Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Lauren G. Wirth on Leadership, Relationships and Taking Risks

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Lauren G. Wirth on Leadership, Relationships and Taking Risks · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  - Welcome to this episode of Leadership Unscripted, a
• 0:02
  - Becker's health care podcast. I'm Chris Sosa, your
• 0:04
  - host, and I'm thrilled to be joined today
• 0:06
  - by doctor Lauren Worth. She is president and
• 0:08
  - CEO of New London Hospital in New Hampshire.
• 0:11
  - Lauren, thank you for joining us today. Thank
• 0:13
  - you for having me. Wonderful. Yeah. I'm so
• 0:15
  - glad you're able to join us on Leadership
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  - Unscripted. This is a chance for us to
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  - get to know you a little bit better
• 0:20
  - as a health care leader and discuss your
• 0:22
  - journey. But before we get into that, could
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  - you please introduce yourself in a little bit
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  - more detail and give us a bit about
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  - your background and that of New London Hospital?
• 0:31
  - Sure. So,
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  - as you mentioned, I'm the president and CEO
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  - of New London Hospital. My my journey,
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  - to... Into leadership started in Massachusetts.
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  - So I'm a pediatrician.
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  - I went to Dartmouth College and then I
• 0:44
  - did the Brown Dartmouth program in medicine, did
• 0:47
  - my residency down at Hasbro Children's Hospital,
• 0:50
  - and then went into private practice in in
• 0:52
  - pediatrics.
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  - And it started off doing some committee work
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  - and kind of built up my leadership.
• 0:58
  - I practiced with my husband who's a pediatrician.
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  - We had a small independent office, part of
• 1:02
  - the Mass General Brigham system. It was the
• 1:04
  - two of us and two nurse practitioners.
• 1:07
  - And then when,
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  - when an opportunity came at New London Hospital,
• 1:12
  - for chief medical officer, I applied and was,
• 1:15
  - very lucky. And, I was was was accepted
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  - into that position, and then from there, moved
• 1:20
  - on to c... CEO role.
• 1:23
  - Thank you for sharing that with us, Lauren.
• 1:24
  - So as I mentioned, we wanna get into
• 1:26
  - your journey a little bit today and we're
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  - in more depth, more detail.
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  - So on that note, my first question for
• 1:31
  - you simply is, what is something that you've
• 1:33
  - learned
• 1:34
  - outside of health care that you've been able
• 1:36
  - to bring into your career?
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  - Yeah. So, I mean, I think,
• 1:40
  - my lesson started with my parents and my
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  - dad used to say, tell us not to
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  - close any doors. Right? And I took that
• 1:46
  - to be to explore and kind of take
• 1:49
  - a risk, take advantage of opportunities. And in
• 1:52
  - college, that meant taking a class that was
• 1:54
  - a little bit outside my comfort zone,
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  - traveling abroad on an academic program when I
• 2:00
  - had never flown in an airplane before.
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  - And then from there that kind of keeping
• 2:05
  - those doors open move to how do you
• 2:07
  - get to yes. You know, how do you
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  - create that path forward
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  - not only for yourself,
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  - but also for, you know, for your teams?
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  - And when I I mentioned that, I started
• 2:17
  - my committee work,
• 2:19
  - down at at Emerson Hospital, part of the
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  - Mass General Brigham
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  - system, and I was asked to serve on
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  - a peer review. And I just,
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  - just coming back from maternity
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  - leave with... And had a newborn and a
• 2:30
  - couple other kids at home, and I'm like,
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  - I don't know. How am I gonna do
• 2:33
  - this? And I thought, you know what? I
• 2:35
  - can do this. Like, how do I get
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  - to yes? How do I move the schedule?
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  - And that was really the start. That was
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  - that door that opened for me for other
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  - leadership roles inside Emerson and then Mass General
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  - and ultimately
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  - here. And I kind of use that same
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  - philosophy when I lead teams. Like, how do
• 2:51
  - we get to yes? Let's not say no.
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  - How do... Can we think this through? Is
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  - there a way to make that to make
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  - that work?
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  - I love that philosophy, Lauren. Just being able
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  - to say, you know what? Are there gonna
• 3:02
  - be difficulties?
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  - Sure. But let's find a way to get
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  - to... Yes. I think that's a great way
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  - to proceed as a leader in pretty much
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  - any business that you're in. I am curious.
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  - So where was the first time that you
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  - went when you got on a plane?
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  - Yeah. So I studied in Blois, France.
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  - And so the first plane, I guess, I
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  - took was from Logan to Kennedy, then Kennedy
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  - to London.
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  - And, so that was that was a big
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  - adventure
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  - for for me. And then and then ultimately
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  - to live with a French family when my
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  - French was
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  - progressing, let's say, but but not not necessarily
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  - as fluent as I would have liked it
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  - to be.
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  - Is it better now? Is... You still like
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  - to speak French at all? You know, I
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  - do. And it's kind of one of those...
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  - One of those things I'm trying to relearn
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  - French. I'm trying to use different parts of
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  - my brain and and and do that, so
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  - it's fun.
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  - That does sound like great fun.
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  - I hope you get to go back to
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  - France before long.
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  - Thank you. You too.
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  - Next question I have for you, Lauren, is,
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  - you know,
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  - obviously, as a pediatrician, you know this. Your
• 4:00
  - job is to keep your patients healthy. And
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  - as a leader, it's your job to help
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  - your your staff and everyone who works for
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  - you and with you, you know, be healthy
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  - in so many different ways. But for you,
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  - how do you do that? Whether it's physically,
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  - mentally, emotionally, what is important to you on
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  - that front?
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  - Yeah. I mean... So I think I'd probably
• 4:19
  - maybe just start with physically. I'm I'm an
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  - early riser. I always have been. It is
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  - unusual for me not not to be up
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  - and about at 05:00 in the morning,
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  - and I take that time to to work
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  - out.
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  - I find there's a space in my house
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  - where I can do that. It's my time,
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  - to to focus. There are mornings I get
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  - to watch the sunrise.
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  - I get to kind of reset
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  - and and then kind of think through what
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  - that what that day is gonna is gonna
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  - look like.
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  - I think we talked a little bit, like,
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  - mentally about, like, me doing French. Right? So
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  - I try to find my hobbies that I
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  - like and find that time outside of health
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  - care.
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  - So whether it's photography, which I love, or
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  - puttering around in my garden,
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  - I really try to make that time available.
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  - And then
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  - and then emotionally,
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  - we're very lucky. We have, five children,
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  - adult... Young adults. Four of them live in
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  - New Hampshire and our house on the weekends
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  - is like a revolving door. We're an active
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  - family, so we ski, we kayak, we we
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  - snowshoe,
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  - we engage in things. We do the New
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  - York Times puzzle app together and and we
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  - have a little bit of competition, and tonight
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  - is our family fantasy football draw. So,
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  - so we do those things together as a
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  - family, which really keeps me balanced.
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  - Who usually wins the fantasy... The family fantasy
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  - football league? So last year, the youngest, the
• 5:37
  - youngest of the children,
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  - won it. I I think I was close
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  - to the bottom, but I'm hoping for a
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  - better year this year.
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  - I hope so. I hope that's the case
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  - for you as well. Good luck in that
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  - league. Do you often bring your camera out
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  - with you when you're watching the Sunrise Lawn?
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  - I I will take my camera with me
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  - when I take walks,
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  - and and do that,
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  - and it it comes with me
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  - on... My my late... Latest kind of pictures
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  - have been of my two granddaughters
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  - playing sports and being outdoors. So...
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  - Makes a lot of sense. Are those your
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  - favorite photos to take then? Those of family?
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  - They are. Yes.
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  - Awesome. Awesome. Thank you for sharing.
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  - So, Lauren, as as much as you...
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  - As much as any person really can try
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  - to keep themselves healthy and, you know, I'd...
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  - We... I'm sure we all succeed as as
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  - much as we possibly can. But you're going
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  - to have tough days, especially as a leader
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  - in health care where challenges are coming at
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  - you left and right. So when those days
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  - do happen,
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  - what is it you do or to whom
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  - do you turn to say, you know what?
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  - This is how I'm gonna move forward with
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  - this.
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  - Yeah. I think if it's a really bad
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  - day, ultimately I turn to to my husband.
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  - My husband is my best friend. He's been
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  - on this whole journey with me. He's an
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  - incredible listener and he seems to know when
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  - I just need to vent and he needs
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  - to listen and when it's time to say,
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  - okay,
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  - now it's time to move forward on this.
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  - Like, what's next? How are you gonna approach
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  - that?
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  - Here at the hospital, I have an incredible
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  - senior leadership team and I know when there's
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  - a bump or a problem that I can
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  - go and speak with any of them,
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  - and together we can start moving again, start
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  - moving forward. How are we gonna solve this?
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  - How are we gonna get through this for
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  - the best of, you know, for the system?
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  - And then I have great colleagues inside the
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  - system at the different member hospital, so I
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  - can phone a friend and I do that
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  - frequently.
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  - Lauren, I... That's a great point to bring
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  - up and, you know, I think as as
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  - leaders, sometimes there's...
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  - The the... I think the sooner you learn
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  - that lesson to say, you know what? I
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  - don't have to do this alone, the better.
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  - Was there a moment or a time in
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  - your life when
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  - that certainly clicked with you and said, you
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  - know what? I I don't have to do
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  - this, and it's much better if I lean
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  - on all my leadership team.
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  - Yeah. Again, COVID is the first thing that
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  - comes that comes to mind. So during COVID,
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  - I was down at Emerson Hospital,
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  - leading a large physician group.
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  - And as all the information kinda rushed in
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  - and we were meeting, you know, two, sometimes
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  - three times a day with our physicians,
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  - those days were long and we had to
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  - lean on my colleagues at the local hospital
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  - because
• 8:12
  - taking all that information in was difficult and
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  - you needed to kind of split it up
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  - and then being part of that Mass General
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  - system where I could call my colleagues from
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  - across the, you know, the the the network
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  - and the different hospitals. What are you doing
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  - to solve this? You know, do you... You
• 8:27
  - know, how how can I help you? How
• 8:29
  - can you help me get through this?
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  - Oh, I'm certainly glad that that you and
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  - your colleagues have have found that that system
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  - to
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  - do all the great work that you do,
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  - and you run the hospital and and in
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  - the health system.
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  - So
• 8:43
  - you mentioned how you're still learning French, which
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  - I love that you're still... You're curious and
• 8:47
  - you're doing photography and all these other things.
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  - They're they're hobbies and feed into everything else
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  - that you're doing. So
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  - as you're learning,
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  - what'd you say something that you've learned about
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  - yourself
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  - from working in health care?
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  - Yeah. I kinda had two careers in health
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  - care. So I'm a pediatrician. I was in
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  - private practice.
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  - I think what I learned about myself from
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  - that is is kinda my strength in building
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  - relationships
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  - and how important that foundation was.
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  - And for me in practice that impacted
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  - kind of those if you have built that
• 9:19
  - relationship with your patient and with those parents
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  - then when you have to have the tougher
• 9:23
  - conversations you get to lean back into that
• 9:26
  - vaccine discussions for one, right? With all the
• 9:28
  - swirl that sometimes that you hear about it,
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  - when you have already built that trust with
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  - that patient and that family, you're able to
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  - have those discussions and hopefully move them forward,
• 9:39
  - in their immunization schedule.
• 9:42
  - I think that
• 9:43
  - that listening
• 9:45
  - is is the heart of leadership.
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  - I had a mentor that said to me,
• 9:49
  - in pediatrics that said, when you walk into
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  - a room, you sit down. Because when you
• 9:53
  - do that, you say to that person, I
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  - am here. I am listening. You have my
• 9:57
  - attention, you know, I am going to help
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  - you. And that's something I did all the
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  - time with my patients and it's something that
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  - I do when I lead a team as
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  - well.
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  - And on the flip side of that, so
• 10:06
  - it's my private practice and then I had
• 10:09
  - my health care, you know, administration part of
• 10:12
  - my world, my job.
• 10:14
  - And there I learned that I really thrive
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  - in complex
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  - situations.
• 10:20
  - The busier I am, the more organized I
• 10:22
  - seem to be. I think that part of
• 10:24
  - that may have been survival. We had five
• 10:26
  - children and two dogs and you had to
• 10:29
  - learn how to survive it and that complex
• 10:31
  - and those family schedules,
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  - but here I think it really leads me
• 10:35
  - to project development and strategic thinking when I
• 10:38
  - can really delve into complex issues.
• 10:41
  - But again, then then I draw from that
• 10:44
  - kind of that strength in relationships because in
• 10:46
  - order to move any project forward, you need
• 10:49
  - to have those relationships with each of those
• 10:50
  - team members
• 10:51
  - to be successful as you work as a
• 10:53
  - unit.
• 10:55
  - Laura, I love... Two things. I love that
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  - advice that that you were given that when
• 10:58
  - you walk into a room, sit down, I
• 11:00
  - just love the message that it sends. Like,
• 11:01
  - hey. You know, I'm present and I'm taking
• 11:04
  - it all in, absorbing it, and, you know,
• 11:05
  - this is how we're gonna learn together.
• 11:07
  - And I also love your your complex situations.
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  - I think a lot of people would agree
• 11:13
  - with you that, you know, it's important to
• 11:15
  - be more organized the more complex something is.
• 11:19
  - Let me ask you, though. So
• 11:21
  - that's something that a lot of people are
• 11:22
  - gonna learn how to do. Are you able
• 11:24
  - to teach that to others? And if so,
• 11:26
  - how?
• 11:27
  - Yeah. That's a great question.
• 11:30
  - I think I am because,
• 11:32
  - what we talk a lot about organization.
• 11:35
  - I am an index card person. I'm a
• 11:37
  - list checker and and as when I was
• 11:39
  - working with some of my staff as we
• 11:41
  - are... New London Hospital is undertaking a new
• 11:43
  - surgical expansion and there was a lot of
• 11:45
  - presentations and data that went to that and
• 11:47
  - I would walk in kind of with my
• 11:49
  - cards and my check, you know, my check
• 11:50
  - boxes and two of my senior leaders adopted
• 11:53
  - that type of,
• 11:55
  - organization when they went to speaker present,
• 11:58
  - in order to kind of keep themselves focused
• 12:00
  - on the conversation. So I think it's working
• 12:02
  - for them.
• 12:04
  - I I have no... I have every reason
• 12:06
  - to believe that's true and I'm sure that
• 12:08
  - will continue to be the case, Lauren.
• 12:10
  - So my last question for you today is
• 12:11
  - simply, what is one risk that you have
• 12:14
  - taken that has really paid off?
• 12:17
  - So three and a half years ago,
• 12:19
  - I was looking for a new
• 12:21
  - leadership,
• 12:22
  - opportunity and and challenge and,
• 12:26
  - the chief medical officer job at New London
• 12:28
  - was interested. But I had been a long
• 12:30
  - time since I had worked in a hospital
• 12:32
  - setting. I was I was in private practice.
• 12:34
  - And I think that my dad's advice came
• 12:37
  - back to me through one of my boys,
• 12:38
  - through my oldest son, who said, you know,
• 12:41
  - you got this, just apply. You know, you
• 12:44
  - want it, you think you're going to enjoy
• 12:46
  - it, give it a shot. And I did.
• 12:48
  - And I was fortunate enough, again, to be
• 12:50
  - chosen and we packed up, my husband and
• 12:52
  - I packed up a house that we had
• 12:53
  - lived in for almost thirty years and raised
• 12:55
  - our children
• 12:56
  - and we... And moved up here. And it
• 12:58
  - was the best decision
• 13:00
  - and the best risk that I think, you
• 13:02
  - know, I took it as in my career,
• 13:03
  - but I think also that we took as
• 13:05
  - a family.
• 13:06
  - Well, it certainly sounds like a huge leap.
• 13:08
  - I'm so glad to hear that it's paid
• 13:09
  - off, Lauren.
• 13:10
  - I think that's a great place to cap
• 13:12
  - off our conversation
• 13:14
  - today.
• 13:15
  - Best of luck not only with French but...
• 13:17
  - And fancy football, but with the surgical expansion
• 13:20
  - at New London Hospital and and everything you
• 13:22
  - have going,
• 13:23
  - up there in New Hampshire. Thank you again
• 13:26
  - so much for being on the podcast, and
• 13:27
  - I look forward to the next summer at
• 13:29
  - Pass Cross. Great. Thank you so much for
• 13:31
  - having me.