1
00:00:05,105 --> 00:00:07,155
- This is the Becker's
Healthcare Podcast, created

2
00:00:07,155 --> 00:00:08,315
by the team of Becker's Healthcare,

3
00:00:08,475 --> 00:00:10,195
a multimedia company devoted to the people

4
00:00:10,215 --> 00:00:11,515
who power us healthcare.

5
00:00:11,785 --> 00:00:14,595
Four new 15 minute episodes
are released daily containing

6
00:00:14,795 --> 00:00:16,555
industry news analysis
and thought leadership.

7
00:00:16,555 --> 00:00:19,435
From powerful healthcare
decision makers Support our show

8
00:00:19,575 --> 00:00:22,395
by leaving it a five star rating
and review on Apple Podcast

9
00:00:22,615 --> 00:00:23,875
or other platforms you use.

10
00:00:24,025 --> 00:00:25,835
It's a chance to tell us
what you like about the show

11
00:00:25,895 --> 00:00:27,115
and act on your feedback.

12
00:00:27,115 --> 00:00:29,075
Thanks for listening.
Now here's the episode.

13
00:00:30,825 --> 00:00:31,955
- Welcome everyone,

14
00:00:32,215 --> 00:00:33,995
to the Becker's Healthcare podcast series.

15
00:00:34,175 --> 00:00:35,555
I'm Ryan Mohammed, writer

16
00:00:35,555 --> 00:00:37,275
and moderator with Becker's Healthcare.

17
00:00:37,815 --> 00:00:38,915
I'm absolutely thrilled to have

18
00:00:38,915 --> 00:00:41,075
with me today Dr. Ralph Yates,

19
00:00:41,245 --> 00:00:43,395
chief Medical Officer at Salem Health.

20
00:00:43,855 --> 00:00:45,395
Doctor, it's very nice to have you on the

21
00:00:45,395 --> 00:00:46,435
podcast today. How are you?

22
00:00:47,275 --> 00:00:49,035
- I, I'm well, and
thank you for having me.

23
00:00:49,535 --> 00:00:50,915
- Of course. Well, to get us started,

24
00:00:51,045 --> 00:00:52,675
would you mind please introducing yourself

25
00:00:52,675 --> 00:00:54,035
and telling us a bit
about your background?

26
00:00:54,735 --> 00:00:56,765
- Of course. Uh, Ralph Yates.

27
00:00:56,865 --> 00:01:01,325
I'm, uh, in my 44th year
clinically in practice by,

28
00:01:01,665 --> 00:01:03,165
by training and certification.

29
00:01:03,265 --> 00:01:04,325
I'm a family physician.

30
00:01:04,865 --> 00:01:08,285
I'm Chief medical officer of
Salem Health in Salem, Oregon.

31
00:01:09,545 --> 00:01:14,005
We are a two hospital health
system, 6,000 employees

32
00:01:14,585 --> 00:01:16,245
and medical staff.

33
00:01:16,735 --> 00:01:21,485
We're located in the mid
Willamette Valley area of Oregon.

34
00:01:21,755 --> 00:01:26,205
Beautiful, beautiful area.
Our main hospital is 644 beds.

35
00:01:26,695 --> 00:01:28,925
We're a level two trauma and nicu,

36
00:01:29,505 --> 00:01:31,725
and we service a catchment area of,

37
00:01:31,945 --> 00:01:34,325
of roughly 500,000 citizens,

38
00:01:34,905 --> 00:01:36,805
and we are the main
hospital for that area.

39
00:01:37,635 --> 00:01:38,685
- Wonderful, wonderful.

40
00:01:38,685 --> 00:01:40,485
Thank you so much for
giving us that background.

41
00:01:40,745 --> 00:01:42,485
So to get us started,

42
00:01:42,735 --> 00:01:45,045
could you tell us about
your most successful project

43
00:01:45,225 --> 00:01:47,325
or initiative from the last year?

44
00:01:47,515 --> 00:01:48,805
What issues were you trying to solve?

45
00:01:49,105 --> 00:01:50,445
And also what drove the Success

46
00:01:52,175 --> 00:01:55,945
- Sale Health is, is, is focused
around the whole concepts

47
00:01:55,945 --> 00:01:58,545
of teams and teams solving problems.

48
00:01:59,325 --> 00:02:02,185
Our initiative that I would, would address

49
00:02:02,285 --> 00:02:06,065
and speak to involves staff development,

50
00:02:06,935 --> 00:02:11,025
emotional and uh, clinical
support development for

51
00:02:11,565 --> 00:02:13,425
all members of our, our staff,

52
00:02:13,455 --> 00:02:15,665
both nursing and medical staff.

53
00:02:16,315 --> 00:02:18,825
There are three main initiatives
that I've been involved

54
00:02:18,825 --> 00:02:20,545
with over this last year.

55
00:02:22,045 --> 00:02:25,225
One of them involves a very
innovative program and,

56
00:02:25,325 --> 00:02:30,305
and one that we have not
modeled after anyone else,

57
00:02:30,965 --> 00:02:35,765
and it's, it is called Ours
Program Staff Engagement

58
00:02:35,825 --> 00:02:37,405
and Resiliency Advocates,

59
00:02:37,425 --> 00:02:39,045
and there are five of them that are,

60
00:02:39,185 --> 00:02:41,565
are embedded within the
organization right now.

61
00:02:42,255 --> 00:02:44,925
These are are counselors.

62
00:02:45,155 --> 00:02:49,185
They are crisis trained individuals.

63
00:02:50,015 --> 00:02:54,785
Four of the five are, are
actually in the, come from the

64
00:02:55,505 --> 00:02:59,065
ministry profession and
they're embedded within our,

65
00:02:59,505 --> 00:03:02,885
our main health system
soon, other areas as well.

66
00:03:03,225 --> 00:03:08,165
And they're there to provide
daily support for our nursing

67
00:03:08,465 --> 00:03:09,685
and physician staff.

68
00:03:09,915 --> 00:03:13,525
This, all this all was started
initially in our emergency

69
00:03:13,525 --> 00:03:15,125
department, it spreading out to others,

70
00:03:15,175 --> 00:03:16,565
other areas of the hospital.

71
00:03:17,225 --> 00:03:20,605
And then we, we survey how they're doing

72
00:03:20,985 --> 00:03:24,805
and how our staff's doing
using validated questions.

73
00:03:25,235 --> 00:03:26,285
That friend of ours

74
00:03:26,385 --> 00:03:27,925
and someone we work with closely,

75
00:03:28,015 --> 00:03:31,085
Brian Sexton at Duke developed.

76
00:03:31,225 --> 00:03:35,045
We look at emotional
exhaustion, emotional thriving

77
00:03:35,465 --> 00:03:39,165
and emotional recovery
for the three areas and,

78
00:03:39,745 --> 00:03:43,325
and the, the teams have had
a direct impact on all three

79
00:03:43,325 --> 00:03:45,525
of those parameters
within our institution.

80
00:03:46,225 --> 00:03:49,085
The other, the other program
I had mentioned, second

81
00:03:49,145 --> 00:03:51,245
of three is our peer support program

82
00:03:52,305 --> 00:03:55,365
and some, some other institutions.

83
00:03:55,435 --> 00:03:57,085
It's called Second Victims Program.

84
00:03:57,875 --> 00:04:02,165
This is a unique program for
us in that it has developed out

85
00:04:02,165 --> 00:04:04,965
of or in concert with
our Sierra a program,

86
00:04:05,905 --> 00:04:08,845
and these are trained individuals
that we train internally

87
00:04:09,305 --> 00:04:13,805
and they're there to reach
out to staff, both physician

88
00:04:13,985 --> 00:04:18,925
and nursing staff when,
when there are issues when,

89
00:04:19,275 --> 00:04:21,605
when a case goes badly

90
00:04:22,785 --> 00:04:25,365
and they're there to,
they, they carry beepers

91
00:04:25,425 --> 00:04:27,565
and they're there literally
to reach the individual

92
00:04:27,665 --> 00:04:28,845
and say, how are you doing?

93
00:04:29,985 --> 00:04:32,685
The third program is one
that we've just entered our,

94
00:04:32,865 --> 00:04:36,685
our 13th year and it's PLI

95
00:04:37,465 --> 00:04:41,565
and PLI stands for a Physician
Leadership Institute.

96
00:04:42,345 --> 00:04:45,845
It, it's a anachronistic
in that it, the program

97
00:04:46,675 --> 00:04:48,685
reaches more than just our physicians.

98
00:04:48,905 --> 00:04:52,405
It involves our nursing staff, all

99
00:04:52,405 --> 00:04:54,525
of our senior executives board.

100
00:04:55,335 --> 00:04:58,325
We've, we've now graduated over 900

101
00:04:58,325 --> 00:04:59,605
leaders through this program.

102
00:05:00,195 --> 00:05:03,645
It's a four month long program,
two days a month, Friday

103
00:05:03,665 --> 00:05:05,685
and Saturday, once a month.

104
00:05:05,915 --> 00:05:10,125
They work on quality improvement
projects through their,

105
00:05:10,575 --> 00:05:11,965
their four month experience

106
00:05:11,965 --> 00:05:13,925
and then present them at
the end of the program.

107
00:05:15,025 --> 00:05:19,885
What's important about this
program is it develops culture

108
00:05:20,705 --> 00:05:23,365
and is an investment in
people that go through it.

109
00:05:23,365 --> 00:05:26,365
We have a 18 month waiting
list to get into the program

110
00:05:27,985 --> 00:05:29,765
is been a remarkable program in terms

111
00:05:29,785 --> 00:05:32,605
of shaping the conversation
here within our health system.

112
00:05:33,665 --> 00:05:38,285
So it's cultural investment
that, that, that I look to

113
00:05:38,385 --> 00:05:42,365
and that I spend my time
involved with here at Salem.

114
00:05:42,365 --> 00:05:46,605
There's a cost to this and
we have showed that cost

115
00:05:46,705 --> 00:05:50,805
and the results are showing
the benefits of that.

116
00:05:52,205 --> 00:05:54,615
- Wonderful. Thank you
so much for giving us all

117
00:05:54,615 --> 00:05:57,325
that information about a
very successful project.

118
00:05:57,465 --> 00:05:59,125
It seems, as you know,

119
00:05:59,125 --> 00:06:00,845
the clinical workforce has changed a lot

120
00:06:00,865 --> 00:06:01,965
in the last few years.

121
00:06:02,555 --> 00:06:04,205
What challenges are you still facing

122
00:06:04,425 --> 00:06:06,325
and how do you see the
clinical workforce evolving?

123
00:06:07,575 --> 00:06:10,445
- Everything has changed as a result

124
00:06:10,445 --> 00:06:11,525
of the last three and a half years.

125
00:06:13,065 --> 00:06:16,845
I'm, and I know I don't speak alone

126
00:06:18,505 --> 00:06:21,885
in this regard, but our, our
nursing staff overnight, many

127
00:06:21,885 --> 00:06:23,285
of them changed.

128
00:06:24,225 --> 00:06:28,565
The senior experienced
nurses chose outpatient work

129
00:06:28,905 --> 00:06:30,885
or in some cases left the profession.

130
00:06:31,425 --> 00:06:35,365
We have just a whole lot

131
00:06:35,465 --> 00:06:37,445
of new grads on our floors

132
00:06:38,625 --> 00:06:42,365
and my concern for the medical staff is

133
00:06:42,755 --> 00:06:44,565
that we not see the same thing happen,

134
00:06:45,705 --> 00:06:48,685
and that's a, a big effort of mine

135
00:06:49,225 --> 00:06:53,085
and the staff I work
with here to support them

136
00:06:53,785 --> 00:06:55,565
to round, to be with them

137
00:06:56,425 --> 00:06:59,925
and hopefully we keep them
within the practice of medicine.

138
00:07:01,505 --> 00:07:05,725
But I think what we're seeing
as we come out of Covid is

139
00:07:05,725 --> 00:07:09,605
that this really is the most
complex chapter in this book

140
00:07:09,605 --> 00:07:11,845
of Covid, the one we're in right now.

141
00:07:12,675 --> 00:07:15,445
There's just such significant change

142
00:07:15,585 --> 00:07:18,925
that's taken place culturally
within the nursing and,

143
00:07:19,225 --> 00:07:20,365
and medical staffs.

144
00:07:21,945 --> 00:07:24,145
- Absolutely. Thank you so much
for giving us that insight.

145
00:07:24,205 --> 00:07:26,705
And Doctor, before I let
you go, last thing I wanted

146
00:07:26,705 --> 00:07:28,585
to ask you is, what is your best advice

147
00:07:29,085 --> 00:07:30,945
for aspiring physician nurse leaders?

148
00:07:32,375 --> 00:07:37,035
- Get outta your office,
get out on the floor round.

149
00:07:38,125 --> 00:07:39,355
Spend time with staff.

150
00:07:40,475 --> 00:07:42,995
Actually talk to them
and take the time to hear

151
00:07:42,995 --> 00:07:45,955
what they tell you and
listen to their stories.

152
00:07:47,425 --> 00:07:48,955
They, their stories have meaning

153
00:07:49,855 --> 00:07:52,315
and it's important for us as leaders

154
00:07:52,375 --> 00:07:53,955
to take the time to hear those stories.

155
00:07:55,105 --> 00:07:56,355
- Yeah, absolutely.

156
00:07:56,355 --> 00:07:57,475
Thank you so much for sharing

157
00:07:58,255 --> 00:07:59,675
and giving us those final thoughts.

158
00:07:59,675 --> 00:08:01,075
Doctor, this has been an amazing

159
00:08:01,215 --> 00:08:03,635
and informative discussion,
so again, I wanna thank you

160
00:08:03,635 --> 00:08:05,155
so much for coming on Becker's Healthcare

161
00:08:05,175 --> 00:08:06,915
and I look forward to
connecting with you again soon.

162
00:08:07,705 --> 00:08:09,435
- It's been a pleasure. Thank you, Maya.

163
00:08:11,585 --> 00:08:14,155
- It's so important for leaders
at the top of organizations

164
00:08:14,175 --> 00:08:16,675
to keep learning, stay
sharp, grow their networks

165
00:08:17,015 --> 00:08:19,555
to help our audience better
do this in a more simplified,

166
00:08:19,555 --> 00:08:21,195
personalized, and meaningful way.

167
00:08:21,715 --> 00:08:23,955
Becker's Healthcare has launched my BHC,

168
00:08:24,465 --> 00:08:26,675
it's your trusted Becker's
healthcare experience

169
00:08:26,755 --> 00:08:28,955
and more with content, connections, events

170
00:08:28,975 --> 00:08:29,995
and learning opportunities.

171
00:08:30,705 --> 00:08:31,795
Join the community free

172
00:08:31,795 --> 00:08:36,595
of charge@www.my dot
becker's hospital review.com

173
00:08:36,695 --> 00:08:37,555
and we'll see you there.