Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Prioritizing Quality and Growth at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital

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Prioritizing Quality and Growth at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - understand what it takes to lead a health
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  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
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  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
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  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
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  - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
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  - And it's why the most effective c suite
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  - leaders are deliberate about where they go to
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  - pressure test their thinking.
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  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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  - brings together more than 1,500
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  - executive level attendees
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  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
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  - around growth, financial sustainability,
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  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
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  - have easy answers.
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  - Join us November second through the fifth in
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  - Chicago.
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  - 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.
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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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  - Emily Jocacki,
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  - president of Northwestern Medicine Del Norte Hospital. Emily,
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  - it's a pleasure to have you on the
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  - podcast today. Thank you, Laura. Great to be
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  - here. Absolutely. Well, I'm excited for our conversation.
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  - I know it's always so much fun to
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  - catch up with you and really get a
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  - sense of some of the things that you're
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  - seeing in the industry, what you're doing at
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  - Del Norte Hospital, and then how you're looking
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  - at the future. But before we dive in,
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  - can you give us just a quick,
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  - background of of yourself and Del Norte Hospital?
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  - Yes. Absolutely. So,
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  - I've been in the Chicagoland
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  - area for nearly twenty years
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  - and just celebrated,
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  - two years here out at Del Norte Hospital
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  - in Geneva.
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  - We've had a a really great, couple years
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  - here, a wonderful leadership team,
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  - a lot of really exciting changes and growth
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  - and development,
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  - And being a part of Northwestern Medicine has
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  - just been an absolute gift.
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  - We're
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  - constantly,
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  - being challenged to raise the bar, working around
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  - just wonderful great leaders
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  - with, you know, some of the toughest,
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  - problems and questions
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  - that we are faced with right now. And,
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  - it's it's been a lot of fun, and
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  - I just feel grateful to be here every
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  - day.
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  - Oh, it's the best situation, right, is, you
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  - know, being at a place, like Northwestern, which
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  - has such a great culture and a
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  - industry that is so meaningful to work in.
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  - So, I love that. And, you know, let's
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  - start off with give us a quick state
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  - of the union. What's gone well this year,
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  - and what are you focused on for the
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  - rest of 2026?
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  - Yeah. It's,
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  - pretty ironic,
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  - Laura, that we're meeting today, August 31, as
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  - Northwestern Medicine starts their new fiscal year tomorrow,
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  - September 1. We're on a September through August
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  - fiscal year. So
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  - today is a day of a lot of
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  - celebration for us. I actually asked our leaders
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  - to look back and
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  - think of one thing they're proud of that
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  - they led or that they did in FY
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  - '26, fiscal year twenty six. I can tell
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  - you a lot of the things I'm proud
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  - of.
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  - We saw a tremendous growth here at Del
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  - Norte, more more growth than we had budgeted,
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  - which is just a testament to our teams
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  - being able to,
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  - meet the access challenges that we're faced with
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  - every single day,
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  - growth in a lot of,
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  - our elective
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  - areas, imaging,
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  - some of our key procedural areas, surgery, and
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  - in our ambulatory
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  - footprint.
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  - Some other things that I'm really proud of,
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  - we had just an excellent,
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  - quality performance this year. The bar was set
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  - really high for us this year,
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  - but in kind of all of our key
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  - metrics,
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  - including our inpatient quality composite, our infection rate,
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  - we're we just had another really, really strong
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  - year and very, very proud of that work.
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  - Other things I'm proud of, this was a
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  - strong recruitment year for us, both on
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  - the employee
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  - as well as the physician,
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  - side. So we are welcoming a lot of
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  - new faces and a lot of new leaders
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  - and new physicians to Telenor,
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  - as we speak as well as,
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  - this fall. So we're we're really excited about
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  - that.
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  - Lastly,
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  - we spent a lot of time talking about
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  - engagement
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  - this year, patient experience
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  - and engagement,
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  - and making sure that we're giving, our patients
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  - a a best in class experience when and
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  - where we can. So there is a lot
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  - to celebrate, in fiscal year twenty six for
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  - us. I said we're not talking about fiscal
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  - year twenty seven until tomorrow,
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  - but we will,
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  - jump into that conversation,
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  - ready and and excited for the year ahead.
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  - That's amazing to hear. And, you know, I
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  - love, the fact that you've had so much
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  - success and really grown more than you anticipated
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  - and then adding new team members and having
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  - an opportunity to expand
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  - your,
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  - footprint within the services you provide as well
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  - as the inventory. So that's that's really great.
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  - What do you attribute that type of success
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  - to? I I know so many organizations wish
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  - they were in your position where they were
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  - able to see, even more growth than anticipated.
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  - So how do you build a team that
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  - just goes after the right things and is
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  - focused and is hitting their goals?
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  - You know, it's a great question, and I
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  - feel like it's such a cliche to say,
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  - but it really is about building a culture
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  - of leaders
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  - who just wanna be best in class. There's
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  - a the NM kind of phrase is about
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  - being better. How can we be better today
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  - and be better tomorrow? And
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  - a huge part of what that means to
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  - us here is making sure that we can
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  - provide access to the our patients when they
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  - need it. I can tell you we can't
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  - do it every single day, but we try
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  - every single day. And I think that spirit
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  - of
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  - trying to make sure that we're looking at
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  - our hours of operation, we're looking at our
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  - days of the week, we're seeing how we
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  - can staff kind of the expansion,
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  - and help kind of
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  - manage the growth that is around us.
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  - The spirit that's that's the spirit our leaders
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  - operate within, and I'm just really proud to
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  - say that they've embodied it and they're delivering
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  - on it. It's not easy and it's not
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  - every single time, but we talk about it
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  - a lot. And it's you can kind of
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  - feel it in the culture here.
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  - That's great to hear and and really cool
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  - that you've been able to build that within
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  - your teams. Now looking ahead, I know there
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  - are, challenges and opportunities. So first, could you
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  - tell us about some of the headwinds that
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  - you're keeping your eyes on and preparing for?
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  - Absolutely. And I will tell you this growth
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  - comes with some pretty significant headwinds.
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  - In the state of Illinois,
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  - especially, like any other community has their challenges,
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  - Illinois,
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  - Illinois, they're not unique to just us,
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  - but the external environment has been quite challenging.
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  - We are
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  - with the federal coverage changes
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  - that have come into place,
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  - and the redetermination
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  - processes for,
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  - patients in Illinois who
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  - used to qualify for Medicaid,
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  - many are not,
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  - reenrolling or able to reenroll into those Medicaid
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  - plans. And so we're seeing a so while
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  - we're seeing growth, as we look at the
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  - mix of the patients we're serving,
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  - Many of our Medicaid patients
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  - are flipping to self pay or charity care.
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  - We've also seen a shift.
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  - We saw 1% shift so far this fiscal
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  - year
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  - in,
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  - commercial patients,
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  - moving to Medicare.
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  - So this is a pretty significant change in
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  - our portfolio
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  - of,
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  - our our patient portfolio, and we're seeing more
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  - government payers, more charity care and self pay.
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  - So while I just talked about all that
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  - really exciting growth,
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  - we're, as a leadership team, really trying to
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  - think about,
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  - smart growth and how we can be growing
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  - in areas that,
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  - allow us to continue to invest into our
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  - mission and to our campus
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  - while meeting the needs of our patients.
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  - So that headwind is truly,
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  - external. That's kind of the the biggest one
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  - we're talking about right now.
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  - That makes a lot of sense, and I
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  - think, you know, in some ways mirrors what
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  - a lot of executive teams are talking about
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  - across the country, especially thinking about,
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  - those coverage changes, the redeterminations,
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  - and more. And, you know, when you look
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  - at the potential,
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  - changes there and and how the payer mix
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  - shifts, what types of
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  - spaces are you focused on on investing in
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  - and and making sure that,
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  - you know, you've got a sustainable
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  - outlook in the future? I I'm curious how
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  - do those conversations go and and if there's
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  - anything you can share about what you're looking
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  - at, you know, as a result of some
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  - of these changes.
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  - Yeah. Absolutely. I I
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  - talked to many of my colleagues. We're we're
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  - all having similar conversations,
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  - and you really have to find an approach
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  - that works that's authentic to you and to
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  - your team and meets kind of the mission
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  - and goals of your organization.
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  - For us,
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  - efficiency became comes the name of our game.
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  - We're looking at everything within our span of
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  - control,
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  - whether it be our productivity,
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  - our our vacancy rates, everything,
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  - our staffing,
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  - everything that we can do to make sure
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  - that we're efficient
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  - and using our resources the best we can
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  - without, you know, even spilling over into some
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  - of that premium pay and that crisis pay.
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  - We're we're really scrutinizing that as much as
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  - we possibly can to ensure we're both staffed
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  - appropriately,
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  - and making sure that we're, like I said,
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  - accommodating that growth as it starts to happen.
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  - We're also, as a leadership team, starting to
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  - look at our business a little bit different,
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  - Laura.
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  - I think there's an opportunity for all of
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  - us to say we can't be everything to
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  - everybody.
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  - So as we start to look at profitability,
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  - are there spaces we need to double down
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  - on? Are there spaces we need to talk
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  - to other system partners about maybe where and
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  - when we partner? Those are tough conversations, but,
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  - you know, in a large system, certainly ones
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  - that warranted to be had.
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  - That's really helpful to understand. And, you know,
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  - certainly,
• 10:03
  - sobering to think about that reality, but at
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  - the same time too, knowing, you you know,
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  - there are places where you can double down
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  - on and and,
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  - and different ways to think about how you
• 10:13
  - can still provide services or or continue to
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  - serve the community in a meaningful way. And
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  - to that point, where are the growth spaces
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  - that you're thinking about for the next two
• 10:21
  - to three years or so?
• 10:23
  - Yeah.
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  - We're looking largely into
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  - the parts of our business
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  - that are elected, where there are patients who
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  - have choice.
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  - So things like imaging,
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  - our ambulatory
• 10:35
  - and our surgery portfolios, our interventional platform.
• 10:39
  - We're we're seeing a really significant growth in
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  - our cancer center and all the the support
• 10:44
  - and wraparound services that are part of our
• 10:46
  - cancer programs.
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  - These are places where patients
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  - shop and they make choices, and we wanna
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  - ensure that our patients have the best experience,
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  - and choose us when and where they can
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  - and that we have the space to accommodate
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  - our patients when and where we can. The
• 11:02
  - doors are always open here at Del Norte,
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  - and we and we wanna make sure we're
• 11:06
  - treating the needs of all of our community,
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  - and we're doing that in sync with our
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  - system partners,
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  - as well across Northwestern.
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  - But I would say as we're really trying
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  - to think about smart growth, it's in some
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  - of those key areas,
• 11:20
  - and it's really driven largely by some of
• 11:23
  - that outpatient front door,
• 11:25
  - patients with choice.
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  - That makes a lot of sense, and it's
• 11:29
  - helpful to understand, you know, where those,
• 11:31
  - spaces are. And I think especially when you
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  - look at elective services in in the ambulatory
• 11:36
  - as well as surgery,
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  - that you know, it takes some intentional planning
• 11:40
  - and and,
• 11:42
  - really knowing, you know, what the patient space
• 11:44
  - is gonna be and then thinking through how
• 11:45
  - that,
• 11:46
  - changes, you know, the the way you're looking
• 11:49
  - at the,
• 11:50
  - journey in the entire enterprise. So, it's very
• 11:53
  - interesting to have that kind of outlook and,
• 11:56
  - seeing growth opportunities in those spaces.
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  - Mhmm. You know, we're also trying to partner,
• 12:02
  - with our leaders,
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  - our our clinical leaders, our physician leaders.
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  - Many of them have ideas and new procedures
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  - or programs,
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  - things that they've seen, and with whether it
• 12:15
  - be through their training or their conferences.
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  - Is there something that they're seeing that we
• 12:20
  - could be doing that we're not? Try to
• 12:22
  - bring their voice forward. Say, you know, I
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  - saw this new procedure that if we had
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  - this piece of equipment or this thing,
• 12:28
  - as long as it's not cost prohibitive,
• 12:31
  - making sure that we're bringing those ideas forward
• 12:34
  - as potential growth opportunities as well.
• 12:37
  - That's incredible to hear and definitely a great
• 12:39
  - partnership to have with those clinical colleagues and
• 12:42
  - leaders across the board. And when you're thinking
• 12:45
  - about leadership, I'm curious, who do you admire
• 12:47
  - as a leader really from any industry and
• 12:49
  - why?
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  - So for me, that's a very tough question,
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  - Laura. I I pull from a lot of
• 12:56
  - different resources, and I don't know
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  - if I could identify just one.
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  - But I would tell here's what I look
• 13:03
  - for.
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  - I look for inspiration
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  - and leaders
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  - in any industry who exhibit
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  - resilience,
• 13:11
  - who can build culture and culture that,
• 13:15
  - moves people to action.
• 13:17
  - I'm really inspired by people and admire people
• 13:20
  - who take the time to develop their leaders
• 13:22
  - and put them first.
• 13:25
  - Anyone who's worked with me knows I draw
• 13:27
  - a lot of examples from sports.
• 13:29
  - I think that sometimes in health care, we
• 13:30
  - have to get out of our own head
• 13:32
  - as to why something works and one doesn't.
• 13:34
  - And what I love about sports is that
• 13:36
  - there's just so many of those resilience culture,
• 13:40
  - leadership development
• 13:41
  - stories out there.
• 13:43
  - Someone that I I follow a lot
• 13:46
  - is a long distance track coach. His name
• 13:48
  - is Steve Magnus. He's written a few books,
• 13:51
  - and one of them that I love is
• 13:53
  - called Do Hard Things.
• 13:55
  - And if you've ever I don't like to
• 13:57
  - run, to be very clear, but if you've
• 13:59
  - ever tried to do some distance running,
• 14:02
  - it quickly becomes a mental game more than
• 14:04
  - a physical one. And you talk about how
• 14:06
  - you start to
• 14:08
  - really,
• 14:09
  - identify who you become when you start to
• 14:11
  - do these hard things. And I I like
• 14:13
  - to translate that into health care because
• 14:16
  - these are hard things, and there's not easy
• 14:18
  - answers, and they're not obvious. But sometimes you
• 14:21
  - just have to put one foot in front
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  - of the other. You just have to kind
• 14:24
  - of face that fear,
• 14:26
  - ask people around you for help.
• 14:29
  - When I'm looking for that leadership inspiration, I'm
• 14:31
  - usually looking for those kinds of stories of,
• 14:34
  - you know, how do you answer a really
• 14:36
  - tough question that doesn't have a clear answer,
• 14:39
  - but you know it's gonna be hard, but
• 14:41
  - there's discipline to doing hard things.
• 14:44
  - Those are those are usually the things they
• 14:45
  - start to lean into.
• 14:47
  - I love it. Emily, thank you so much
• 14:49
  - for joining us on the podcast today. This
• 14:51
  - has been a really fun conversation and and,
• 14:54
  - thoughtful. I appreciate your candidness when you're talking
• 14:56
  - about where you're headed and and some of
• 14:58
  - the things you're are challenging.
• 15:00
  - And at the same time, you know,
• 15:02
  - very, very much relate to, your leadership advice
• 15:05
  - and then thinking through, you know, what that
• 15:07
  - resilience will look like in in the future.
• 15:09
  - So I'm excited for,
• 15:11
  - what's to come and look forward to seeing
• 15:13
  - you as well at our CEO CFO roundtable.
• 15:15
  - I know you'll be speaking on a panel
• 15:16
  - in November, so I'll be excited to catch
• 15:19
  - up with you there.
• 15:20
  - Wonderful. Thank you so much, Laura.