May 12, 2023

Showcasing excellence for our surveyors’ visit

We welcomed surveyors from DNV-GL, our accreditation partners, to our south campus this week. It was an exciting visit and I was glad to see our teams come together to showcase our excellence.

I can’t say enough about the collaborative process of working with DNV. It is great to partner with an organization that is here to help and is actively investing in us to make us better.

Their work is designed to improve the care we provide our community, and their annual visits are a great way to share the hard work our teams do to keep us at our best year-round.

I appreciate how the surveyors take the time to connect with our front-line staff – those who do the fundamental work of health care. We get some of our highest accolades from surveyors’ interactions with our bedside staff. I am always happy to hear how great our teams are doing, but it comes as no surprise to me. We have built – and sustained – a culture of compassion and care throughout this organization.

I want to thank Arlo Stallion, our administrative director of regulatory affairs – she is truly an unsung hero in our organization. Arlo and her team do amazing work to prepare us for our DNV surveyors.

The pressures of the site visits put our directors of nursing in the spotlight as well. I could not be prouder of the incredible bench of talent we have at all of our campuses. Our directors of nursing have put in long hours preparing to host our surveyors, and, during a week like this, it is all hands on deck!

I want to thank all of our colleagues who participated in the visit. They are truly the voice and talent of CoxHealth, and I am proud of all we have accomplished. I look forward to hearing our surveyors’ feedback as they visit our other campuses in the coming days!

Seeing national parallels with our transformation journey

It’s always exciting to meet nationally renowned leaders and get their insights, and, when you see how one of our own experts is on the same page, that’s even better.

I had that experience this week when I got meet Laura Merling, chief transformation officer for Arvest Bank. We were introduced by Jason England, President and CEO for Arvest’s Springfield banks. Jason suggested we have lunch with Laura and Dr. Staci Rogers, CoxHealth’s chief transformation officer.

Laura is, as they say, a huge deal. Her experience balances business and technology – her role prior to Arvest was as a transformation officer for Google Cloud. Her career in transformation and tech includes roles with AT&T, Ford, and Collins Aerospace.

I was immediately struck by how Laura and Dr. Rogers are cut from the same cloth. Both have an intense curiosity and a surgical precision in how they approach change. They have a well-balanced tenacity: they are the kind of leaders who drive hard toward goals, while helping people want to join for the ride.

We spoke in recent weeks about the importance of seeing and evolving the larger ecosystem. As our CTO, Dr. Rogers is scanning the horizon of what is happening in health care so we can understand the trends and respond appropriately. With that in mind, it is more important than ever to make data-driven decisions. Dr. Rogers is in a pivotal position, serving as the executive over all of our data analytics efforts (you can see her Ask The Expert piece on the topic here).

Having good data keeps you from acting on gut instinct alone. Combining good instincts and business acumen with accurate data is a recipe for long-term success. Dr. Rogers is a key part of our leadership team because of that fusion.

It was a real treat to get the chance to sit across the table from Laura, and I was so pleased to know that we are aligned with her winning approach for transformation. With a clear vision, combined with Dr. Rogers’ passion for data-driven excellence, we are in good hands.

Celebrating our teams for Hospital Week

This week is a very special week for CoxHealth (and not just because of DNV!). Every year, we get to celebrate Hospital Week and host an Employee Appreciation Day across all our campuses. I am so proud of our teams every day, and I am grateful for the opportunity to recognize our amazing colleagues. Check out CoxHealth’s Facebook page for great shots of our colleagues from across the system enjoying the celebration.

I know the work within a health care system is not easy, and our teams deserve to know just how valued they are. I appreciate each and every one of our team members and the work they do every day, and I am so glad to be able to spend a week celebrating them. Thank you to all who have made this week special!

Voice of the Patient

Adapted from parent feedback at Northside Pediatrics and adolescents: “Sam treated my son with respect, talked directly to him, and explained what she was doing as she was getting his vitals. This is the first time he has sat still and got vitals done without crying. I was impressed. We have received care elsewhere and people would talk over him or around him rather than to him and assumed he didn't understand just because he is autistic and minimally verbal. Sam took the time to really see him and presume that he could understand and his experience was much better because of it.”

Thank you for all you do,

Max

Direct Line from Max Buetow for 5/12/2023