Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / William Davis, MBA, CLSS, President of the Illinois Region at Deaconess Illinois

Transcript

William Davis, MBA, CLSS, President of the Illinois Region at Deaconess Illinois · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  This is where health care leadership comes together.
• 0:04
  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
• 0:07
  hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
• 0:11
  speakers to Chicago April.
• 0:14
  This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
• 0:17
  Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
• 0:20
  w Bush. For the agenda and event details,
• 0:23
  visit beckershospitalreview.com
• 0:25
  and click on the events tab in the
• 0:27
  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
• 0:29
  in Chicago.
• 0:32
  This is Laura Dirdo with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:34
  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 0:37
  William Davis, president of the Illinois region of
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  Deaconess, Illinois. William, it's a pleasure to have
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  you on the podcast today. Hey. Good afternoon.
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  It's a pleasure,
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  pleasure to be with you, and, hello, everyone.
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  Excellent. Well, I'm looking forward to our conversation
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  because I know health care is just changing
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  so quickly today, and there's a lot of
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  cool things that you're doing at Deaconess, Illinois
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  that we can share with our broader audience
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  as well as get your perspective on the
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  future. But before we do that, I I'm
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  curious. Can you introduce yourself and just tell
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  us a little bit more about Deaconess Illinois?
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  Sure. No. Absolutely. And, again, thank you for
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  having having me this afternoon, and happy New
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  Year, everyone. It's gonna be a great year
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  in in health care and across the country.
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  So,
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  Will Davis, a service president of, Deaconess, Illinois.
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  So when we think of Deaconess, Illinois, think
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  we've got four hospitals that we
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  own, here in the Southern Illinois,
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  area in the the communities.
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  My role, is to to make sure that
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  people in
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  rural
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  America, in in the regional communities that we
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  are serving have access to high quality, compassionate
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  health care that's close to home. And it
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  it is more than just a kind of
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  a tagline. It means kind of balancing the
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  realities of of rural health care,
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  with our commitment to growth, with our commitment
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  to quality, and commitment to access
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  so that at the end of the day,
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  patients don't have to leave their communities,
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  and they can get care they need right
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  here close to home right here in Southern
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  Illinois.
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  I love that. You know? And and what
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  an important message and
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  mission to have. You know, it's serving those
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  populations that really makes a big difference and
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  making sure you have access to care in
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  communities across the board. So,
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  from your perspective, when you look back at
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  the last year, what was the most important
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  initiative that you led? What did you do,
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  and what were the results?
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  Man, that's a that's a big question.
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  It's a great question.
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  Couple of things I I will point out,
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  and I this won't hit everything, so I
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  apologize to my team if I if I
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  do leave some of the things off. But
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  I I'll tell you some of the big
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  things that we are very proud of,
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  really,
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  centered around on expanding access to care here
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  in Southern Illinois.
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  And I'll say the the results were very
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  real, and they were very local. So one
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  of the major milestones that we launched
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  was our our neuroscience
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  services,
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  which we did not have here,
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  in in Marion.
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  And, and so, really, we started seeing,
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  patients in that program,
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  mid,
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  last year,
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  and already nearly 700
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  patients,
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  been able to stay local,
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  for the care that really previously they would
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  have traveled outside of our region for. So
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  that's 700 people who were able to receive
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  advanced care close to home,
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  close to their support systems,
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  less destruction
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  to their lives. And so we're proud of
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  that.
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  Another thing we did here in the region,
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  was expanding our our imaging services.
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  And so, we took on and did a
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  pretty big project,
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  around the the amyloid PET,
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  and and, you know, plaque that plaque detection.
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  And so we invested,
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  and strengthened our diagnostic capabilities here to ensure
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  that patients, one, they had access to advanced
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  imaging locally rather than traveling, you know, those
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  long distances,
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  for for those services. And so that was
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  a significant achievement.
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  We were able to launch,
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  there. And then the the the other one,
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  is I don't wanna,
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  eat up all of the time, but we
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  we launched cancer care in in Mount Vernon.
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  And I tell you if if for just,
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  you know, thirty seconds on on this story,
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  our very first patient,
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  he was traveling a 160
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  miles round trip for treatment.
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  And so we we brought that into to
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  Mount Vernon,
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  brought in a a great team, a lot
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  of training.
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  And so he was able to complete,
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  his,
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  cancer treatments at that location, which was less
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  than 20 miles 20 miles from his home.
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  And so that's really what when we talk
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  about expanding access, that's what it looks like.
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  It's not just services on a paper,
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  but it it's time. It's that energy. It's
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  it's the stress that's saved,
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  on on the pay on the patients and
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  their families.
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  So we've made significant
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  milestones,
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  bringing bringing this, and
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  and all of that is expanding access, and
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  it it's beautiful. And so we are have
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  made, you know, meaningful progress as well on
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  quality.
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  We were just,
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  announced,
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  a LeapFrog b. And now
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  the significance for,
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  you know, our hospital one of our hospitals
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  that that received that letter grading, they were
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  previously a d.
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  And, you know, we intentionally
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  said that is unacceptable,
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  and our communities deserve more. And, you know,
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  we're very, very, very proud of that progress.
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  That B now represents also to us,
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  you know, the top rated,
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  system in our area.
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  But that is not a stopping point for
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  us. We're we're gonna continue to drive improvement
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  across the Illinois region,
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  and the broader system. And so,
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  while that that's,
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  fun and and and exciting to celebrate, we
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  know we still have work to do, and
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  we're gonna get it done.
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  Absolutely. That's great to hear and just a
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  really impressive improvement across the board. And, you
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  know, from your perspective, what made the difference?
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  What did you focus in on and, really,
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  I guess, level up in order to go
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  from a leapfrog b to d?
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  Oh, we went from a we went from
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  a we went from a d to a
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  b. And Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. I'll I'll cut
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  that.
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  What did you really
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  I was gonna say we'd be having a
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  different discussion if it went the other way.
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  But, you know, it it's it's, you know,
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  leadership,
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  our our frontline teams, our physicians,
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  all rolling in the same direction that says
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  say, okay. You know, we're we're taking this
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  serious, and we wanna be the top quality
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  health care system in the in the area.
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  And so, you know, one, it was understanding
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  what is it gonna take to get that
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  done?
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  What are we getting graded on? Where are
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  we where are we not performing,
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  to the best of our abilities, and where
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  do we need to make these improvements?
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  And committing to do that,
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  not just, you know, senior level
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  management saying we're gonna do it and thou
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  shalt, but everybody
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  truly saying, no. This is this is we're
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  getting on board, and we're gonna we're gonna,
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  all hands on deck to to get this
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  done. And so you saw the levels of
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  commitment throughout the organization
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  to make make the, make the improvements that
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  were necessary.
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  And and a lot of it focused on
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  our patient experience, and that is something that,
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  you know, I carried with me from my
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  my first CEO opportunity in in Mount Vernon,
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  throughout the region. And we took that facility
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  to a five star facility,
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  as well up there. And so just a
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  a lot of hard work,
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  but we we had nowhere to go but
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  up. And so,
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  you know, from that perspective, it made things,
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  very clear what that we what we needed
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  to get done.
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  That's great. You know, and really helpful to
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  understand. Thank you for going a little bit
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  deeper there. Now Yeah. Looking ahead, what are
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  some of your big priorities and headwinds for
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  2026?
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  Wow. So,
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  as we look forward to '26,
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  of course, a major focus is preparing for,
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  you know, the the financial and operational impact
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  of,
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  OBAMA,
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  one big beautiful bill act,
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  and and what that broader broader picture
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  and what those Medicaid shifts, what that does,
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  to us. And so that is I'm sure
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  I'm I'm one of many, you know, administrators,
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  health care, guys that are that are looking
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  at that.
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  And these changes,
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  they require us
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  to be very disciplined and to also be
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  very proactive. We have to be both.
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  A key priority
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  for us is gonna be strengthen our our
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  revenue cycle,
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  making sure that we are effectively collecting on
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  the work that we're already doing. We're already
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  doing the work. Now we gotta collect on
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  those dollars,
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  making sure we're we're getting cleaner and more
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  efficient at at those processes
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  because it it's gonna be
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  essential for us, you know, sustaining access to
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  to services,
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  in a in a already
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  challenging reimbursement environment. So that that's definitely a
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  priority.
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  At the same time, you know, as a
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  system,
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  we're focused
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  on AI and AI and technology, and not
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  just as a buzzword,
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  but we're we're talking about what
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  tools
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  do,
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  we need to help us do our work
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  better, to to help us do our work
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  smarter and more efficiently.
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  And so we're asking where these tools can
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  be truly,
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  used to enhance our care delivery and our
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  operations,
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  especially as we we navigate these financial pressures.
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  So those are some of the things I'm
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  definitely looking forward to,
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  you know, in in 2026 and and that
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  we're gonna be focused on with these potential
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  headwinds.
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  That makes a lot of sense. And I
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  I know especially looking at some of that
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  access to care, thinking about revenue cycle, thinking
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  about technology,
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  you know, where do you see the technology
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  investments,
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  making the most sense? What are you focused
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  in on on some of those things? Because
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  I know every health care dollar is precious,
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  but,
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  you know, there's a lot out there too.
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  It can really be a a challenge to
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  kind of sift through and weave through all
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  the different potential solutions in getting to the
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  place that really adds the most value to
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  the overall organization. So how do you think
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  about that with your c suite team and,
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  keep everybody focused on the right things?
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  Yeah. I I tell you, there's nothing really
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  off the table on that discussion. And,
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  you know, I'll I'll say, you know, we've
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  had ongoing
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  conversations
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  that, you know, involve
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  every area of the hospital saying, where can
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  we deploy technologies to help us,
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  be more efficient?
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  Where can we deploy technology to,
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  help,
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  you know, our workforce
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  and offset, you know,
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  some of the shortage areas,
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  and truly, you know, how do we enhance
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  our our our workforce and our teams,
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  using additional technology.
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  I I think, you know,
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  we're not using a narrow lens whatsoever.
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  You know, right now, just truly trying to
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  explore
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  what it what what is out there that
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  we can deploy. Can we deploy it very
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  quickly? What's the ROI on it? And,
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  identifying those, testing them out, and then, you
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  know, quickly getting them out to the teams.
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  And so,
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  you know, I I would say that's kind
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  of where we're at as a as a
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  system and a a starting point.
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  Alright. Helpful to understand it. I I love
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  that kind of just continuing to focus in
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  on whatever space makes the most sense at
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  those that time.
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  It seems like a really smart strategy.
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  I think we've alluded to it a little
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  bit, but just with some of the financial
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  challenges,
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  and shortages
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  in the health care industry, what do you
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  think the hardest thing will be that you'll
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  have to do in the next year or
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  so?
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  Oh, man.
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  These are these are some great questions.
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  And I I'm gonna probably take a little
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  bit of different approach on this. So
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  one of the hardest, and I'll say one
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  of the most important things
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  we can do,
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  I can do, as a leader because this,
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  I cannot delegate. A lot of things a
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  lot of leaders, we we'd like to get
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  in this mode of delegation, but I I
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  think one of the key things is truly
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  providing hope.
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  I I I'm I remember a, study Kaufman
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  Hall did a survey on health care on
• 12:49
  the health care workforce,
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  and what,
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  was identified that people, needed most from leadership,
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  the number one answer was hope.
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  And that really resonated with me, as a
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  as a leader.
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  We have responsibility
• 13:04
  that comes with these roles. And to be
• 13:07
  honest,
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  like, the challenges,
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  and, you know, we have to keep, all
• 13:13
  those things in perspective. They're they're very real.
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  You know? So people want truth. They wanna
• 13:18
  hear that. They wanna understand
• 13:20
  the realities that we're facing,
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  but they also want reassurance
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  like other difficult periods in health care in
• 13:29
  time such as COVID. We all remember COVID,
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  that we are gonna weather the storm.
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  And so the way we frame the future
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  matters.
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  I hope everybody listening understands my point. The
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  way we frame the future
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  in health care, it matters. Whether,
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  we look at it as the glass is
• 13:49
  half,
• 13:51
  full
• 13:51
  or half empty,
• 13:53
  Our teams are listening. And so our job
• 13:56
  is to lead with transparency,
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  steadiness,
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  and confidence that we can come out on
• 14:02
  the other side of this thing stronger.
• 14:05
  I love that answer, and I think it
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  it definitely,
• 14:08
  dovetails into so much of what we try
• 14:09
  to do here at Becker's. And so for
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  that, you know, messaging with the team, understanding
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  hope, they we're really being met with kind
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  of this dual of, like, hey. Here's the
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  reality of our situation, but we also can
• 14:21
  get through this. We can also do this.
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  Are you doing anything differently this year to
• 14:26
  really bring that front and center, especially with
• 14:28
  your,
• 14:29
  c suite team in in managers, or is
• 14:32
  it something that you found out out in
• 14:33
  the past that you're going to continue to,
• 14:36
  focus on that works well to have that
• 14:38
  message and to keep people,
• 14:40
  really, you know, spreading that to their teams
• 14:42
  as well?
• 14:44
  Yeah. So
• 14:45
  in our in our region,
• 14:47
  you know, we we've now got a a
• 14:49
  regional structure, and I could spend a whole,
• 14:52
  probably podcast segment on restructure
• 14:55
  and, a region and building and culture change.
• 14:59
  And that's something that I I've focused on
• 15:01
  over the last,
• 15:03
  two years in this in this role.
• 15:05
  And, you know, now, you know, bringing these
• 15:08
  teams together,
• 15:09
  there's another level of of transparency,
• 15:13
  and, you know,
• 15:15
  bringing these teams to together to to jail
• 15:18
  and to, you know, share, hey, guys. Here's
• 15:21
  here's where
• 15:22
  the bar is at today.
• 15:25
  And, you know, coming together to to form
• 15:27
  solutions and say, alright. What do we need
• 15:29
  to do to to to overcome?
• 15:32
  And,
• 15:33
  you know, we're seeing a lot of growth,
• 15:35
  lot of rapid growth in our in our
• 15:37
  region.
• 15:39
  And it it that, you know, is to
• 15:41
  be celebrated, and it comes with its challenges,
• 15:44
  you know, that you gotta bring the staffing
• 15:46
  components with that. You gotta bring the equipment
• 15:48
  and technology up to date with that.
• 15:51
  And it's not a one man band over
• 15:53
  here. It's truly operating and functioning
• 15:56
  as a team and as a as a
• 15:58
  as a system,
• 15:59
  and truly utilizing the the resources to to
• 16:02
  the best of their our ability.
• 16:05
  And so
• 16:06
  we're we're doing a a a lot of
• 16:08
  that.
• 16:09
  I won't say,
• 16:11
  we're we're adding more meetings, but I'm actually
• 16:14
  trying to give the gift of time back
• 16:16
  to our teams.
• 16:18
  And,
• 16:20
  because we've got a lot of initiatives. We
• 16:22
  got a lot of objectives.
• 16:24
  And I've
• 16:25
  found that, when we tie everybody up in
• 16:28
  a meeting in meetings all day, it's a
• 16:30
  little difficult
• 16:32
  to get all that work done. And so
• 16:34
  it's truly trying to figure out, you know,
• 16:35
  how do I give that gift the time
• 16:36
  back to our teams to to carry out
• 16:38
  these these objectives and get our mission accomplished.
• 16:42
  Absolutely. That is helpful to understand. Thank you
• 16:45
  for digging a little bit deeper.
• 16:47
  Now before we wrap up, I wanted to
• 16:48
  think about growth as well. Where do you
• 16:50
  see some of the best opportunities for organizational
• 16:53
  growth over the next one or two years
• 16:55
  or so?
• 16:57
  Yeah. So, you know,
• 16:59
  the secret in in rural health care, growth
• 17:02
  opportunities
• 17:03
  in rural health care, they they remain consistent,
• 17:06
  but but crucial
• 17:07
  is recruitment, both for
• 17:10
  specialists,
• 17:11
  for primary care,
• 17:13
  continues to be a top priority for us,
• 17:17
  so we can maintain
• 17:18
  and expand access for these communities.
• 17:21
  We also see opportunity in the in the
• 17:24
  continued adoption for telehealth and for AI and
• 17:28
  for these technologies I talked about earlier, particularly,
• 17:32
  in ways that we support rural
• 17:34
  health care delivery,
• 17:37
  and how we can improve efficiency without losing
• 17:40
  that human connection,
• 17:41
  that that you have to have in health
• 17:43
  care.
• 17:44
  One area that's especially important,
• 17:47
  and somewhat to you unique in our our
• 17:50
  area,
• 17:51
  We've been challenged with,
• 17:53
  is OB and women's health services.
• 17:55
  We're in a in a OB desert here
• 17:58
  in in Southern Illinois,
• 18:00
  and addressing that gap is gonna be essential
• 18:03
  for long term health of our communities
• 18:06
  and,
• 18:07
  and ensuring that,
• 18:09
  you know,
• 18:11
  access to women's health care and services are
• 18:13
  are close to home. They they truly remain
• 18:16
  a key
• 18:17
  opportunity
• 18:17
  and
• 18:18
  and responsibility
• 18:21
  for our health care system,
• 18:23
  moving forward. So those are some of the
• 18:25
  things that we, will be focused on here
• 18:28
  in in Deaconess, Illinois.
• 18:31
  I love that. And, you know, expanding that
• 18:33
  access to care, bringing in more specialists will
• 18:35
  be truly
• 18:36
  helpful in transforming the health care system.
• 18:39
  And when you're thinking about just connecting, building
• 18:41
  out, especially in the OB space, women's health
• 18:43
  care,
• 18:44
  and and really anywhere else that you are
• 18:46
  looking for for specialists and those kinds of
• 18:48
  things,
• 18:50
  do you see being able to,
• 18:52
  I I guess, how are you continuing to
• 18:55
  bring in those folks and attract them,
• 18:57
  anything that is on the cusp for this
• 19:00
  coming year?
• 19:02
  Yeah. I I think we, as a system,
• 19:04
  really have kinda taken a a a step
• 19:06
  back at our approach when we talk about,
• 19:09
  you know, recruitment.
• 19:11
  And also,
• 19:13
  in addition to recruitment,
• 19:15
  directly, but partnerships,
• 19:18
  you know, with FQHCs
• 19:20
  and RHCs and things like that in the
• 19:22
  in the area.
• 19:23
  And so I I think, you know,
• 19:26
  having,
• 19:27
  you know, again,
• 19:29
  a a a very narrow lens that, you
• 19:30
  you know, are only gonna recruit this one
• 19:32
  way, which is is, you
• 19:35
  know, been an approach, but that is not,
• 19:37
  you know, moving forward. That's not the the
• 19:39
  the best way. And so, you know, we
• 19:41
  are expanding our our recruitment team,
• 19:44
  and and we're gonna be growing that,
• 19:47
  you know, when,
• 19:49
  we're all also looking at the way our
• 19:51
  site visits are are structured.
• 19:53
  What is the follow-up with,
• 19:55
  you know, the physicians after a site visit?
• 19:57
  What does that look like? What is the
• 19:59
  prep work prior to work? Additionally, of course,
• 20:03
  leveraging
• 20:04
  our physicians that work for us that have
• 20:06
  have ties with, you know, the schools and
• 20:08
  universities and these other programs and and saying,
• 20:12
  how how can we, you know, utilize, you
• 20:15
  know, this this army of physicians that we
• 20:17
  have to help us continue to to leverage
• 20:19
  and and,
• 20:20
  build those pipelines and partnerships. And so,
• 20:24
  you know,
• 20:25
  there's no one singular approach,
• 20:28
  when it comes
• 20:29
  to, you know, the the recruitment strategy.
• 20:32
  And and finding the, you know, physicians,
• 20:36
  APPs, the the caregivers that
• 20:39
  really love and wanna be a part of
• 20:41
  rural health care,
• 20:43
  because it's it's a special place.
• 20:45
  And I'm not just saying that because I
• 20:46
  live here, but truly, you know, practicing in
• 20:49
  in rural areas, you see some things you
• 20:51
  you thought you'd never seen, and it's exciting
• 20:54
  to to many,
• 20:55
  many caregivers,
• 20:57
  physicians, and APPs.
• 20:58
  And so we we wanna make sure that
• 21:00
  it's a a good fit for them and
• 21:03
  their and and their families as well and
• 21:05
  making sure we show those, those great things
• 21:08
  about our areas and these communities we serve.
• 21:11
  William, thank you so much for joining us
• 21:12
  on the podcast today. This has been a
• 21:14
  really inspiring conversation.
• 21:17
  I have learned a lot. Absolutely. I'm looking
• 21:19
  forward to seeing you as well at our,
• 21:21
  annual meeting. I know you'll be speaking on
• 21:22
  a panel, and we'll,
• 21:24
  you know, keep, this discussion going.
• 21:27
  Well, I I want I wanna say before
• 21:29
  I leave, I I love,
• 21:31
  you know, the platform that Becker's,
• 21:34
  is providing,
• 21:36
  you know, not just me, but health care
• 21:39
  in general and and continuing to, you know,
• 21:41
  bring such important
• 21:43
  topics to the forefront and everyone's attention, bringing
• 21:46
  light to those things.
• 21:47
  And,
• 21:48
  and so I think what what you and
• 21:51
  and your team is doing is beautiful. I'm
• 21:53
  looking forward to the to the conference coming
• 21:55
  up and
• 21:57
  the connections and and hearing, from my colleagues
• 22:00
  on on so many topics that we're all
• 22:02
  challenged with, but what are we all doing
• 22:04
  to, to overcome those things? And so I'm
• 22:06
  excited to, be a part of of that,
• 22:09
  speaking panel. So thank you all again for
• 22:11
  the invites.