Last year, Ronald R. Beer, FACHE, a 20-year healthcare veteran, moved from COO to CEO of St. Cloud Regional Medical Center, one of the largest area employers with a staff of nearly 500. He also facilitated changes to St. Cloud Regional that made it, well, not the same old community hospital.

 

Orlando Medical News spoke to Beer about those changes.

RB: I'm blessed to have a great leadership team that's engaged with our community, physician partners and employees. There isn't a day that passes that you won't see the COO on the floor talking with nurses or the CNO engaged with a physician discussing patient flow processes. We all make it a priority to be in the units and not in the office or meetings. It's too easy for the latter to occur and rob you of the time you need to do what is truly important: engagement! 

 

As a result, we saw a 52 percent return rate on the Physician Satisfaction Survey with all key indicators showing positive improvements year to year. Overall satisfaction increased from 76 percent to 88 percent (very satisfied from 3 percent to 19 percent). The employee engagement survey showed similar results with a 7-basis point jump in overall satisfaction from 80 percent to 87 percent.

 

RB: One cornerstone has been the development of a comprehensive medical staff.  Over the last three years, we've been very successful in recruiting and retaining a wide variety of primary care and specialists in St. Cloud. Many of these physicians have brought new services to the area that were previously unavailable, or available in very limited capacity, such as ENT, ophthalmology, neurology, advanced laparoscopic general and gynecological procedures and plastic surgery, to name a few. We have several new primary care physicians starting this summer and a very dynamic rheumatologist who chose to make St. Cloud his home.

 

RB: We introduced a state-of-the-art Wound Healing Center in partnership with National Healing Corporation. This center provides the most diverse approach to healing chronic wounds in the area with a panel of multi-disciplinary physicians, two new hyperbaric chambers and staff that received training in the latest application of techniques and products at Ohio State University's Comprehensive Wound Center. 

 

RB: Overall, we invested over $13 million in capital improvement projects. We replaced, upgraded and updated equipment; purchased land for future expansion; renovated public and patient care areas; and recently completed an operating suite expansion that doubled our surgical capacity and introduced the latest in surgical management technology from Olympus. We also recently completed a comprehensive Emergency Room expansion and renovation that has resulted in decreased patient wait times. By utilizing a new Fast Track area, we're able to manage patient flow quickly and efficiently so that the time our patients do spend in our Emergency Room is not spent in the waiting room. It's spent with caregivers. (See sidebar for more details.)

 

RB: During the course of my day, I use a lot of humor to soften situations and stories or anecdotes to drive a point home. One of my favorite sayings (and forgive me, I'm not sure who coined the phrase) is that "organizations are perfectly aligned to produce the results they have been producing." Or said in a more humorous way, the definition of insanity is to continue doing what you're doing and expect different results. With that said, in 2006 when we (HMA) acquired the hospital through a joint venture with Orlando Health, we knew that we had to do something different to achieve different results. Our goal was to create a full service, general acute care hospital that the community would be proud to call their own.

 

St. Cloud is a growing, vibrant community that enjoyed double-digit population growth during the housing boom. As the population continued to grow and change, so did their healthcare needs. Our first and most visible change was to create a name and brand that reflected the comprehensive care strategy we were embarking on, as well as a brand that people would recognize in the community. We needed to ensure the new residents to the area knew we were here and capable of taking care of them. We also wanted the long term residents to know that were reinventing ourselves, and that the hospital they were accustomed to was growing to meet their ever changing healthcare needs.

 

Parallel to the branding effort was a comprehensive service line analysis. We evaluated all of the services that were available and compared them to services that were generally provided by acute care facilities in the area. We looked at physician need and analyzed demographic trends. The result was a comprehensive strategic plan that we use to help navigate and guide our growth. 

 

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the single most important factor that enabled us to make all of these changes: our staff, physicians and board. We've retained the majority of our board members and added a few key community leaders to the group. We have a dynamic board that is well positioned to lead change and was eager to embrace the new direction of the hospital. Our physician leaders, too, have been very accepting of a new culture. I've been very pleased with the medical staff leaders' eagerness to ensure a culture of accountability and safety among their peers. In addition to a formal leadership structure, we have instituted a Physician Leadership Council. This is an informal group of physician leaders that meets monthly to discuss operational and strategic initiatives. The group ensures that the physician interests and the hospital interests are aligned early in the process of change. 

 

We instituted a similar venue called the Employee Advisory Council for the same reasons. I was previously conducting employee sessions called "Speakeasies" to make sure I understood the issues/concerns of the employees directly. I now have an informal group of employee leaders that meet with me once a month, in addition to the council's regular sessions, to discuss operational and strategic initiatives. They're our largest stakeholders in the organization and it's crucial that our interests are aligned.

 

RB: It's like building a house. Foundation first. Before we introduced a single new service line, process or piece of equipment, we worked to ensure we had the right team with the right skill sets. Initially, our entire focus was on (and continues to be a basic pillar in our strategy) hiring and retaining the very best talent in Central Florida. It was our intent to make sure we had a solid team and we were performing at the very highest level possible. Initially, we focused on replacing and upgrading equipment, renovating space and streamlining processes. We introduced new services that would enhance our current offerings. With the strategic plan in place and the support of the board and medical staff, we started adding brand new services and expanding the scope of the hospital. It was a very methodical and sequential process.  

 

RB: It allowed me to develop key relationships with the staff and our physician partners. I worked shoulder to shoulder with employees during multiple projects and they saw me "get my hands dirty" in the process. They trust me because of that. The same can be said for the medical staff. I often was the first call when there was an issue and they knew that it would only take one call and the problem was fixed. They also know that I am pretty frank and I will always give them an honest answer. Having those relationships on day one as a new CEO is invaluable.

 

RB: We're involved in everything right now. We're very active in the chamber of commerce, civic clubs and extensively support youth activities. I personally believe that our mission is to support and promote health. Promoting a healthy community is just as important as promoting personal health. Our businesses, civic organizations and youth programs define a community. It's imperative that we support those programs as neighbors. 

 

In 2008, we hired a very dynamic marketing /community relations director who has greatly increased our participation in community and health fairs as part of an outreach program designed to get health information out to the public and increase visibility/awareness. In addition, we host Lunch & Learns monthly at the hospital and have a speakers' bureau available to visit groups to discuss anything from health topics to what the hospital's future looks like.