Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Monica L. Baskin, PhD, Director of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center

Transcript

Monica L. Baskin, PhD, Director of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - There's a small circle of people who truly
• 0:04
  - understand what it takes to lead a health
• 0:05
  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
• 0:08
  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
• 0:11
  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
• 0:14
  - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
• 0:17
  - And it's why the most effective c suite
• 0:19
  - leaders are deliberate about where do they go
• 0:21
  - to pressure test their thinking.
• 0:22
  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
• 0:26
  - brings together more than 1,500
• 0:28
  - executive level attendees
• 0:30
  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
• 0:32
  - around growth, financial sustainability,
• 0:35
  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
• 0:38
  - have easy answers.
• 0:39
  - Join us November second through the fifth in
• 0:41
  - Chicago.
• 0:42
  - For the agenda and event details,
• 0:45
  - visit beckershospitalreview.com
• 0:47
  - and click on the events tab in the
• 0:49
  - upper right.
• 0:52
  - Hello, and thank you so much for tuning
• 0:54
  - into the Becker's Oncology Leadership Podcast.
• 0:57
  - I'm Elizabeth Gregersen, a reporter here at Becker's,
• 1:00
  - and today, I am talking to doctor Monica
• 1:03
  - Baskin.
• 1:04
  - Doctor Baskin is the newly appointed director
• 1:08
  - of VSACI Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• 1:11
  - Doctor Baskin, thank you so much for taking
• 1:12
  - the time to speak with me today.
• 1:15
  - Thank you so much for the invitation.
• 1:18
  - Before I dive into my questions, I would
• 1:20
  - love if you could share just a bit
• 1:22
  - about your background and your role at VCU
• 1:24
  - Massey for our listeners.
• 1:26
  - Sure.
• 1:27
  - So I am a,
• 1:30
  - behavioral scientist that has had a long history
• 1:33
  - focused on,
• 1:35
  - chronic disease prevention and control.
• 1:37
  - So I certainly focus a lot on identifying
• 1:41
  - when there's differences
• 1:42
  - in outcomes across different population groups and seek
• 1:46
  - to really find solutions that are sustainable
• 1:49
  - that can help to have better outcomes.
• 1:52
  - In the cancer space, a lot of times,
• 1:54
  - that has to do with lifestyle interventions around
• 1:56
  - cancer prevention,
• 1:57
  - but also around early detection of cancer and
• 2:01
  - ensuring that everyone has equal access to those
• 2:03
  - discoveries.
• 2:04
  - So prior to taking on this role as
• 2:07
  - the director of VCU Massey,
• 2:09
  - I served for about a year and a
• 2:11
  - half as the deputy director
• 2:13
  - for research here at Massey and and have
• 2:15
  - been in other leadership roles at other cancer
• 2:17
  - centers prior to that.
• 2:19
  - Perfect. So, yeah, with your new appointment, I
• 2:22
  - know it's only been, I think, a month
• 2:24
  - or two, maybe three months.
• 2:27
  - What is
• 2:28
  - and this might be an impossible question to
• 2:30
  - answer, but what's kind of your biggest or
• 2:32
  - your first priority at Massey right now?
• 2:35
  - Yeah. So thanks for the question. I think
• 2:37
  - that
• 2:38
  - the very first thing right now is to
• 2:42
  - really be
• 2:44
  - someone that can be a stabilizing force. And
• 2:46
  - and I say that because I'm sure,
• 2:49
  - as you can imagine, when you have larger
• 2:51
  - organizations
• 2:52
  - and you go through a transition of leadership,
• 2:55
  - there's always the question of, Okay, well, what
• 2:57
  - comes next and how do we do that?
• 2:59
  - And so our prior leader was here for
• 3:01
  - quite a long time
• 3:03
  - and also
• 3:04
  - got through
• 3:05
  - tremendous successes,
• 3:07
  - within the organization.
• 3:09
  - And so, first and foremost, I want
• 3:11
  - internally
• 3:13
  - to the center for people to know that,
• 3:16
  - you know, my goals are to take what
• 3:18
  - was already here
• 3:19
  - and move it forward
• 3:21
  - and make sure that we can capitalize on
• 3:23
  - that. That stability is also something I want
• 3:26
  - to project outside
• 3:27
  - of,
• 3:28
  - of our cancer center, making sure
• 3:31
  - that our patients, our various community members, our
• 3:34
  - other stakeholders,
• 3:36
  - our donors recognize
• 3:38
  - that there has been tremendous success over the
• 3:40
  - decades of Massey
• 3:42
  - and that we are heading in the right
• 3:43
  - direction. We are not at the finish line.
• 3:46
  - We're moving upward and onward.
• 3:48
  - And so being a stable force is sort
• 3:50
  - of the first thing, first order of priority
• 3:53
  - for me right now.
• 3:55
  - I love that, the force of stability. Right?
• 3:57
  - I think any organization
• 3:59
  - can appreciate
• 4:00
  - that concept.
• 4:02
  - Kind of zooming out from Massey for this
• 4:04
  - next question,
• 4:06
  - what pressures do you see cancer centers or
• 4:09
  - oncology service lines facing right now that maybe
• 4:13
  - aren't getting talked
• 4:15
  - about enough more widely?
• 4:18
  - Yeah. I mean, I think that,
• 4:21
  - there are there are tons. These are the
• 4:23
  - things that keep me up at night now
• 4:24
  - since starting this job. I think one of
• 4:27
  - them
• 4:28
  - is certainly around this issue of access.
• 4:31
  - So the good news is I think we've
• 4:33
  - done a tremendous job just just, you know,
• 4:36
  - across the board of better educating people
• 4:39
  - around cancer, around risk factors, getting people
• 4:42
  - screened earlier when we know that we have
• 4:45
  - so many more options,
• 4:47
  - to,
• 4:48
  - you know, treat that cancer
• 4:50
  - and have people to have higher quality of
• 4:52
  - life for a longer,
• 4:53
  - for a longer number of years.
• 4:55
  - But with that means that there are more
• 4:57
  - people engaged, more people seeking out services.
• 5:00
  - And
• 5:01
  - we don't always have the right mix of,
• 5:05
  - centers open or, you know,
• 5:08
  - health care members available to do that.
• 5:11
  - And sometimes a lot of the places that
• 5:13
  - we have for people to come are more
• 5:15
  - in urban settings than rural settings. So I
• 5:17
  - think access,
• 5:19
  - is a major component that is probably not
• 5:22
  - being talked about as much.
• 5:24
  - The other component here is,
• 5:27
  - that I know is getting some attention, but
• 5:29
  - I'm not sure that we have,
• 5:32
  - given
• 5:33
  - as much thoughts to how do we address
• 5:36
  - it. And that has to do with a
• 5:38
  - sort of a shifting in the payer mix
• 5:41
  - within our health systems and anticipated,
• 5:45
  - as well as some realized,
• 5:47
  - declines in terms of individuals
• 5:50
  - who have insurance
• 5:51
  - being able to come in for care. And
• 5:53
  - so I know at the C suite level,
• 5:56
  - people are looking at that balance of,
• 5:59
  - you know, how they're able to get reimbursed,
• 6:02
  - for certain services
• 6:04
  - and how do you manage that. So I
• 6:05
  - think that is really critical, again, to oncology,
• 6:09
  - service lines because
• 6:11
  - we have done our job, which is let
• 6:13
  - people know
• 6:14
  - that there are risk factors, there's early detection,
• 6:17
  - there's treatment,
• 6:18
  - but now we've gotta address the bottleneck of
• 6:20
  - people coming in and us being able to
• 6:22
  - get them timely
• 6:23
  - care.
• 6:24
  - Right. Yeah. I love just the framing of
• 6:27
  - that where, you know, you say we've done
• 6:29
  - our job. You know, we are communicating. We
• 6:31
  - have the screening. I think all these advancements
• 6:34
  - that's coming in in early detection and and
• 6:37
  - even treatments. And so now it's, like, just
• 6:40
  - like you said, getting
• 6:41
  - them to it
• 6:43
  - Yes. And being able to help them access
• 6:45
  - is kind of that twofold.
• 6:47
  - I'm sure there's even a million other ways
• 6:49
  - that access shows up, but that kind of
• 6:51
  - access of not just geographically, but also, you
• 6:54
  - know, with your coverage and your care. Absolutely.
• 6:58
  - I'm going to
• 7:00
  - zoom back into Massey now.
• 7:03
  - You're heading into the renewal of Massey's cancer
• 7:06
  - center support grant and the comprehensive
• 7:09
  - NCI designation.
• 7:12
  - How are those goals or milestones,
• 7:15
  - influencing kind of your day to day work?
• 7:20
  - It's it's the first thing that I think
• 7:22
  - about when I come into the office.
• 7:24
  - It is something that I know that both
• 7:26
  - our institutional leaders but also our community
• 7:29
  - is
• 7:31
  - zeroed in on. They are really anxious,
• 7:34
  - to make sure that we continue that momentum.
• 7:38
  - And I am certainly here for that as
• 7:40
  - well.
• 7:40
  - So but one of the other things to,
• 7:43
  - consider is that there are some shifts in
• 7:45
  - terms of that cancer center support grant. So
• 7:49
  - there will be a new,
• 7:50
  - NOFO that comes out that really explains,
• 7:53
  - you know, what the expectations are. So we
• 7:55
  - anticipate that happening in the fall of this
• 7:57
  - year.
• 7:58
  - And we are going to be and have
• 8:00
  - already been making some adjustments,
• 8:03
  - as we want to be the most competitive,
• 8:06
  - center and application as we go in. We
• 8:09
  - certainly know that what got us to where
• 8:12
  - we are right now so being able to
• 8:14
  - get that comprehensive status for the first time
• 8:16
  - at the last renewal,
• 8:18
  - we know that the things we did to
• 8:19
  - get to that point are not going to
• 8:21
  - be the things that are get us to
• 8:23
  - a renewal. So we really need to be
• 8:25
  - able to demonstrate
• 8:26
  - how we've utilized the resources that we we
• 8:29
  - have and the additional benefits we got by
• 8:32
  - the comprehensive status to take us to that
• 8:34
  - next level. So it's a matter of, I
• 8:36
  - think, for us,
• 8:38
  - really highlighting what is unique about Massey, what
• 8:41
  - we have accomplished
• 8:42
  - over the last, you know, four to five
• 8:44
  - years,
• 8:45
  - as well as projecting into the future of
• 8:47
  - what else we can do. What is our
• 8:49
  - plan going forward,
• 8:51
  - with this renewal for the next five years?
• 8:54
  - Thank you so much for laying that out.
• 8:57
  - I I appreciate just the, you know, peek
• 9:00
  - behind the curtain of kind of what that
• 9:01
  - looks like because I you know, as a
• 9:03
  - reporter, but I think anyone who consumes, you
• 9:05
  - know, health care news, we always get the
• 9:07
  - news releases and the exciting updates of renewed
• 9:09
  - designation,
• 9:10
  - you know,
• 9:11
  - all this stuff, and it's so exciting. But
• 9:14
  - peeling back and being able to to talk
• 9:16
  - about and uncover what that actually looks like
• 9:19
  - to achieve, I think is something that's really
• 9:22
  - of interest. Yeah. And I could actually say
• 9:23
  - it's it's not pretty back here, but, when
• 9:25
  - we when we put it when we put
• 9:27
  - it up out front, it it will look
• 9:28
  - very nice. People are Right. Our staff, our
• 9:31
  - investigators
• 9:32
  - are working really hard, to put together an
• 9:34
  - application
• 9:35
  - that is extremely competitive. We have a lot
• 9:38
  - of great science that's happening here. Mhmm. We
• 9:40
  - have compassionate people. And so it's it's, you
• 9:43
  - know, what we're looking for now is how
• 9:45
  - we can tell that story in the most
• 9:47
  - compelling way.
• 9:49
  - Absolutely.
• 9:50
  - For my second to last question, I'm so
• 9:53
  - grateful and excited to be able to ask
• 9:55
  - this
• 9:56
  - of you
• 9:57
  - because you are one of only nine women
• 10:00
  - in the country who are currently directing a
• 10:03
  - comprehensive cancer center,
• 10:04
  - and you are the first black woman to
• 10:07
  - be named director of an NCI designated cancer
• 10:09
  - center.
• 10:11
  - What's one concrete change?
• 10:14
  - Cancer centers, medical schools, the industry at large,
• 10:18
  - what could they be doing
• 10:20
  - to see the number of women in cancer
• 10:23
  - leadership grow from your perspective?
• 10:28
  - You know, that it's a it's a really
• 10:30
  - important question to ask, and and I answered
• 10:33
  - this,
• 10:36
  - not only for myself, but as the mother
• 10:38
  - of two two young adult daughters. And
• 10:42
  - I think that,
• 10:43
  - first and foremost,
• 10:45
  - making sure that we do highlight,
• 10:48
  - women leaders is important. I think it's important
• 10:51
  - for
• 10:52
  - all people to see,
• 10:54
  - not just young women
• 10:56
  - and trainees,
• 10:58
  - but I think it's for everyone to see
• 11:00
  - that here are some other faces of leadership
• 11:04
  - that may not be,
• 11:06
  - the faces that they normally would see. So
• 11:08
  - I think that part of it is just
• 11:10
  - exposure.
• 11:11
  - The other component, which I certainly benefited from
• 11:14
  - having a tremendous number of not only mentors
• 11:18
  - but also people who were sponsors,
• 11:21
  - who did things and put my name in
• 11:23
  - spaces that
• 11:24
  - I didn't even know that they were doing
• 11:26
  - that. And I think that's important to do
• 11:28
  - as well
• 11:29
  - and in terms of getting people ready to
• 11:31
  - be able to take on and have the
• 11:33
  - opportunity
• 11:35
  - to lead in this space. So I do
• 11:36
  - think that we all have an obligation,
• 11:39
  - in leadership
• 11:41
  - to do more of that, to make sure
• 11:43
  - that the next generation
• 11:44
  - is, gets the appropriate training,
• 11:47
  - but also make sure that others are aware
• 11:50
  - that there are different kinds of leaders that
• 11:53
  - are out there, not only in demographic differences
• 11:55
  - but maybe discipline and so forth. So I
• 11:57
  - think that's
• 11:59
  - really critical. And one of the ways that
• 12:01
  - Massey is helping to,
• 12:03
  - to do that is through a new program
• 12:06
  - that was,
• 12:07
  - actually
• 12:08
  - began under doctor Nguyen's leadership,
• 12:11
  - and and that is our,
• 12:13
  - executive leadership
• 12:15
  - academy for cancer centers.
• 12:17
  - And,
• 12:18
  - doctor Nguyen, I think when he was, president-elect
• 12:22
  - for the AACI
• 12:24
  - and doctor Karen Lerman was the president,
• 12:28
  - they both highlighted
• 12:30
  - that there were a lack of certain individuals
• 12:33
  - that were in the pipeline.
• 12:35
  - And so a concerted effort to identify individuals
• 12:39
  - and do some leadership development
• 12:41
  - was a goal of theirs. So our Executive
• 12:43
  - Leadership Academy for Cancer Centers, the ELAC program
• 12:46
  - at Massey,
• 12:47
  - is a eighteen month training program where we
• 12:49
  - identify promising
• 12:51
  - individuals who are cancer center members,
• 12:54
  - and we make sure that they have all
• 12:56
  - the nuts and bolts and understand what a
• 12:58
  - NCI designated cancer center is, give them some
• 13:01
  - training, some coaching,
• 13:03
  - and that has been tremendously
• 13:05
  - successful. So Massey partnered with the, Medical University
• 13:09
  - of South Carolina's
• 13:10
  - Hollings Cancer Center, put that on, and we
• 13:13
  - had our inaugural class,
• 13:16
  - graduate, if you will, from that, just this
• 13:18
  - summer. So we're excited about training that next
• 13:21
  - group of leaders, getting them in spaces that
• 13:24
  - they can take on leadership so that, you
• 13:26
  - know, hopefully, in the not too distant future,
• 13:28
  - there won't be just nine of us in
• 13:30
  - this leadership role.
• 13:32
  - Absolutely. I love,
• 13:34
  - that you highlighted that program that Massey is
• 13:36
  - doing because,
• 13:38
  - like you said, it's seeing those opportunities and
• 13:40
  - being able to
• 13:42
  - seek out the mentorship and the training,
• 13:45
  - that I think, like you said, will make
• 13:46
  - such a difference. And it's so awesome to
• 13:49
  - hear that that's going on. And I'm very
• 13:52
  - excited to keep covering
• 13:53
  - what happens in the future with that program.
• 13:56
  - Sounds good.
• 13:57
  - And speaking of the future, for my last
• 13:59
  - question,
• 14:00
  - anyone who's listened to the podcast know I
• 14:02
  - always like to look
• 14:04
  - to the future of when I'm talking to
• 14:07
  - oncology leaders about what's giving them hope and
• 14:09
  - excitement because I find
• 14:11
  - you all are just the most optimistic
• 14:14
  - group of people,
• 14:15
  - especially in the health care space that I
• 14:17
  - could that I speak to. So I'd love
• 14:19
  - to hear from your vantage point what's
• 14:21
  - giving you hope about the future of cancer
• 14:23
  - care.
• 14:25
  - Yeah. I I am very hopeful about the
• 14:27
  - future of cancer
• 14:29
  - care.
• 14:30
  - I think that a few things that give
• 14:32
  - me hope are that next generation. What I
• 14:36
  - see from,
• 14:37
  - others that are involved, either from our high
• 14:39
  - school programs or college programs, we have education
• 14:42
  - and training within the cancer center. I see
• 14:44
  - individuals
• 14:46
  - who are really excited and passionate about giving
• 14:49
  - back and making sure
• 14:51
  - that what they're learning will totally translate back
• 14:55
  - to the communities that they serve. That is
• 14:57
  - music to my ears. As I see it,
• 14:59
  - I'm really excited about that.
• 15:01
  - And then the other component is that, you
• 15:04
  - know,
• 15:05
  - everybody's talking about AI and technology.
• 15:09
  - I do think that there are,
• 15:12
  - within some parameters, there are ways in which
• 15:14
  - we can better utilize the advances in technology
• 15:19
  - to make cancer care more efficient
• 15:22
  - and to personalize it so that
• 15:25
  - individuals are getting the exact and right treatment
• 15:29
  - at the right time.
• 15:31
  - And we could certainly do that in a
• 15:33
  - more efficient way. And that addresses that first
• 15:36
  - thing that I said in terms of where
• 15:37
  - some of the issues are, which is access.
• 15:40
  - So those things the people and the people
• 15:42
  - that are coming up to be future leaders
• 15:46
  - and biomedical and health care workers, that gives
• 15:49
  - me excitement and hope. And then our ability
• 15:51
  - to catalyze the technology that exists
• 15:55
  - to give more precision
• 15:57
  - type of care,
• 15:58
  - those will be the two things that I
• 15:59
  - think are really exciting to me,
• 16:02
  - in this space, as we think about the
• 16:03
  - future.
• 16:05
  - I think that's a perfect place to end
• 16:07
  - it, and I so appreciate you being able
• 16:09
  - to tie it back to those, you know,
• 16:11
  - pressures that we talked about at the beginning
• 16:13
  - of our conversation and and how the future
• 16:16
  - looks bright for being able to address those.
• 16:18
  - So thank you so much, doctor Beth, for
• 16:20
  - coming on the podcast, taking the time out
• 16:22
  - of your day, and and sharing your insights.
• 16:24
  - My pleasure.
• 16:26
  - And thank you to our listeners for tuning
• 16:28
  - in to Becker's Oncology Leadership Podcast.
• 16:30
  - I invite you all to check out even
• 16:32
  - more Becker's Healthcare Podcast at beckerspodcasts.com.
• 16:37
  - Thank you again to doctor Baskin and to
• 16:39
  - our listeners. Have a great day.