Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Kenneth Waller, Chief Executive Officer of Norwalk Community Health Center

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Kenneth Waller, Chief Executive Officer of Norwalk Community Health Center · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  Every year, Becker's annual meeting brings health care
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  leaders together to unpack the most pressing issues
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  facing the industry.
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  And every year, those conversations shift in profound
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  This April, more than 3,500
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  health care executives will return to Chicago for
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  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting.
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  Seven ninety five elite speakers will offer new
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  comes next.
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  Join us April 13 through the sixteenth.
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  For the agenda and event details, 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 Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  Kenneth Waller, chief executive officer of Norwalk Community
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  Health Center. Kenneth, it's a pleasure to have
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  you on the podcast today.
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  Thank you for having me, Laura.
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  Absolutely. Now I know we've got a lot
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  to talk about. There's so much happening in
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  health care and especially looking at some of
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  the critical spaces for health care in those,
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  without
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  much access to care. But before we dive
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  in, I was wondering if you could please
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  introduce yourself and just tell us a little
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  bit more about Norwalk Community.
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  Yes. Ken Waller, and I am the CEO
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  of Norwalk Community Health Center.
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  We are a multi specialty
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  primary care,
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  organization
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  that,
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  provides services to
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  marginalized
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  individuals who do not have access to primary
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  care services and who are uninsured and underinsured.
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  We offer
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  a portfolio of services,
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  that, really meets the community needs,
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  in our,
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  neighborhoods.
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  And,
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  we do a lot of other things outside
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  of primary care. We offer,
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  services to address social determinants of health,
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  and we have really good strong partnerships
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  with nonmedical,
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  community based organizations
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  to, support our work outside the walls of
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  medicine.
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  That's great to hear. And, you know, that's
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  such a needed resource today in the health
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  care space.
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  And and I'm curious, you know, when you
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  think about about
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  the last year or so, what was the
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  most important initiative that you led? What did
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  you do, and what were the results?
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  I think
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  some of the things we've been able to
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  do is really create,
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  alignment with our nonmedical
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  community based organizations,
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  to improve,
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  access.
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  And we work with them in a way
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  because they have program participants who are undergoing
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  nonmedical,
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  services.
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  And so there is a certain need for
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  those folks to have access to a medical
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  home. And so that is an initiative that
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  we've taken,
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  last year that we thought would help us
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  in so many different ways. One,
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  to ensure people have access to primary care.
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  Two, to ensure that we have some opportunities,
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  to sustain our organization.
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  And so we've we've we've worked very hard
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  with our community based organizations,
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  to ensure that we are we become their
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  provider of choice.
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  And that is one initiative that I think
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  we're very proud of and that we're continuing
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  to scale
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  how we do that. And so we're looking
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  forward in 2026
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  on how do we
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  kinda broaden
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  the tent
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  to bring in other,
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  nonmedical community based organizations,
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  so that they could help with
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  getting their post access to primary care. So
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  that is,
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  an area and an initiative that,
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  we we're really proud of, Laura, that we
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  were able to stand up last year.
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  That's great to hear. And I think, you
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  know, having those types of partnerships and collaborations
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  really make a big difference. It seems like
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  more and more of those are are coming
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  up and and becoming available, and health care
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  organizations are becoming more creative in how they
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  work with the community and others. Is there
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  any specific example of something you set up
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  or, you know, a new type of arrangement
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  that you've had over the last year or
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  so that, you know, is really exciting for
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  the next year ahead?
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  Yeah. I think that what's happening now, I
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  believe, in health care is that
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  the acute settings are are changing.
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  And there is a lot of,
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  downstream,
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  engagement
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  to ensure,
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  that folks are getting getting services. I think
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  a good example for us is we work
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  with the homeless consortium
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  in Fairfield County,
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  and we work with those homeless, facilities.
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  And and in two instances, we have embedded
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  services within those facilities.
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  And so those are examples of how we,
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  scale
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  our our services
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  into the community
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  by working with,
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  not just homeless facilities, but also working with,
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  again, as I mentioned,
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  nonmedical
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  community based organizations. And so we work with
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  them in such a way that their program
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  participants
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  have access
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  to our services in a timely manner.
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  Got it. That's really helpful to know and
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  understand. Thank you for going a bit deeper
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  there. Now I'm curious, looking ahead,
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  what are some of the big priorities and
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  headwinds that you're focused on for the next
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  twelve months
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  or so? Yeah. I mean, things are changing
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  as we discussed.
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  The entire
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  reimbursement,
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  landscape is changing for community health centers. And
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  so health care policy is something we're watching
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  very closely,
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  to see
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  where that those policies will land and how
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  it will,
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  affect our organization. And so we're gonna be
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  watching health care policy.
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  We're gonna be, looking at ways
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  to mitigate,
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  the different public payer cuts that are certain
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  to happen.
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  And, obviously,
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  the,
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  the ACA
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  the ACA exchanges
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  are are definitely something,
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  that we're gonna be watching. And so,
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  our priorities are really to
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  focus on how do we
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  work with our legislators,
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  how do we work with our local hospital,
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  to ensure that,
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  our community health center,
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  stays
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  intact, if you will? And how do we
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  begin to look at ways to increase,
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  sustainability,
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  for our organization. So those are,
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  the things that we are
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  we're watching.
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  We're very much engaged in and hoping,
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  that
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  we land in a good spot so that
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  we can ensure that,
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  the most vulnerable people,
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  in our community have access
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  to safe and timely primary care services.
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  That makes a lot of sense and is,
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  just, you know, so critical these days. I
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  think especially when you're looking at some of
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  the,
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  cuts with the ACA exchange programs and then
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  upcoming for,
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  you know, the Medicare and Medicaid as well.
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  How do you keep your staff and team
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  focused when there's so much,
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  you know, potential challenges in this space? How
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  are you mitigating some of those,
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  that are upcoming in addition to working with
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  the legislators
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  and policymakers, help them understand the impact in
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  in what you're going to need in order
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  to continue providing care?
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  Yeah. So I you know,
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  you know, soft skills are are are strategic
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  skills. Right? And so, you know, the importance
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  of making sure that,
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  you know, I as a leader
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  remain,
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  agile and
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  engage with the staff
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  to ensure them
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  that,
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  we are we are poised to continue to
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  go forward.
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  And,
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  you know, working very closely with our local
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  officials
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  to try to,
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  message, if you will, to not only to
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  the staff at my facility, but also to
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  the community at large that
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  the health center and all the different challenges
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  and uncertainty that is happening in the health
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  care space as it relates to who's gonna
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  be insured and who's not gonna be insured,
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  and making sure that we work with the
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  local leadership to,
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  provide some messagings,
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  to to the community, to ensure
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  that no matter what, if they do not
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  have health care,
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  insurance,
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  based on our charter as a federally qualified
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  health center, we're gonna be there,
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  to service them.
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  So those are some of the things, that
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  we're doing, some of the things that I'm
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  doing,
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  within with intentions to ensure that,
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  we can continue to advance the mission.
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  That's great to hear and so critical these
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  days. So you keep that mission moving forward.
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  Now looking ahead as well, what do you
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  think is gonna be the hardest thing that
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  you have to do next year?
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  Again, I think it's about it's about innovating,
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  and standing up new care models,
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  that's going to align with the care demands,
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  in our Pacific catchment area.
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  And working with,
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  the payers,
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  and working with other community stakeholders,
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  to ensure that, you know, we can continue
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  to exist and and and and go forward.
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  I think I think, you know, reimbursement is
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  gonna be a challenge for us.
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  I believe that, you know, maybe talent shortage
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  may be on the rise because there's such
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  a need,
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  for primary care providers. We're talking by the
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  year
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  '20,
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  '36,
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  there will be,
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  a shortage of 86,000
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  primary care,
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  providers. And we know as a
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  federally qualified health center,
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  individuals
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  don't see us as as as as a
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  as a
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  potential
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  employer. And so what we
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  are working on doing, and we are always
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  continuing to do this, is create an environment
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  within our organization to,
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  retain all of our people.
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  And I'm very proud to say that we
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  have a below 3% provider,
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  turnover rate, month over month, year over year,
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  at least for the past four years. And
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  so we've been able to really retain our
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  providers.
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  But I think, you know, again, just to
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  put it in two buckets, it's it's it's
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  it's payer,
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  relations.
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  It's it's health care,
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  policy,
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  and it is obviously
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  talent,
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  retention.
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  And so those are the three things that
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  I think is gonna be, challenging for us,
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  but we are positioning ourselves,
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  to be able to to power through that.
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  Got it. That's so helpful. And I I
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  love that outlook of being able to think
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  about things innovatively and
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  creatively to solve some of these big, big
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  challenges and and,
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  issues within the space for access to care.
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  And and especially when you look at the
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  primary care provider shortage, you know, that's something
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  that touches, all communities across the country, but
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  then especially
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  those like your own.
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  Before we wrap up, where do you see
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  some of the big opportunities for growth and
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  and development within the organization?
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  Yeah. So I I I say, you know,
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  standing up new
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  care models that align with the demands,
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  in our community. Every community is different. And
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  so being able to identify what those needs
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  are and standing up,
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  Pacific care models that address those needs.
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  Looking at,
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  infusion services
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  as a new service offering,
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  I think is gonna be critical,
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  as well as,
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  continuing,
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  to administer population health
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  as well as, again, I mentioned it earlier,
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  working with the payers. And another important piece,
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  I think, is is not being talked about,
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  is how do we work with pharmacies?
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  How do pharmacies get more engaged in the
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  work,
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  to help obviously improve outcomes,
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  but also to keep the awareness going in
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  terms of people being empowered,
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  to take better care of themselves?
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  And then the last one I think is
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  important is digital health services. Looking at
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  wearables and and different,
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  you know, devices,
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  that patients could use
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  to assist them,
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  with getting access to care,
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  such as, you know, telehealth platforms, mobile apps,
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  etcetera.
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  And then giving patients, you know, more access
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  and convenience and control,
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  and confidence in managing their health.
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  So digital health is gonna be something, that
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  is gonna be important.
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  Again, working with our pharmacies,
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  working with our payers,
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  continuing to optimize population health,
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  looking at standing up infusion services, and always,
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  always looking at how do we design new
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  care models to meet the growing,
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  care demands in our catchment.
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  I love that. Kenneth, thank you so much
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  for joining us on the podcast today. This
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  has been such a fascinating conversation, so helpful
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  to understand how you're thinking about things in
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  2026 and beyond.
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  And, you know, I look forward to connecting
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  with you again soon and,
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  seeing you at our annual meeting. I know
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  it's coming up here. You'll be speaking,
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  talking about a lot of these same issues
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  and and some of the successes that you've
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  seen. So looking forward to that and and
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  seeing you in April.
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  Thank you so much, Laura. Appreciate being here.