News & PR
HHH CEO discusses why health equity drives system leadership
By Kelly Gooch of Becker's Clinical Healthcare
Hospital and health system leaders have long championed equitable care, but they recognize that financial pressures, social determinants of health and payer-driven metrics now demand even greater intentionality to confront disparities in their communities.
“It’s time to double down,” said R. Guy Hudson, MD, president and CEO of Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health. “This has always been a priority for us — we take care of everyone, and we’ve never wavered from that goal. But I want to make sure some of the newer advances, especially with AI, can improve our ability to do that and expand our current capabilities. It’s up to us to strike that balance and continue serving everyone in a more thorough, complete and encompassing way.”
According to health system executives, their jobs require them to engage more creatively and directly with the issue.
Wyatt Brieser, CEO of Hammond-Henry Hospital in Geneseo, Ill., described this engagement as “a moral imperative” and “strategic necessity” due to evolving expectations from payers, regulators and communities.
“CEOs must stay closely connected to the shifting terrain of value-based care,” Mr. Brieser told Becker’s. “We must ensure that implementation works effectively for those with access and innovatively bridges gaps for those lacking resources. This means prioritizing community health initiatives, creative partnerships, local government alignment, strategic investment in pro bono services, and leveraging health tech solutions that improve in-house efficiencies and extend reach beyond our clinics. And we need to coordinate this with achieving a positive bottom line.”
Kerri Scanlon, MSN, RN, executive vice president at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health and president of the health system’s eastern market, expressed similar sentiments.
“It’s definitely part of the role, and I believe it will be even more integral over the next five years,” Ms. Scanlon said. “When we review the literature, we know that social determinants of health are shaped by the social environment in which patients live — whether they can afford medications, have air conditioning, or live in safe, stable housing. As leaders, our job is to take a stand on these factors and work to improve those living conditions.”
She sees leadership as including advocacy at the state and federal levels to represent the needs of the communities they serve. Confronting health disparities also requires understanding cultural determinants of health and confronting hard truths, such as higher incidence of mortality among African-American mothers.
“How are we going to change that? We cannot simply talk about it; we must act. We’re doing that through research … and community wellness programs that educate and support people at the local level. That kind of action is critically essential,” said Ms. Scanlon.
At the national level, Northwell has also engaged on the issue of gun violence. For example, Michael Dowling, Northwell’s CEO emeritus, has called on CEOs across the U.S. to treat gun violence as a public health issue.
“[Mr. Dowling] spoke so much about addressing gun violence, and I know our new CEO is supporting [these efforts] as well,” Ms. Scanlon said. “The No. 1 harm for children is gun violence — so how do we go about reducing that? Taking non-traditional approaches to subjects that may be more difficult to begin with. The goal here is improvement of care, not worrying about political sides.”
Northwell has also invested in behavioral health, including the May opening of a new 12,000-square-foot Behavioral Health Wellness Center in Riverhead.
“Anxiety is rising among children. The question we ask is: How do we meet this need? We start by understanding each of our regions — whether Eastern, Northern or Central — and tailoring our response accordingly,” said Ms. Scanlon. “First, we recognize our population, then we advocate on behalf of our patients, our community and our constituents.”
When it comes to translating data on social needs and health equity into action, she said the key is making it personal at the local level. Ms. Scanlon specifically underscored food security and adequate apparel as significant issues. For example, Northwell’s Food as Health program partners with area food banks to address food insecurity among patients.
Meanwhile, Northwell Off the Rack, a pop-up thrift store, provides free, pre-owned clothing for health system employees, their families and other members of the community. The store includes professional attire, as well as other clothing.
“I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful that is,” said Ms. Scanlon. “Many of our employees or people in the community that don’t have enough children’s clothes, will go in, get a snow suit for the winter, for the baby, get shoes for a child, and there are people helping them and treating them with respect.”
As far as building talent pipelines and education, she pointed to the Northwell School of Health Sciences, a healthcare high school that opened in September in New York City. The initiative is a partnership among New York City Public Schools, Northwell, the Fund for New York City Public Schools and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Ms. Scanlon, who recently stepped into her current role after serving as president of Northwell’s Glen Cove, Syosset and Plainview hospitals, said her new position is focused on ensuring the best facilities and the best programs to meet the needs of the community.
“That’s my biggest priority, and the main piece of that is flipping the paradigm to be continuously focusing on wellness so that the more that we can keep someone well and out of the hospital, the better we are and the more successful we are,” she said.
Dr. Hudson at Northern Light Health is also new to his current role, which he began in mid-October. He views his CEO position as one that sets the example for the organization’s workforce.
“By doing that, you bring the entire organization with you, as they understand the priorities, and they can live their values and they can be their authentic selves,” he said. “They help take care of everyone that walks through their door. And so we set the tone — that our people live every day, live their values and exemplify everything the health organization stands for.”
He said one of his other priorities as the system’s new top leader is helping to ensure community needs are met.
“Looking at Northern Light Health now and in the future, we’ll be here for generations to come,” said Dr. Hudson. “We’re proud to serve everyone who needs us. That ties back into social determinants and health equity — we look at it as serving everyone. I want people to understand we are here for everyone.”