Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Paul Hiltz, President & CEO at NCH Healthcare System

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Paul Hiltz, President & CEO at NCH Healthcare System · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

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  Thanks for listening. Now here's the episode.
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  This is the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. I'm Molly Gamble,
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  vice President editorial, and today I'm spending time with Paul Hilts.
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  Paul is the president and c e o of n c h healthcare system based in Naples,
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  Florida. Paul, welcome and thank you so much for being my guest today.
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  Where does the podcast find you?
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  Oh, good afternoon, Molly. Yep.
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  I'm in Naples today for people not familiar with Naples, Florida.
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  It's on the southwest coast and a very beautiful area of Florida.
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  Oh, that's great.
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  I was actually fortunate enough to spend some time in Naples this past winter
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  spring. Uh, a nice respite from the Midwest winter Paul. So, um,
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  it was a beautiful trip and visit. I I really enjoyed the scenery.
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  It is, it is a great community too, and a very,
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  a very generous community and a great, uh, place to, uh,
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  to be working in healthcare.
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  Very much so. Well, let's learn more about that, you know,
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  for listeners who may be less familiar with N C H Healthcare,
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  can you share a couple key facts or insights that would help them better
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  appreciate and understand your perspective today?
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  Absolutely. Uh, n c is a unique thing, we think in America,
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  we're on our way to becoming what we call an advanced community healthcare
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  system. And, uh, what does that mean?
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  It means that we wanna remain an independent, locally governed health system,
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  and we're gonna focus in on quality and advancing quality
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  through key partnerships. Partnerships, uh,
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  like the hospital for special surgery out of New York, uh, Nicholas Children's,
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  uh, encompass rehabilitation, uh, hospitals and, uh,
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  partners that can really help us advance a quality agenda here for the residents
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  of Southwest Florida.
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  And I understand too,
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  a major component of the annual strategic plan at N C H right now is physician
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  integration,
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  ensuring physician voices and perspectives are heard and driving the system
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  forward in into that vision.
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  You just described it being an advanced community healthcare system. Paul,
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  can you talk about what this looks like?
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  What are some specific initiatives that are supporting this big aim?
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  Sure. The, one of the main pillars of our strategic plan right now is physician
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  integration, and it represents the voice of the physicians to drive
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  initiatives that are gonna further the mission, vision,
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  and values of this organization. So I think as leaders in healthcare,
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  we have to really spend a lot of time, uh,
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  creating an environment where physicians and other providers really enjoy
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  practicing medicine, enjoy taking care of patients. So we've spent, uh,
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  a fair amount of time recruiting in great physician leaders, uh,
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  giving them the tools, uh,
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  and equipment to provide great care.
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  And we really wanna make this a place where, uh,
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  practicing medicine is fun.
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  So important. I mean,
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  especially over the past couple of years probably you've seen these trends,
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  not e not even exclusively in healthcare, but just more broadly of quiet,
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  quitting, uh, the great resignation, of course.
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  So to get back to making sure work is enjoyable and bringing people joy
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  and so many people and physicians especially talk about the bedside time with
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  patients, how much that fulfills 'em,
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  and that's really why they went into practicing medicine. So I I,
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  it's really great to see that this is so front and center for your organization
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  right now. Um,
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  ha have you done any work or is there any initiative in play specifically toward
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  physician wellness?
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  There's a lot of emphasis on the physician wellness. We, uh,
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  we survey doctors frequently talk to doctors and really listen to doctors.
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  And one of the things that's been interesting this year is that our physician
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  leaders really determine the need for some type of an innovative
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  physician leadership program to, uh,
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  to enhance their effectiveness and their collaboration and communication and
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  ability to work as teams. So with our medical staff,
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  we co-created a leadership, uh,
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  program for physicians and it's really unique and it's, um,
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  it's used, it uses the, uh, gallup's, uh,
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  strength finders or strength-based, uh, approach. And, uh,
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  the reaction from the doctors has really been, uh, strong.
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  We have almost 50 doctors enrolled in the program, which is, uh,
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  an eight month program, but we're about a third of the way through it.
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  And really the feedback has been, has been wonderful. Mm-hmm.
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  , that's great. I know just last week I saw a story,
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  I believe it was in Harvard Business Review about primary care physicians and
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  the integral role they play in our healthcare system,
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  but how often it can take some extra encouragement because they might be
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  reluctant to take on bigger leadership roles in healthcare. Hmm. Um,
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  so it just goes to show your point about how these formal educational
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  opportunities and structures can really go a long way,
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  cuz sometimes people might feel, feel,
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  whether it's imposter syndrome or they're not sure they're cut out for it,
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  they might question their own abilities when really you see great potential and
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  great need for their leadership.
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  I think you're exactly right. And you mentioned Harvard.
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  We are using the Harvard Managed Mentor, uh,
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  online tools as part of our leadership program,
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  but we are also injecting doctors into a lot of the,
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  the business problems we're trying to solve here with,
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  with some great results actually. And, um,
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  and we went through a conversion to Epic and the doctors have been very much
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  involved in that. We had a great conversion there and, uh, we're taking,
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  trying to take clinical waste out of the system and trying to, again,
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  make this a place that doctors enjoy coming to.
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  Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Well,
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  let's zoom out a little bit too, Paul,
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  because you are in such an interesting part of the country. Uh,
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  I wanted to touch on a couple things that I think are unique to Naples that are
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  listeners might find interesting. One is the housing crisis, you know,
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  other areas of the country can sympathize and understand this challenge,
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  um, especially for areas that are high with tourism. Um, snowboard,
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  snowbirds, excuse me. But the housing crisis in the area of Naples,
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  it's been a really important contributing factor to the workforce,
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  constrictions facing your system, um, resulting in longer wait times,
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  other downstream effects.
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  Can you tell us more about the housing market in your area and the consequences
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  this is having on the health system?
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  Well, the housing issue here is, um,
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  significant and it was actually exacerbated by Hurricane Ian
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  last, um, September too,
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  which destroyed a lot of homes and made things even more acute for us.
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  But we have a number of different initiatives that we're,
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  we're undertaking now to address that. Uh, during this last year with,
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  with the hurricane and so forth, we did, um,
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  lease out a part of a,
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  of a hotel where we created affordable housing for our workforce
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  here near both of our hospitals. Uh, there's been a recent, uh,
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  bill, uh, passed here in Florida by Senator PAs Domo called Live Local.
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  And it's gonna offer developers tax incentives to produce,
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  create affordable workforce housing. So that will also help.
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  And we've got a number of initiatives we're looking at on properties we own to
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  help address this housing crisis for our,
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  our workforce because it's, we think it's gonna be a, a longstanding issue.
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  It has been a longstanding issue.
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  We're gonna have to get creative with partners to other businesses to help
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  address this.
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  Mm-hmm. and the leased out hotel space,
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  was that meant for full-time employees or was it something that you used
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  for contract labor?
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  Can you talk a little bit more about the strategy behind that tech?
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  Yeah, the le originally started as being the, for more of the seasonal,
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  but one of the things that we're finding here in this last year, um, Molly,
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  is that we are gonna have more full-time residents and therefore more full-time
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  employees. So we think that this, uh,
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  notion of subleasing or leasing out, uh,
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  hotels and apartments will be kind of a permanent thing for us as we work
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  to, um, make this a great place to be an employee too.
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  Mm-hmm. mm-hmm. . Well,
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  and some of those full-time residents might be taking up what has become a craze
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  in the US and that is pickleball. I mean,
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  this might seem lighthearted to touch on with you, Paul,
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  but it's been coming up in business reporting, um,
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  including that from some of the big insurers.
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  I I wanted to get your take on this.
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  U UnitedHealthcare last month said an increase in joint replacements contributed
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  to rising costs for the health insurer and in a market rich with retirees
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  and, and pickle ballers.
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  What have you seen in N C H in terms of joint replacement trends and patterns?
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  Is there any link between that activity and then also joint replacement volumes?
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  This is the pickleball capital of the United States here in Naples, and it's a,
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  it's a great sport. We love all the participation. And to answer your question,
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  yes, the orthopedic volume in general,
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  both sports medicine and joint replacements is
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  on the increase here in Naples.
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  One of the reasons that we decided to form a strategic partnership with the
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  hospital for special surgery is that they are the number one orthopedic hospital
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  in the country,
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  and we're gonna create one of the top destinations for orthopedic care
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  in the United States here in conjunction with hss. So to your point,
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  we think that this trend of pickleball, tennis and other activities and,
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  and what comes along with that is, uh,
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  is gonna be here with us for a long time and we're gonna be in a position now
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  to, uh, take care of those patients at a level, um,
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  that will be the best in the United States.
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  Can you talk more about the partnership with H H s, because you're right,
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  I mean, esteemed and orthopedic care,
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  but also I understand Florida is a big destination among New Yorkers.
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  Can you talk about why this makes such a great fit? And then also how,
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  how does it play out? Is are you doing second opinions via h hs, H s s,
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  um, teleconsults?
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  What are some of the finer prints of how this partnership plays out?
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  Yeah. The partnership with HSS is, is gonna be sort of twofold. On the one hand,
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  they are gonna manage our orthopedic service line,
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  what we just recently named Dr. David Helford,
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  who's one of the outstanding orthopedic surgeons in America. He will be, uh,
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  moving to Naples,
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  Florida and leading all things orthopedic in our health system.
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  As a part of that, we're gonna be cons,
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  begin construction in August on a brand new
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  state-of-the-art orthopedic center,
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  which will include inpatient orthopedic rooms as well as an ambulatory
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  surgery center, uh, that will be doing,
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  it will be a joint venture with H S S and N C H.
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  So world-class orthopedic care.
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  We've already recruited several surgeons who trained at H S s,
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  who will be full-time here in Naples,
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  and we continue to build out that team with local doctors who are
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  interested in that kind of care and with, uh, doctors who trained in,
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  in the leading orthopedic centers in America.
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  That's great. Thank you, Paul. And, you know, now we've touched in on,
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  on Naples specifically.
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  I wanted to zoom back out and if we can, I,
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  I'm always curious about this question. You know,
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  so many of the challenges that are facing health systems and its leaders are
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  relatively constant,
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  really important that they play out over long stretches of time.
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  I'm curious to stay fresh and to stay with you.
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  Is there anything new or emerging on your radar that you find is
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  demanding more and more of your attention or time as of late?
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  You know, the thing that I find in, in today,
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  just coming out of covid that I think is gonna be the theme is really gonna be
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  the workforce engagement and developing a pipeline of
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  healthcare workers, new ones,
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  but also re-engaging doctors, nurses,
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  and other clinicians in the work. And I think to do that,
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  we have to get really good at listening to the providers and then trying to
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  eliminate the, uh, the friction points,
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  the things that really just drag doctors down. I,
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  I still think the doctors I'm talking to on a day-to-day basis are still
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  passionate about taking care of patients.
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  I think they're just frustrated with all of the bureaucracy and all of the
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  impediments, uh, put in front of them, uh, that,
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  that take away from patient care. So I'm,
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  I'm really passionate about creating a work environment where
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  healthcare providers really look forward to coming to work and taking
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  care of patients.
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  Mm-hmm. and that perspective is so important because you see,
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  at the national level,
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  the conversation is often focused on the deficit of workers,
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  those who are missing those that we need to get to a healthy baseline for
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  access. But to your point, Paul,
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  if we're not talking about those who are still working and with us and in the
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  system reporting to their,
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  their duties and making sure those experiences are going as swimmingly as
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  possible for them,
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  that's a really important part of the equation that might be under tended to.
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  I believe so,
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  and I think we've gotta start maybe looking outside of our industry a little
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  bit. I just recently took a trip up to Chick-fil-A headquarters in Atlanta
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  to look at how they engage and train their workforce.
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  Um, I also went over and visited some folks at the Atlanta Falcons and, and, uh,
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  Mercedes-Benz Stadium up in Atlanta because they have the number one fan
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  experience in the nfl.
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  So we're trying to look at other industries to see what we can learn to engage
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  our workforce, to satisfy our workforce,
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  and therefore create an experience for the patient that will be second
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  to none. Mm-hmm.
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  , did anything,
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  did any key takeaway or surprise really stand out to you most in those visits?
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  Well, the theme at both of those companies is,
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  is really what we just talked about a minute ago.
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  They're trying to just eliminate the friction points of, uh,
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  whether it's coming to a football game or coming to a fast food
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  restaurant. Um,
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  how do we make the experience as easy as possible for the consumer?
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  And how do we broaden our mission a little bit more and,
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  and think about creating just an experience, not for one thing. You know,
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  we wanna take great care of the patient when they're sick,
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  but we also wanna take care of the entire experience from the appointment
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  scheduling to the final bill. How do we make that something that is,
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  uh, is somewhat enjoyable for the, for the consumer or the patient.
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  Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. , well pause.
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  Is there anything we haven't touched on yet that we'd,
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  we'd be remiss not to make mention of?
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  Well, you know, one thing that,
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  that we're really excited about here is the teaching aspect of what we're doing
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  as an advanced community health system. We now have, if you can believe this,
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  up about 80 residents that we're training in conjunction with the
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  Mayo Clinic here. So very excited for our interns,
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  our fellows, and, uh, the teaching and training is gonna be, I think,
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  a vital part of, of healthcare going forward. And we're in it in a big,
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  big way.
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  And we're gonna combine that with doing some clinical trials and other kinds of
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  research to engage and excite these young, uh, doctors and young clinicians.
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  Well, this has been a delight.
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  I'm so happy we were able to get some time to check in with you at N C H
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  Healthcare System on its way to becoming an advanced community healthcare
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  system, so many different strategic initiatives in play to support that mission.
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  I, I wanna wish you continued success throughout the rest of this year in,
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  in driving that home.
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  And I think we'll stay in touch and continue to keep abreast of the progress
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  that's unfolding at your, your organization.
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  Molly, thanks so much.
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