Episode Overview
Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Episode: Expanding Access, Excellence, and Sustainability at Legacy Health
Guest: Dr. Joy White, Vice President and Chief Nursing and Operations Officer, Legacy Health
Host: Mackenzie Bean
Date: February 13, 2026
This episode features an insightful conversation with Dr. Joy White about Legacy Health’s recent efforts to expand access, drive operational excellence, and focus on sustainability. Dr. White shares practical strategies and leadership insights on responding to industry headwinds, supporting healthcare teams, and preparing for future challenges—all with a focus on compassionate care and community responsiveness.
Guest Introduction & Background (01:03–03:23)
- Dr. Joy White introduces herself, highlighting her roles as a wife, mother, grandmother, and caregiver, and her 22+ years as a nurse practitioner specializing in women's and psychiatric-mental health.
- She discusses her comprehensive career experience: federal service (15 years in the VA), private sector (including Catholic healthcare), long-term care, quality, and education.
- Dr. White currently serves dual roles as Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital, part of Legacy Health—a two-state system (Oregon and Washington) with 8 hospitals and about 14,000 employees.
- Legacy Health's mission: “to be good health and good health to not only our people, but our patients, our community, and our world.”
“I have and continue to enjoy being a nurse… I’ve had the opportunity to zoom out and zoom in in terms of healthcare from the clinical side to the administration and operations side.”
(Dr. Joy White – 01:17)
Key Initiatives: Expanding Access (03:23–05:43)
- Dr. White identifies the most important recent initiative: improving community access to care.
- Major operational efforts focused on:
- Reducing the emergency department (ED) "left without being seen" rate,
- Minimizing “divert” status (now just 2% of the time),
- Ensuring family birth centers stay open by recruiting and retaining experienced nurses,
- Enhancing staffing efficiency.
- Results: Increased accessibility, efficient operations, and genuine community impact.
“A lot of work around being accessible to the community, making sure that we’re efficient and we’re open to serve them has been a lot of the work we’ve been focused on this year… I’m just excited that we’ve seen that type of impact.”
(Dr. Joy White – 04:53)
Making Progress in Emergency Departments (05:43–08:34)
- Challenges in EDs: National increase in ED crowding, largely due to medical and behavioral health demands.
- Key Solutions:
- Prioritizing adequate physician, nurse, and technician staffing, despite persistent shortages.
- Recognizing the rising presence of behavioral/mental health patients in the ED:
- Legacy’s Unity behavioral health hospital and four dedicated behavioral health ED beds at Good Samaritan cited as key resources.
- Streamlining clinical workflows and throughput: Ensuring timely transition from ED to inpatient units.
- Leveraging technology, especially EPIC EHR, for enhanced patient flow.
- Multidisciplinary collaboration with imaging and support services.
- Outcomes: Efficient people, processes, and tech integration are essential for relieving congestion and serving community needs.
“Foundationally, making sure that we have the team members that we need… It’s the people and then it’s the process. And then last, of course, is the technology.”
(Dr. Joy White – 07:16)
Priorities and Future Outlook: Access, Excellence, Sustainability (08:34–10:22)
- Top Priorities for 2026:
- Access
- Remaining open and available to meet community needs.
- Excellence
- Improving clinical quality indicators (fall rates, CAUTI, CLABSI, HAPI, etc.).
- Emphasizing employee and patient experience.
- Recruitment and retention of top talent.
- Sustainability
- Process efficiency, operating room productivity, and system friction reduction.
- Focused on long-term, sustainable operations.
“Access continues to be number one... Also excellence… within that excellence bucket is what is the experience of our employees?... And then last would be sustainability… those are the things we’re focused on: access, excellence and sustainability.”
(Dr. Joy White – 08:53) - Access
Major Challenge: Doing More With Less (10:22–12:07)
- Hardest Forthcoming Challenge: Navigating increasing costs and demand with decreasing reimbursement, compounded by federal legislation (e.g., HR1).
- Oregon and Washington expected to be significantly impacted—requiring efficiency and creativity.
“That story of having to do even more with less, recognizing we are getting reimbursed lower than we ever have… We’re gonna have to be really creative and… lean into supports that we can gain from our local partners, partnerships and legislative entities.”
(Dr. Joy White – 10:38)
Nursing Perspective: Preparation & Creativity (12:07–16:21)
- Staff Well-Being
- Emphasizing support for team members (“Patients Come Second” philosophy).
- Initiatives like “stress first aid” offered to all staff.
- Recruitment and Retention
- Ongoing focus on hiring and keeping skilled talent.
- Throughput and System Efficiency
- Consistent improvement of inpatient capacity and throughput processes.
- Coordinated Outpatient and Community Care
- Strengthening partnerships between inpatient, outpatient, specialty, and primary care.
- Exploring strategic collaborations with community partners—“We can’t all be centers of excellence.”
- Leveraging economies of scale across Legacy’s eight hospitals.
- Goal: Be the provider of choice due to quality, experience, and efficiency.
“We want to be the organization where people choose to receive care… our experience is just phenomenal. So people will choose Legacy Health because of those things, because of quality, because of experience.”
(Dr. Joy White – 15:45)
Closing Reflections & Memorable Moments (16:21–18:42)
- Words of Encouragement for Healthcare Leaders:
- Reminder for administrators and care teams to care for themselves.
- Simple mindfulness practice: Pause to reflect on a daily win or moment of gratitude.
- Healthcare is both challenging and deeply rewarding.
“We need you in health care… Taking care of ourselves in these roles is equally important… If you have a gratitude jar, if you have a moment just to reflect on one win… take the opportunity to have a grateful moment and recognize something that you’ve done…”
(Dr. Joy White – 16:40, 17:31)
Essential Quotes & Timestamps
-
On holistic leadership:
“I have and continue to enjoy being a nurse… I’ve had the opportunity to zoom out and zoom in in terms of healthcare from the clinical side to administration and operations.”
(01:17) -
On access improvements:
“Being accessible to our community, making sure that we’re efficient and we’re open to serve them…”
(04:53) -
On process and technology:
“It’s the people and then it’s the process. And then last, of course, is the technology.”
(07:16) -
On future orientation:
“Access, excellence and sustainability. Those are key drivers, if you will.”
(08:53) -
On healthcare headwinds:
“That story of having to do even more with less, recognizing we are getting reimbursed lower than we ever have…”
(10:38) -
On staff well-being:
“That answer or that notion is absolutely true. But it can’t happen unless we take care of the people that are doing this work.”
(12:32) -
On meaning in healthcare:
“As taxing as healthcare can be, it is also extremely rewarding… take the opportunity to have a grateful moment and recognize something that you’ve done.”
(17:31)
Takeaways
- Legacy Health is laser-focused on increasing healthcare access, maintaining operational excellence, and building a sustainable future amid financial and legislative pressures.
- People-first leadership—supporting and valuing team members—is foundational to patient care and organizational success.
- Dr. White’s closing advice: Even amid pressure, leaders and all healthcare workers should pause to reflect and express gratitude for their daily wins.