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This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare

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podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by

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Kenneth Waller, chief executive officer at Norwalk Community

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Health Center. Kenneth, it's a pleasure to have

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you on the podcast today. Thank you for

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having me, Laura. Now I'm excited for our

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conversation because I know there's a lot going

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on in health care right now, and it's

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truly a transformational time on a variety of

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fronts.

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And your leadership of the federally

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qualified health center is, you know, something that

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is so important within the broader health care

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ecosystem and community. So many across the country

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are trying to figure out and navigate very

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real challenges as well as take advantage of

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those opportunities. So I'm excited to hear your

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perspective. But before we dive in, could you

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introduce yourself and tell us a little bit

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more about Norwalk Community Health Center?

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Yes. Thank you so much. I've worked in

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the

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social safety net environment for over twenty years,

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Laura.

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I've been really much very much engaged,

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in the work, and I'm very excited to

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be doing this. So,

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I come,

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with a lot of experience in both the

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acute setting and the ambulatory setting, but mostly

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working in the social,

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safety net environment. And, just thrilled to be

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in the space.

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That's amazing to hear. Now from your perspective,

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what's the biggest winner success story from the

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last year or so?

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I think having Northwell Health,

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entering to our market and,

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the capabilities

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that they bring and the resources that they

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bring is really gonna be,

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impactful. And so, we're very excited to have

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them join,

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us as a partner,

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as well as to be in our, catchment

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area. So we're very excited to have them.

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I think another thing is that we are

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really working,

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very closely with our community partners to map

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out opportunities,

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to grow our outpatient

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primary care subspecialty

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footprint.

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And that has really,

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been a rewarding,

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process for us because we're able to touch

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more lives and we're able to really,

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get input,

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from our community to help us design care

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models that really,

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meet the needs,

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of the patients in our catchment area.

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Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. And,

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you know,

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great to hear that Northwell coming into the

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market could be such a,

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support system for US community partners. Now when

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you think about figuring out how you can

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expand that access to care and, really redesign

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those care models, what is the that look

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like to you if we're digging one bit

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deeper in here? How do you see,

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those conversations

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playing out with your broader leadership team and

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then,

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applied across the organization?

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Yeah. I think, you know, we we're talking

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with our community stakeholders. That's that's everybody. Right?

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That's the

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local legislators

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that's speaking with the clergy

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and other nonmedical,

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community based organizations,

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getting in a room and having those conversations

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about what the needs are and looking at

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all the different,

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uncertainty and challenges that are happening,

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at the federal level and trying to figure

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out

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a clear map that will help us,

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one, to sustain our organization and our mission,

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but also to identify opportunities

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within this,

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uncertainty

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on how we are going to take care

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of the broader community. And that is the

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the undocumented,

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community that are really in need of services.

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And and really, you know, trying to make

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sure that our local hospital

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emergency,

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departments are not negatively impacted,

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with the inflow of of patients who can

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no longer access care, at the community health

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center level.

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Got it. That makes a lot of sense

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and, you know, certainly something to keep close,

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close eye on. And, you know, I I'm

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curious overall, what are the top two to

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three issues that you're focused on right now?

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What takes up most of your time and

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attention?

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Yeah. I think,

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workforce development is is is an is an

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important priority for us.

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You know, that's important because we know that

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there is a shortage of clinicians,

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and that we need to be really trying

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to create that pipeline so that we can,

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ensure that we have folks and the talent

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needed, to provide care. So that's top of

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mind. The other one, as I mentioned earlier,

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is the sustainability,

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of our mission is how do we create

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an environment to continue our mission through developing

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new revenue streams and looking at ways to,

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create,

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services

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that align with the care demands within our

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catchment. And the last and probably the most

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important,

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is infusing,

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technology,

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to improve efficiencies,

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as well as getting folks timely,

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access, whether it's through virtual or telehealth care.

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So those are the three things that I

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think are top of mind for us,

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as we as we advance this work.

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Absolutely. I think that makes a lot of

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sense and, you know, really matches the trajectory

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of, so many organizations,

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that I hear from on a daily basis.

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And I I'm curious when you think about,

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especially that workforce development,

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what have you noticed in terms of trends

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right now? What is working well to attract

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new talent and retain them? Or how do

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you really,

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see

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the environment transforming to meet the needs of,

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the the care team?

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Yeah. It's multifaceted, Laura. I think, you know,

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having a good organization culture,

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creating, the work life balance,

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opportunities,

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for providers is is gonna be mission critical,

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because of the shortage. And, you know,

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providers and and clinicians alike,

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they have opportunities. And so the goal, for

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us is to really look at ways on

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how do we

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engage with our provider group, how do we

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engage with our clinicians,

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to create this environment where we could retain

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them and I think work life balance and

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again, having them in the room when we're

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making decisions has really helped us in

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a big way. I mean, we've had really

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good success at retaining,

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and recruiting,

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providers and clinicians.

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Year to date, we have a below,

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1% turnover rate among our,

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provider group. And so that's, that has really

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been,

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helpful at us

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establishing patient loyalty,

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and improving

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continuity of care with our patients, which ultimately,

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foster better outcomes, medical outcomes for our for

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our patient community. So those are some of

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the things,

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that we're doing.

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That's great to hear. And, you know, really,

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I appreciate you double clicking,

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their, you know, the the low 1% turnover

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rate in the provider group is really,

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something to be proud of and and just

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an amazing place to be. So great to

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hear.

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And when you look in the future too,

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what are some of the big opportunities for

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growth that you're seeing over the next few

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years?

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Yeah. I think predictive analytics is gonna be

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important because it's really gonna help us,

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try to look at ways on how we

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can better serve patients

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to prevent,

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you know, oncoming chronic illnesses. So I think

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predictive analytics is something that I would love

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for us to be engaged in, and I

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think that is going to,

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be the future. I also think that telehealth

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and virtual care and patient remote monitoring,

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combined with population health management

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is going to be, very impactful. And so

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these things are really important because, again, focusing

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on,

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the

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decreasing workforce,

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when it comes to providing care in terms

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of clinicians,

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we we need to be proactive. And so

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looking at ways to

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infuse telehealth and virtual care and overall technology

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to help us, ensure that we're getting patients,

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timely access. And I think last and probably

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least is this, the internet itself,

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and the medical,

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things that are happening in that space to

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to really,

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create,

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an environment so that patients,

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can get access.

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So technology, technology, and more technology.

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Absolutely. I know that makes a lot of

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sense. And technology, I I know,

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is very much, being more integrated into aspects

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of the health care system, especially

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with the data analytics and artificial intelligence coming

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in, in a really meaningful way. But I

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know, you know, it takes a lot of

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time, effort, and resources,

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in many regards to bringing new technology.

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What is your process for doing that? How

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do you make sure that, you know, you

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are,

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bringing in,

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a new technology or implementing something that's gonna

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be meaningful

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given how many different opportunities and options there

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are out there?

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Yeah. We're we're assessing our environment.

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We're looking at where the gaps are in

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our overall,

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capability in terms of technology, and then we're

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we're going to market and we're finding vendors,

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that have the software,

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that could integrate with our existing,

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technology, which is currently our electronic health record,

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but also looking at ways on how it

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can align with the way we practice care,

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with our patients. And then we also put

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together, obviously, a a a budget,

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that makes sense for us in order to

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do those per make those purchases.

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Got it. That makes a lot of sense.

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And, you know, it sounds like a a

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smart way to go about things.

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Before we wrap up here, I'm curious, what

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will it take to lead a thriving organization

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over the next five years, especially given some

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of the challenges we've talked about, as well

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as, you know, technology and how things are

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evolving so quickly within the health care space?

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Yeah. I think creative leadership

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is gonna be important. I think being able

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to really stay out in front of all

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the different,

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trends that are happening in the health care

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sector

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and

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remaining nimble,

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so that you have the opportunity,

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to pivot,

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when things do change,

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and having

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a a a organization,

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and and people,

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who are aligning,

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with the mission.

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And I think those things combined,

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will will will help,

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a health care organization,

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continue its mission and continue to move forward.

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That makes a lot of send sense. Kenneth,

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thank you so much for joining us on

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the podcast today. This has been a really

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fun conversation. I learned a lot, and and

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certainly it's inspiring to hear you talk about

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all the things that you're doing in Norwalk

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Community Health Center. And I look forward to

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seeing you at the,

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CEO CFO roundtable as well in November. I

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think it'll be a great opportunity to reconnect

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and just share among so many executives from

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across the country.

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You bet, Laura. Thank you so much for

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having me.