Health Leader Forge

Today’s guest is Roderic "Roddy" Olvera Young, Executive Vice President, and Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health.

In this podcast, Roddy shares his nearly three decades of experience in communications and public relations in a wide variety of governmental and private organizations, among them including being the press secretary for NASA, as well as being a consultant for firms involved in public relations crises while working with MSL Group/TMG Strategies prior to coming to his current role at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

This is a valuable podcast for any current or aspiring health leader to listen to because Roddy reveals some of the key mistakes leaders make when working with strategic communications and dealing with the press and provides insight on how to engage in a long term strategic messaging effort.

for more information, see our web site: http://healthleaderforge.blogspot.com/2016/05/roderick-olvera-young-executive-vice.html

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today's guest is Laura Curnan, the Executive Director, High Point Village Retirement and Assisted Living Community in Enumclaw, Washington. Laura has been the Executive Director at High Point since 1990, coming to assisted living management after having worked in retirement community management.

In this podcast we talk about how assisted living works, what kind of services are provided, and how the industry fills a niche between retirement communities and nursing homes.

Laura talks about creating a community that is welcoming and comfortable for her residents, and that "brings retirement to life."

This was an educational interview for me because I personally have not had much exposure to the assisted living industry, but clearly this is an industry that will continue to grow in importance. Today there are over 30,000 assisted living facilities in the United States providing care for more than one million residents, and it is poised to continue to grow with the aging of the Baby Boom generation.

For more information, see our website: http://healthleaderforge.org

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today’s guest is Dr. Kenneth Anderson, DO, the Chief Operating Officer for the Health Research and Educational Trust, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association in Chicago, Illinois. In this podcast, we trace Ken’s career in medicine, from his training in both family practice and internal medicine, then as nephrologist and kidney transplant specialist, followed by his movement into the physician executive ranks, specializing in quality and data management as the Chief Medical Quality Officer for the NorthShore University HealthSystem before his current position as COO of HRET. As the COO of HRET he helps to influence health policy at the national level through research and educational programs.

I really enjoyed speaking with Ken about his career – his passion for medicine and improving the quality of care for patients at the individual and system level is evident in everything he has done.

Addendum: Since the recording of this podcast, Dr. Anderson has been promoted to Acting President of HRET and Acting Senior Executive for Health Improvement for the AHA (American Hospital Association).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today's guest is Dr. Joseph Pepe, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Medical Center Healthcare System. Dr. Pepe has served the CMC Healthcare System since 1990, first as a staff physician, then as Chief Medical Officer, and since 2012 as the system President and CEO. The advice he gives early careerists entering the field of administration is to volunteer for additional responsibility, and that positions will follow. His own career reflects that fact. In the interview, Dr. Pepe describes his choice to become a primary care physician, and how his interest in improving the operations of the practice resulted in him being "volun-told" that he would be the Chief Medical Officer. After thirteen years of successful leadership as the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Pepe was selected to lead CMC as the CEO and president. We discuss strategy and how Dr. Pepe is working with the board and senior management to ensure CMC's success in a rapidly changing health care environment, while remaining true to CMC's Catholic identity. We conclude with a discussion of leadership and mentorship.

I really enjoyed this interview because Dr. Pepe made it clear that CMC’s identity as a faith-based organization goes beyond just a historical origin; it is critical to the organization’s mission today, and influences its strategy on an ongoing basis.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today’s guest is Gerald “Gerry” Vicenzi, the President of Synernet, Inc. Synernet is a for-profit provider of a broad portfolio of administrative and management services to healthcare organizations including workers compensation administration, clinical engineering, credentialing, coding, and transcription. Gerry has been the President of Synernet since 1999, and under his leadership, Synernet has grown from 25 to more than 270 employees. Gerry brought a wealth of experience with him when he moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Portland, Maine where Synernet is headquartered. Starting out his his career as an industrial engineer and it is fascinating to hear how his engineering background influenced his management approach. He shares his successes and struggles over his forty three year career. We discuss organizational leadership and mentorship, and close on the importance of networking through professional organizations such as ACHE.

I was particularly interested in interviewing Gerry because Synernet represents a very different kind of organization than we have had on the podcast so far. It was fascinating to listen to how he made strategic decisions to adjust the portfolio of services over the years in response to changes in the marketplace, changes in technology, and changes in the competitive environment for his clients.

read more about Gerry's interview here: http://healthleaderforge.blogspot.com/2016/03/gerald-j-gerry-vicenzi-president.html

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today’s guest is Patricia "Patsy" Aprile, FACHE, the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford, Maine. Patsy started her career on the clinical side as a medical technologist, working her way up through leadership positions in the laboratory, then clinical operations. In this podcast she talks about her experiences in a variety of organizations, including her time as CEO of Goodall Hospital during its merger with Southern Maine Health Care, as well as her role today. I think this podcast is especially useful for the insights Patsy offers on leadership and organizational culture, both in the context of leading through a merger as well as how she leads for operational excellence today. Patsy also talks about her service as the American College of Health Care Executives Regent for the state of Maine, and concludes with advice for early careerists.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today's guest is Kathleen Bizarro-Thunberg, MBA, FACHE, Executive Vice President for the New Hampshire Hospital Association ("NHHA"). Kathy has worked at the New Hampshire Hospital Association for thirty years. In this podcast, Kathy tells how she worked her way up in the organization from data technician to Executive Vice President. We talk about how the Hospital Association works with member hospitals in the state to establish the organization's priorities and messages, and how the Hospital Association represents the interests of the member organizations at the state and federal level.

We also talk about leadership, and Kathy’s role as a leader both inside of her organization, as well as her role as a thought leader working with the organization’s membership, the state legislature, and other organizations and the similarities between those two forms of leadership.

We then discuss Kathy’s extensive leadership experience within the American College of Healthcare Executives where she currently holds a seat on the ACHE Board of Governors, a leadership position at the national level.

We conclude with Kathy’s recommendations for early careerists, and the importance of getting involved with a professional organization earlier rather than later.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today’s guest is Dr. Kristy Fassler, ND, co-founder of North Coast Family Health Integrative Medicine Clinic, a naturopathic practice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In this podcast Dr. Fassler and I discuss the training naturopathic doctors take, the philosophy behind naturopathy, and how naturopathic doctors work with patients to identify underlying dysfunction within the body and mind and correct it to promote healing from the inside out.
We also discuss how Dr. Fassler worked with her husband, other naturopaths, and the community to get the state of New Hampshire to recognize and license naturopathic doctors in the mid-1990s, and as a result she and her husband hold license numbers 2 and 3 in the state.
This podcast was eye-opening for me because prior to talking with Dr. Fassler I had never spoken with a naturopathic doctor. I learned a lot about the field, and found many parallels between the naturopathic approach and the current movement in mainstream medicine toward a focus on wellness and patient centeredness – beliefs that naturopaths hold central to their practice.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today’s guest is Karen Clements, the Associate Chief Nurse for Ambulatory and Primary Care Nursing, Emergency and Patient Placement Services, and Care Management and Psychiatric Services for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System, or as her staff tell her, she is the Associate Chief Nurse for Team Awesome.

Despite its rural location, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is the largest hospital in New Hampshire, taking referrals from over forty other hospitals in New England. It is also a major teaching hospital associated with Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine.

Karen is also the President of the Northern New England Association of Healthcare Executives, one of the sponsors of this podcast.

Karen is a nurse-executive whose roots are in emergency and trauma nursing. Her career began with an active duty tour in the Army’s Nurse Corps, then she returned home to Bangor, Maine where she progressed through the nursing ranks to become the Chief Nursing Officer of Acadia Hospital, a 100 bed freestanding psychiatric hospital. After 23 years with the Eastern Maine Healthcare System, she followed professional and personal opportunity to Dartmouth-Hitchcock, where her leadership skills quickly led her to the Associate Chief Nurse position.

In this podcast we talk about Karen’s career leading up to her current position at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, how Dartmouth-Hitchcock is changing to meet the challenges of an evolving health system, and how nursing is playing a role in that transition. We then talk about leadership, and Karen’s role in the Northern New England Association of Healthcare Executives and conclude with Karen’s recommendations for early careerists.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com

Today’s guest is Betsey Rhynhart, the Executive Director of New Hampshire Accountable Care Partners, an Accountable Care Organization or ACO headquartered at Concord Hospital in Concord New Hampshire. New Hampshire Accountable Care Partners was formed as a partnership between four community health systems in Southern New Hampshire: Concord Hospital, The Elliot Health System, Southern New Hampshire Health System, and Wentworth-Douglas Health System. In this podcast Betsey talks about her career, and how her education in public health and her background in insurance and strategy merge in her current role leading the ACO’s efforts. She talks about how the ACO is a learning organization that is helping the participating partners move toward a strategy of providing value-based care, a recurring theme we have been hearing from a number of leaders in recent interviews. Betsey provides an inside view of how the ACO was formed, how it operates, what the organization’s goals and objectives are, and what the participating organizations hope to gain from their collaboration. Betsey’s career and current role are great examples of how public health and direct care are beginning to merge as direct care delivery systems become more involved in population health models.

You are listening to the abridged version of the podcast. An extedned version of the podcast is also available. Please go to our web site, http://healthleaderforge.org for the link to the extednded version.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit healthleaderforge.substack.com