August 06, 2019
Hi Team –
Four years ago, when I arrived at TriHealth, I experienced an exceptional team of doctors, nurses and other clinical and support staff ready to forge a bold new agenda for healthcare delivery. I was met with an eagerness to lead the way in getting healthcare right – the right care in the right place at the right time, delivering the right outcomes. Today, we are increasingly being recognized for doing just that – and are now held up as an industry model for bringing better care, better health and better value to every patient we serve. The most recent example of this is Blue Cross Anthem’s recognition of TriHealth as the best performing Accountable Care Organization in the nation (click here to read story on TriHealth in the Anthem 2019 Annual Report). And while we have made encouraging progress, our work is not done. Which is why earlier this year, our leadership team conducted a review of our progress to-date – what’s working, what’s not, what can be done better – in order to identify the necessary course corrections for 2020 and beyond.
An important part of this assessment was a review of our current organization structure and leadership roles to determine how best to continue to evolve in ways that can accelerate and sustain the positive changes underway throughout TriHealth. When we began this journey four years ago, a strong centralized leadership model relative to control and decision making was needed to introduce and implement transformative change around our bold new vision, and to build a common culture across our 5 hospitals, 11 ambulatory campuses and more than 140 sites of care through the TriHealth Way of Leading, Serving and Delivering Care. As a result, our team members, physicians and patients have now fully embraced this new vision and culture, creating the opportunity and need to both evolve our leadership model and increasingly share responsibility for local decision making and operations with those near and at the front line of our system who directly provide and support patient care. By transitioning authority and decision making closer to our patients and team members, we will make better decisions, be more responsive to our patients, team members and providers, and improve operational performance across all five pillars – safety/quality, service, engagement, growth and finance! So today, I’m pleased to share with you the major outcomes of this review and the work ahead.
System Chief Operating Officer Role to be Phased Out
With Gail Donovan’s previously announced planned departure, we will not fill the role of system Chief Operating Officer. This will eliminate an operational layer of management between me and our front-line team members, which will allow for greater sharing of authority and decision rights with regional and local operations leaders.
Regional Leadership
Marla Silliman and Rob Cercek, our two Regional Executives, in partnership with Dr. Kevin Joseph, our Chief Medical Officer, Jenny Skinner, our Chief Nursing Officer, and System Chiefs, will take on greater responsibility – and have increased flexibility and authority – for integrating the clinical operations of our hospitals, ambulatory campuses and physician practices within each of our two regions.
Hospital Leadership
To foster more nimble and responsive local operations, our Hospital Executive Directors of Operations will take on responsibility for all core hospital operations. To appropriately recognize this expanded responsibility and authority, our existing Hospital Executive Directors will assume the new role and title of Hospital President & Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Hospital Presidents, together with their Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer, will collaborate closely with system service line leaders (e.g., TriHealth Cancer Institute, TriHealth Heart Institute, etc.) and system shared services leaders (e.g., Imaging, Lab, etc.) to implement and operationalize system goals and initiatives at the local hospital level. As a result, I’m pleased to announce the following appointments, which are effective immediately:
• Jamie Easterling, Good Samaritan Hospital President & COO, reporting to Marla Santos Silliman, Senior Vice President, Good Samaritan Region
• Kelvin Hanger, TriHealth Hospital President & COO, reporting to Marla Silliman
• London Quicci, Bethesda North Hospital President & COO, reporting to Rob Cercek, Executive Vice President Physician Practices & Population Health and Bethesda North Region
• Mike Everett, McCullough Hyde and Bethesda Butler Hospitals President & COO, reporting to Rob Cercek
I want to congratulate and thank Jamie, Kelvin, London and Mike for stepping up to take on these crucial and expanded roles, which will help us accelerate our efforts to achieve and sustain the breakthrough performance improvement necessary to get healthcare right!
System Leadership
These changes are intended to create greater clarity around leadership roles and responsibility, and provide the right level of authority for both system and local leaders. Our goal is to improve system effectiveness by strengthening local operations, which will ultimately better support our team members and medical staffs serving our patients. System clinical and executive leaders remain responsible for collaboratively setting TriHealth’s vision, strategy, goals and evidence-based standards, as well as supporting our local leaders, team members and physicians. Moving forward, we will increasingly look to our local and front-line leaders to take on an expanded role and greater responsibility for implementing and operationalizing our System “agenda” at the local level throughout TriHealth.
Over the coming weeks, your leaders will share more details about these changes and what they mean to your local operations. We’ll also be conducting Town Hall Meetings in September, hosted by our Hospital Presidents and other campus leaders, to further explain the changes and answer any questions you may have. Look for more information about the Town Meetings coming soon.
Last Chance: Register Today for the TriHealth Team Member & Volunteer Picnic
This is your last week to register to attend the annual TriHealth Team Member & Volunteer Picnic at Coney Island on Sunday, August 25. Tickets must be ordered online by noon on Monday, August 12. Visit Bridge to order your tickets today and to learn more about the Picnic.
‘News from TriHealth Bridge’ Launches
As part of our transition to our new intranet, TriHealth Bridge, team members are now receiving a weekly email - News from TriHealth Bridge - to recap all of the TriHealth Bridge news you may have missed. Have a story you'd like to share? Send your story to bridge@trihealth.com.
Two TriHealth Hospitals Ranked by U.S. News & World Report
Among the four hospitals recognized regionally, two TriHealth hospitals were ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News and World Report. Bethesda North and Good Samaritan Hospital tied for the No. 3 position in the new local ranking. Good Sam was also No. 3 last year, while Bethesda North moved up one spot from last year’s rankings. Visit Bridge to learn more.
Weekly Huddle Message: Bright Ideas
Bright Ideas completed a successful FY19 with 11,794 submitted ideas and 10,007 approved ideas! We are ready (and very excited) to receive your new ideas for this year! Visit Bridge to submit your FY20 Bright Idea.
Lifestyles Weekly Health Tip
Sugary drinks are some of the most fattening food items you can ingest! Liquid sugar calories don't register in our brains the same as calories from solid foods, so drinking these beverages often leads to eating more total calories. Try replacing at least one sugary drink (pop, juice, sweetened coffee) a day with flavored water, seltzer with a splash of juice, or unsweetened coffee.