Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Christopher Newman, President and CEO of Mary Washington Healthcare

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Christopher Newman, President and CEO of Mary Washington Healthcare · 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
• 0:36
  doctor Christopher Newman, president and chief executive officer
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  at Mary Washington Healthcare.
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  Doctor Newman, it's a pleasure to have you
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  on the podcast today.
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  Thank you. It's my pleasure to be here.
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  Fantastic. Now I I'm excited to have you
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  here because I know there's so much happening
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  in health care today, and particularly, I'm looking
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  forward to learning more about Mary Washington Healthcare.
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  But before we dive in, can you please
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  introduce yourself and tell us a little bit
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  about your background?
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  Yeah. So, I'm an internal medicine physician. I,
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  went to medical medical school and trained at
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  Georgetown University in Nation's Capital.
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  And I started off my career as a
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  small town primary care physician in rural Southern
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  Illinois and did that for many years. It
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  was really a a very rewarding part of
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  my,
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  career. And then I moved, east,
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  working,
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  at the Lehigh Valley,
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  health network.
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  And then I went out, got my MBA
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  at University of Virginia and,
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  started moving into,
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  administrative roles, starting off as a chief medical
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  officer within the Penn State Health System, and,
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  I joined Mary Washington
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  in 2019
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  as a in a dual role as chief
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  operating officer and chief medical officer of the
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  health system.
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  And then our, prior CEO, got an exciting
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  opportunity in California this year, and that opened
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  up the role for me. And I've been
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  in the role of CEO since, March.
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  So new to the CEO chair.
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  Well, fantastic, and congratulations,
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  you know, on taking that role. I know
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  it's a huge responsibility, especially,
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  given how dynamic the health care space has
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  been today. So what's your first,
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  I don't know,
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  I guess, eight, nine months been like or
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  so?
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  Yeah. It's it's definitely been very challenging. And
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  I you know, talking to other CEOs, I
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  don't know that anything can can quite prepare
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  you,
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  for for the role. You know, being an
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  an internal candidate and having been here for
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  a number of years in the COO role,
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  I think I underestimated
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  the differences in the role and,
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  how how really, big the CEO role can,
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  can be. It's definitely much more external,
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  as well. So there's a lot more external,
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  components to it. And, really, everybody looks to
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  you,
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  as as
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  for all the answers and for the direction
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  of the organization. So it's really been interesting.
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  I can imagine so. Well, you know, in
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  thinking about the last year, what was one
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  of the most important initiatives you led? What
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  did you do, and what were the results?
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  Yeah. So what we had many, many big
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  initiatives last year, but one of the ones
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  that I you know, with me coming into
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  the role,
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  was really cultural transformation.
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  You know, we we have been on a
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  journey to really not only improve our patient
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  experience, but also improve,
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  the experience of all our associates and and
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  workforce.
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  And I I think, you know, really coming
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  out of the pandemic, I saw this, pretty
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  profoundly,
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  not just in health care, but all industries,
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  really that move to a transactional
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  relationship with work.
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  And, you know, I think, remote work kinda
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  maybe,
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  accelerated some of, some of that. But,
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  you know, and even in health care, you
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  see people moving away from truly the the
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  purpose it is of what we do and
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  and, honestly, the privilege,
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  of what we do in health care. So
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  really using the opportunity
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  to our tire teams back into mission,
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  make sure our teams feel supported often in
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  some very, very difficult and challenging roles that
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  they have in in health care, and, really
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  just elevate,
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  the morale and the experience,
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  of the whole organization.
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  And really, that cultural transformation has to happen,
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  at the top and then, really cascades through
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  our our our whole leadership team. And as
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  we hit into, you know, sort of the
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  holidays here, it's not lost on me that
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  as many, many people are home with their
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  families and able to decompress.
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  I literally have thousands of our associates and
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  and caregivers and physicians
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  who will be working,
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  day and night through the holidays caring for
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  our community. So,
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  there's a challenge, but it's also a great
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  result front,
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  you know, pleased to say this year we've
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  been certified as a great place to work
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  for the fifth, year consecutively.
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  And for the first time we were recognized
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  by Forbes as a, as a top 200
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  midsize employer in The US and that's of
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  course all industries.
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  So that, you know, it's really nice to
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  get that,
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  recognition.
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  Some of our internal
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  surveys showed that we had an in increased
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  faith and leadership,
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  of 9% year over year. So that's a
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  huge,
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  gain in a year.
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  But really, you know, those are the some
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  of the external,
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  but I'm starting to feel it as I
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  as I round, walk around. You can really
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  see it in the expressions and the the
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  demeanor of our of of our staff,
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  as I as I hope,
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  we've
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  removed the distance between,
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  leadership and our bedside,
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  caregivers
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  and, you know, really worked hard to create
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  authentic relationships
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  between,
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  the leadership team as well as it to
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  our our our frontline staff.
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  Well, that's really cool to hear. And I
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  know it's not easy to do to go
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  through some of those cultural transformations, especially in
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  trying to figure out how you can,
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  elevate that morale and find those meaning, find
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  the why in in the things that the
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  team is doing on a daily basis, especially
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  on the front line. It's just such critical
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  work. When you're looking into the next year
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  or so, what are the big priorities and
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  headwinds that you're focused on?
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  Yeah. So my my biggest priority is is
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  really
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  workforce.
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  You know, I know everybody across the nation
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  is, is struggling with, workforce. There just aren't
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  enough licensed,
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  healthcare professionals,
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  to really care for our, our communities. But
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  my particular community is,
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  challenged even more than most.
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  When we look at certain metrics like physicians
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  per capita, physicians per 100,000
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  population in our market, we rank in just
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  the second percentile in the nation,
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  in that metric to the bad,
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  Meaning, we have less than half the the
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  physicians per 100,000 than than an average community,
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  and the average community is is,
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  short on health care providers.
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  And it's only, compounded by the rapid population
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  growth that we're seeing in our region. I
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  think a lot of people think about a
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  physician shortage areas, maybe a rural county that
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  needs five docs and only has one. We
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  have a thousand, physicians, 100 medical staff, but
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  we need 2,000.
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  You know, we have a a large, region
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  here,
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  that's that's growing between Washington DC and Richmond
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  right on the 95 Corridor, but, we just
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  can't recruit fast enough to keep, on top
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  of it. So,
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  we are working very, very hard on all
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  sorts of pipelines for all sorts of, licensed
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  health healthcare professionals.
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  And we're, transitioning from a community healthcare system,
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  hopefully to an academic,
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  healthcare system so that we can really become
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  a destination for clinical education,
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  here in in the Commonwealth Virginia.
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  So we have, plans potentially
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  of a medical school where we are working
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  through processes with our local and state officials
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  on,
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  creating a medical school here regionally.
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  We are working with our local community colleges
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  and, four year university here on pipelines for
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  other, licensed healthcare professionals. And we launched,
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  graduate medical education for the first time in
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  a large,
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  fashion
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  about three years ago, and we are building
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  out all sorts of specialties.
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  Next year we have cardiology and gastroenterology
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  and psychiatry and rheumatology. We're we're looking to,
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  start. We just did anesthesia and general surgery
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  and primary care specialties. So,
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  we are we're really looking to build out
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  the full,
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  host of,
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  medical specialties
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  to kind of, create our own and create
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  a sustainable pipeline for the future.
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  That's an amazing,
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  goal. And especially when you think about, you
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  know, as you mentioned, bringing in additional providers
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  to more of a rural setting is not
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  easy, by any stretch of the imagination. But
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  then too, I know the health care,
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  you know, professional landscape right now is just
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  a very competitive space. And so I think
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  it's really interesting to hear that you're looking
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  at becoming an academic,
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  health system and looking at the medical school
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  as well. What does it take to stand
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  up something like that? I I can imagine
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  it's, you know, a lot of moving parts
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  and and and takes a lot of planning,
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  but, also, you know, it seems like you
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  you're very execution oriented. So I'm curious. How
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  do you,
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  you know, decide to move forward with that?
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  And and and, what does it take to
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  to really make that transition?
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  Yeah. It's it it definitely is a is
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  a very, heavy lift.
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  Although we could do it by ourselves, we
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  are lucky to have,
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  a four year university, a state university, University
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  of Mary Washington, right here in our community.
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  That's literally our campuses are adjacent.
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  And we are looking to do this as
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  a public private partnership really to, create a
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  sustainable pipeline of physicians for our region, but
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  as, as well as other areas that are
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  challenged
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  in the Commonwealth. So,
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  you know, they, they've been a perfect partner
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  to kind of help,
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  stand this up.
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  There's a lot of discussions with,
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  state and local,
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  officials because,
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  there's many approvals needed, including,
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  funding as well as licensing and, and approvals
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  of, of this program. So,
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  we've spent a lot of time with a
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  lot of communication,
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  with with our elected officials,
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  so that, they understand the need and, can
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  buy in,
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  to to what we're trying to do here.
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  Philanthropy will play a a huge component
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  as well.
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  So, we're really looking for,
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  wealthy individuals or people of means, that really
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  care about the community and, health care to
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  help contribute,
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  so that we can keep,
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  the the tuition low enough that we can
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  really attract, patients, not patient, students from our
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  communities,
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  to really, create this sustainable pipeline because,
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  people are tend to be able to wanna
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  practice,
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  in the communities they grew up. If they
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  have the opportunity to go to medical school,
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  undergraduate,
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  residencies,
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  there's there's a strong retention,
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  piece to that as well. So we're really
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  looking to create a, a pipeline
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  here in the Commonwealth for the Commonwealth.
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  So we're trying to do something a little
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  bit different,
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  than some of our other great institutions we
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  have in the state that,
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  focus a lot on academics and research and
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  some of those areas. We are gonna be,
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  really focused on clinical education for those that
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  are really wanting to, practice in our communities.
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  That's great to hear. Thank you so much
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  for digging a little bit deeper there. Now,
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  I I know a lot of exciting things
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  ahead, but I'm I'm curious. What do you
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  think the hardest thing you'll have to do
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  in the coming year will be?
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  Well, on top of all the the exciting
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  cultural transformation and, you know, and and the
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  academics and all that,
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  we're also, you know, facing a lot of
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  financial challenges as I think many many health
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  systems are.
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  You know, we
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  as our pair mix here locally has changed,
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  we we've just lost three forty b, this
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  year. So that has been, certainly,
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  a challenge. And I know others in the
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  Commonwealth are starting to talk about this as
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  the big, beautiful bill rolls in and there
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  may be, met people disenrolled for Medicaid that
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  could change some of the ratios and, subsequently
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  create challenges,
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  for them as well. And that's a, you
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  know, a very, very
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  financial peace.
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  And then we're we're really struggling with the
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  cost of contract labor.
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  Locums for physicians coverage. As I said, we
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  have we are very
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  short short staffed for what our region needs.
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  So there we we really have to look
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  ahead with a lot of cost containment
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  and continuous financial improvement as we look at,
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  you know, the headwinds,
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  that our industry and our region have, ahead.
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  So that's hard work to do, as you
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  are also trying to increase the morale and
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  the cultural experience of our associates,
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  and and grow.
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  So it's it's a challenge to do all
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  three simultaneously.
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  Absolutely. That that is definitely,
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  a a huge, huge challenge, but it seems
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  like,
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  you know, you've got a a great foundation
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  there.
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  When you think about, you know, being able
• 13:13
  to do all of these things,
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  how do you ensure that your leadership team
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  is ready, and,
• 13:18
  you know, you're prepared to tackle,
• 13:20
  some of the challenges ahead?
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  Well, as I, you know, as I moved
• 13:24
  into my role,
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  you know, we had several very, very long
• 13:29
  standing,
• 13:30
  c suite members here at Mary Washington,
• 13:32
  retire simultaneously.
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  So,
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  I have an entire new team, here at
• 13:37
  Mary Washington and I had, the ability
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  to, to select that team.
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  So really,
• 13:44
  being able to bring in people that share,
• 13:47
  the vision and, and, the mission that we
• 13:50
  are trying to accomplish here,
• 13:52
  was, was definitely exciting. So I am, I'm
• 13:55
  really lucky to have a a fantastic team,
• 13:56
  and
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  I think they're all up to the task,
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  and and this is a team sport.
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  We we need a lot of different people
• 14:04
  from a lot of different,
• 14:05
  disciplines to kinda,
• 14:07
  you know, bring these visions and these dreams
• 14:10
  to fruition and execute on them. So,
• 14:13
  got a great team.
• 14:14
  Communication is is big. You can't just,
• 14:17
  you know, say something once and those, messages
• 14:21
  need to be cascaded
• 14:22
  throughout the organization. As you can imagine, transitioning
• 14:25
  from a community health system to an academic
• 14:28
  health system is change for for everybody,
• 14:31
  because all of our caregivers are now having
• 14:34
  to do some education as well as they
• 14:35
  work with students and residents,
• 14:38
  here that we already have within the health
• 14:40
  system. So,
• 14:41
  really everybody understanding the why behind,
• 14:45
  the decisions we're making,
• 14:47
  getting everybody excited about the vision and and
• 14:50
  where the health system is going,
• 14:53
  is really a a big part of what
• 14:54
  I do, every day.
• 14:57
  I love that. I think, you know, it's
• 14:59
  definitely critical and great to, see you've been
• 15:02
  able to to compose that leadership team and
• 15:04
  and can move forward, as one voice. Now
• 15:07
  before we wrap up, where do you see
• 15:08
  some of the best opportunities for organizational growth
• 15:11
  coming down the pipe?
• 15:13
  Yeah. So we're we're a little different, I
• 15:14
  think, than a a lot of markets as
• 15:16
  well in that we're we're growing. The population
• 15:18
  is growing so rapidly here, and we are
• 15:21
  in a bit of a transformation. So we
• 15:23
  have a lot of opportunities
• 15:24
  ahead of us. And, you know, my challenge
• 15:27
  is where to deploy capital, what to prioritize
• 15:30
  because we could do so many things,
• 15:33
  here.
• 15:33
  But our our immediate population has just tipped
• 15:36
  over 500,000.
• 15:38
  So we are now starting to stand up
• 15:39
  some,
• 15:40
  higher tertiary and quaternary level services here at
• 15:43
  the health system. We just launched,
• 15:46
  for neurology and acute thrombectomy program. We're, making
• 15:49
  a lot of,
• 15:52
  investments in the neurosciences.
• 15:53
  We've recruited four new neurosurgeons to the health
• 15:56
  system. And, so we're really being able to
• 15:59
  advance the sophistication of care, so that people
• 16:02
  don't have to leave, this community to,
• 16:05
  to get care. And often
• 16:06
  historically, they've had to go to Washington DC
• 16:08
  or Richmond or others,
• 16:10
  for for those higher level care. So we're
• 16:13
  we're we're doing a lot of investments in
• 16:14
  in more sophisticated care and more tertiary and
• 16:17
  quaternary level care, which is kind of exciting.
• 16:20
  And then, just a lot of the,
• 16:22
  expansion that we need to keep up with
• 16:24
  the the growth of the community.
• 16:26
  So, a lot of investment in ambulatory new
• 16:29
  ambulatory sites,
• 16:31
  at primary care practices,
• 16:33
  etcetera so that we can make sure that
• 16:35
  we have access points for everyone.
• 16:38
  Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense, and
• 16:40
  it was just really helpful to know. Doctor
• 16:42
  Newman, thank you so much for joining us
• 16:44
  on the podcast today. This has been a
• 16:45
  really fun conversation, very inspiring,
• 16:48
  and I look forward to connecting with you
• 16:50
  again soon and seeing you in April at
• 16:52
  our annual meeting. I know you'll be speaking
• 16:53
  on a panel, and I'm sure we'll be
• 16:55
  digging deeper into some of the themes we
• 16:57
  talked about here. But, just will be really
• 16:59
  excited to see you then and, look forward
• 17:01
  to having a great, great meeting at that
• 17:04
  point too. Yeah. I'm looking forward to it.
• 17:06
  Thank you.