in the in the
5:25
two years of operation, we've hit a lot
5:27
of really exciting milestones.
5:29
From the very beginning, our surgical volume was
5:31
really strong. We hit,
5:33
we just hit within the last couple of
5:35
weeks ten thousand surgical cases.
5:38
And and I think that's evidence of,
5:41
our our the the great work that our
5:43
our team does, our our pediatric anesthesia,
5:46
that has made it that that team is
5:48
world class
5:50
and then the growing number of surgical specialists
5:52
that we're bringing to the Valley.
5:55
And and, you know, and and just the
5:57
again,
5:58
the need that was out there. And we
6:00
do a pretty much a full spectrum of
6:03
surgical cases with the exception of neurosurgery and
6:06
cardiovascular
6:06
surgery where we do those in Corpus Christi.
6:10
Those teams are are, you know, are centralized
6:12
in in, in Corpus.
6:15
But but beyond that, we do pretty much
6:17
full spectrum of of surgical
6:19
cases.
6:21
You know, I think also our emergency department
6:24
is is is an area that I'd like
6:26
to highlight is is really hitting some some
6:28
impressive milestones. And
6:30
in the first year, we did over we
6:32
saw over 20,000 children,
6:35
in in the emergency department and and it's
6:37
actually an eight bay emergency department. Typically,
6:41
you know, what I was accustomed to is
6:43
you you shoot for, you know, 2,000,
6:46
more or less visits per per bed in
6:49
an emergency department.
6:50
And we far exceeded that, in the first
6:53
year. And actually the second year, it's gonna
6:55
be closer to 25,000.
6:58
And, and so that team has done a
7:00
tremendous job. We have we have,
7:02
board certified,
7:04
you know, pediatric fellowship trained emergency medicine physicians,
7:08
a team like that that the Valley has
7:10
never had.
7:11
And, you know, and and and right now
7:14
over the last six months, we've been leading
7:16
the nation in patient experience. They're at the
7:18
hundredth percentile
7:20
in the NRC database,
7:22
which includes many of the the large children's
7:24
hospitals across the nation.
7:26
So I I'm I'm really proud of the
7:28
work that they're they're doing in the emergency
7:30
department.
7:32
The other thing I'd point to in terms
7:34
of,
7:35
in terms of the care and and the
7:37
and really the accomplishments of this team
7:40
is that our our quality metrics are have
7:42
all been
7:44
have have been very very strong and and
7:47
you know this year we have we've had
7:48
zero
7:50
catheter associated
7:51
urinary tract infections,
7:53
We've had zero
7:55
central line
7:56
bloodstream infections.
7:58
You know we're we're hitting all of our
8:01
metrics in terms of hospital acquired conditions
8:04
and
8:06
in surgical side infections, same thing. We're very,
8:08
very few.
8:10
And so,
8:11
so not only are we seeing a tremendous
8:14
number of children,
8:16
but we're also providing very, very high level
8:19
of quality of care.
8:21
And so so again, I'm very, very proud
8:22
of our team for that.
8:24
The last thing I'd point to is the
8:26
recruitment of pediatric subspecialists.
8:29
And and and actually it's kind of twofold.
8:31
So I'd say,
8:33
that we not only the recruitment of subspecialists
8:36
but we also,
8:38
we were just
8:40
awarded accreditation for our an approval for our
8:43
first pediatric residency program in the Rio Grande
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Valley. And so we are we had just,
8:51
matched all eight of our slots that that
8:53
these residents will start
8:55
in,
8:56
in in the summer, so July '26.
8:59
And, we're we're really excited about that. And
9:02
so, you know, we're we're literally going to
9:04
be training the next generation of pediatrician
9:07
for the Rio Grande Valley.
9:09
And and then you know also recruiting of
9:11
pediatric subspecialists.
9:13
We are we've been actively recruiting.
9:16
It's since the hospital has opened, it's become
9:19
easier and easier to attract,
9:21
pediatric subspecialists. Many of whom have had connections
9:25
to the to South Texas or the Rio
9:26
Grande Valley
9:28
and, and are now coming back to work
9:30
in our hospital because they because we finally
9:33
have, you know, a place for them to
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work.
9:35
We have several examples of that and and
9:37
so it's it's really exciting to to be
9:39
able to offer in some cases specialties to
9:42
the to the valley that that our children
9:45
have never had full time access to.
9:47
Driscoll has has historically flown
9:50
pediatric subspecialists,
9:53
down to see kids in clinics,
9:56
from Corpus Christi.
9:58
And that's and we so we've provided access
10:01
historically through through those those pediatric subspecialists
10:05
flying down.
10:06
But now we're we're able to recruit and
10:08
and really,
10:10
you know,
10:11
put full time, you know, pediatric subspecialists that
10:14
live and work in the Valley here to
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take care of our kids at home. And
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so,
10:19
so it's really exciting and and we're, you
10:21
know, like I said in some specialties,
10:24
we're we're bringing
10:25
bringing new physicians that that the Valley's never
10:27
had. And then in some specialties we're adding
10:29
depth. And and that depth is really is
10:32
really critical in terms of,
10:34
improving access. So,
10:36
again, really excited about about some of the
10:39
the recruiting efforts that we've been, you know,
10:42
we've been able to accomplish.
10:44
That's fantastic, Matt. Thank you for hearing all
10:46
those details. Those are gonna be really important
10:48
for our audience, certainly.
10:50
I'm gonna take a bit of the 30,000
10:52
foot view with you here for just a
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minute. So as you mentioned, your roots with
10:57
the the area
10:59
where Rio Grande Valley is run really deep,
11:01
and you are basically on the Ground Floor
11:03
of this new hospital. So when you're
11:06
working when you get the call, say, hey.
11:09
We want you to run this.
11:11
And you decide in your mind you're gonna
11:13
take that on.
11:15
As a leader,
11:16
what is most important for you to do
11:19
when you're trying to communicate to others, whether
11:21
it be the people in in the building
11:24
and the people in the community, how important
11:26
this hospital is?
11:28
Yeah. That's a that's a great question. I
11:30
you know, I think we we've really done
11:32
a good job of telling our story and
11:34
why this was so important. And,
11:37
you know, I I we are and I
11:39
I I've alluded to it earlier, but we
11:41
are delivering a whole new level of care,
11:45
here in in the Rio Grande Valley. And
11:47
and to have a dedicated team
11:51
of
11:51
pediatric subspecialists,
11:54
staff that are have have, you know, trained
11:57
and worked only, you know, to to only
11:59
take care of kids
12:01
and,
12:02
all of, you know, in a in a
12:04
physical infrastructure
12:05
designed
12:06
specifically for taking care of kids.
12:09
All of that together really adds up to
12:11
a whole new level of care.
12:13
And that's what, you know, that's what makes
12:15
a freestanding designated children's hospital so so special.
12:18
And so we've, you know, I think that's
12:20
that's one of the messages that that we've
12:23
been able to communicate internally and externally
12:26
is that, you know, this is this is
12:28
a whole new level of care. This we
12:29
are different and we are a specialty hospital
12:32
and and we're all about children. And,
12:35
you know, our community has responded,
12:37
just, you know, with a tremendous amount of
12:40
support for that,
12:41
both both in terms of our our volumes
12:44
and and the community trusting us to care
12:46
for their children,
12:48
but also in terms of donations and and
12:50
fundraising.
12:52
You know, we we have just, again, a
12:54
tremendous amount of support from from our community.
12:57
And so that that's the big message is,
12:59
you know, we we're the only one, and
13:01
actually Driscoll
13:03
is the only has the only two designated
13:06
children's hospitals in all of South Texas.
13:09
And when I say South Texas Texas, I
13:11
mean, South Of San Antonio.
13:13
We our our service area is about 31
13:15
counties,
13:17
wide and and 33,000
13:20
square miles, I believe.
13:21
But it's everything from Port Lavaca on the
13:24
coast to to Eagle Pass
13:26
South.
13:28
And so we we we cover that entire
13:30
service area with two hospitals
13:33
now. And and, and so,
13:35
we're just, you know, and we're gonna continue
13:36
to grow to meet the needs of of
13:38
our community. So getting back to your question,
13:40
so we that I think that
13:42
that is that's the big messages. That's why
13:45
we're here and and that's because our kids
13:47
deserve that level of care
13:49
and our families deserve that that level of
13:51
care. And so,
13:53
it's it's not hard for us as leaders
13:56
to connect to purpose.
13:58
It's very easy to tell our story and
14:00
and connect to why we do what we
14:02
do.
14:03
So and and we spend a lot of
14:04
time,
14:05
you know, doing that as as as leaders.
14:07
We we we talk to our teams about,
14:10
you know, okay. You know, why this is
14:12
why this is important. And, and again, it's
14:15
that's that's not a hard story to tell.
14:19
I'm glad it's at least some of part
14:20
of your job is easy, man. I'm sure
14:22
there are a lot of things that are
14:24
are are quite difficult.
14:26
I do wanna touch on that. I mean,
14:28
I that's a leads me to my next
14:30
question. So,
14:32
you've described so many of the things that
14:34
you've accomplished over the last couple of years
14:36
since the hospital has been open. So as
14:39
you look to the next,
14:40
I mean, whatever time period you you're looking
14:43
toward here,
14:45
two years, five years,
14:47
whatever it may be. What are your what
14:48
do you think are the biggest priorities
14:51
that you've got on your plate right now,
14:52
and what are the headwinds as you try
14:54
to take those challenges on?
14:56
Yeah. So I think when we talk about
14:58
our priorities,
14:59
you know, our priority is is identifying gaps
15:02
in care locally
15:04
and and addressing them. Right? It's it's it's
15:07
it's looking at our community health needs assessment
15:09
and understanding
15:10
what are the needs of our children from
15:13
a health care standpoint,
15:15
in our community
15:16
and stepping up and addressing those needs.
15:19
It's also when I mentioned the residency program,
15:21
that's a big part of what we do.
15:23
We're a teaching hospital
15:25
and not only
15:27
do we train, are we going to be
15:28
training,
15:30
you know, eight eight residents in each class.
15:33
We're also we have a lot of residents
15:36
from from
15:37
our from our region
15:39
doing their pediatric rotations here in this hospital.
15:42
So So teaching is a big part of
15:44
what we do and making sure that
15:47
our
15:48
providers are trained in pediatrics.
15:51
So I think from a high level that's
15:53
a very big thing in terms of priority.
15:55
And then I think
15:58
we are we actually left I don't think
16:00
I mentioned earlier, we left one
16:03
floor of our hospital shell. We're we're an
16:06
eight story tower,
16:08
attached to a NICU and physically located in
16:11
a women's center.
16:13
But we left one floor
16:16
shell and, we are already,
16:18
about to finish the construction of that of
16:21
that, floor with an additional 15 pediatric ICU
16:25
beds. And so, that's a big priority for
16:28
us.
16:29
Not only in the short term,
16:31
but in the long term,
16:33
we know that we're gonna continue to have
16:35
to grow our
16:36
facility.
16:38
We're we as we speak today as I'm
16:41
talking to you, we are completely full in
16:43
our tower.
16:44
We you know, our NICU is not completely
16:46
full at this point, but but our
16:48
our our pediatric and pediatric ICU beds are
16:51
completely full.
16:52
And so,
16:53
that's gonna be a challenge for us going
16:56
forward,
16:58
is is really how do we
17:00
identify efficiencies.
17:02
First of all, to to maximize the utilization
17:05
of our existing
17:06
facility?
17:07
And then what do we do
17:09
to address that additional need? And and and
17:12
is it, you know, is it expansion in
17:14
our current footprint,
17:16
or is it, you know, additional sites? Or,
17:19
you know, those are the things that we
17:21
we have to we have to figure out.
17:23
And so we're we're in the middle of
17:24
those discussions right now talking about, you know,
17:28
three to five years out, what are what
17:30
is this going to look like? Because we
17:32
know our current footprint is not anywhere close
17:34
to being large enough
17:36
to accommodate,
17:37
the the the volume of of need.
17:41
And, you know, and our vision is really
17:43
to consolidate
17:44
pediatric care,
17:46
across the the Rio Grande Valley.
17:48
You know, we feel like we should be
17:50
the ones taking care of kids. We're we're
17:52
the ones who are dedicated to that. And
17:55
so we've got to figure out how to
17:56
how to do that across the valley. The
17:58
other thing is any any changes to Medicaid,
18:01
we as an org as a hospital system,
18:05
over seventy percent of our our children that
18:07
we take care of are are Medicaid.
18:10
And, and so as we as we hear
18:12
about
18:13
changes to Medicaid supplemental payment programs
18:17
and, you know, and and just funding changes
18:20
to the Medicaid program as a whole,
18:22
we're we're, you know, obviously keeping a very
18:24
close eye on that and and that, you
18:26
know, that, that is something that that we
18:29
really can't afford as a as a health
18:31
care system,
18:32
to to have happen that, you know, to
18:34
to have a reduction
18:36
on the on the Medicaid side because we
18:38
rely so heavily on on that funding.
18:40
So,
18:42
you know, again, we're keep a very, very
18:44
close eye on that and working with not
18:46
only our local representatives in Austin and and
18:48
and in the at the federal level,
18:50
but but the Children's Hospital Association and and,
18:53
you know, our our advocacy groups.
18:57
Yeah, Matt. No doubt, any number of your
18:59
colleagues are dealing with, very similar issues.
19:03
And, hopefully, you know, all your efforts,
19:06
pay off down the stretch when it comes
19:08
to whether it's in Austin or on the
19:10
federal level. I mean, certainly, any of these
19:12
hospitals, you know, you guys need
19:14
that support from the government to to care
19:16
for those kids.
19:18
That's right. I wanna add or wanna
19:20
end the podcast on a more positive note,
19:23
Matt. And that's simply whether it's related to
19:26
to growth
19:27
or any sort of program that you have
19:30
going down at RGV,
19:32
what do you what excites you most about
19:35
the next
19:37
year, the next five years, you know, what's
19:39
going on and and where
19:41
your efforts can be headed down at Driscoll
19:43
Children's?
19:44
Yeah. You know, it's I mean, it it's
19:47
very exciting to see our our rapid growth
19:50
and we're just what's so exciting is that
19:52
we're just getting started.
19:54
We have just scratched the surface in terms
19:57
of the impact that we can have on
19:59
our children here in the Rio Grande Valley.
20:03
We've got several things that we're working on
20:05
for future growth, including our trauma,
20:09
program, which is which is,
20:11
you know, a big part of our strategic
20:13
plan for the next year,
20:15
is is developing into a a level three
20:18
trauma center.
20:19
And, and so so we'll continue to grow
20:21
that and and grow our capabilities
20:23
as it relates to to trauma.
20:26
But we're also when we talk about growth,
20:28
I mentioned earlier that, you know, we're looking
20:31
at the entire,
20:32
region.
20:33
And so we're we're looking at in Brownsville,
20:36
which Brownsville right now is is another community
20:39
that is booming and and a lot of
20:41
lot of economic development, a lot of growth.
20:44
And we're looking at,
20:46
a low acuity
20:47
hospital in Brownsville as well. And and, it'd
20:51
be a a smaller facility that would, like
20:53
I said, would would be,
20:55
low acuity,
20:56
emergency within, you know, emergency department,
20:59
some inpatient beds, and some some, some operating
21:02
rooms.
21:03
So so that is something that we're we're
21:05
actively talking about and
21:08
and and it is part of our long
21:10
term strategic plan.
21:11
Is again, it's all about taking care of
21:14
kids close to home. And even, you know,
21:16
we work this campus here in Edinburgh
21:19
is just over an hour's drive from Brownsville
21:22
and we see a lot of those kids
21:23
already.
21:25
But but if there are things that we
21:27
can, you know, safely and and,
21:29
adequately take care of
21:31
close to home in Brownsville, that's that's, you
21:34
know, that's what we wanna do.
21:36
So,
21:37
that's just that's one example of of, our
21:40
kind of future
21:41
strategic plan and and, and growing with our
21:44
community and and just making sure
21:46
again that we're we're taking care of kids
21:48
close to home.
21:49
And it's all about access to care. And
21:51
and, you know, unfortunately,
21:53
that has not always been the case for
21:55
our kids
21:56
here in the in the valley for for
21:58
a variety of
22:00
socioeconomic reasons.
22:02
You know, our kids have have not always
22:04
had access to,
22:06
to world class, you know, pediatric focused care.
22:09
And so we're changing that every day. And,
22:12
and, you know, I I could tell you
22:14
stories,
22:14
you know, I can tell you hundreds of
22:17
stories,
22:18
about families who have either had to travel
22:21
for their care in the past
22:22
and now are no longer having to travel
22:25
or families that just have not ever had
22:27
that had access to what we are offering
22:29
now.
22:30
And it's that's what motivates us and and,
22:33
you know, that's that's what gets us out
22:35
of bed in the morning and and, you
22:37
know, keeps us going. So,
22:39
it it really is a very rewarding,
22:42
you know, place to be and and, and
22:44
it's just, you know, we're like I said,
22:45
we're just we're just getting started. We're we're
22:48
gonna continue to grow.
22:50
Wonderful. Matt, thank you so much for just
22:52
being on the podcast today and going really
22:54
deep with us into everything that's going on
22:56
in Driscoll Children's.
22:57
It's really been a pleasure. We can't wait
22:59
to share all these insights,
23:01
with our audience. And, you know,
23:03
I would love to hear from
23:05
a personal standpoint some of those stories that
23:07
you you know, we don't have time to
23:09
tell today, but, you know, there'll be other
23:11
forms and whatnot where we can share those,
23:13
at least with each other. Right? So Absolutely.
23:16
Until next time, whenever that may be, best
23:19
of luck to
23:20
all you and your team. You know, I'm
23:22
sure your eyes are are on that mission
23:23
at all times down at Driscoll Children's.
23:26
Thank you, Chris. Really appreciate it.