Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Expanding Access Through Community Health with Craig Glover

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Expanding Access Through Community Health with Craig Glover · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - There's a small circle of people who truly
• 0:04
  - understand what it takes to lead a health
• 0:05
  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
• 0:08
  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
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  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
• 0:14
  - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
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  - And it's why the most effective c suite
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  - leaders are deliberate about where they go to
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  - pressure test their thinking.
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  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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  - brings together more than 1,500
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  - executive level attendees
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  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
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  - around growth, financial sustainability,
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  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
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  - have easy answers.
• 0:39
  - Join us November second through the fifth in
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  - Chicago.
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  - 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.
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  - This is Laura Dirdo with the Becker's Healthcare
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  - podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  - doctor Craig Glover, president and chief executive officer
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  - of Family Care Health Centers of West Virginia.
• 1:00
  - Doctor Glover, it's a pleasure to have you
• 1:01
  - on the podcast today.
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  - Thank you for having me, Laura. Excited to
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  - be with you.
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  - Absolutely. Now I'm looking forward to our conversation.
• 1:08
  - I know we're gonna talk a lot about
• 1:09
  - the work you're doing at Family Care Health
• 1:10
  - Centers
• 1:11
  - and and some of the things that you're,
• 1:14
  - focused on right now as well as how
• 1:15
  - you're thinking about the future, leadership, and more.
• 1:18
  - But before we dig in, can you tell
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  - us a little bit about yourself, your background,
• 1:21
  - as well as family care
• 1:23
  - health centers?
• 1:24
  - Yes. Absolutely.
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  - So, as you mentioned, I'm the president and
• 1:29
  - CEO of Family Care Health Centers. We are
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  - a large, federally qualified health center and, serving
• 1:35
  - the Charleston, West Virginia area.
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  - I've been CEO of this organization
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  - for about seven and a half years. I've
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  - worked in federally qualified health centers for over
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  - twenty. This is my fourth one that I've
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  - worked for,
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  - my third one where I've been chief executive
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  - officer.
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  - An interesting thing about me,
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  - as my connection to FQACs
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  - is actually I was a patient of of
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  - a community health center as a kid. Didn't
• 2:01
  - realize the,
• 2:02
  - importance of the service that I was getting
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  - until I joined my first health center back
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  - in 2004.
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  - Wow. That's amazing to hear. And, you know,
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  - I think as I've talked to more and
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  - more leaders at FQHCs, it seems like a
• 2:16
  - similar background in terms of having been a
• 2:17
  - patient there or really seen the struggles within
• 2:20
  - their own families of trying to access health
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  - care. So I can imagine that really colors
• 2:25
  - the way you take,
• 2:26
  - leadership into this organization
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  - in trying to think about how you can
• 2:30
  - work with the patient population there and think
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  - about accessibility,
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  - on a broader scale too.
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  - Yes. Absolutely. I I always think about,
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  - the work that we do and how we
• 2:40
  - design our systems with with the patient in
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  - mind and and thinking about some of the
• 2:44
  - challenges they may face in accessing our accessing
• 2:47
  - care with us and making sure we're doing
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  - what we can to remove those barriers.
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  - Absolutely. You know, definitely critical to do that,
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  - but always easier said than done for sure.
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  - And, you know,
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  - I'm curious. Could you give us a quick
• 3:00
  - state of the union?
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  - What has gone well this year so far,
• 3:03
  - and and what are you focused on for
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  - the rest of 2026?
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  - Yeah.
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  - So
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  - this year, things have gone well for us.
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  - We've opened a brand new facility to
• 3:14
  - offer urgent care services. We actually have the
• 3:17
  - ribbon cutting for that,
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  - about a month ago.
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  - So that that's been really exciting,
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  - where we started a pharmacy
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  - back in October
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  - 2025.
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  - So we've been excited about the the growth
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  - of that. It's a community pharmacy. So not
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  - only are we serving our patients, but, we
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  - have the ability to fill prescriptions for folks
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  - who may just live in the area.
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  - Pharmacy deserts are becoming more common in West
• 3:43
  - Virginia, and so we were excited that we
• 3:45
  - could offer pharmacy services
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  - for the community.
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  - And as we look at the future, one
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  - of the things that we understand
• 3:54
  - is navigating health care is difficult,
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  - especially when you have these large
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  - complex,
• 4:00
  - facilities
• 4:01
  - and and hospital settings and so on. So
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  - we
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  - try to
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  - offer as many services as we can,
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  - in our facilities for our patients. So the
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  - things that are on the horizon for us
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  - is always what else can we bring to
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  - our patients. So things like offering urgent care.
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  - That's a business we got into
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  - invested more into in the last few years.
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  - The opening of of the pharmacy. We hope
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  - the this is the first of many pharmacies
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  - that we'll be able to create,
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  - just to increase access to prescription medication.
• 4:35
  - Oh, that makes a ton of sense. You
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  - know? I think especially when you look at
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  - that prescription medication, the urgent care, all those
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  - things that are cornerstones really of the way
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  - so many people need to interact within the
• 4:46
  - health care system.
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  - What has been surprising to you as you've
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  - gone, about trying to increase access to these
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  - things? What have you found out and and
• 4:54
  - learned, through your efforts?
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  - Laura, I think one thing that's been surprising
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  - for me is in the pharmacy space. I
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  - didn't realize the loyalty
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  - patients had to pharmacists.
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  - Now when I think about my interaction with
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  - with pharmacy,
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  - it's kinda go through the drive through, get
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  - the prescription, and keep going, and wasn't really
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  - aware of who the pharmacist is. But as
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  - we
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  - went about creating this pharmacy and and trying
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  - to staff the pharmacy,
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  - it it was surprising to me just the
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  - loyalty that people have. And we've had quite
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  - a few people
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  - follow our pharmacist,
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  - our our pharmacy manager
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  - to the new location.
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  - Didn't expect that, but it's it's been a
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  - great thing.
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  - It's increasing
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  - access for for patients to to medication, and
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  - so that's something we have to consider as
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  - we look at expanding our pharmacy operation,
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  - finding a pharmacist that has a strong connection
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  - to the community.
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  - Got it. Oh, that makes a ton of
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  - sense. And, you know, I I am curious.
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  - As you're looking at the pharmacy field, I
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  - know there's a lot of,
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  - in some way, shortages. In other ways, you
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  - know,
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  - just finding somebody who can fill that gap
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  - and be understanding and and work with the
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  - community,
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  - as an extra layer of of challenge. And
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  - so,
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  - how have you gone about bringing in pharmacists
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  - that can really be successful with the work
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  - that you're
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  - doing? Really good question. And so that comes
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  - down to finding people, whether they're pharmacists or
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  - pharmacy techs, but finding folks that really understand
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  - our mission and that they're willing to embrace
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  - the mission. You know, our our whole purpose
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  - is,
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  - creating access to health care, particularly for those
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  - who,
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  - may otherwise lack access to health care. So
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  - understanding our mission, being able to
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  - make,
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  - positive connections with our patients is really important.
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  - So that's what we look for sort of
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  - first when we're looking to hire people. And
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  - and that applies not only to our pharmacy
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  - operations, but to our entire operation as well.
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  - That makes a ton of sense, and thank
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  - you for digging a bit deeper there. Now
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  - when you think about the years ahead, what
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  - are some of the biggest headwinds that you're
• 7:07
  - keeping an eye on and preparing for?
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  - So right now,
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  - we're really focused on how
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  - the pending changes to Medicare will will impact
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  - access and, impact our operation. So and those
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  - changes come about for us in our state
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  - of West Virginia.
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  - We'll have
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  - work requirements.
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  - People have to redetermine every six months,
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  - and those things go into effect 01/01/2027.
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  - So we've really been focusing on what that
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  - impact will have,
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  - for our patients and also starting to educate
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  - our patients on the requirements for them. So
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  - what does it mean that you have to
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  - work twenty hours a week?
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  - You know, what happens? What's sort of the
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  - process for
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  - redetermination
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  - every six months of your Medicaid coverage? So
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  - really,
• 7:56
  - kinda doing a deep dive on on that
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  - to make sure people know that they can
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  - continue coverage, that that they're able to do
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  - that and continue access to health care.
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  - That makes a lot of sense. And I
• 8:08
  - can imagine, you know, for a lot of
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  - organizations I talk to and leaders, when they
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  - think about,
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  - looking at Medicaid, looking at access to care
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  - and insurance and the different changes I know
• 8:19
  - that are coming up in 2027
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  - as well,
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  - Have you found it an effective way of
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  - communicating this to folks within the community, or
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  - what are some of the different tactics that
• 8:29
  - have really been able to spread the word,
• 8:32
  - you know, in in in or is there
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  - anything new you're planning to try?
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  - So our community has kinda rallied together, and
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  - the,
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  - state Medicaid
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  - bureau,
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  - they they've also been forthcoming with the information
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  - that they plan on sending out. And then
• 8:48
  - we've been working with some of our community
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  - partners like the United Way, our state membership,
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  - association, and so on. And so really trying
• 8:58
  - in a coordinated
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  - effort, really trying to flood the community with
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  - this information so,
• 9:04
  - so that people know they may be impacted
• 9:07
  - and how to manage through that. And then
• 9:09
  - internally, we're now looking at our,
• 9:12
  - patient rosters and, identifying those folks that we
• 9:15
  - think may be impacted and starting to do
• 9:18
  - some targeted outreach to them.
• 9:20
  - Through our eligibility
• 9:22
  - department,
• 9:23
  - talking with with those folks, sending them information.
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  - Also, at this point, starting to,
• 9:29
  - catch them as they're coming in for visits
• 9:31
  - now so that they get a heads up
• 9:33
  - of this is a change that's coming.
• 9:36
  - Makes a ton of sense. And, you know,
• 9:38
  - really, it's helpful to understand. I think that
• 9:40
  - is a challenge across the board, and so
• 9:42
  - it's great to hear, you've got different avenues
• 9:44
  - and partners that you're working with. Now on
• 9:47
  - the flip side, what do you see as
• 9:48
  - some of the best opportunities for growth in
• 9:50
  - the next two to three years, Rochelle?
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  - I think for my organization,
• 9:55
  - growth is around expanding our pharmacy operations,
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  - also expanding
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  - our urgent care offerings.
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  - Urgent care is really important for us because
• 10:06
  - our primary care offices,
• 10:08
  - for the most part, open Monday through Friday,
• 10:10
  - kinda eight to five. So we wanna make
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  - sure that our patients have access to care
• 10:16
  - after hours on the weekends when the office
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  - isn't open, but,
• 10:20
  - they have an immediate need, but not immediate
• 10:22
  - enough that they feel like they need to
• 10:24
  - go to the emergency room. So we're really
• 10:27
  - kind of focusing in on those areas.
• 10:29
  - We're also looking at,
• 10:32
  - what are the top specialties that we're referring
• 10:35
  - to and kinda looking at referral patterns,
• 10:39
  - for those,
• 10:40
  - access for for those services
• 10:42
  - to determine, is that something maybe we need
• 10:44
  - to start to offer in house? We know
• 10:47
  - that there's some specialties where the the wait
• 10:49
  - is extensive. It can be six or seven
• 10:51
  - months when you're referring someone. So, those are
• 10:54
  - the ones we tend to look at to
• 10:56
  - see, does it make sense for us maybe
• 10:58
  - to start offering those?
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  - Again, as as I kinda said before, we
• 11:02
  - realize
• 11:03
  - accessing health care can be very complex, so
• 11:06
  - we try to simplify that by offering as
• 11:09
  - much as we can to our patients within
• 11:11
  - our organization.
• 11:13
  - Got it. That, you know, really makes a
• 11:15
  - lot of sense and is interesting to think
• 11:18
  - about those as being the focus areas and
• 11:20
  - then being able to have more of that
• 11:22
  - patient centric,
• 11:23
  - feeling accessibility working around their schedules.
• 11:27
  - What is the process like of expanding? I
• 11:29
  - know we talked a little bit about pharmacy,
• 11:31
  - but then on the urgent care side too,
• 11:33
  - what resources does it take, both financial as
• 11:35
  - well as on the,
• 11:37
  - human, human resources too to stand up, the
• 11:41
  - different touch points or access points on the
• 11:44
  - urgent care side,
• 11:45
  - that can really make a difference?
• 11:48
  - Yeah. Good question. So we really we start
• 11:50
  - by
• 11:51
  - looking at,
• 11:53
  - where our locations are, kinda location clusters,
• 11:56
  - looking at population centers, and trying to determine
• 12:00
  - where's the best place to put an urgent
• 12:02
  - care center, one that's sorta close enough to
• 12:06
  - our existing
• 12:07
  - operations, our existing offices,
• 12:09
  - but also in a place where, you know,
• 12:11
  - there there's enough population to kinda support that.
• 12:14
  - So we start with that.
• 12:16
  - Once we identify a location, then we have
• 12:18
  - to find a facility that,
• 12:21
  - meets our needs. You know, it has enough
• 12:23
  - space. It has adequate parking.
• 12:25
  - It's in a place that's easy to to
• 12:27
  - get to. So we we look at those
• 12:29
  - types of things. And then, yes, we have
• 12:31
  - to go out and and find,
• 12:33
  - staff for that.
• 12:34
  - Our urgent care centers tend to operate,
• 12:38
  - about twelve hours a day. It's a little
• 12:40
  - shorter on on the weekends,
• 12:42
  - particularly on Sunday, but also then figuring out
• 12:45
  - what's the staffing pattern,
• 12:47
  - for that. So we take all of that
• 12:50
  - into account as well as thinking about our
• 12:52
  - mission and making sure we're hiring folks that
• 12:55
  - are going to come in and really embrace
• 12:56
  - our mission when when they're working with our
• 12:59
  - our patients.
• 13:01
  - I love it. I I think it's so
• 13:03
  - critical to have those staff members in the
• 13:05
  - team who are as passionate about the work
• 13:08
  - that you're doing as you are.
• 13:10
  - How do you create that kind of culture,
• 13:12
  - and and what do you do in order
• 13:13
  - to keep the team engaged and excited about
• 13:16
  - what they're doing every single day?
• 13:18
  - Yeah. Great question. So, it starts in orientation
• 13:21
  - for us. So one of the things we
• 13:23
  - do, our orientation,
• 13:25
  - when you join your organization is, like, three
• 13:27
  - and a half days, and part of that
• 13:30
  - is,
• 13:31
  - spent in in a session we call patient
• 13:34
  - first. It's an internal training we developed a
• 13:37
  - few years ago that really lays out our
• 13:39
  - expectations of how we,
• 13:41
  - want our associates to interact with our patients.
• 13:44
  - And also during that, we spent a lot
• 13:46
  - of time talking about our mission, vision, and
• 13:49
  - values and and doing a deep dive and
• 13:51
  - making sure that our mission isn't just words
• 13:53
  - on the screen or on a billboard that
• 13:56
  - people really understand
• 13:57
  - why this mission was selected,
• 14:00
  - and understand that everything that they do in
• 14:02
  - the organization,
• 14:03
  - every task should somehow be supporting the mission.
• 14:06
  - We also spend quite a bit of time
• 14:09
  - talking about our values,
• 14:11
  - and making sure that people understand those and
• 14:13
  - and also trying to help them connect the
• 14:16
  - organization's
• 14:17
  - values to their personal values. And and hopefully,
• 14:20
  - they're able to find synergies, which in theory
• 14:23
  - makes it easier for you to fulfill the
• 14:25
  - values of the organization.
• 14:28
  - And then we kinda conclude that training with
• 14:30
  - discussion around our vision and that we wanna
• 14:33
  - be the provider of choice and what that
• 14:35
  - really means, what what that means from a
• 14:37
  - practical standpoint,
• 14:38
  - what that means for them in their given
• 14:40
  - role.
• 14:41
  - So,
• 14:42
  - everybody goes through that
• 14:44
  - in in orientation when they first start, and
• 14:47
  - then we actually send people through every couple
• 14:50
  - years as a refresher. We we kinda tweak
• 14:52
  - it a little bit, from,
• 14:55
  - year to year, but then we we're constantly
• 14:57
  - retraining people. And lastly,
• 15:00
  - our standards with, again, patient first, that's also
• 15:03
  - part of everyone's annual evaluation. So you're you're
• 15:07
  - graded,
• 15:08
  - on how well you're fulfilling
• 15:11
  - our patient first,
• 15:12
  - initiatives and promises. So that's our way that
• 15:15
  - we've been able to build the the culture
• 15:17
  - around that. We actually just did a,
• 15:20
  - associate
• 15:22
  - culture survey, if you will, and that's one
• 15:24
  - of the questions.
• 15:26
  - Is patient first being fulfilled
• 15:28
  - every day? And we were excited to see
• 15:31
  - the results. And,
• 15:32
  - about 85% of the folks who took the
• 15:35
  - survey
• 15:36
  - marked that, you know, they highly agree or
• 15:38
  - agree that we were fulfilling our our patient
• 15:40
  - first,
• 15:43
  - promises. Wow. That's incredible statistics and certainly,
• 15:46
  - really indicative of the team that you built
• 15:48
  - there and everything that you're doing. So,
• 15:50
  - congratulations,
• 15:51
  - and and that's amazing to hear. Now before
• 15:54
  - we wrap up, I wanted to ask you
• 15:56
  - about leadership too.
• 15:58
  - Who do you admire as a leader, really,
• 16:00
  - from any industry and why?
• 16:03
  - There's so many folks that I,
• 16:05
  - admire,
• 16:06
  - but,
• 16:07
  - one of my favorite leaders was Colin Powell,
• 16:11
  - former,
• 16:12
  - secretary of state and,
• 16:14
  - chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
• 16:16
  - And I I really admired his leadership style,
• 16:20
  - And,
• 16:21
  - he there's actually a book that highlights about
• 16:24
  - 15 of his leadership principles,
• 16:26
  - that actually, I often give to new leaders
• 16:29
  - to to look through. But his leadership style
• 16:33
  - was very practical,
• 16:34
  - and and I felt like he he built
• 16:36
  - a leadership style of him leading from within
• 16:40
  - the the group of folks that he was
• 16:41
  - leading. So he was always listening for input,
• 16:45
  - listening for their concerns.
• 16:46
  - But he also understood that as the leader,
• 16:49
  - you have to stand in the front of
• 16:50
  - the group. And it it's okay to
• 16:52
  - kinda be in the group, but you need
• 16:54
  - to know when and they need to also
• 16:56
  - understand that,
• 16:58
  - you are leading and you're setting that vision
• 17:00
  - for them.
• 17:02
  - Absolutely.
• 17:03
  - And that's such a a great point and
• 17:04
  - so well said. When you're part of the
• 17:06
  - group and and leading the group, having that
• 17:08
  - strong vision and understanding what's going to really
• 17:12
  - resonate with the team around you and then
• 17:14
  - being able to move forward and bring all
• 17:16
  - with you at the same time, is so
• 17:18
  - critical. I think it's a special person to
• 17:20
  - be able to do, but,
• 17:22
  - you know, very much love and respect Colin
• 17:24
  - Powell and a a great person to really
• 17:26
  - aspire to and and think about when you're
• 17:28
  - looking at leadership.
• 17:30
  - Yes.
• 17:31
  - Amazing. Well, thank you so much, doctor Glover,
• 17:34
  - for joining us on the podcast today. This
• 17:35
  - has been such a fun conversation. I've learned
• 17:37
  - a ton, and I'm really inspiring to think
• 17:39
  - about what you're doing in West Virginia.
• 17:42
  - I'm excited as well to see you in
• 17:43
  - person at our CEO and CFO roundtable. I
• 17:46
  - know you'll be speaking there and talking a
• 17:48
  - bit about,
• 17:49
  - the great things you're doing, digging deeper into
• 17:51
  - the themes you talked about today as well.
• 17:52
  - So looking forward to that.
• 17:54
  - Absolutely, Laura. I appreciate you having me on
• 17:56
  - the podcast. I enjoyed our conversation,
• 17:59
  - and I I hope our discussion is inspiring
• 18:01
  - to others.