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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Dr. Derek Wheeler, COO of Lurie Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
00:10:52
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- [00:00]
A
This is Scott King with Becker's Healthcare Podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Derek Wheeler, executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg school of medicine. Dr. Wheeler, how are you doing today?
- [00:15]
B
I'm fine, Scott. How are you?
- [00:17]
A
I'm great. You know, we were just talking about the weather. It's sunny in Chicago. You never know when it's going to going to turn here. So we're always ready for a storm, aren't we?
- [00:24]
B
That's right. We have to take advantage of our summers here because our winters are less than ideal.
- [00:30]
A
Summers go by way too fast and winters are harsh. That is correct. But I want to get to the wonderful work you're doing with Northwestern and Feinberg School of Medicine. Just kind of going with your role as the coo. What do you see as your biggest responsibility?
- [00:45]
B
Well, I'm actually the COO of Lurie Children's Hospital, which is. We're affiliated with Northwestern University in the Feinberg School of Medicine, but we're actually independent and freestanding Children's hospital and actually the only independent, freestanding children's hospital in the state of Illinois. But just real honored to have that close academic partnership with Northwestern University. And certainly I'm privileged to be a physician and remain on the faculty at Northwestern. But you know, at Lurie Children's Hospital, I really see my job as the chief operating officer as really making Lurie Children's easy or easier, not only for our patients, but also for our staff and our providers. And so we do a lot of do that in a lot of different ways, certainly looking at our access and how we can be more efficient getting patients in and out of our hospital, not only in the outpatient clinics, but in the operating rooms and in our medical imaging department, certainly on the inpatient side. But also I think we've been focusing on trying to make Lurie Children's Hospital easier for our providers and our staff to navigate and work here. And so I really see that as my primary responsibility as the chief operating officer.
- [02:11]
A
When you look at your health system as a whole, what accomplishment from about the past year or so are you most proud of?
- [02:19]
B
I think we've made a lot of investments over the course of the last five years in our patient safety and our staff safety program. And I think we're really, really starting to see those dividends now. And we've just had a really incredible year from a patient safety perspective. We actually, as part of our corporate goal setting process, we were a Little reluctant. We wanted to have a reduction in our patient safety events, but we've done so well in the last couple years that to really set another goal for a reduction seemed like a stretch goal at the time. And actually we've far surpassed that. Our patient safety numbers continue to improve. Our neonatal intensive care unit just went 364 days without a central line infection, which was just really amazing considering the acuity of the patients that we serve in our nicu. From a staff safety perspective, we're able to provide care to a really complicated, complex group of patients and keep our staff safe. So, you know, something that's I think has been unfortunately neglected in healthcare for too long. You know, really not paying attention to overuse injuries, things like needle sticks. And so we've made some investment in that space and have really significantly improved our staff safety numbers as well. So matter of fact, we cut our days away, restricted and lost time from injuries in half over the last year. So those are two things that we're really proud of this year.
- [04:00]
A
Appreciate you sharing the background there with the staff. And patient safety certainly made some large strides there. What were the big organizational goals you set for 2025 and how's the progress going with those goals?
- [04:14]
B
Yeah, I think we really focused on three main corporate goals. The patient safety goal was one, and I already mentioned that we've really had tremendous progress with that goal. Just really exceptional results from patient safety perspective. Think, you know, one of our goals was financial. We wanted to, you know, really given the turmoil of our industry since the COVID pandemic, we wanted to have a successful year from a financial aspect and we were able to do that and far surpass our goal in that regard. And then our third and final corporate goal is really on the patient and family experience side. And again, just really incredible progress. It's just something that we've been really pleased with our patient family experience performance over the course of the last year. I think that really positions us really well for the future and just something that we're really extremely proud of.
- [05:19]
A
Dr. Wheeler, if you don't mind sharing, what exactly do you invest in with the patient family experience?
- [05:26]
B
Yeah, I think, you know, I think a lot of it is, you know, trying to, you know, and kind of what I talked about at the beginning, just making things easier for our patients and families to get in it, get in and out. You know, I think sharing our quality and our patient safety data with our patients and families and just making sure that, you know, when our patients and families come into the hospital that we keep them safe and we keep them on that trajectory to where their condition continues to improve and get better. I think that definitely goes a long way as well. I think, you know, we've done a lot of things with training our frontline staff on how to, you know, really provide a great experience for our patients and families. And I think that's been very helpful as well with our patient family experience data.
- [06:20]
A
Now, we've talked about achieving a lot of your goals. What are the headwinds you see for the next year or two?
- [06:26]
B
Well, I mean, I think we have a lot of financial headwinds coming up. I think all of healthcare, children's hospitals, in particular, certainly with, you know, the changes in Medicaid reimbursement, you know, I think the funding climate for research, you know, obviously research is a big part of what we do at Lurie Children's Hospital. So I think really, you know, continuing to, you know, leverage our staff and our providers and, you know, work on efficiency and quality. Quality, you know, I think the benefit to, you know, lowering our patient safety scores and, you know, continuing to invest in quality is it, you know, quality does not cost as much money. And so that, you know, and becoming more efficient will save us money in the long run as well. And so I think, you know, just really working hard to take as much cost out of the system as we can to really help position us for continued success in this really difficult climate, I think will be important for us.
- [07:33]
A
And how are you evolving as a leader?
- [07:36]
B
You know, I, I think I, you know, certainly Beckers is, is an incredible resource, but I've. I've learned a lot just by watching other leaders. And, you know, I read a lot. I consider myself a student of leadership, you know, and I read about, you know, how leaders throughout history have dealt with turbulent, difficult times. And I've learned a lot from that. But, you know, I think just watching a lot of other leaders in the healthcare industry has been helpful. And reading a lot about how they are kind of navigating some of the challenges that our industry is facing, I think has been very helpful to me. But, you know, I think hopefully I've become more resilient. Just, you know, going through everything that we've gone through as an organization and as an industry over the last five years. And that's something that, you know, as I reflect on how I've evolved as a leader in our own organization, I think I've become more resilient. And I think that's been important along.
- [08:42]
A
The lines of leadership. You know, our family and other families we know have had to take our kids to Lori's for a variety of things. And Lori's really does have, you know, for anyone who doesn't know, a wonderful reputation. How do you think yourself and the institution have been able to establish that you will get the care you need for your child? And they treat children very special the way they should.
- [09:07]
B
Yeah, I think Lurie Children's has really been kind of a crown jewel in the city of Chicago for a long time. I mean, we've been around for 140 years and have been a pillar of the community. And I think just knowing that history as a leader within our organization today, it's just, you know, you need to protect that. That reputation and. And protect that legacy and really look towards the future and. And. And try to continue to provide the kind of exceptional care that the patients and families that we serve have really grown accustomed to. And, and so I think continuing to make investments, you know, really continuing to try to push the envelope from a safety perspective and a quality of care perspective, while at the same time, you know, working on making sure that we provide a great patient and family experience is just some of the ways that we really try to protect that legacy and continue to build upon our reputation. Which. It's a wonderful organization, and I've grown to love the city and the hospital, and my. I've been here for five years, and. And I think it's just a wonderful pillar in the community, and we feel very blessed to be a part of that.
- [10:35]
A
Well, thank you so much, Dr. Wheeler. Thanks for joining us on the podcast and for a great conversation. We're looking forward to having you at our annual meeting as a speaker as well.
- [10:42]
B
All right, great. I look. And I'm looking forward to that as well. Thank you so much, Scott.
- [10:46]
A
Awesome. See you in April. Thank you.