Podcast Summary

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Episode: Aidan Hetler, CEO of Sedgwick County Health Center
Date: September 18, 2025
Host: Laura Deardow

Overview

This episode features a conversation with Aidan Hetler, CEO of Sedgwick County Health Center, a critical access hospital and integrated health system serving frontier populations in northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska. The discussion centers on leading rural healthcare transformation, navigating emerging challenges, leveraging technology, and strategies for long-term organizational sustainability and culture.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to Sedgwick County Health Center

• Background and Mission:
  • Sedgwick County Health Center, based in Julesburg, CO, serves both northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska.
  • Footprint includes a 15-bed critical access hospital, three rural health clinics, nursing home, and assisted living.
  • Mission: "Deliver exceptional care close to home."
  • “It keeps our entire team pretty busy. So it's a good, good role to be in and great place to work.” (01:01, Aidan Hetler)

Major Success: EMR Implementation and Transformation

[01:23–04:21]

• Biggest Achievement of Last Year:

  • Major accomplishment: Full implementation of a modern electronic medical record (EMR) system.
  • Used EMR launch as a “springboard” for process transformation and workflow standardization, not just a technology swap.
  • Improved internal communication and set the stage for better clinical and financial outcomes.

• Change Management Approach:

  • Staff buy-in was crucial, with everyone embracing a complete overhaul of old practices.
  • Focused on “rebuilding everything we knew” to put patient experience and outcomes at the center.
  • “We used the implementation as an opportunity for us to have a full process transformation project... We also leveraged it to standardize some of our workflows, improve communication across many of our teams, and ultimately we built a foundation for better clinical and financial outcomes.” (01:51, Hetler)
  • “However you worked before, we kind of threw it out the window or saved the very best pieces of it and figured out how we would work in a new environment.” (03:40, Hetler)

Top Strategic Priorities for 2026

[04:21–08:37]

1. Revenue Cycle Readiness and Financial Sustainability

   • Preparing for 2026 federal payment and compliance changes.
   • Need for error-proof revenue processes due to rural hospitals' tight margins.
   • “We don’t have the luxury of margin for error. So we need air-tight processes to keep the organization financially stable and viable.” (06:10, Hetler)

2. Workforce Resourcing and Infrastructure

   • Investing in high-leverage support areas like revenue cycle, informatics, and IT; these are seen as equally important as bedside staffing for sustainability.
   • “We want to make sure that we have the right skill sets in each of these functions, just which we view as just as important as bedside staffing because it ensures sustainability and really harmonizes the overall care process.” (07:08, Hetler)

3. Long-Term Care Service Viability

   • Assessing the future of the health center's long-term care services amid aging infrastructure and reimbursement challenges.
   • Comprehensive assessment planned to modernize or re-envision long-term care in response to community needs.
   • “It’s really critical for us to determine what role these services are going to play in our future and how we can continue to meet community needs responsibly…” (07:44, Hetler)

Growth and Modernization Focus

[08:37–11:15]

• Centers of Excellence Model
  • Strategic shift toward highlighting and investing in core services: primary care, emergency care, rehab, and specialty care access.
  • Reflection on offering surgical services: focus shifted from in-house provision to creating local access and strong referrals.
  • “If we're able to do the consult and create access for our community to get to that specialty care here and then they receive it somewhere close in the region, that's going to be our best combination...” (09:44, Hetler)
  • Using technology and partnerships to “bring the specialists into our community.”
• Community-Driven Expansion
  • Growth initiatives are aimed at reducing barriers and responding directly to community needs, not just expanding capacity for its own sake.

Growth Mindset Amid Rural Challenges

[11:55–12:48]

• Turning Obstacles into Opportunities
  • Emphasizing abundance over scarcity as a core organizational mindset.
  • “Our mantra we try to always carry with us, as you know, these are the set of circumstances that we exist and operate in and, you know, what opportunities can we create out of it for the people that we serve.” (12:01, Hetler)

Building a Thriving Organization for the Next Five Years

[12:48–15:42]

• Cultural Transformation
  • Overhauling organizational culture since Hetler’s arrival three years ago, with a focus on continual improvement and dreaming bigger.
• “Patients Come Second” Philosophy
  • Prioritizing staff well-being and value, so they can provide exceptional care to patients.
  • “If we take care of our staff, they can give their very best to our patients…We can’t deliver on anything like that if we’re not taking care of our team members who are the caregivers.” (13:51, Hetler)
• Employer of Choice Initiatives
  • Enhancing benefits beyond base pay—mental wellness, time off, sabbaticals, employee appreciation.
• Resilient Leadership Development
  • Investing in both formal and informal leadership at all levels to foster a mission-aligned, adaptable staff.
  • “If we win on our culture, we’ll win on care. That’s the whole philosophy behind it.” (14:59, Hetler)
  • Rural healthcare leaders must blend operational excellence with “bold cultural leadership” to remain resilient.

Notable Quotes

• On EMR implementation and transformation:
  “For a small rural health System like us achieving this level of transformation with the limited resources we have is something we're really proud of.” (02:27, Hetler)
• On organizational mindset:
  “We try to just keep that kind of mindset towards growth and abundance and not scarcity. So it's part of our ethos.” (12:09, Hetler)
• On organizational culture:
  “We're intentionally building a patients come second culture…It's to reinforce that if we take care of our staff, they can give their very best to our patients.”—(13:14, Hetler)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:31] – Introduction to Sedgwick County Health Center and its mission
• [01:23] – Major win: EMR implementation and transformation project
• [04:35] – Top strategic priorities: revenue cycle, workforce, long-term care
• [08:37] – Upcoming priorities: Centers of excellence, specialty access, community-driven expansion
• [12:48] – Culture, talent, and becoming employer of choice for thriving rural organizations

This conversation offers a candid and energizing look at how rural health leaders are innovating and adapting, with a strong emphasis on cultural transformation, operational excellence, and keeping mission-driven care at the forefront.