Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Tackling Physician and Clinical Workforce Challenges Head-on with Darmita Wilson, VP of Northern Light Medical Group

Transcript

Tackling Physician and Clinical Workforce Challenges Head-on with Darmita Wilson, VP of Northern Light Medical Group · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

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  This is the Becker's Healthcare Podcast,
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  Thanks for listening. Now here's the episode.
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  This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Darida Wilson,
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  vice President of Operations of Northern Light Medical Group. Darida,
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  it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
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  Thank you so much for having me.
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  Now, I know we have a lot to talk about.
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  There's so much happening in healthcare right now and, and certainly, uh,
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  for medical groups,
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  just a lot going into what's gonna happen in the future and some of the specific
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  challenges and opportunities. But before we dive into my questions,
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  can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background?
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  Sure. Um, I am of course Darida Wilson. Like, uh, uh, like you said,
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  I'm the Vice President of the Northern Light Health Medical Group, uh,
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  in charge of operations. I, uh,
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  have been an executive leadership position since 2005, uh,
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  working at Harry University Hospital in Washington, DC until 2014.
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  In 2015, I became the co O of the Ascension Providence Hospital Medical Group,
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  also located in Washington, DC and their ambulatory services division, um,
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  until, uh, 2019. Uh, then, uh,
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  the acute hospital, uh, was deemed by such to be closed,
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  and then in 2020, um, I became a National Healthcare Leadership consultant,
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  which brought me to Maine and Northern Light on a temporary assignment,
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  which, uh, turned in August of 2021 to be a permanent position,
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  uh, which I now hold. Uh,
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  so I have over 35 years of healthcare career experience,
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  and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love the work that I do.
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  Absolutely. Wow, that sounds like an amazing career,
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  and I can really tell that you're passionate about, uh,
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  working in healthcare and serving patients,
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  and certainly improving the communities wherever you're at. So, you know,
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  when you look at, uh, absolutely. Absolutely. That's awesome. Um,
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  when you look at where you're at today at, at Northern Light,
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  what is your growth strategy for the next year or two?
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  What's really ahead for you and what are you excited about?
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  Well, to, to start our conversation about Northern uh, Northern Light, um,
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  we have 10 licensed hospitals, uh, 900 plus beds,
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  um, 818 post-acute beds. Uh,
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  we're spread over two thirds of the state of Maine. As you know,
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  this is actually, uh,
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  what I would consider my dream job because it gives me the opportunity to both
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  do healthcare delivery to both, uh,
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  rural medicine as well as, uh,
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  a little of the urban flavors. So the larger cities, uh, Bangor, uh,
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  Bangor, Maine and Portland, Maine are where our larger hospitals are, uh,
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  including our flagship hospital, which is, um,
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  Eastern Main Medical Center, uh, which is in Bangor. And then,
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  uh, we have a lot of rural areas where we also provide services.
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  So, um, we are beyond our services.
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  We have statewide telehealth services to include virtual walk-in care services,
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  home health services with more than 330,000 visits
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  annually, statewide.
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  And we have a focus on population health management using data to direct, um,
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  resources and address and address the most, uh,
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  virtual chronic health needs of our population. So that's a little bit about,
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  um, Northern Light. I'm privileged to work here, and I really, um,
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  admire, uh,
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  the goals and the mission that our president, uh,
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  Tim Dery, who is the CEO and president of Northern Light has,
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  and we're just working the, we're just working the vision.
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  That's what we're doing. So as it relates to growth strategies, um,
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  we have a couple, they're very simple to increase patient access, uh, using,
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  um, innovative technology and creating process improvement to maximize
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  efficiency. You know, the pandemic has brought about a series of events,
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  which means that healthcare delivery will never be the same again.
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  We have gained some lessons from the pandemic on what patients need
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  to make sure that we offer patients what they need, when they need it,
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  and how they need it. Um, and some of our old models, uh,
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  just are no longer efficient enough for us to reach the masses that we need to
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  reach.
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  One of the other strategies we have is the development strategies to address
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  staff shortages, uh,
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  which is nationwide and work toward bringing new opportunities to build,
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  teach, and grow a sustainable healthcare workforce. Um,
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  everybody's looking for staff. Everybody needs staff.
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  It is one of the number one issues on most of our plates in the healthcare
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  industry,
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  but we need to really start looking at how do we get our workforce and really
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  encouraging the younger generation to join health, uh, um,
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  healthcare workers, um, in managing, uh, uh,
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  the health popul, you know, the health issues, uh, of the day. Um,
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  our population is getting older, uh, with more people in it,
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  so we're gonna need quite a bit of, um,
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  workforce staff to really accommodate that.
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  Absolutely. I, I think that makes a lot of sense.
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  And certainly I can imagine a lot of hospitals and health systems are in a
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  similar spot in terms of trying to make sure they're able to connect with their
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  broader patient populations and, and very diverse patient,
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  patient populations as well.
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  I know you were talking about both the rural and urban communities,
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  and I can imagine, um, you know, some very different, uh,
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  needs and challenges for both of those spaces as well as integrating technology
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  and in virtual care, along with in-person care, um, in,
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  in managing all of that while trying to troubleshoot the staffing issues. So,
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  you know, when you, you look at, um, especially how staffing,
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  it seems like it is not necessarily there's an easy answer to bring more people
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  into the healthcare workforce. What are,
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  are some of the ways that you are managing that and looking into the future to
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  try to, um,
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  improve some of the workforce challenges that you're currently facing?
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  Well, listen, we're starting in the middle schools, uh, , uh,
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  middle schools and high schools to really start putting in the minds of these
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  young people, the,
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  the benefits of being a healthcare worker and the rewards that are not always,
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  um, tied to monetary things, but to be of service, um,
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  to our nation. I think that the pandemic, if anything else has shown that,
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  you know, the people that work in, in healthcare, um,
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  are are committed to the, to the work. Um,
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  they have a love for the people, and especially people who need help,
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  um, and who suffer from not only chronic illness, but even wellness, uh,
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  visits to make sure that they remain healthy for their friends and their
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  families.
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  So one of the other major ways that we're doing that is to make sure that we're
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  visible,
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  to make sure that we leave out of the hospital walls as it work and go
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  where, uh, go to community events, go to fairs, uh,
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  go to celebrations, uh, go anywhere we can to show, uh,
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  so that children and younger people who may be looking for a career can have
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  access and talk to people who are already in healthcare. Um, and maybe we can,
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  hopefully we can get some recruits just by being there and being a part of
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  the community to let them know that this is a exciting career opportunity,
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  but more importantly, it will be a great service to our country, to our state,
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  um, and to the people and the communities that we serve.
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  Absolutely. I, I love that. And certainly, um, starting in middle school,
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  it seems like early,
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  but definitely a place where children can still be inspired and certainly be
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  brought into the healthcare space.
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  Mm-hmm. , absolutely.
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  Fantastic. And could you also, you know,
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  I loved hearing about those initiatives, and could you tell us about other,
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  I guess, exciting initiatives that are making a really big impact or,
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  or projects that you're working on right now that, um,
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  are important for the medical group?
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  Well, yeah,
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  so another way that we're doing it is we are looking at how we recruit and where
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  we recruit. Um, as you know, Maine, um, is,
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  uh, has, you know, a population of only 2% of people of color.
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  Um, so the idea that there are, um, other,
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  um, diverse populations, uh, our native, uh,
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  our Native American population and other areas where we have, you know,
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  um, immigrants that are coming in and asylum seekers here in Maine,
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  we wanna make sure that they have the adequate healthcare that they deserve
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  also. And we know based upon research and, and, and just,
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  uh, uh, research that's done based upon, you know,
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  healthcare outcomes that people do do better when they see providers that
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  look like them, and that can reach them at a,
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  at a personal or cultural level as it relates to their health. Um,
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  so one of the other initiatives that we're doing is we're teaming up with
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  partners. We're teaming up with, um,
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  educational partners to help this development, uh, go forward. Uh,
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  some of the historically black colleges or the HBCUs that we will be doing
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  clerkships, um, uh,
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  here in the state of Maine to get people accustomed or get 'em familiar with the
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  state of Maine. It's beautiful here. I mean, before I came here, you know,
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  22 months ago, I didn't really even have an idea where Maine was .
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  But now that I, now, now that I'm here, it's just a beautiful, um, uh,
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  state, uh, with lots of wildlife and lots of things to do.
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  Um, so we're seeking, uh,
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  we're looking at some of the HBCUs to bring some of the, uh,
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  providers, uh, some of the physician assistants, um, nursing students,
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  and maybe even finally some of the additional residents here to the state of
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  Maine, um, to get some training and then hopefully, uh,
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  then the effective recruiting, uh, done, um,
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  to make sure that, um, we have the,
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  the resources and the workforce that we need going forward.
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  So just looking for recruitment and, uh, and, uh, talent,
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  wherever we can find it, even outside the state of Maine, uh,
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  to draw them into our beautiful state.
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  That's amazing to hear, and certainly, you know, great that, uh,
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  you're able to make those connections with HBCUs and, and, uh, um,
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  really foster that type of relationship. I, I think, um, certainly important,
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  as you mentioned, being able to have healthcare providers,
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  whether they're the physicians, nurses or other, uh,
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  members of the clinical team, you know, reflect, uh, the patient population,
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  especially like you said, it just builds so much trust. And so, um, that,
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  that sounds like a really important and impactful way to, uh,
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  connect deep more deeply with the community.
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  And, you know, you bring up a very good point. You know, I am, um,
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  an alumnus of a historically black college, Howard University in Washington dc,
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  um, where I got my undergraduate degree and I was tutored and learned, um,
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  which is a, a academics, uh, setting, uh, institution.
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  So I was able to really learn how people learn, um,
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  especially in the healthcare arena, you know, the, the,
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  so I had the opportunity to work with the, the medical students, the residents,
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  you know, the nurses.
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  They had a school of Allied Health in addition to the school of medicine,
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  a school of dentistry, um, all connected to our community hospital,
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  um, to serve the, and serve and to serve that community, uh,
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  with whatever health needs that they had. It was a level one trauma,
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  the hospital, the community hospital. There was a level one trauma.
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  So we basically saw it all there.
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  And that training really sparked in me the opportunity to look at
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  population health, to look at, you know,
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  disparities and healthcare as well as social determinants of health, you know,
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  and how we actually serve the people because, you know,
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  we're really not served until everybody's served, if you understand what I mean.
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  Absolutely.
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  That's such a great point and powerful statement about thinking through,
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  you know, not leaving anybody behind,
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  making sure you're serving everybody in the community and thinking about that
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  population health and then acting on it too in making a big difference.
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  And it seems like that certainly is, is a, you know,
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  evolving thing for a lot of hospitals and health systems and evolving strategy.
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  Um, as well as, you know,
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  there's so many different aspects of healthcare that are changing today.
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  So I wanted to wrap up the discussion by asking what is the most important
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  thing that healthcare executives should do right now to make sure that their
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  organizations are successful for the future?
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  Um, I would say that they really need to have a firm footing on the
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  technology. Um, you know, the, the,
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  the population today, today and the generations today grew up with technology.
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  We need to use that to our advantage to be able to serve our patients,
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  um, and to also make sure that their healthcare needs are met not only just in
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  chronic illness, but preventative illness as well. Um,
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  some of those things include, you know,
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  patient self-scheduling and being able to, um,
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  self-register, uh,
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  online before they come in for an appointment to save time instead of doing the
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  paperwork in the office. And all those things that we are,
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  that we associate with how patients are seen in healthcare delivery, um,
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  can be improved by technology.
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  And we need to be ready for that and look for ways that we can insert
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  technology into our present workflow or then just change the workflow to meet
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  the needs of the people.
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  Because access is everything right now to make sure that we have adequate
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  access to all patients who need us and to make sure that we're able to do that.
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  So that would probably be my number one thing. Um,
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  I think that also we need to look at, um,
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  the population that we serve and to really listen to the patients.
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  Um, all of our work needs to be patient centered so that, uh,
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  the patient gets actually what they need instead of what we think they need. Um,
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  I find that sometimes, you know, as healthcare, um, executives, you know,
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  we're so used to just doing the grind and making sure that everything is
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  covered. Um,
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  but oftentimes we don't listen enough to our patients to find out or look at the
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  data to see exactly what kind of services would our patients actually need,
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  making sure we fill the healthcare gaps. Um,
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  also that patient has, as it relates to social determinants,
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  like transportation and, you know, uh,
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  health literacy and all of those things, um,
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  we need to make sure that we are able to serve the patients the way that they
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  need to be served at the place that they're at.
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  Absolutely.
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  And that's a fantastic reminder and definitely something so important to keep
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  front of mind. Mina, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
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  This has been such a fun and fascinating conversation,
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  and I'm looking forward to meeting you in person as well at our c e o and CFO
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  Roundtable, um, in November.
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  Awesome. I really appreciate the opportunity to come and, uh,
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  the invite and, um, I just really appreciate, uh,
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  the conferences and the seminars that I've gone to so far.
• 16:16
  They're very enlightening. Um,
• 16:18
  the networking is fantastic and I look forward to meeting you in person.
• 16:26
  It's so important for leaders at the top of organizations to keep learning,
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