Today on “Together, We Heal,” we’re going to discuss, How to Build a Vision for the Future During COVID.

2020 was undoubtedly a year unlike any we have ever experienced. While the COVID crisis is not fully in our rear-view mirror, COVID has given us a strong call to action – to use what we’ve learned in the industry to improve, grow, adapt and ultimately provide better patient care.

Today, we will dive into what we have learned and how you will write your health system’s next chapter of prevailing and resetting for success in the months ahead.

Today on “Together, We Heal,” we’re going to discuss, The Power of a Strong Leader and Why it Matters More than Ever Before.

In our previous episodes, we’ve talked about addressing disaster fatigue, building resiliency, and implementing strategic staffing techniques to help your hospital and health systems recover from COVID-19 in 2021. At the helm of this is the guidance of strong leadership. As your clinical teams charge through this next phase of the pandemic and continue the journey in their heroic – albeit exhausting – career, it is imperative that your existing leadership adopt key tactics for sustaining and building their long-term retention and engagement.

Restoring patient satisfaction and rebuilding trust among members of the community is vital for hospitals and health systems. Of equal importance is the need to repair the breach in hospital staff and physician satisfaction and trust, while acknowledging that this may look different than before the pandemic started.

The burden falls on business and clinical leadership to drive change. Leaders must come together to assess the damage, determine the steps needed to make the repairs, and implement the required changes to build resilience in the organization. This will ensure that the next time a traumatic event occurs, hospitals will be better prepared to deal with the fallout.

Today on “Together, We Heal,” we will cover how to innovatively flex your workforce to meet current demands.

We will share tips on how to heal from the exhaustion that’s persisted throughout the pandemic—and how to help your clinicians and workforce recover and remain resilient so they can serve patients with the highest quality care.

Preparing for and managing staffing challenges was a critical focus throughout the last year - and it may continue to be. With a workforce stretched thin and a variety of scheduling and staffing needs, you’re likely considering alternative methods to flex your workforce to best serve patients.

A 2018 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges showed by the year 2030, the projected physician shortage for specialties including emergency medicine, anesthesiology, radiology, neurology, and psychiatry is between 20 thousand to more than 36 thousand. These projections persist EVEN with moderate increases in APRNs and PAs, delayed physician retirement, and changes in payment and delivery.

And now, we have the impacts of COVID-19 at the helm.

A shortage in physicians can mean more stress on your existing team, longer hours, more overtime, and general clinician dissatisfaction with work. Clinicians are burned out, and they need hospital leadership to execute a solid plan of reassurance with innovative staffing techniques.

Today on “Together, We Heal,” we are going to tackle the question, How do you position your facility as an essential pillar in your community’s wellbeing and growth? People are looking for a beacon of trust and hope as we continue to battle the next phase of COVID-19. In many cases, the pandemic has illustrated how much healthcare facilities lacked insight into the needs of their populations and the health inequities that plague underserved groups. It also showed how meaningful a partnership between community organizations and healthcare facilities can be. We saw a beautiful outpouring of support for healthcare workers from their community members, particularly last spring. Let’s apply these lessons to build on what went right and fix what went wrong in order to engage patients in their health and improve wellbeing in the community.

We’re pleased to launch our new podcast, “Together We, Heal,” with one of the most pressing topics in healthcare: Surviving Disaster Fatigue and Building a Culture of Resilience. Healthcare providers put their lives on the line every single day to battle major disasters - and 2020 was a year filled with disasters on all fronts: devastating hurricanes, rampant fires, and of course, the continuing global pandemic. Hospital clinicians and leaders play a key role in each of these situations. To help you better support them through both the fatigue and recovery, today we will discuss five phases that those impacted by disaster commonly experience. We will also explore signs of disaster fatigue and talk about ways you can help clinicians build resilience, endure intense challenge, and support them through recovery.