Latest / Becker's Healthcare Behavioral Health / Kelsey Smith & Jenni O'Donnell of Providence Swedish

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Kelsey Smith & Jenni O'Donnell of Providence Swedish · Becker's Healthcare Behavioral Health

• 0:01
  The Becker's team is excited to announce the
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  launch of our new CFO and Revenue Cycle
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  podcast.
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  Tune in for conversations with finance experts from
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  the top hospitals and health systems. We'll discuss
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  revenue cycle podcast wherever you listen to episodes.
• 0:24
  Welcome everyone to the Becker's healthcare podcast series.
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  I'm Mariah Muhammad, writer and moderator with Becker's
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  healthcare. I'm thrilled to have with me today
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  two special guests, Kelsey Smith, senior director of
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  care management and behavioral health services at Providence
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  Swedish, and Jenny O'Donnell, senior medical director of
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  behavioral health integration at Swedish Medical Group.
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  Kelsey and Jenny, welcome to the podcast. We're
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  very excited to have you, join us today
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  for the both of you. To get us
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  started, would you please introduce yourselves and tell
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  us a bit about your background and or
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  organization?
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  Kelsey, can we start with you?
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  Definitely. So hi. My name is Kelsey, and
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  I have been at Providence Swedish for over
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  three years now.
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  In terms of my background, I'm a licensed
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  clinical social worker and started,
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  in the field as a therapist doing treatment
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  for eating disorders, substance use, and mental health.
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  And as I've grown professionally over the years,
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  have
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  really been overseeing,
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  mental health and addiction medicine,
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  with recent experience at Kaiser Permanente,
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  and then also overseeing care management. And so,
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  background is licensed clinical therapist, and now I'm
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  overseeing our, social workers and nurses that provide
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  behavioral health care and care management for our
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  patients in our hospital.
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  And I'm Jenny O'Donnell. I am a licensed
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  psychologist
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  by background.
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  I have been with Providence Swedish,
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  specifically Swedish Medical Group
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  for
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  ten years now.
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  And I oversee
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  our
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  primary care
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  behavioral health integration
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  as well as,
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  integration
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  of behavioral health, mental health resources
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  into our,
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  medical specialty
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  locations as well. So,
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  I am Kelsey's counterpart really focusing on our
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  outpatient offerings.
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  The other piece of my background is that,
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  I have a
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  research history
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  focused on
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  well-being,
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  burnout prevention,
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  and self care practices
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  of clinicians.
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  And so working on well-being efforts is a
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  big passion of mine.
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  Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you so much, to the
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  both of you for giving us that background.
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  So getting into some of the the questions
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  I have, what are some opportunities and headwinds,
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  that you kinda have your eye on right
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  now and, for the rest of the year?
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  Yeah. So, you know, having worked in behavioral
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  health for a number of years, one thing
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  that I've really seen and I know Jenny
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  has seen as well is,
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  the
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  just the amount of effort and time and,
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  just kind of burden that is in our
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  health care system when it comes to behavioral
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  health needs and lack of resources
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  has really produced kind of a strain on
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  our caregivers. And so over the years, especially
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  during COVID times, there is a lot of
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  expressed need for wellness resources
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  and feeling that burnout that comes with providing
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  care and just feeling like you're kind of
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  hitting your your max level. And, you know,
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  having looked into the research, the American Psychological
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  Association in 2023
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  did,
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  research around work and well-being,
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  and they surveyed around 2,500 adults. And it
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  showed that seventy seven percent of employees had
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  experienced work related stress
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  in that month before the survey. And, within
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  that, fifty seven reported fifty seven percent reported
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  negative impacts of the work related stress.
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  Thirty one percent reported emotional exhaustion.
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  Twenty six percent,
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  reported not feeling motivated to do their best,
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  and twenty three percent,
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  reported a desire to quit. And so with
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  this,
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  one thing that Jenny and I have really
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  talked a lot about and dove into is
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  how to,
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  provide well-being resources for our caregivers that are
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  caring for our patients. So,
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  Jenny and I,
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  cochair our well-being committee within our organization, and,
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  really, the prime aim is,
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  to meet the well-being needs of our caregivers
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  and providing kind of opportunities and resources,
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  so that they can be able to, like
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  for better terms, put their oxygen mask on
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  themselves before they put it on to,
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  others and provide care to our patients. So
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  that's really an opportunity that we've seen, in
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  terms of our in the space at Province
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  Swedish.
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  Yeah. Yeah. That definitely makes a lot of
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  sense. So thank you so much for sharing
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  that
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  statistic. Bernal is definitely a word I'm I'm
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  hearing very often from health care executives.
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  So I imagine,
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  in this year, 2025, it'll continue to be
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  a big focus. How are you thinking about
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  growth and adding value to your organization from
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  a well-being perspective?
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  Yeah. So we've done a lot of work
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  in this space of expanding well-being resources in
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  our organization.
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  You know, we have across the Providence enterprise,
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  the national enterprise.
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  Our HR partners have been,
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  contracting with EAP resources so that we can
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  be able to provide therapy and wellness resources
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  to our caregivers
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  free of charge, which is a huge value
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  add. We all know that access to, therapy
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  services is really hard to come by these
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  days. And so having those resources available for
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  caregivers and their family members, at any time
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  has been,
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  a huge valuable asset that we've added to
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  our organization.
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  Within those wellness resources also, we've, been able
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  to kind of provide support to core leaders
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  as they're supporting their caregivers,
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  you know, other kind of resources
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  around,
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  kind of cognitive behavioral therapy, kind of tips
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  and tricks when it comes to managing burnout
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  and things like that.
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  When we look at kind of within our
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  own, area, local area within the Greater Seattle
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  area,
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  we've also done a lot of work on
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  surveying with our caregivers. What are the things
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  that they need here locally?
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  A lot of the feedback that we got
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  when we surveyed,
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  gosh, I think it was back in 2022
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  now,
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  was the need for in person resources. You
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  know, when you're feeling burned out or overwhelmed
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  with anxiety,
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  stress related to work, it's really hard to
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  reach out for resources, especially, as caregivers. You
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  know, we kind of have this idea that,
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  you know, we're helping others and we need
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  to help others first before we help ourselves
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  when it's important to really think about ourselves
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  in order to care for others. So hearing
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  that feedback around, you know, we wanna see
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  more in person resources and have those kind
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  of available front and center to us. We
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  really did a deep dive locally to see,
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  okay, what are those things that we can
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  provide at the local level?
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  Some of those things that have emerged, we've
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  implemented what is called a critical incident stress
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  management program. It's a national certification,
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  and a extensive training that
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  we have volunteers,
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  who work in our organization and they they
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  get trained in critical incident stress management. And
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  what they do is essentially provide in the
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  moment wellness, support,
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  and crisis management to our caregivers in the
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  hospital or in our health care setting. So
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  if someone is feeling overwhelmed from a patient
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  situation or kind of from workload or stress,
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  and they feel like they need that in
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  person support,
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  they can actually call a silent code in
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  our health care system, and we will deploy,
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  volunteers to provide that in person,
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  resource development and,
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  you know, kind of support to kinda guide
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  them through what are our well-being resources available
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  within our organization. So it's really that warm
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  handoff and, again, providing that in the moment,
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  support for those that are feeling overwhelmed or
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  stressed.
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  So that's been one program that we launched,
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  two years ago, and we've had a lot
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  of positive feedback from our employees around, you
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  know, this has been really helpful to me
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  to for to have. As you know in
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  health care, there's a lot of, really tragic
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  events that may occur. And so knowing that
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  they have that resource that they can access
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  or be able to, pull in their colleagues
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  to to get access as well has been
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  a huge satisfier for our employees, and I
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  think has really helped when it comes to
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  kind of caregiver retention and and helping with,
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  caregiver burnout. So that's been one of those
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  programs that we've launched that we've seen a
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  lot of positive
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  feedback and and,
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  opportunities come from. The only thing that we've
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  really leaned into are respite rooms. So another
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  kind of piece of feedback that we got
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  is caregivers wanting to have the space to,
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  be able
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  to take their break and, be able to
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  kinda take a mindful pause,
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  be able to really kind of practice meditation
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  or kind of relaxation techniques in the midst
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  of their busy workday,
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  so that they can emerge from, that experience
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  and feel more regulated, more able to manage
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  their their stressful day.
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  And there's been some research that has gone
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  into,
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  looking at kind of individuals' perceived levels of
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  stress before and after they utilize a respite
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  room.
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  And, the research has shown, you know, kind
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  of effective decrease in levels of anxiety or
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  perceived anxiety for individuals that use respite rooms.
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  So we've started constructing those rooms throughout our
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  hospitals.
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  We just opened our third one, and we're
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  working on construction them for a couple more
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  so we have them within all of our
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  hospitals within our local Greater Seattle area. And
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  those respite rooms have things such as,
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  kind of,
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  coloring that evokes calm,
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  lighting and, sound or music that can help
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  people feel really kind of calmed and regulated,
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  as well as massage chairs, sanitary therapy, things
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  that people can do to practice kind of
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  coping skills or mindfulness techniques,
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  as they take a break from their busy
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  day.
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  So those have been some of the things
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  that we've launched locally, and I know Jenny
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  has some things to add in terms of,
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  adding growth and value to our organization in
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  this space.
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  Thanks, Kelsey.
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  Yeah, lots of really great work that that
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  has been happening to to build out these
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  resources.
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  One of the other resources
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  that we've been working on and are
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  continuing to grow is a peer to peer
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  program.
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  And this really focuses on our physicians
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  and advanced practice clinicians.
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  And this is at the larger providence level,
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  but, we have some good opportunities to expand
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  locally.
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  And peer to peer is a confidential
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  opportunity
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  for
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  a trained peer
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  to
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  connect with someone one on one and and
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  really be
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  that colleague that can understand
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  where you're coming from and provide
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  that space of just being heard and supported.
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  And then if appropriate, you know, providing resources
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  for more ongoing support. So it's not therapy.
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  It's really just having a confidential conversation
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  with a colleague who has
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  received training in active listening
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  and providing support.
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  So this is a really
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  great program.
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  Nationally, it's something that we see in a
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  lot of organizations
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  and is
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  really intended to
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  help reduce the stigma
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  for our, physician and APC partners around
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  connecting. So, you know, they can reach out
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  and connect with a peer if they've had
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  a difficult patient encounter or outcome,
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  if maybe just the stress of working in
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  health care, and balancing their work life,
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  pieces are,
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  challenging.
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  So there's a lot of different ways that
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  the peer to peer program can
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  create a,
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  safe space for our physicians to get the
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  support that they need.
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  Yeah. Definitely. That makes a lot of sense.
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  And you you both spoke about a lot
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  of things that I'm sure are amazing for
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  employees.
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  What is one risk or investment worth making
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  this year when it comes to caregiver
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  well-being, would you say?
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  Yeah.
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  So we've been talking a lot about this,
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  and
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  one investment that we are really hoping to
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  lean into this year,
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  and beyond
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  is the creation of a formal structure
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  to focus on well-being.
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  So right now,
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  Kelsey and I cochair the well-being committee, which
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  has a lot of really passionate individuals.
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  And
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  a lot of this work is something we're
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  doing above and beyond our day to day.
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  And so by really trying to invest in
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  dedicated leadership and programmatic support, we're hopeful that
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  we'll be able to drive these larger programmatic
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  opportunities
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  in a sustainable way.
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  And that's really hard when we don't have
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  that,
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  and there's individuals that are passionate and just
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  are not able to really dig in in
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  the way that we would want to.
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  So this type of,
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  dedicated leadership and programmatic support would be one
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  way that we are able to
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  take all of the amazing resources that have
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  been built out through our HR system
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  and our, you know, larger providence system
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  and make sure that we are augmenting what
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  we can do locally
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  and really meet the needs of our
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  local caregivers and,
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  clinicians
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  in terms of meeting their individual well-being needs.
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  Yeah. And just to add to that, I
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  know that we've really worked on how to,
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  increase caregiver retention,
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  knowing that burnout has been such a key
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  factor with, turnover. And, one of the key
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  initiatives, and in fact, we,
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  employ or deploy employee kind of feedback surveys.
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  And one of the top areas that we've
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  identified, at least in hospital setting, is, the
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  desire to have well-being resources. And we've noticed
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  by, really intention intentionally implementing our well-being resources
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  year over year over the past several years
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  that our turnover has,
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  decreased year over year,
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  which has been really significant to see. So
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  as Jenny was saying, just having that sort
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  of formal structure to continue this work in
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  the well-being space and having that dedicated leadership
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  and support will be not only beneficial to
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  the organization, but just really beneficial to our
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  caregivers that, spend a lot of time and,
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  in their day and also just,
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  emotionally in in in terms of kind of
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  how they dedicate each of their days to
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  our patient care. I just wanna make sure
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  that they have the support that they need,
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  not only within the workplace and kind of
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  to fulfill their work duties, but also for
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  their well-being as well.
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  Yeah. Definitely. That that makes a lot of
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  sense. And very quickly, Kelsey and Jenny, the
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  last thing I really wanted to ask you
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  is where do you see the best opportunities
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  for well-being and, those mental health resources for
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  your caregivers
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  in the in the near future?
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  Yeah. Thanks for that.
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  I think the greatest opportunity
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  comes from creating a culture where well-being is
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  at the center.
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  So continuing on our journey to create that
• 15:06
  culture.
• 15:07
  Having organizational structures in place that foster the
• 15:11
  five workplace essentials noted by the surgeon general,
• 15:15
  including operational efficiencies,
• 15:17
  autonomy, mattering at work, safety,
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  feeling heard,
• 15:22
  opportunities for growth and recognition.
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  All of these are areas that
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  if we take a well-being lens on organizational
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  decision
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  making, we're gonna be able to better support
• 15:34
  our organization
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  with that long term recruitment and retention
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  and really
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  move from a place of focusing on burnout
• 15:42
  prevention
• 15:43
  and instead
• 15:44
  shifting to how do we create opportunities for
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  thriving and for flourishing,
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  and bringing back the joy and practice for
• 15:53
  our caregivers and our clinicians.
• 15:57
  Wonderful. Thank you so much for those final
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  thoughts,
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  Jenny and Kelsey. This definitely been a very
• 16:02
  informative discussion. So I wanna thank both of
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  you for coming on Becker's HealthCare and speaking
• 16:07
  with me today. And I look forward to
• 16:09
  connecting with you both soon. Great. Thanks so
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  much.