Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Michael Antoniades, President of UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital

Transcript

Michael Antoniades, President of UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  This is where health care leadership comes together.
• 0:04
  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
• 0:07
  hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
• 0:11
  speakers to Chicago April.
• 0:14
  This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
• 0:17
  Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
• 0:20
  w Bush. For the agenda and event details,
• 0:23
  visit beckershospitalreview.com
• 0:25
  and click on the events tab in the
• 0:26
  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
• 0:29
  in Chicago.
• 0:32
  This is Laura Dierdo with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:34
  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  Mike Antoniades, president of UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial
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  Hospital. Mike, it's a pleasure to have you
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  on the podcast today.
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  Good morning, Laura, and happy New Year, and
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  a pleasure to be back on.
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  Absolutely. Well, you know, I I'm excited for
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  our conversation because I think there's so much
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  happening in health care today and, you know,
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  looking forward to learning more about how you're
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  thinking about 2026.
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  But before we do that, can you introduce
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  yourself for those who are just joining the
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  Becker's Healthcare podcast and tell us a little
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  bit more about your organization?
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  Sure. Mike Antoniades,
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  as you mentioned, I'm the president of, Engels
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  Memorial, which is part of the University of
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  Chicago Health System.
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  Now I've been here for just about three
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  years. You know, we and I spoke,
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  I think, early in my tenure here,
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  about two and a half years ago. So
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  the University of Chicago Health System is obviously
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  a a a globally recognized name,
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  and, Ingalls Memorial serves the Southland
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  Of Chicago. It's a Chicago suburb about twenty
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  minutes south.
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  We have a population of approximately 250,000,
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  people that we serve in our primary service
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  area.
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  We have been here for over a hundred
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  years, a hundred and two years, in fact,
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  heading into our a hundred and third year.
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  And we merged with the University of Chicago
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  Health System.
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  This year will be our tenth year anniversary.
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  Later this year, you know, October, we're gonna
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  celebrate ten years. And it's been,
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  just an incredible experience, and we're very grateful
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  that we're part of
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  such a well known,
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  global health system, really,
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  and we can bring that kind of care,
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  to the communities in the Southland.
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  I love that. And, you know, it's so
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  helpful to have that kind of academic affiliation,
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  I'm sure, to bring that into the communities
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  locally,
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  that you're
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  providing health care for in in really,
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  serving in a important way. Now when you
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  think about twenty twenty five in the last
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  year or so, what was the most important
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  initiative you led? What did you do, and
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  what were the results?
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  Yeah. We had a a lot of activity
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  taking place, certainly in 2025
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  as we, I guess, most health care institutions
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  have.
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  I think from a thematic perspective,
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  it's about integration.
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  As you mentioned, you know, being part of
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  an academic health system, the value of that
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  is you bring that level of care,
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  that level of research, and that level of
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  academia
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  into the communities where,
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  hospitals like Ingalls Memorial,
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  lives and serves.
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  So we had a lot of activity around
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  integration.
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  We grew and introduced a lot of different
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  clinical programs in behavioral health, in surgery,
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  and in patient rehab,
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  in a lot of medical specialties, in primary
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  care. We had a lot of activity around
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  that, and we had a great year that
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  way.
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  And one of the programs that I'm gonna
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  highlight,
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  which is very close to home and it's
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  very important for the Southland, but it also
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  applies to many other communities across the country,
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  we fully integrated
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  our maternal services,
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  with
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  the academic medical center.
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  And
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  the reason for that is
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  as it's been well published, and Chicago is
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  not an exception to this. There are a
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  lot of disparities around maternal health
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  and infant mortality,
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  and we saw that as an area where
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  we really wanted to pay special attention to
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  it. We are a South Side organization.
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  Hyde Park is in the South Side Of
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  Chicago.
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  Engle's is in the Southern part of the
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  South Side Of Chicago.
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  So last year,
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  we,
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  doubled down and invested in building
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  a really strong foundation around OB services and
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  GYN services
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  to serve this area.
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  We completely integrated
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  with the academic medical center. So under the
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  leadership of the chair, doctor Lingau, we've been
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  able to recruit over seven specialists and general
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  OB,
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  physicians.
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  We have completed all that recruitment despite the
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  shortages in physicians,
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  and we just opened our clinic a couple
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  of weeks ago right before Christmas,
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  where we're introducing specialty GYN services, both on
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  college as well as general GYN services,
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  as well as,
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  OB services across our campus. So we're really
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  excited because we really believe we can make
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  a dent
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  in the significant disparities that exist,
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  in the South Side Of Chicago, particularly,
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  for young black women,
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  when they're giving birth.
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  Absolutely. Wow. That is so helpful to know,
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  and what a critical service to have, especially
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  as you mentioned in South Side Of Chicago
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  where, you know, health care isn't always accessible,
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  to be able to have that for women
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  as they're going through the pregnancy process and
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  giving birth and everything they else that they
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  need in women's services.
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  And especially when you look at OB GYN,
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  I know there's so many hospitals
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  across the country that are trying to figure
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  out how to
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  rebuild their programs or or relaunch some of
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  these different types of services in,
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  communities that, you know,
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  are
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  may not have access to that care. And
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  so what during that process of relaunching and
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  building,
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  what was critical for you? What were the
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  steps that, helped you be able to do
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  that, and really bring that to fruition?
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  Well, it is who we are. Right? It's
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  core to our mission to care for these
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  communities, and
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  the value that organizations like us, like nonprofits,
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  bring to these communities is we provide services
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  when services are not typically available. As you
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  said, access is just not easily accessible.
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  So, we we had a program. We've had
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  a program here for many, many decades.
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  And, you know, unlike some of our competitors
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  who decided to exit that those programs, we
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  decided
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  that part of who we are is we
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  improve the outcomes of our communities that we
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  serve, and that is an area that needed
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  a lot of attention.
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  So we doubled down and and and really
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  just shown the commitment that we have to
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  the South Side
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  by investing in rebuilding
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  and building a very strong foundation
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  for for the future
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  to serve,
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  the population that, we're aiming to serve through
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  the OB and the GYN services.
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  These are not easy decisions, but it's part
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  of who we are. Like, this is who
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  the University of Chicago is. Along the way,
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  we work with a lot of partners.
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  So we partner with, the federally qualified health
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  centers. One of them is literally across the
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  street from us, Family Christian.
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  We just,
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  are in the process of partnering with Ann
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  Martha's and some other,
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  federally qualified health centers because a lot of,
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  these patients seek access in the FQHCs.
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  So partnering with the FQHCs just make it
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  easier
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  for those patients to access our hospital, to
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  access our care, and to access some of
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  their maternal fetal medicine services and GYN services
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  in additional to OB.
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  That's amazing to hear. You know, and really
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  a huge accomplishment,
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  will make a big difference.
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  Now looking ahead, what are some of your
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  big priorities as well as headwinds for 2026?
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  Yeah. Well, let's talk about priorities. Integration doesn't
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  stop.
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  It's incredibly important for us to continue to
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  find opportunities to integrate it with, to integrate
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  with with Hyde Park and the University of
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  Chicago.
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  It is the value that a health system
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  like that brings.
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  So we have a number of different other
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  programs that we're looking to introduce that we'll
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  be publicizing over the next,
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  few months.
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  And, you know, along the way, we also
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  need to deal with some of the headwinds
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  that we're dealing with, and there's many of
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  them as we know. I think,
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  part of it is to
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  have flexibility
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  in how
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  we look at the future
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  to be able to deal with
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  the many different challenges that we could potentially
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  be facing, both from a workforce shortage perspective,
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  from a physician shortage perspective,
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  from a legislative perspective, right, and some of
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  the other issues that are well published, and
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  I don't have to mention them all now,
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  that in general, health care,
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  hospitals in particular will have to deal with.
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  This is this is all part of a
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  very large menu
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  of both opportunities
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  and challenges
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  that's
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  guiding our thinking,
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  and it's also guiding our strategic plan. I
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  think it's important
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  for you and the listeners to know is
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  challenges will always happen. Right? Headwinds always occur.
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  And
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  organizations
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  like the University of Chicago and just in
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  general, organizations, whether it's in health care or
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  other industries,
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  success really lies in their ability to always
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  have flexibility
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  and always look at the future,
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  not,
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  from a depressed mode, from an opportunity mode.
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  And that's how we're looking at the future.
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  Yes. We know there will be challenges, and
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  we will
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  incorporate those challenges and plans to address them
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  in our strategies. But we are looking long
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  term. We're looking at the next five to
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  ten years for Ingalls Memorial. Where is Ingalls
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  going to be in the next five to
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  ten years? What is the role of the
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  community hospital,
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  both in an academic health system and also
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  in the role that it serves the communities
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  that it serves? What's the role? How is
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  how do we expect community hospitals
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  to be positioned so that they can maximize
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  their value to the communities that we serve?
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  We're looking to introduce a number of new
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  programs
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  to the organization over the next, year plus.
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  We're also looking to introduce teaching.
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  We are going to we're really excited about
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  that because we're gonna be bringing,
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  the teaching mission of the University of Chicago
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  right here at Ingalls,
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  training primary care physicians
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  and internal medicine physicians
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  for generations to come, training them here in
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  their communities, improving access through this training,
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  and by having residents in our organization,
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  improving quality, and then hoping that many of
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  them will choose to make communities like ours
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  their where they build their practices, where they
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  build their careers.
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  So, a lot of exciting things in front
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  of us, but the most important, I think,
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  from a theme perspective is
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  you gotta look at the future.
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  You have to be realistic. You gotta be
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  flexible,
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  but, you can't be defensive about it. You
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  gotta be offensive, and we have an organization
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  that is
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  fully committed
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  in supporting Ingles and supporting the communities that
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  we serve collectively as a health system,
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  so that we can be here in the
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  strongest possible position that we can be.
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  Absolutely. I I love that. And, you know,
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  I I can feel the energy and passion
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  for, being able to serve the community and
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  build this foundation, you know, build the right
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  type of organization that can make the pivots
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  as needed, that can really lean into the
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  teaching mission, the training, as well as,
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  the providing
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  of very, very critical services and care to
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  the community over the next several years.
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  Now I know there's a lot of,
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  great opportunities for building that plan and growth,
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  but also some challenges ahead. What do you
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  think the hardest thing you'll have to do
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  in the coming year will be?
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  Yeah. I think,
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  like many, we need to make sure that
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  we have,
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  solutions and plans around the workforce shortages that
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  exist.
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  It's not easy to find particularly some of
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  the,
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  positions and jobs are really hard to recruit
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  for, and we need them.
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  That also applies for many specialties and physicians
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  in general,
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  because there's a just a national shortage. I
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  think that's so well publicized. I don't need
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  to mention that anymore. So that's always a
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  challenge because a steady workforce
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  provides stability to the organization,
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  provides
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  continuous,
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  quality
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  in in how we serve and then it
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  continues great experience for the patients that we
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  serve.
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  So that's always a top of mind,
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  and that's not an easy one because everybody's
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  looking for the same positions and,
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  for large numbers of employees
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  to stay or, you know, remain within the
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  health care industry.
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  I think the second part is to deal
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  with some of the legislative challenges that are
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  potentially coming ahead.
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  And, those have huge impact on organizations like
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  ours, and that means that safety nets.
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  And, we need to be prepared.
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  We need to have
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  optimism, but at the same time, we need
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  to have a a level of realism,
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  that we will be able to manage through
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  some of these challenges because they can be
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  quite, difficult for us to,
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  to maintain the stability that we really need,
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  to maintain as a safety net hospital in
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  these communities. So that we keep an eyes
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  wide open, and we're planning,
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  multiple different scenarios,
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  just to make sure that we can remain
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  strong as an organization,
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  and as an employer and as a, obviously,
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  as a health care provider for these communities.
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  Absolutely. That, you know, makes a lot of
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  sense. And having that dual position of looking
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  at the workforce shortages wanting to be a
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  great employer as well as expanding and continuing
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  to build on services is critical. I think,
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  especially, you know, when you look at,
• 13:43
  building up the workforce and strengthening the pipeline,
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  being able to,
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  be a great place to work. Is there
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  anything different that you're doing in the next
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  year, to really,
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  increase those efforts or or things that, trends
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  that you see ahead?
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  Yeah. Obviously, we have to remain competitive, right,
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  from a compensation standpoint.
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  So like everyone else, we're looking at the
• 14:06
  market to make sure that we don't fall
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  out of market. And I think it's it's
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  it's really,
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  being able to
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  bring across to future candidates and people that
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  are looking for work, certainly here in the
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  Southland,
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  that culture is just as important as everything
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  else. Right? And and we we really spent
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  a lot of time building
• 14:25
  a
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  strong family oriented
• 14:30
  community culture,
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  here at at Ingles. It's it's really an
• 14:34
  important part. When you walk into Ingles,
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  you feel it.
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  You feel the energy. You feel the welcoming.
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  And,
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  we believe that is one of the strengths
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  that has allowed us to really make such
• 14:49
  a huge impact and inroads,
• 14:51
  with,
• 14:52
  workforce development and workforce recruitment
• 14:55
  over the last three years.
• 14:57
  But, you know, being part of the University
• 15:00
  of Chicago,
• 15:01
  being part of an organization that has,
• 15:04
  growth aspirations,
• 15:06
  now and into the future,
• 15:08
  having opportunities for people to grow beyond what
• 15:10
  their original or their initial job may be.
• 15:13
  These are all positives
• 15:15
  that, we believe, you know, separate us and
• 15:18
  give us a differentiating factor,
• 15:21
  with some of the competitors and why,
• 15:23
  we believe
• 15:24
  folks come and choose to work with us
• 15:27
  as opposed to some of the competitors.
• 15:29
  That's helpful to know. Thank you for digging
• 15:31
  a bit deeper there. Now before we wrap
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  up, I'm curious. What do you see as
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  being some of the best growth opportunities for
• 15:38
  the next few years as well?
• 15:40
  Yeah. No. We have a lot of work
• 15:42
  that we're doing around that. Obviously, you need
• 15:44
  to know what your community needs will be.
• 15:47
  So it always starts there because we're here
• 15:49
  to serve a community.
• 15:51
  And so we look at all of the
• 15:52
  data points around the communities that we serve
• 15:55
  and, obviously, the kind of changes that we
• 15:57
  expect both from the standpoint of technology as
• 16:00
  well as discovery.
• 16:03
  I think
• 16:04
  artificial intelligence,
• 16:06
  will play a key role
• 16:08
  in anything that we do in the future.
• 16:10
  So we're spending a lot of attention
• 16:12
  preparing
• 16:13
  to maximize,
• 16:15
  the use of artificial intelligence to support our
• 16:17
  workforce and to support our physicians,
• 16:20
  to make it easier for them to work,
• 16:22
  to reduce burnout,
• 16:24
  and,
• 16:25
  to be able to deploy it in a
• 16:26
  way that is governed
• 16:28
  and it's organized
• 16:30
  across the health system. So that's a a
• 16:32
  major, major,
• 16:34
  goal and initiative that's that's across our organization,
• 16:38
  today.
• 16:39
  You know, we have a number of other
• 16:40
  programs that we're gonna be introducing.
• 16:42
  Probably can't share them yet because, you know,
• 16:45
  we we're not ready yet to go public,
• 16:48
  but, we're definitely looking to grow areas like
• 16:51
  behavioral
• 16:52
  health, surgery,
• 16:53
  rehab through our partnership with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
• 16:56
  has gone really well. So we think there's
• 16:58
  more opportunity to grow and bring these services
• 17:02
  closer to home in the Southland
• 17:04
  as well as a number of other recruitments
• 17:06
  that are underway. So you'll hear a lot
• 17:08
  more about that as the year goes on
• 17:09
  because we're really excited.
• 17:11
  We're just not ready to go public yet.
• 17:14
  I got it. Well, we'll definitely keep an
• 17:15
  eye out for those updates and look forward
• 17:18
  to learning more. And especially, I know how
• 17:20
  much technology and digital transformation is making a
• 17:22
  difference,
• 17:23
  in the health care space. And so we'll
• 17:25
  definitely reconnect later this year, and hopefully, we'll
• 17:27
  be able to, talk through some of these
• 17:29
  other exciting developments at that time. Well, Mike,
• 17:32
  thank you so much for joining us on
• 17:33
  the podcast today. This has been such a
• 17:35
  fun conversation, and I'm looking forward to seeing
• 17:37
  you as well in April at our annual
• 17:38
  meeting. I know you'll be speaking on a
• 17:40
  panel there, and and so it'll be great
• 17:42
  to see you as well as many others,
• 17:44
  be part of that event.
• 17:45
  Thank you, Laura. I'm looking forward to the
• 17:47
  April,
• 17:48
  conference as well. Great talking to you again.