Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Building Culture, Trust, and Community Impact in Hospital Leadership with Dan Bowen

Transcript

Building Culture, Trust, and Community Impact in Hospital Leadership with Dan Bowen · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  When it comes to today's RCM, we know
• 0:02
  the challenges,
• 0:03
  complexity of claims, talent shortages,
• 0:05
  low funding, and lagging tech.
• 0:08
  That's why we built MedMetrix.
• 0:10
  We have the expertise and advanced tech to
• 0:13
  give you that edge on your revenue cycle.
• 0:15
  We're a partner who will relentlessly raise your
• 0:17
  yield, a partner who's on your side because
• 0:20
  they've been operator side, who knows your battles
• 0:23
  and will make sure you win from start
• 0:25
  to finish, end to end. MedMetrix,
• 0:28
  be exceptional.
• 0:30
  Welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast. I'm Kelly
• 0:32
  Guj, managing editor at Becker's, and I'm thrilled
• 0:34
  to be joined today by Dan Bowen,
• 0:36
  president of Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital. Dan,
• 0:39
  thank you so much for joining us.
• 0:41
  My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Of course.
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  And, Dan, I thought I could start off
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  with you briefly introducing yourself, your role, the
• 0:47
  scope of your organization as well.
• 0:50
  Absolutely.
• 0:51
  Like I said, I'm Dan Bowen. I'm the
• 0:52
  president here at Orlando Hills Sebastian River Hospital.
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  Joined the
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  organization in mid January, so just hit my
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  ninety days.
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  We are part of the the East Region
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  that was acquired
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  in October
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  2024.
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  So we're a little over eighteen months into
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  establishing this region between us and Melbourne Hospital
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  and our medical group.
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  Prior to this, I was with, an organization
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  in South Carolina, Piedmont Medical Center, which is
• 1:18
  part of Tennant. I was the market
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  COO there over two hospitals, a freestanding ED,
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  and several out patient facilities.
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  Prior to that, I was with Healthfirst in
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  Brevard County for seven years.
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  During that time, I ran three of their
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  four hospitals over that period.
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  When I departed, I was, the president of
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  Cape Canaveral Hospital,
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  when I left in 2024.
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  And prior to joining Healthfirst,
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  I was,
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  in the Air Force for twenty one years,
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  earned the rank of lieutenant colonel,
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  and retired in 2017,
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  when I joined Healthfirst.
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  Thank you so much. And definitely expansive experience
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  across the board there. And so I was
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  I'm curious then what do you
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  to to the current role and what were
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  maybe your top priorities walking into your first
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  ninety days?
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  So definitely
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  the reputation of Orlando Health. Both of the
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  impact of the communities they serve,
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  and the culture they've established. I've had several
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  colleagues
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  join the organization over the last few years.
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  I keep in touch with them,
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  quite a bit, and all of them just
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  couldn't, you you know, stop raving of Orlando
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  Health,
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  what they do in their communities,
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  the culture of the organization, you know, how
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  they treat their people, their medical staff,
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  their leaders, the opportunities they have. So, as
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  I was, you know, in my career and
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  keeping up with some colleagues,
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  one of them mentioned an opportunity right here
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  in Sebastian.
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  And so I jumped at it, submitted my
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  application, and I was lucky enough to get
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  a call and and an interview and and
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  got the job. And the biggest thing with
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  my first ninety days,
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  that you mentioned is, you know, building those
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  relationships with leaders and team members in our
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  community,
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  really getting out there in the community, meeting
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  the people that we're serving, getting their feedback,
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  going from department to department, spending time with
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  the leaders,
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  shadowing the team members, just understanding who we
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  are, what we do, talking to patients, just
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  kinda get my arms wrapped around,
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  this community, the team,
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  our medical staff spend a lot of time
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  with our physicians.
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  And overall, I mean, everyone in Orlando Health
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  has been so supportive and helpful.
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  Just anybody I had a question, I could
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  reach out to whether that's right here locally
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  or corporately in Orlando if I needed questions
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  about, you know, supply chain or compliance or
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  anything that I needed or, you know, equipment
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  acquisition, I reached out and people just, you
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  know, got back to me right away and
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  helped me really learn and navigate the organization.
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  And my experience with our community partners has
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  been the same. I mean, very open, transparent,
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  give me feedback that we need to get
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  better, and, I continue to build those relationships.
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  So it's been great.
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  Yeah. Sounds like a great and, really transparent
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  process there as well, as you've been able
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  to talk with the team and the community
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  so far. And curious, what have you learned
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  from those interactions so far that has really
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  shaped your leadership approach?
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  So, you know, from the team perspective,
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  you know, our leaders, our team members, our
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  medical staff,
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  very strong culture,
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  and also passionate about the community.
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  So as I came in in my first
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  week and I was talking to everybody, I
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  had a meet and greet with several leaders.
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  There were so many people that said I'd
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  been here at Sebastian Hospital for twenty, thirty,
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  forty years.
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  Regardless of who owned the hospital,
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  they choose to stay. And when I asked
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  why, and it's just, well, this is my
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  community. I I wanna be here for them,
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  and
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  that's why they're staying, and they never left.
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  And,
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  their attitude when Orlando Health took over was
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  really great. I mean, they were so glad
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  that they're they're part of Orlando Health now,
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  and it just solidifies the fact that they're
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  gonna stay here, until they retire. So I
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  thought that was really, really great to see
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  so much tenure,
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  from the people that have been here, and
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  just love serving their community.
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  And the community itself
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  is just as passionate.
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  They want this hospital to be successful. They
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  want to be proud of their hospital. They
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  wanna keep their care local. They wanna go
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  anywhere else. And so we have their investment,
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  and we just have to deliver and so
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  they can continue
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  to talk about us and spread the word
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  across,
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  the community that, yes, please come to Sebastian
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  River Hospital. We're gonna take amazing care of
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  you, and you don't have to go far
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  from home to get your care. You have
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  it right here in Indian River County on
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  the Treasure Coast.
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  Right. And I I was curious to,
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  how you're really thinking about physician alignment, staff
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  engagement, and retention in today's environment, specifically. Of
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  course, so many pressures there. So we'd we'd
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  love to hear more from you there too.
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  It's culture. Culture. Culture. Culture. I mean, have
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  an environment that people wanna stay.
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  They have a, you know, similar set of
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  values
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  and be proud of where they work. And
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  for physicians,
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  the ones who feel respected and whose values
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  match the organization's mission and culture,
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  they're more likely to stay loyal to their
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  house health system.
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  When they have a choice and a voice
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  in decision making,
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  they feel valued and engaged.
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  The more
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  move away from feeling a commodity to becoming
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  a co leader. You know, they they're part
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  of that organizational transformation. We're listening to them,
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  figuring out what they need because their goal
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  is they just wanna take the best care
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  of their patients. And so they need the
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  resources, they need the team members, the clinicians
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  that work side by side with them to
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  be top notch, to provide amazing care, and
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  ultimately those great outcomes.
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  When it comes to staff engagement and retention,
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  it's just that engagement is is what's crucial.
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  They wanna feel heard, and to me, that
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  translates into feeling valued.
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  And so how we provide that as leaders
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  and how I can emulate that are just
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  being transparent, providing that proactive and effective communication,
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  giving them the resources they need, whether it's,
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  you
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  know, equipment, supplies,
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  time, staffing,
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  whatever they need to take care of their
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  patients, to take care of each other, make
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  sure we provide those resources.
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  A commitment to their well-being,
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  you know, let them know we care about
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  them whether they're in the building or out
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  of the building. We wanna make sure them
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  and their families are taken care of. Recognize
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  really good performance,
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  publicly, privately, whatever they prefer,
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  but making sure they understand when we see
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  them do great things, we're recognizing them for
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  that.
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  And invest in their growth. I mean, what
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  do they wanna be? Maybe they're at a
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  place right now, they wanna they're a CNA
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  that wants to be a nurse or they
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  wanna go into leadership. You know, how do
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  we listen to them during this process and
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  create a a road map for them to
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  get to where they need to be?
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  And then one thing that sometimes is left
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  out of that is accountability.
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  You know, that's also a part of a
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  good culture. Standards
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  are and should be really high, and And
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  we need to continue to assess our performance,
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  whether that's through our outcomes and metrics or
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  the team member's performance.
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  And so if there's really no accountability
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  and that poor performance is accepted,
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  you end up losing your best performers that
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  way because they want to work at a
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  place where the standards are high, and we
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  deliver amazing care. So there's a lot rolled
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  into that, but it's it's not easy to
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  do that. So it takes a lot of
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  effort,
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  to everybody in the organization to make that
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  happen.
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  Absolutely. And I I heard a lot about
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  well-being and I like you said about accountability
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  as well and obviously many factors there. And
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  so
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  any best practices or just
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  philosophies you're you're using just to build that
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  strong workplace culture you just outlined?
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  I mean I mean, Orlando Health has a
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  great baseline, but, you know, I've been a
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  leader for a a lot of years, and
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  it's just
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  honesty and transparency.
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  We have great programs,
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  that we can do that recognition. We we
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  wanna hear their stories.
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  We wanna listen to them and get feedback,
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  whether it's through formal, you know, engagement surveys
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  with the team, whether it's attending their huddles
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  and listening to things real time. You know,
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  we we have a an environment where everybody
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  has the right to speak up and raise
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  their hand no matter where you are, you
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  know, whether it's in the OR and you
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  can stop the line, whether it's, you know,
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  raising your hand when you see an issue.
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  We always wanna make sure we have these
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  we have safety huddles, and it is key
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  to transparency.
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  You see something, say something. You're going to
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  be heard, and something's going to be done.
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  And so I think that's the culture. It's
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  not, you know, what it says on your
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  badge and what your job is or your
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  rank. It is you have a voice if
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  you see something we wanna know or if
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  we can get 1% better. Like, if you've
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  come from an organization that, you know, you
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  think that we can do something a little
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  bit better, we wanna hear that too. And
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  so really having that mentality and that culture
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  of everybody is valued, everybody has a voice,
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  and then everybody buying into that. Right? It
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  has to be across the board. So I
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  think that's important. I think it's something Orlando
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  Health does
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  really well.
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  Absolutely. And I wanted to ask now outside
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  of the workforce too just how you're approaching
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  partnerships at community trust right now in the
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  in the area. I know you mentioned before,
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  of course,
• 10:08
  the conversations you've already had had there, but,
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  would love to expand more.
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  Yeah. Really, it's, you know, being available,
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  present, transparent,
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  inquisitive, asking a lot of questions. So there's
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  been a lot of,
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  different parts of the community reaching out and
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  asking for some time and,
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  whether that's through, you know, the chambers or
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  other organizations that just wanna understand what we're
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  doing here with Orlando Health and, you know,
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  telling our story for what's out there. Right?
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  And we wanna make sure we we have
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  a strategy. Some of the stuff we can
• 10:38
  we're not ready to talk about yet, but,
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  you know, because there's there's plans are in
• 10:42
  place, but,
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  haven't been firmed up yet. But, overall,
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  just getting out there, spending time, with those
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  organizations, answering their questions.
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  And, overall, I've seen just
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  great feedback. I mean, we wanna know the
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  experiences they're having. They're our eyes and ears
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  in the community. And so we wanna know
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  what it's been like before, what it's like
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  now, and then where we can be to
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  get even better in the future. I give
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  feedback on, you know, what our community needs
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  are,
• 11:08
  based on our performance like I talked about.
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  We look at those outcomes, where we can
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  get better. We get feedback from all of
• 11:14
  our patients and families, and that's in person
• 11:16
  while they're in the hospital.
• 11:18
  Obviously, we do our, patient experience surveys through
• 11:21
  Press Ganey. We do goo Google reviews. I
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  mean, we really wanna have any place where
• 11:25
  they can give us feedback. It should be
• 11:27
  very, very easy. And believe me, we read
• 11:29
  every single one of those, and we wanna
• 11:31
  make sure we respond to those as well.
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  We also initiated initiated a community engagement council,
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  different members of Indian River County community,
• 11:40
  leaders, whether that's, you know, through our first
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  responders
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  or,
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  some of the areas in our in our
• 11:46
  political environment or government officials. We wanna understand
• 11:49
  what they need and what they're hearing. And
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  we also do a community health needs assessment
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  to understand really what our community needs in
• 11:56
  relations to their health care or their ability
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  to, you know, take care of themselves and
• 12:01
  their family. So
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  it's just getting out there, being present, answering
• 12:05
  those questions, and continuing to do that and
• 12:07
  build those relationships.
• 12:09
  Right. And it definitely sounds like a lot
• 12:11
  of forums there,
• 12:13
  at this point already. So yeah. Absolutely. And
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  we started off the conversation,
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  with you outlining all your previous experience as
• 12:21
  well that you bring to the role. And
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  so I'm curious what leadership lessons have shaped
• 12:25
  you most in your career.
• 12:27
  Self awareness
• 12:29
  is crucial.
• 12:30
  Understanding yourself,
• 12:31
  emotional intelligence, making sure you can read the
• 12:34
  room, understand what people are needing,
• 12:37
  active listening.
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  You know, my dad said you had two
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  ears and one mile, so you should listen
• 12:41
  twice as much as you speak.
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  So that's a big part of that is
• 12:45
  really, really listening
• 12:46
  as you go throughout the building or in
• 12:48
  meetings and making sure, like I said, everyone
• 12:50
  has a voice and taking that the information
• 12:53
  you get and getting back to the leadership
• 12:55
  team and seeing what we can deliver based
• 12:57
  on the feedback we're getting.
• 12:59
  Also, you know, embracing vulnerability. I don't have
• 13:01
  to have all the answers personally just because
• 13:03
  of my who I am in the hospital.
• 13:06
  Typically, you hire great people and get out
• 13:08
  of their way. And if you have a
• 13:10
  great team, the answer's in the room somewhere.
• 13:11
  And so you just hire a lot of
• 13:13
  talent,
• 13:14
  making sure that and have the same,
• 13:16
  you know, values and fit the culture
• 13:19
  of taking care of their people and making
• 13:20
  sure their patients are the top priority.
• 13:22
  And then just lead by example, you know,
• 13:25
  have the energy, be visible,
• 13:27
  be available when people need you, and whether
• 13:29
  that's, you know, a patient or family member
• 13:31
  that needs to have a conversation, whether that's
• 13:33
  a frontline team member, that needs to talk
• 13:35
  to me or anybody about something. It's just,
• 13:37
  you know, the team,
• 13:39
  and the culture here is is what drives
• 13:42
  the work and ultimately takes care of the
• 13:44
  patients and really, you know, follows through on
• 13:47
  our mission.
• 13:49
  And, Dan, as we as we wrap up
• 13:51
  our conversation, I wanted to bring it full
• 13:53
  circle too and just ask you what motivates
• 13:56
  you personally,
• 13:57
  in this role in serving the community?
• 14:00
  It started a long time ago. Like I
• 14:02
  mentioned, my my career in the military, I,
• 14:04
  you know, joined the Air Force to serve,
• 14:07
  you know, twenty one years, and I I
• 14:09
  was an enlisted member working on the flight
• 14:11
  line on f fifteens. And when I was
• 14:13
  19, so that's kinda what I needed for
• 14:15
  for, you know, discipline and kinda understanding I'm
• 14:17
  part of something bigger.
• 14:19
  Then I transitioned and got commissioned as an
• 14:21
  officer and then spent my next fifteen and
• 14:23
  a half years doing that. And I was
• 14:25
  in the health care operation in the military,
• 14:27
  military treatment facilities. So that service mentality,
• 14:31
  you know, whether that's in the military generally
• 14:33
  or in health care, and as I transitioned
• 14:35
  to civilian health care,
• 14:38
  through my journey, it's just always been
• 14:40
  my motivation is, you know, to serve, whether
• 14:43
  that serve the community,
• 14:44
  serve our team members, other leaders,
• 14:47
  coaching people. I love the the leadership development
• 14:50
  portion of what we do.
• 14:52
  I love mentoring. All those different things and
• 14:54
  being part of of something bigger. It's always
• 14:57
  been that way. I mean, whether it's, like
• 14:58
  I said, Air Force and now part of
• 15:00
  Orlando Health, which is an amazing organization,
• 15:03
  that I feel my values,
• 15:05
  match to a tee. And,
• 15:07
  they put me in positions,
• 15:09
  you know, to lead the way I wanna
• 15:11
  lead and and be that person that takes
• 15:13
  care of others. And so that motivates me
• 15:16
  every single day. And it's just that I
• 15:17
  love what I do, and I love being
• 15:19
  here.
• 15:20
  Well, thank you so much, Dan. It was
• 15:22
  great talking with you, and it was great
• 15:23
  to have a fun and interesting conversation today.
• 15:25
  And we look forward to staying connected and
• 15:28
  working with you again soon.
• 15:30
  Absolutely. Thanks for the opportunity. Appreciate it. When
• 15:33
  it comes to today's RCM, we know the
• 15:35
  challenges,
• 15:36
  complexity of claims, talent shortages, low funding, and
• 15:39
  lagging tech.
• 15:41
  That's why we built MedMetrix.
• 15:43
  We have the expertise and advanced tech to
• 15:45
  give you that edge on your revenue cycle.
• 15:48
  We're a partner who will relentlessly raise your
• 15:50
  yield, a partner who's on your side because
• 15:53
  they've been operator side, who knows your battles
• 15:56
  and will make sure you win from start
• 15:58
  to finish, end to end. MedMetrix.
• 16:01
  Be exceptional.