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This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Darida Wilson,
vice President of Operations of Northern Light Medical Group. Darida,
it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
Thank you so much for having me.
Now, I know we have a lot to talk about.
There's so much happening in healthcare right now and, and certainly, uh,
for medical groups,
just a lot going into what's gonna happen in the future and some of the specific
challenges and opportunities. But before we dive into my questions,
can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background?
Sure. Um, I am of course Darida Wilson. Like, uh, uh, like you said,
I'm the Vice President of the Northern Light Health Medical Group, uh,
in charge of operations. I, uh,
have been an executive leadership position since 2005, uh,
working at Harry University Hospital in Washington, DC until 2014.
In 2015, I became the co O of the Ascension Providence Hospital Medical Group,
also located in Washington, DC and their ambulatory services division, um,
until, uh, 2019. Uh, then, uh,
the acute hospital, uh, was deemed by such to be closed,
and then in 2020, um, I became a National Healthcare Leadership consultant,
which brought me to Maine and Northern Light on a temporary assignment,
which, uh, turned in August of 2021 to be a permanent position,
uh, which I now hold. Uh,
so I have over 35 years of healthcare career experience,
and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love the work that I do.
Absolutely. Wow, that sounds like an amazing career,
and I can really tell that you're passionate about, uh,
working in healthcare and serving patients,
and certainly improving the communities wherever you're at. So, you know,
when you look at, uh, absolutely. Absolutely. That's awesome. Um,
when you look at where you're at today at, at Northern Light,
what is your growth strategy for the next year or two?
What's really ahead for you and what are you excited about?
Well, to, to start our conversation about Northern uh, Northern Light, um,
we have 10 licensed hospitals, uh, 900 plus beds,
um, 818 post-acute beds. Uh,
we're spread over two thirds of the state of Maine. As you know,
this is actually, uh,
what I would consider my dream job because it gives me the opportunity to both
do healthcare delivery to both, uh,
rural medicine as well as, uh,
a little of the urban flavors. So the larger cities, uh, Bangor, uh,
Bangor, Maine and Portland, Maine are where our larger hospitals are, uh,
including our flagship hospital, which is, um,
Eastern Main Medical Center, uh, which is in Bangor. And then,
uh, we have a lot of rural areas where we also provide services.
So, um, we are beyond our services.
We have statewide telehealth services to include virtual walk-in care services,
home health services with more than 330,000 visits
annually, statewide.
And we have a focus on population health management using data to direct, um,
resources and address and address the most, uh,
virtual chronic health needs of our population. So that's a little bit about,
um, Northern Light. I'm privileged to work here, and I really, um,
admire, uh,
the goals and the mission that our president, uh,
Tim Dery, who is the CEO and president of Northern Light has,
and we're just working the, we're just working the vision.
That's what we're doing. So as it relates to growth strategies, um,
we have a couple, they're very simple to increase patient access, uh, using,
um, innovative technology and creating process improvement to maximize
efficiency. You know, the pandemic has brought about a series of events,
which means that healthcare delivery will never be the same again.
We have gained some lessons from the pandemic on what patients need
to make sure that we offer patients what they need, when they need it,
and how they need it. Um, and some of our old models, uh,
just are no longer efficient enough for us to reach the masses that we need to
reach.
One of the other strategies we have is the development strategies to address
staff shortages, uh,
which is nationwide and work toward bringing new opportunities to build,
teach, and grow a sustainable healthcare workforce. Um,
everybody's looking for staff. Everybody needs staff.
It is one of the number one issues on most of our plates in the healthcare
industry,
but we need to really start looking at how do we get our workforce and really
encouraging the younger generation to join health, uh, um,
healthcare workers, um, in managing, uh, uh,
the health popul, you know, the health issues, uh, of the day. Um,
our population is getting older, uh, with more people in it,
so we're gonna need quite a bit of, um,
workforce staff to really accommodate that.
Absolutely. I, I think that makes a lot of sense.
And certainly I can imagine a lot of hospitals and health systems are in a
similar spot in terms of trying to make sure they're able to connect with their
broader patient populations and, and very diverse patient,
patient populations as well.
I know you were talking about both the rural and urban communities,
and I can imagine, um, you know, some very different, uh,
needs and challenges for both of those spaces as well as integrating technology
and in virtual care, along with in-person care, um, in,
in managing all of that while trying to troubleshoot the staffing issues. So,
you know, when you, you look at, um, especially how staffing,
it seems like it is not necessarily there's an easy answer to bring more people
into the healthcare workforce. What are,
are some of the ways that you are managing that and looking into the future to
try to, um,
improve some of the workforce challenges that you're currently facing?
Well, listen, we're starting in the middle schools, uh, , uh,
middle schools and high schools to really start putting in the minds of these
young people, the,
the benefits of being a healthcare worker and the rewards that are not always,
um, tied to monetary things, but to be of service, um,
to our nation. I think that the pandemic, if anything else has shown that,
you know, the people that work in, in healthcare, um,
are are committed to the, to the work. Um,
they have a love for the people, and especially people who need help,
um, and who suffer from not only chronic illness, but even wellness, uh,
visits to make sure that they remain healthy for their friends and their
families.
So one of the other major ways that we're doing that is to make sure that we're
visible,
to make sure that we leave out of the hospital walls as it work and go
where, uh, go to community events, go to fairs, uh,
go to celebrations, uh, go anywhere we can to show, uh,
so that children and younger people who may be looking for a career can have
access and talk to people who are already in healthcare. Um, and maybe we can,
hopefully we can get some recruits just by being there and being a part of
the community to let them know that this is a exciting career opportunity,
but more importantly, it will be a great service to our country, to our state,
um, and to the people and the communities that we serve.
Absolutely. I, I love that. And certainly, um, starting in middle school,
it seems like early,
but definitely a place where children can still be inspired and certainly be
brought into the healthcare space.
Mm-hmm. , absolutely.
Fantastic. And could you also, you know,
I loved hearing about those initiatives, and could you tell us about other,
I guess, exciting initiatives that are making a really big impact or,
or projects that you're working on right now that, um,
are important for the medical group?
Well, yeah,
so another way that we're doing it is we are looking at how we recruit and where
we recruit. Um, as you know, Maine, um, is,
uh, has, you know, a population of only 2% of people of color.
Um, so the idea that there are, um, other,
um, diverse populations, uh, our native, uh,
our Native American population and other areas where we have, you know,
um, immigrants that are coming in and asylum seekers here in Maine,
we wanna make sure that they have the adequate healthcare that they deserve
also. And we know based upon research and, and, and just,
uh, uh, research that's done based upon, you know,
healthcare outcomes that people do do better when they see providers that
look like them, and that can reach them at a,
at a personal or cultural level as it relates to their health. Um,
so one of the other initiatives that we're doing is we're teaming up with
partners. We're teaming up with, um,
educational partners to help this development, uh, go forward. Uh,
some of the historically black colleges or the HBCUs that we will be doing
clerkships, um, uh,
here in the state of Maine to get people accustomed or get 'em familiar with the
state of Maine. It's beautiful here. I mean, before I came here, you know,
22 months ago, I didn't really even have an idea where Maine was .
But now that I, now, now that I'm here, it's just a beautiful, um, uh,
state, uh, with lots of wildlife and lots of things to do.
Um, so we're seeking, uh,
we're looking at some of the HBCUs to bring some of the, uh,
providers, uh, some of the physician assistants, um, nursing students,
and maybe even finally some of the additional residents here to the state of
Maine, um, to get some training and then hopefully, uh,
then the effective recruiting, uh, done, um,
to make sure that, um, we have the,
the resources and the workforce that we need going forward.
So just looking for recruitment and, uh, and, uh, talent,
wherever we can find it, even outside the state of Maine, uh,
to draw them into our beautiful state.
That's amazing to hear, and certainly, you know, great that, uh,
you're able to make those connections with HBCUs and, and, uh, um,
really foster that type of relationship. I, I think, um, certainly important,
as you mentioned, being able to have healthcare providers,
whether they're the physicians, nurses or other, uh,
members of the clinical team, you know, reflect, uh, the patient population,
especially like you said, it just builds so much trust. And so, um, that,
that sounds like a really important and impactful way to, uh,
connect deep more deeply with the community.
And, you know, you bring up a very good point. You know, I am, um,
an alumnus of a historically black college, Howard University in Washington dc,
um, where I got my undergraduate degree and I was tutored and learned, um,
which is a, a academics, uh, setting, uh, institution.
So I was able to really learn how people learn, um,
especially in the healthcare arena, you know, the, the,
so I had the opportunity to work with the, the medical students, the residents,
you know, the nurses.
They had a school of Allied Health in addition to the school of medicine,
a school of dentistry, um, all connected to our community hospital,
um, to serve the, and serve and to serve that community, uh,
with whatever health needs that they had. It was a level one trauma,
the hospital, the community hospital. There was a level one trauma.
So we basically saw it all there.
And that training really sparked in me the opportunity to look at
population health, to look at, you know,
disparities and healthcare as well as social determinants of health, you know,
and how we actually serve the people because, you know,
we're really not served until everybody's served, if you understand what I mean.
Absolutely.
That's such a great point and powerful statement about thinking through,
you know, not leaving anybody behind,
making sure you're serving everybody in the community and thinking about that
population health and then acting on it too in making a big difference.
And it seems like that certainly is, is a, you know,
evolving thing for a lot of hospitals and health systems and evolving strategy.
Um, as well as, you know,
there's so many different aspects of healthcare that are changing today.
So I wanted to wrap up the discussion by asking what is the most important
thing that healthcare executives should do right now to make sure that their
organizations are successful for the future?
Um, I would say that they really need to have a firm footing on the
technology. Um, you know, the, the,
the population today, today and the generations today grew up with technology.
We need to use that to our advantage to be able to serve our patients,
um, and to also make sure that their healthcare needs are met not only just in
chronic illness, but preventative illness as well. Um,
some of those things include, you know,
patient self-scheduling and being able to, um,
self-register, uh,
online before they come in for an appointment to save time instead of doing the
paperwork in the office. And all those things that we are,
that we associate with how patients are seen in healthcare delivery, um,
can be improved by technology.
And we need to be ready for that and look for ways that we can insert
technology into our present workflow or then just change the workflow to meet
the needs of the people.
Because access is everything right now to make sure that we have adequate
access to all patients who need us and to make sure that we're able to do that.
So that would probably be my number one thing. Um,
I think that also we need to look at, um,
the population that we serve and to really listen to the patients.
Um, all of our work needs to be patient centered so that, uh,
the patient gets actually what they need instead of what we think they need. Um,
I find that sometimes, you know, as healthcare, um, executives, you know,
we're so used to just doing the grind and making sure that everything is
covered. Um,
but oftentimes we don't listen enough to our patients to find out or look at the
data to see exactly what kind of services would our patients actually need,
making sure we fill the healthcare gaps. Um,
also that patient has, as it relates to social determinants,
like transportation and, you know, uh,
health literacy and all of those things, um,
we need to make sure that we are able to serve the patients the way that they
need to be served at the place that they're at.
Absolutely.
And that's a fantastic reminder and definitely something so important to keep
front of mind. Mina, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
This has been such a fun and fascinating conversation,
and I'm looking forward to meeting you in person as well at our c e o and CFO
Roundtable, um, in November.
Awesome. I really appreciate the opportunity to come and, uh,
the invite and, um, I just really appreciate, uh,
the conferences and the seminars that I've gone to so far.
They're very enlightening. Um,
the networking is fantastic and I look forward to meeting you in person.
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