Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Stabilizing Operations and Workforce at Henry Ford Health with Emily Moorhead

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Stabilizing Operations and Workforce at Henry Ford Health with Emily Moorhead · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - The strategic agenda facing hospital and health system
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  - leaders right now is not a short list.
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  - Growth in a consolidating market, sustainable margins in
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  - a reimbursement environment that rarely moves in your
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  - favor,
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  - a tech investment cycle that demands both urgency
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  - and discipline,
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  - and a workforce story that is still being
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  - written.
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  - Eker's fourteenth annual CEO CFO roundtable brings together
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  - more than 1,500 executive level attendees and nearly
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  - 400 speakers across four days of sessions that
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  - are designed to help c suite leaders benchmark,
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  - pressure test, and sharpen their priorities.
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  - Not in the abstract, but against the real
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  - decisions they'll face heading into the next year.
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  - It's the kind of event you leave with
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  - a clear sense of where you stand and
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  - what comes next.
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  - So join us November second through the fifth
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  - at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, and come
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  - ready to do the hard thinking.
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  - Register on our events page at beckershospitalreview.com
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  - by clicking on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
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  - This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
• 1:00
  - podcast.
• 1:01
  - I'm thrilled today to be joined by Emily
• 1:03
  - Moorhead, president of the McDonough Market for Renewal
• 1:05
  - Forte Health. Emily, it's a pleasure to have
• 1:07
  - you on the podcast today. Yeah. Thank you
• 1:09
  - so much for having me, Laura. Now I'm
• 1:11
  - excited for our conversation. I know you're doing
• 1:13
  - so much, at Henry Ford Health and really
• 1:15
  - truly amazing work, that you're doing in the
• 1:18
  - Macomb and surrounding areas. So I I'm looking
• 1:20
  - forward to connecting with you and and, digging
• 1:23
  - a little bit deeper into those success as
• 1:24
  - well as how you're thinking about the future.
• 1:26
  - But before we do, can you tell us
• 1:28
  - just a little bit more about yourself and
• 1:30
  - your background?
• 1:32
  - Yeah. I would love to. So, as you
• 1:34
  - said, I'm Emily Moorehead. I'm the president here
• 1:36
  - at Macomb,
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  - a division of Henry Ford Health in the
• 1:41
  - Michigan market.
• 1:42
  - And,
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  - prior to my role here, I've been here
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  - for just over a year now. I just
• 1:47
  - hit my one year anniversary,
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  - serving the Macomb community, which, has just been
• 1:53
  - a whirlwind and and such a success.
• 1:56
  - But prior to that, I also served in
• 1:58
  - the Jackson market for Henry Ford,
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  - for, gosh, almost about six years also in
• 2:04
  - a presidential role as well as a chief
• 2:07
  - operating
• 2:08
  - officer role.
• 2:09
  - Prior to that, I've I've done some stints
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  - in for profit health care as well as
• 2:15
  - faith based care,
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  - for, national systems. And,
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  - prior to that, actually, I'm I'm a chemist
• 2:21
  - by degree. So I actually started my career
• 2:24
  - in industry and got my love of operational
• 2:27
  - improvement and process improvement,
• 2:30
  - serving the the auto industry as well as
• 2:33
  - food and manufacturing,
• 2:35
  - before I found myself to the health care
• 2:37
  - side.
• 2:38
  - Well, that's amazing to hear. And, you know,
• 2:39
  - certainly, I'm really cool to have such a
• 2:42
  - varied background and lots of different experiences that
• 2:44
  - you're bringing into your current role in in
• 2:46
  - leadership. So,
• 2:48
  - I I know that'll be, I'm sure, reflected
• 2:50
  - through our conversation here today. And I'm wondering,
• 2:53
  - you know, if we could start off, could
• 2:54
  - you give us a quick state of the
• 2:55
  - union? What's going well this year, and what
• 2:57
  - are you focused on for the rest of
• 2:58
  - 2026?
• 3:00
  - Yeah. So I'd really describe our current state
• 3:04
  - as
• 3:05
  - what I would call momentum.
• 3:08
  - So as I stated, I've been in this
• 3:10
  - role for about a year now.
• 3:12
  - And in that time, I'm just
• 3:14
  - so amazed and proud of the team here
• 3:18
  - on the meaningful progress.
• 3:20
  - We've strengthened quality and safety. We've deepened physician
• 3:24
  - partnerships.
• 3:25
  - The improvement on the operational and financial performance
• 3:29
  - has been profound.
• 3:30
  - We're really positioning
• 3:32
  - ourselves for what I'm calling thoughtful growth,
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  - and I'm just
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  - super, super proud of what our team has
• 3:41
  - accomplished. And
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  - what makes me the most proud is we
• 3:45
  - haven't
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  - we haven't improved
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  - the organization
• 3:50
  - by simply checking boxes or doing quick fixes,
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  - but because we've really built momentum
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  - and we're really preparing ourselves
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  - for the future.
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  - As I'm looking ahead to the rest of
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  - the year, rest of 2026
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  - and really preparing for a strong
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  - 2027,
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  - my focus is
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  - less about doing more
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  - and more about ensuring that we're prepared for
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  - what's next.
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  - So we're really talking a lot with our
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  - leadership team here locally around things that can
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  - maybe come off the plate so that we
• 4:27
  - can focus on the bigger and,
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  - you know, more impressing
• 4:32
  - things that are in front of us. Not
• 4:34
  - to say that other things are not important
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  - or shouldn't be done eventually,
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  - but how are we making sure that we're
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  - prioritizing
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  - the right things?
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  - I think that everybody in health care, right,
• 4:46
  - we all know that it's evolving
• 4:48
  - so quickly.
• 4:50
  - And, you know, one of the big things,
• 4:52
  - right, of of prioritizing
• 4:54
  - and and speaking with the leadership team, and
• 4:57
  - it's it's really my responsibility
• 5:00
  - to develop that next generation
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  - of leader.
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  - That that next generation
• 5:06
  - needs to be courageous.
• 5:07
  - They need to be change agents true change
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  - agents who are
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  - leaning into inefficiencies
• 5:14
  - as opportunities,
• 5:15
  - who are asking the right questions of why
• 5:17
  - are we doing things this way,
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  - and, you know, trying a better approach when
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  - it comes to the benefits that our patients
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  - so
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  - need and deserve.
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  - So I'm I'm looking at my responsibility,
• 5:31
  - not just around leading the hospital and making
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  - sure that we're
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  - financially and operationally
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  - stable for the future, but also making sure
• 5:40
  - that we're developing the leaders and and flexing
• 5:43
  - the muscles of of the leadership for tomorrow
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  - that's gonna shape the health care of tomorrow.
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  - I love that. I think that's such a
• 5:52
  - an inspirational way to look at how you're
• 5:54
  - growing and developing your teams and really truly
• 5:56
  - what you're looking for in that next generation
• 5:59
  - of leaders going down the pipe. And, you
• 6:01
  - know, as you're looking out and kind of,
• 6:04
  - identifying those who are going to be well
• 6:06
  - equipped to lead in the future, how do
• 6:08
  - you bring them into the fold and make
• 6:10
  - sure that,
• 6:11
  - you know, you're getting them in a position
• 6:13
  - to really be strong leaders in the future,
• 6:15
  - build on their strengths, and then also, have
• 6:18
  - an understanding of the complexities that come with
• 6:20
  - leadership in the health care space?
• 6:23
  - Yeah. No. It's it's
• 6:24
  - it's definitely complex, and I think that the
• 6:29
  - the leaders that we're really developing
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  - are those that
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  - are willing to jump in. Right? They're willing
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  - to
• 6:38
  - challenge the status quo. I think in order
• 6:41
  - to do that though, a lot of the
• 6:43
  - work that I've been doing on the front
• 6:44
  - end is creating
• 6:46
  - a a culture of psychological
• 6:48
  - safety.
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  - Right? That it's okay not to always have
• 6:52
  - the right answer. It's okay to bring up
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  - that, you know, what things are not working
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  - well. And some of the ways that we've
• 6:59
  - been doing that is is bringing in our
• 7:01
  - leadership team,
• 7:02
  - doing exercises
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  - where we're asking questions and having folks
• 7:08
  - write suggestions on post it notes at first,
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  - right, to to create that culture where
• 7:13
  - even folks that maybe are not as comfortable
• 7:16
  - speaking up in a public forum
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  - still have a a a way to voice.
• 7:22
  - And then also utilizing,
• 7:25
  - personality assessments to identify
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  - where there may be
• 7:29
  - different
• 7:30
  - thinkers and different strengths that are currently,
• 7:34
  - on a gap of committees.
• 7:36
  - So we're we're really trying to sprinkle in
• 7:40
  - different levels of leadership into committee type structures,
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  - giving people more of a voice as well
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  - as really
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  - celebrating
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  - those that are bringing forth
• 7:51
  - and and not issues or problems. Right? They're
• 7:54
  - really truly opportunities. So reframing that just because
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  - something's
• 7:59
  - not working or it could be that it
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  - was working great
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  - in in the past. It's just not working
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  - for today's health care landscape.
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  - And so let's bring that to the forefront,
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  - and that includes frontline staff too.
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  - Those are the folks that really understand the
• 8:14
  - pebbles and the shoe and the things that
• 8:17
  - make us less efficient
• 8:18
  - throughout the day and really making sure that
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  - we're bringing their voices forward and making sure
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  - that
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  - their direct leaders have that voice at the
• 8:27
  - table so that they can then circle back
• 8:29
  - with the staff members. So it's really a
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  - a full circle.
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  - When you're investing in your leaders and empowering
• 8:35
  - them, you're also getting the halo effect of
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  - a more engaged frontline staff as well.
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  - I love that. And it really clearly just
• 8:44
  - helps elevate the entire team, and, I'm sure
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  - will make a huge difference as you're looking
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  - at the best ways to grow, develop, and
• 8:50
  - transform in the future.
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  - Now I'm curious,
• 8:54
  - especially when you look at where things are
• 8:55
  - at today, what are some of the big,
• 8:58
  - headwinds that you're focused on and things you're
• 8:59
  - keeping an eye on and preparing for?
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  - Yeah. So, you know, we could probably talk
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  - all day, and I'm I'm sure lots of
• 9:06
  - health care leaders could, right, about how complex
• 9:10
  - and how many headwinds we're experiencing
• 9:13
  - on a daily and and annual basis. But,
• 9:16
  - truly,
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  - the pace of change is unlike anything,
• 9:21
  - that we've experienced in the past. Right? We've
• 9:24
  - always had,
• 9:25
  - challenges in health care for
• 9:28
  - the fifteen, twenty plus years,
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  - that I've been in this business. But just
• 9:34
  - again, that pace and and how many things,
• 9:39
  - we're facing. Right? Our our workforce is continuing
• 9:42
  - to face
• 9:43
  - demand while financial pressures,
• 9:46
  - are hitting every health system,
• 9:49
  - the rapidly advancing technology,
• 9:52
  - how to adapt AI in a thoughtful and
• 9:55
  - considerate way,
• 9:57
  - the rising patient expectation,
• 10:00
  - it's really requiring us all to lead differently
• 10:03
  - than we have in the past.
• 10:06
  - You know, one issue
• 10:07
  - that really weighs heavily on me, and if
• 10:11
  - I did have a magic wand, I I'd
• 10:13
  - love to solve this is
• 10:15
  - the rise of violence and aggression toward health
• 10:18
  - care workers.
• 10:19
  - I I get a little bit verklempt when
• 10:21
  - I really think about just how many
• 10:25
  - incidences
• 10:26
  - I see on a weekly basis, and I
• 10:28
  - do get a report weekly so that I
• 10:30
  - can reach out to team members.
• 10:32
  - But our physicians, our nurses,
• 10:35
  - so many of our team members have dedicated
• 10:38
  - their lives to caring for others,
• 10:40
  - and they deserve to feel safe while doing
• 10:43
  - that work.
• 10:45
  - So, you know, I truly believe that
• 10:48
  - the people
• 10:49
  - are in my charge. My first responsibility
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  - is to
• 10:53
  - those that have dedicated their lives to caring
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  - for others.
• 10:57
  - I don't take care of patients on a
• 11:00
  - daily basis, so I have to take care
• 11:02
  - of
• 11:03
  - my staff and our partners who are coming
• 11:06
  - into our facilities each and every day
• 11:09
  - and to create an environment where they're safe,
• 11:12
  - they're supported,
• 11:13
  - and they're equipped to do their very best
• 11:16
  - work.
• 11:17
  - I really do feel like if we care
• 11:19
  - for our caregivers,
• 11:20
  - they will deliver extraordinary care to our patients
• 11:23
  - and community, but just the sheer number of
• 11:26
  - violence,
• 11:27
  - and aggression towards health care workers is is
• 11:30
  - really something that I think
• 11:32
  - all of us need to band together in
• 11:34
  - order to try to, mitigate.
• 11:37
  - Now at the same time, you know, I
• 11:39
  - think that we have
• 11:40
  - a lot of challenges in front of us
• 11:42
  - that that tend to distract us from really
• 11:45
  - preparing for the future. It's really easy
• 11:48
  - to get soaked up into the fire drills
• 11:51
  - and the things that are hitting us on
• 11:52
  - a daily basis.
• 11:54
  - But,
• 11:55
  - really making sure that
• 11:57
  - I'm providing some clarity
• 11:59
  - where there's uncertainty,
• 12:01
  - removing barriers where I can, really making sure
• 12:05
  - that
• 12:06
  - even
• 12:07
  - while firefighting
• 12:08
  - and dealing with the the busyness of the
• 12:10
  - day,
• 12:11
  - that we're really
• 12:13
  - making sure that people are aware of where
• 12:15
  - we're headed,
• 12:16
  - and really helping our teams and equipping them
• 12:20
  - with that confidence
• 12:22
  - that, we're stable. We know where we're going.
• 12:25
  - We know who we are. And as long
• 12:27
  - as we're dedicated to taking care of one
• 12:29
  - another and the community that we serve,
• 12:32
  - we're gonna be alright in the end.
• 12:35
  - Absolutely. You know what? And I love that
• 12:37
  - sentiment. I I think,
• 12:39
  - knowing how many very real challenges are there
• 12:42
  - are out today, but then being able to
• 12:43
  - zero in on those that are gonna be
• 12:45
  - most impactful for the,
• 12:47
  - team and and making sure that the hospital
• 12:49
  - is a safe, environment for the the health
• 12:52
  - care workers as well as patients and and
• 12:55
  - everybody else,
• 12:56
  - who is, within the facility, I think, is
• 12:58
  - so critical. And,
• 13:00
  - I love your points about, you know, dealing
• 13:03
  - with that on daily basis as well as
• 13:05
  - larger strategic
• 13:06
  - vision of where you're going and equipping the
• 13:08
  - team with that confidence that they need in
• 13:09
  - order to move forward. And, you know, when
• 13:11
  - you look into the future, over the next
• 13:13
  - two or three years, where do you see
• 13:15
  - the best opportunities for growth? What are you,
• 13:18
  - really excited about, and and and what are
• 13:20
  - are the things that you're doing to address
• 13:21
  - some of these issues?
• 13:23
  - Yeah. So I think our greatest opportunity is
• 13:26
  - really to redefine what growth even means.
• 13:30
  - So I'm challenging our leadership team that we
• 13:33
  - have to look beyond traditional measures of growth
• 13:36
  - and start asking some deeper questions around
• 13:41
  - where is the disease prevalence increasing,
• 13:44
  - where are access
• 13:45
  - issues creating delays or gaps in care,
• 13:50
  - where the right organizations
• 13:52
  - to deliver care. Right? And and where can
• 13:55
  - we start partnering with others to better serve
• 13:58
  - the community.
• 14:01
  - It although we have a dedication to the
• 14:03
  - community,
• 14:05
  - I also don't think that we can be
• 14:07
  - everything to everyone.
• 14:09
  - And it has to be centered on helping
• 14:11
  - patients receive the right care at the right
• 14:14
  - place at the right time.
• 14:16
  - It really requires us to think differently
• 14:20
  - about organizations
• 14:21
  - we've historically called competitors.
• 14:23
  - So in many cases, our communities need
• 14:26
  - more access, more coordination,
• 14:29
  - more creativity,
• 14:31
  - not necessarily more duplication.
• 14:33
  - And sometimes that greatest impact, it come can
• 14:37
  - come through collaboration.
• 14:39
  - In my first year here, I've really been
• 14:41
  - pleasantly surprised by how many resources
• 14:45
  - this community has
• 14:47
  - through nonprofits,
• 14:49
  - through public health department,
• 14:51
  - through the mental health authority.
• 14:54
  - Those are the kinds of partnerships
• 14:56
  - that I'm looking to enhance and make sure
• 15:00
  - that that coordination
• 15:02
  - piece is there. Because if the average person
• 15:06
  - doesn't know they're there, right, and we're not
• 15:08
  - helping them
• 15:09
  - access that, then those
• 15:12
  - resources are going to waste and they're not
• 15:14
  - being utilized appropriately.
• 15:17
  - You know, some other growth initiatives, more traditional
• 15:20
  - growth,
• 15:21
  - opportunities
• 15:22
  - is really looking to advance minimally invasive procedures,
• 15:27
  - more precision medicine models, care models that are
• 15:31
  - allowing patients to
• 15:33
  - get better faster,
• 15:34
  - spend less time in the hospital. I know
• 15:36
  - it's not popular for a hospital president to
• 15:38
  - say, hey. We we we don't want people
• 15:41
  - in the hospital. We don't want ED visits
• 15:44
  - that aren't necessary.
• 15:45
  - So really educating the public too around
• 15:48
  - where the best site of care is, whether
• 15:50
  - that's urgent care, whether that's a freestanding ED,
• 15:53
  - whether that's your primary care, or,
• 15:56
  - when you really should be coming to the
• 15:58
  - hospital
• 15:59
  - emergency department.
• 16:02
  - So, you know, really improving access, reducing unnecessary
• 16:06
  - hospitalizations,
• 16:08
  - you know, really helping
• 16:10
  - care be easier to navigate.
• 16:13
  - Those are the types of things that we're
• 16:15
  - looking at.
• 16:16
  - But, you know, longer term, as I said
• 16:18
  - before, I I really think that our greatest
• 16:20
  - opportunity is leadership,
• 16:23
  - and we need to make sure that we're
• 16:25
  - investing in the leader of the future,
• 16:28
  - to make sure that they're they're equipped and
• 16:31
  - and ready to
• 16:33
  - take us to the next evolution that health
• 16:36
  - care is gonna bring up.
• 16:38
  - Abs absolutely. I, you know, really appreciate your
• 16:41
  - points
• 16:42
  - on everything that it takes in order to
• 16:44
  - bring, additional services
• 16:46
  - and and the best care into the community,
• 16:49
  - and improve efficiency as well as,
• 16:52
  - the team, which we have talked about a
• 16:54
  - bit already. So I I love that, and
• 16:56
  - I think, it makes a ton of sense
• 16:58
  - to focus in on those areas and see,
• 17:00
  - where the growth, follows from that. So,
• 17:03
  - that's amazing.
• 17:04
  - Before we wrap up, I wanted to ask
• 17:06
  - you about leadership. Who do you admire as
• 17:08
  - a leader from really any industry and why?
• 17:11
  - Oh, I really love this question.
• 17:15
  - So one leader I really admire
• 17:17
  - is
• 17:18
  - Ed Catmull.
• 17:19
  - He was one of the cofounders of Pixar,
• 17:22
  - so not a not a health care leader.
• 17:25
  - And I realized that health care and animation
• 17:28
  - couldn't be more different.
• 17:30
  - But what really resonates with me is that,
• 17:34
  - his his leadership philosophy.
• 17:36
  - So I I read an article
• 17:39
  - where he was talking about that he believed
• 17:42
  - an organization's
• 17:43
  - greatest competitive
• 17:45
  - advantage isn't its ideas,
• 17:48
  - it's it's people.
• 17:50
  - And his role wasn't to have every answer,
• 17:53
  - it was to create conditions where the best
• 17:56
  - ideas could emerge.
• 17:59
  - So really one of my favorite concepts of
• 18:01
  - his work is that great teams can make
• 18:04
  - average ideas
• 18:06
  - extraordinary,
• 18:08
  - while even the best ideas struggle
• 18:11
  - when an engaged and empowered
• 18:13
  - team behind them. So,
• 18:16
  - you know, it really comes down to the
• 18:17
  - team.
• 18:18
  - It's it's not the idea that makes it.
• 18:20
  - It's it's the team behind them,
• 18:22
  - that makes it successful, and
• 18:25
  - it's really
• 18:26
  - shaped the way that I try to lead.
• 18:28
  - I don't believe that my job is to
• 18:30
  - be the smartest person in the room.
• 18:32
  - My job is to create that clarity, to
• 18:35
  - remove the barriers,
• 18:36
  - help people become more than they thought they
• 18:39
  - could be.
• 18:40
  - And I think that's relevant in health care
• 18:43
  - that, you know, our future isn't gonna be
• 18:45
  - shaped one by one visionary leader. It's gonna
• 18:48
  - be shaped by organizations
• 18:51
  - that
• 18:52
  - really develop their leaders at every level, both
• 18:55
  - informal and and formal.
• 18:57
  - You don't have to have a leadership title
• 18:59
  - to still be a leader in the organization,
• 19:02
  - and
• 19:03
  - people need to feel confident that they can
• 19:06
  - speak up, that they can solve problems, that
• 19:08
  - they can innovate,
• 19:10
  - that they can really
• 19:12
  - continuously
• 19:13
  - improve.
• 19:15
  - And so I
• 19:17
  - I aspire to be the leader
• 19:20
  - that is going to leave this organization
• 19:24
  - knowing that they've equipped folks
• 19:27
  - with the permission to think differently,
• 19:29
  - challenge respectfully,
• 19:31
  - and really build a better health care system
• 19:34
  - than the one that they inherited.
• 19:36
  - Fantastic. Emily, thank you so much for joining
• 19:38
  - us on the podcast today. This has been
• 19:40
  - such a,
• 19:41
  - inspiring discussion, and I look forward to connecting
• 19:43
  - with you at our CEO CFO roundtable in
• 19:45
  - November. I know you'll be speaking on a
• 19:47
  - panel, and we'll be double clicking on a
• 19:49
  - lot of the things you talked about today.
• 19:50
  - So, thanks for your time, and I'll see
• 19:52
  - you in a couple months.
• 19:54
  - Thank you so much, Laura. I'll see you
• 19:56
  - in November. I'm looking forward to it.