Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Deborah Visconi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center

Transcript

Deborah Visconi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  This is where health care leadership comes together.
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  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
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  hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
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  speakers to Chicago April.
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  This series event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
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  Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
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  w Bush. For the agenda and event details,
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  visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  and click on the events tab in the
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  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
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  in Chicago.
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  This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  Deborah Fiscone, president and chief executive officer at
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  Bergen Newbridge Medical Center. Deborah, it's a pleasure
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  to have you on the podcast today. Thank
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  you, Laura. It's so nice to be part
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  of the the podcast with you, and I
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  appreciate the opportunity. Thank you. Absolutely. Well, you
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  know, I'm excited for our conversation today because
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  I know that you take such an innovative
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  approach to health care leadership, and, truly, it's
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  a time for innovation in health care and
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  transformation. So I am looking forward to learning
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  a little bit more about what you've been
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  doing in the last year and how you're
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  thinking about the future. But before we dig
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  into that, can you introduce yourself and just
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  tell us a little bit more about Bergen
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  Newbridge Medical Center? Sure. So, Deb Viscone. I'm
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  the president and CEO of Bergen Newbridge Medical
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  Center, which is located
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  in Bergen County in Paramus, New Jersey.
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  We are the largest hospital in the state
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  of New Jersey with over a thousand licensed
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  beds,
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  approximately
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  a 100,000 emergency department visits annually.
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  But one of our distinguishing
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  characteristics is as we are we serve as
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  the safety net for one of the most
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  densely populated count counties in the country. We
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  are a true safety net provider in the
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  region.
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  We are a full service
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  acute care hospital. We provide comprehensive
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  acute care, medical surgical care,
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  behavioral health,
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  addiction services.
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  We have a long term care division.
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  We have a very robust and growing ambulatory
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  services division,
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  and we care for some of New Jersey's
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  most complex patients.
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  Over the last eight years since I've been
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  in the seat as president and CEO,
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  we have truly
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  transformed the organization,
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  to be an asset for the county and
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  the state of New Jersey
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  while staying grounded
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  in our mission of providing access
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  in an equitable and in a high quality
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  fashion
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  to those that we serve. And and just
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  as a point of reference, Bergen County
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  is the largest county in the state. It's
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  just about a million people strong.
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  Oh, that's amazing to hear. You know, really
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  helpful context to understand
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  everything that you are dealing with on a
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  daily basis and and the important role that
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  you play within the community.
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  Now from last year or so, what was
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  the most important initiative that you led? What
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  did you do, and what were the results?
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  So the what I would say
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  one of our most important initiatives is is
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  reaching out
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  to the community
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  and providing access to the communities,
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  defining
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  what they need from us and where they
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  need it. And not just
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  the bricks and mortar of the hospital facility,
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  but going out into the communities, engaging with
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  community leaders, with faith leaders, with school systems,
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  with law enforcement,
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  really understanding
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  what our communities need from us
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  and being there for them. You know, being
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  that beacon of health, hope, and healing,
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  providing access
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  in an equitable fashion for those that need
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  us. And so that for us was the
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  growth,
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  and the expansion of our ambulatory care enterprise
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  and our community health program.
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  Couple that with
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  identifying
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  some of the needs in not just New
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  Jersey, but certainly throughout the throughout the throughout
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  the country.
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  The
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  the need for expanded emergency department services.
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  And one of the things that we're about
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  to,
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  launch is our expanded emergency department,
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  which will
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  provide us with
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  well over 50% more capacity. So right now,
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  we have about 20 bays of of emergency
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  department capacity.
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  We're gonna grow to 50 bays.
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  And we know that the, their
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  emergency
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  department capacity is
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  very vital to the health care
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  industry in the region and gonna become more
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  much more so going forward. So expansion of
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  our emergency department,
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  has been also a very big part of
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  our priority and looking forward into 2026.
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  And then all of, you know, all of
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  that,
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  coupled with navigating some real financial headwinds. You
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  know, more than 60%
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  of our days here, our inpatient days, are
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  Medicaid
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  patients or uninsured people, which means even modest
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  reimbursement shifts have
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  definitely
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  tremendous
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  impact on safety net hospitals like Bergen Newbridge.
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  And our challenge
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  is to continue to invest
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  in what we need to invest in, access,
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  workforce development, our our talent pipeline, and technology
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  while maintaining that financial sustainability.
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  Absolutely. I think, you know, all of the
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  things you mentioned are are so critical, and
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  especially looking at those emergency services, it seems
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  like, you know, that that ability to keep
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  care close and and local and be able
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  to provide a high level of care,
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  as, you know, the the need and demand
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  grows, is so critical, but not an easy
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  thing at all. And so when you're looking
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  at that ER expansion,
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  what do you see as being the
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  most important steps that you are taking in
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  the next year?
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  And what is it,
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  I guess, the the,
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  big decisions you have to make in order
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  to make this vision a reality?
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  So
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  it's
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  connection with the community,
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  making sure they understand,
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  you know, what we're what we're here to
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  do to support them on their health care
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  journey.
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  It's a development of our of our of
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  our talent, of our workforce,
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  addressing their needs, educational needs, career needs,
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  access for our community.
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  Those are some of the priorities.
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  You know, and for us as an executive
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  team, as a as a management team,
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  you know, really being hyper focused
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  and disciplined around these priorities. You know, it's
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  very easy to get lost in the day
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  to day operations and all the day to
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  day things that come at you.
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  But really being hyper focused on on those
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  priorities. You know, demand is continuing to rise,
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  particularly in behavioral health, which happens to be
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  one of our,
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  unique, service lines that we have here.
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  And we know emergency psychiatric volumes have been
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  increasing by more than twenty percent over the
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  last three years.
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  But really looking at our capital needs, our
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  workforce needs, our our leadership bandwidth,
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  and making sure that we make these deliberate
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  choices
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  and and investments and staying focused on what
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  will deliver the greatest impact for our patients.
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  Absolutely. That that type of focus and commitment
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  is so critical.
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  Now looking ahead, what are some of the
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  big priorities as well as headwinds that you're
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  focused on for 2026? What else do you
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  see as being,
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  really critical in the next year?
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  So I would say our biggest growth opportunities
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  and and and the the,
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  the the rigor by which we approach them
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  would be the round access, continued access,
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  making sure that people get the care that
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  they need when and where they need it,
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  in particular as we see some of the
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  shifts,
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  in the Medicaid population and and and with
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  the, with the change in the ACA subsidies
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  and more people
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  becoming uninsured or or or differently insured, you
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  know, making sure that we stand strong for
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  those individuals and continue to provide that access,
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  continue to provide and focus on integration of
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  care,
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  making sure that people
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  that, come to a primary care provider here
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  will also have access to behavioral health, mental
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  health, addiction services,
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  because we know full well that there is
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  no health without mental health. So we wanna
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  make sure that integration of care is is,
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  priority for us and care beyond the hospital
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  walls. You know, people don't always
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  can get to a hospital,
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  and and for variety of different reasons. So
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  making sure that we are we're standing up
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  strong
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  for our communities when and where they need
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  us.
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  Avoidable,
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  utilizations
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  continues to remain a challenge and will continue
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  to be a challenge. Nearly one in five
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  of emergency department visits are for conditions that
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  can be better managed in ambulatory
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  or community settings, which is why it's so
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  important to make sure that we, identify and
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  expand our ambulatory footprint.
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  Strengthening those care transitions, making sure that when
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  people leave their emergency room or any of
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  our of our locations,
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  that they have a warm handoff
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  to the next level of care,
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  leveraging digital tools. We're going to launch, EPIC,
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  our new EMR system.
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  And while that was a courageous decision, it
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  was a vital decision for us,
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  so we can utilize the EPIC platform to
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  help improve outcomes, reduce unnecessary utilization,
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  and grow in a way that aligns with
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  our mission.
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  That's amazing to hear. And, you know, big
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  undertakings across the board, whether it's the integration
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  of care, expanding services,
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  bringing more of those ambulatory sites to fruition,
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  and then Epic integration is no,
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  installation integration is no small feat. And so,
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  you know, but but really all helpful,
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  in terms of being able
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  to meet your care delivery goals and expand
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  the the brand within the community.
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  I'm curious, where do you see as being
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  one of the hardest things you'll have to
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  do in the coming year?
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  I think, you know, as as the,
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  you know, the financial headwinds
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  grow stronger,
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  I think it's going to be those decisions
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  we will have to make
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  as a system,
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  on what we can
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  invest in that is going to continue to
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  be relevant and necessary for our communities. I
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  think that's gonna be the biggest challenge we
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  face is,
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  you know, how do we prioritize our investments
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  that in a meaningful manner.
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  Absolutely. That's, such a a good point. And,
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  you know, when you're talking with your executive
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  team, I can imagine there's a lot of
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  opportunities in in ways to spend each health
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  care dollars. So how do you keep the
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  team grounded? What kind of is elevated within
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  that discussion that then makes it into, you
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  know, the space where you're actually making these
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  investments?
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  You know, we
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  are
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  always tying everything back to the patient and
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  the patient's family
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  and the communities,
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  you know, you know, and and really are
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  are firmly grounded in that mission
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  and alignment,
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  within that mission is and then how do
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  we make sure that, you know, we're we're
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  innovating in the right way? I always say
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  to my team, my mantra is we innovate
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  around the human spirit. We innovate around the
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  individuals.
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  And looking at ways that not just to
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  be the health care provider of choice for
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  our communities,
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  but how do we help the whole person?
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  You know, we are only as healthy as
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  our least healthy community member,
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  and health is
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  is defined
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  and is affected by so many things, including
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  the social determinants of health. You know, many,
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  many people in our communities face transportation issues,
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  housing issues, food insecurity.
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  So how do we, as a health system,
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  help identify those and help address them?
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  And and so we remain very, very grounded
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  in why we're here, and that is to
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  serve.
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  That's such a great point and and really
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  strong reminder of the,
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  you know, needs of the health care system
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  and exactly what it's there for.
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  Deborah, do you have any final words for
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  our our audience today of health care leaders
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  and executives as they're approaching what is sure
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  to be an interesting year here in 2026?
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  You know, stay focused,
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  and remember to to always put the patient
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  at the center of every decision and every
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  action that you take as leaders.
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  And take care of your of your team,
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  of your workforce.
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  Absolutely. Great great reminders. Deborah, thank you so
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  much for joining us on the podcast today.
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  And, you know, I'm looking forward to seeing
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  you at our annual meeting in April. I
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  know you're speaking on a panel, and it'll
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  be a lot of fun to catch up
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  in person and really dig more into some
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  of these themes,
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  you know, and and see how you've been,
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  troubleshooting and navigating a lot of these growth
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  and and,
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  important expansion of care initiatives. So looking forward
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  to it. Thank you, Laura. I am too.
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  Thank you so much, and we'll talk again
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  soon. Thank you.