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- This is Chris Oser with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
I'm Phil today to be joined by Todd ak, president
and CEO of Valley Children's Healthcare in California.
Todd, thank you so much for joining us today.
- It's my pleasure, Chris. Thank you for having me.
- Absolutely. Would you please introduce yourself
and tell our audience a little bit about your background?
- Sure, it's my pleasure. I'm Todd Pac.
I serve as the president
and CEO of Valley Children's Healthcare, uh,
which is a health system
or a network that serves, uh, close to 2 million kids
in about a 45,000 square mile service area.
On our main campus, we have a 358 bed quaternary
pediatric, uh, acute care facilities, uh,
and scattered, uh, throughout that service area are a number
of outpatient locations ranging from primary care
to pediatric subspecialty care, so that no matter
where any family is, they, they're able to get
to Valley Children's for help within 30 minutes
or 30 miles across that 45,000 square mile service area.
And we also either own
or operate, uh, with Partners Pediatrics
and seven other acute care facilities
in that same geography.
- Thank you for that. Todd, uh,
valley Children's recently partnered with Wigmore Women's
and Children's Hospital in Armenia, capital of Yon.
Could you explain how did that relationship develop
between your systems and could please describe the
connection between Valley Children's
and the Armenian people?
I know it's a mouthful, but it's,
we're absolutely looking forward to hearing it.
- It's really my pleasure, Chris.
I think it was serendipitous in a way.
Uh, a longtime mentor and friend of mine, uh, Dr.
V Rouge, Alta Barian, who served many years
as the physician in chief here in the central part
of California for Kaiser Permanente, came to see me one day
and asked me if we would help
on a project that he had been engaged on, which was,
um, in Armenia.
And, uh, that project turned out to be a women's
and children's facility, uh, in Yvan Armenia,
Wigmore Women's and Children's Hospital.
And specifically, he wanted to know if we could help
with, uh, the education of young physicians
and clinicians here in the us, uh,
at our main campus facility to begin with,
and specifically if those physicians could observe how we
provided care in our er.
And we of course, said yes.
And I think it's important to note, uh, for those
that may not be familiar, um, during
the unfortunate
and tragic times, uh, of the Armenian genocide,
uh, the Armenian diaspora, uh,
really found a second home, if you will, many,
many Armenians
and people of Armenian descent here in the central part
of the state of California.
And so for us, uh, the close relationship
with those of Armenian descent has been, um,
fundamental part of our over 70 year history now.
And, uh, in fact, that same community,
uh, is one of the most generous in terms of, uh,
philanthropic support to the mission of Valley Children's
and to helping kids of any of the groups that we are blessed
to be supported by.
In fact, there's only one group if we, um,
think about it in that way,
that has surpassed the generosity in terms
of financial support, uh, of the Armenian community
to Valley Children's,
and that that group is the founding guilds
of Valley Children's as an organization
that have been functioning for over 70 years.
So you can see hopefully that this, um, relationship
between Valley Children's
and the community of individuals
of Armenian descent is one that is
closely entwined
and certainly has been part of the formative progression
and evolution of Valley Children's.
And so to be able to give back to the Children's Hospital,
the new Children's Hospital in the country of Armenia,
has really been a no brainer for us.
- And Todd, have you had a chance to, uh, visit Armenia?
Have any of your staff been had a chance
to visit, uh, the hospital there?
- Uh, I have not had the opportunity yet.
I will be, uh, at the invitation of the CEO, uh,
of Wigmore and of my friend, uh, Dr.
V Rouge, Alta Barian.
I will be visiting, uh, Armenia, uh,
in the next fall.
I'm pretty excited about that.
Um, we have had some of our staff, um, our, uh,
p the president of our fundraising foundation.
Uh, Robert Royan, uh, is of Armenian descent.
That's a pretty famous, uh,
last name in the Armenian community.
As you may know. Uh, he has been to Armenia many times,
and actually within the last six months has visited
Wigmore, uh, himself.
And we've also previously, uh, through, uh,
different relationships, uh, sponsored our physicians
to go to Armenia
and provide care in Armenia for, uh, patients
that have various congenital health conditions
that will only accelerate, uh,
through our partnership with Wigmore,
- Looking specifically at that partnership.
Todd, what are the main goals that you have
for this relationship?
- I think the first
and foremost, we want to, uh,
share our knowledge
with our colleagues in Armenia, uh, so that
the children of Armenia, which is a developing country, so
that the children in Armenia, um, have
the opportunity to receive the same quality of care
that we would provide at Valley
Children's here in the United States.
I think that, uh, that is the overriding desire
to be a part of children's lives,
not just here in the Valley,
but also, uh, in the country of Armenia.
As I've described, the relationship between
Valley Children's
and the Armenian community here is of critical importance
to us is very, very close.
And, uh, we really feel privileged
and honored to be able to now export our knowledge, uh,
to Armenia and our care, uh, with our partner,
and also to welcome, uh, the various clinicians
and physicians here to Valley Children's to see
how we provide care,
and in particular, how we address quality improvement,
uh, and ensure that the standard of care, uh,
for kids is at the highest level.
And we've already done some great work
together in that regard.
Um, and,
and I'm very excited about what the future will hold,
but this is really all about patient care, Chris,
and specifically how do we improve the lives of kids
no different from our focus in here, uh, in California with
how do we improve the, the lives of kids that live here.
So in that way, that is the overriding objective
of the relationship.
- So when team members from Wigmore come
to Valley Children's and they're involved in your hospital
and everything that goes on there,
can you take us a little bit through what they're seeing
and how they are going to take
that knowledge back to Armenia?
- I, I'd be happy to. I think it's a wide range of, uh,
experiences that they are
having when they are shadowing, if you will, or observing.
Uh, our clinicians, the initial rotation was
of the pediatric doctors from Armenia
and Wigmore observing in our er, which is one
of the busiest ERs, uh, in the country.
And it's not just for pediatrics,
although all we do in that ER is pediatrics.
So it was a very intense experience for them
to see the amount of care that was
provided, as well as the variability of conditions
that were coming in, which, uh,
pediatric subspecialists were working in consultation
with the peds ER physicians.
They also were able to see a number of, uh,
pediatric trauma activations as we are a trauma center here,
and they got to observe, uh, those trauma cases firsthand
and how we provided, uh, care.
And importantly then
how we critique the care that we provide.
How do we learn from, um, both
the team members that are involved?
Do we need to change processes?
How do we go about having those discussions?
And then how do we follow up?
What systems might we change and how do we do that?
And I'll give you this one small example
that every single member of that team mentioned
to me independently, including the CEO of, um,
Wigmore in all of our patient care
environments, uh, in the inpatient operations here
in including the er,
our quality scorecard is posted publicly
and it says what we're doing well,
and it says where we are not hitting our own internally
set goals, which are always in excess of
what the regulatory goal would be.
So it is very, very transparent, uh, not just for our team,
but for family members, uh, of patients that come.
Anybody can see this, it's public.
That was something that every one of our guests
and colleagues from Wigmore pointed out as
incredibly powerful, and they were going to go home
and immediately implement the same at their organization.
And the reason Chris, I think that is so important is
that goes to a culture of safety.
It goes to a cultural mindset
of continued process improvement.
And I think more than anything else, it recognizes
that children are the future
and our best has always, always
needs to be improving.
And we have got to ensure
that we think about every child that is coming to us
for care, uh, as being a bright spot in our future
and protecting that future.
So it, it reinforces the commitment to always doing better,
always improving,
and every member of the team knowing where we're excelling
and where we're fa falling short.
And, and that
underlying message becomes very motivational
and as I said, becomes a part of the culture.
So, um, I have not seen their, um,
they're gonna send me, um, um, photos
of their own posters that they put up.
Uh, I have not seen those yet,
but I'm really looking forward to it.
So those are, those are the things
that they are experiencing when they join us is
the direct patient care experiences
and everything that that entails,
but then also they're seeing how we do process improvement,
how we communicate to each other, how we are committed
to always being better, that we've got to do better, uh,
because this is a future that we are entrusted with.
And I think those things really, uh, resonated
with our colleagues at at wigs more.
And, and so they see all things
great and small when they're here.
- Thank you for that, Todd. That all seems like a very
heartwarming and worthwhile
endeavor that you guys have going.
I mean, if you don't mind projecting just a little bit,
I know this relationship has been going on for a while,
but as you see it moving forward, you know, five,
10 years from now, what do you hope
that this partnership will be and bring?
- That's a great question, Chris.
And I think that there is so much that has already occurred
for Valley Children's from, uh, this relationship.
Uh, notably, uh, our team is absolutely thrilled
to be in a position to share with colleagues
how we do things here.
Uh, I can tell you that I saw a lot of smiling faces,
uh, between colleagues as our guests were here.
They are very ex our team is very, very excited
to have the opportunity to travel to Armenia
and do direct patient care with our colleagues in Armenia
for certain conditions.
And we are, uh, working now at
determining which patient populations should we work on, uh,
together, uh, when we send that medical mission, uh,
to Armenia, if you will.
Maybe that's the wrong terminology,
but when we send, um, members of our team to Armenia
to work, uh, shoulder to shoulder, side by side
with our colleagues at Wigs more, I think that there's a,
a great sense of pride, uh,
within the Valley Children's team, uh, to know
that they're helping colleagues a half a world away,
uh, that may not, uh, have had the opportunity
to receive the training that our team has,
whether it's at Valley Children's or academically.
I think it's also, uh, for our team,
very illuminating that not every organization may have
the same tools that we have,
although I have seen some of the, uh, investments
that have been made at Wigmore
and they have the same gear that we do.
So that is, uh, a fantastic thing to see.
And our team is really, really, I think, uplifted
by the notion that, uh, we are going to be able to
help the only children's hospital for an entire country,
uh, take care of kids the way that we would,
but maybe even better, right?
Because we, we of course learn from our colleagues
in our Armenia at wigs more as well.
To your, the part of your question about
where do I see this going in, in four to five years, uh,
we believe that we will be in a position
to offer an international rotation in our, uh,
pediatric residency program, uh, with Wigmore.
We have already had initial conversations about that.
Uh, this is something that's very attractive
to young people thinking about, uh, advancing
their career in medicine
and having an international experience is important
to a number of those, uh,
young people advancing their medical careers,
especially in pediatrics.
So that is, uh, something that we are very excited about
and think will be bring tremendous value both
to Valley Children's as well as to the team at, uh, Wigmore.
I think ultimately we foresee a future
where Valley Children's and Wigmore Women's
and Children's Hospital are sister hospitals,
a half a world away with a lot of, uh, integration between,
uh, clinical education, um, technology utilization,
pharmaceutical utilization, uh, residency training.
I think training the future physicians
that may practice here in the United States, uh,
in the central part of California, equally
with ERA Van Armenia is really, really important.
And, uh, that is something that will enhance the future
of both organizations, uh, in a way that's really difficult
to quantify,
but one that both organizations are very excited about.
- Todd, thank you so much today
for sharing this inspiring story of this partnership.
We obviously wish a continued success,
and thank you again for joining us today.
- My pleasure. Chris, always thank you for having me.
- It's so important for leaders at the top of organizations
to keep learning, stay sharp, grow their networks
to help our audience better do this in a more simplified,
personalized, and meaningful way.
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