Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Episode: Navigating Growth and Innovation at OSF HealthCare
Date: August 25, 2025
Host: Laura Deardle
Guests:

• Bob Searing, CEO, OSF HealthCare
• Michelle Conger, President and incoming CEO, OSF HealthCare

Overview

This episode focuses on how OSF HealthCare is navigating the evolving healthcare landscape through strategic growth and a sustained focus on innovation. Laura Deardle explores with outgoing CEO Bob Searing and incoming CEO Michelle Conger their approach to organizational transformation, key challenges, evolving care models, and the vision for the future of the health system.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. OSF HealthCare: Scale and Recent Successes

• Organization Snapshot:

  • 16 hospitals—mainly in Illinois, spanning from Rockford to Alton and from the Indiana to Iowa border, plus one in Michigan ([01:00]).
  • Nearly 26,000 "mission partners" (employees) across clinical, support, and home care services.

• Growth & Adaptation:

  • OSF has significantly expanded its footprint and scope over recent years.
  • COVID-19 was a turning point, prompting a focus on resilience and sustainability.
  • Key challenges: Staffing and long-term financial sustainability ([02:37]).

Quote:
“We clearly want to build on the success we've had, but we know we can't just do it the same as we've always done it.”
—Bob Searing ([02:59])

2. Embedding Innovation into Culture

• 10-Year Journey: Innovation has become central to OSF’s DNA.
• Idea Generation: The system actively solicits and operationalizes ideas from all levels of staff, resulting in two major spin-off businesses ([03:28]).
• Innovation Hub: While centered in Peoria, innovation is a core organizational value, not just a physical space.
• New Care Model:
  • Complete Care 55+ — a digital-first chronic disease management program focused on care navigation for patients over 55 ([04:10]).
• Next Frontier: Artificial intelligence, both in patient-facing care and back-office processes ([05:04]).

Quote:
“It's cultural. We've worked on getting ideas from our mission partners... We've spun out two new businesses that have been started from ideas that have come from mission partners about how to make care better.”
—Michelle Conger ([03:44])

3. Top Priorities and Challenges

• Financial Uncertainty: Legislative shifts (“the one big beautiful bill”) and funding changes are major concerns ([05:44]).
• Staffing: Largest expense and most vital resource; strategic allocation is critical.
• Regional Care Delivery:
  • Balancing centralized “destination centers” for high-acuity care with rural and home-based access ([06:38]).
  • Areas of specialty in Peoria: Cardiovascular, neurosciences, oncology, and children’s care ([07:39]).

Quote:
“How do we ensure that we are providing that very precious resource [our people] in the right places? Because we all know we can't provide it in every place.”
—Bob Searing ([06:41])

4. The Destination Center Model

• Centralization of Complex Care: High-acuity services move toward Peoria “destination center,” while lower-acuity care is decentralized or provided at home ([08:27]).
• Expanding Access:
  • Rural hubs and mobile OB programs bring services directly to patients, leveraging digital health ([09:23]).
  • Digital connectivity ensures consistent access to high-level care across all locations.
• Subspecialty Concentration: Children’s care already fully centralized due to nationwide shortage of subspecialists ([09:57]).

Quote:
“It presents a really unique opportunity... In some instances, creating hubs in some of our smaller hospitals, building the acute care capabilities in a different fashion... building access to digital health.”
—Michelle Conger ([08:40])

5. Talent Pipeline & Organizational Culture

• Workforce Development: OSF invests in diverse entry points and career pathways for staff, promoting advancement from entry-level roles to clinical leadership ([10:41]).
• Resilient Culture: The pace of healthcare change demands a culture that supports constant learning and adaptability.

Quote:
“You may join our organization in one of those first jobs... but you have a multitude of career paths that you can pursue.”
—Bob Searing ([11:30])

• Focus on Change Management: Building a future-focused culture is a deliberate strategy ([12:30]).

6. Future Growth Priorities

• “Relentless” Innovation: OSF will continue to rethink care models, placing strong emphasis on digital tools and AI ([13:33]).
• Financial Sustainability: Efforts are underway to streamline back-office functions with automation and, where possible, “stop doing” ineffective tasks ([14:45]).
• AI Integration: Seen as a means to augment, not replace, clinical staff, with a strong emphasis on ethics ([15:18]).

Quote:
“Healthcare struggled with [cost reductions from technology]. I think with the expansion and uses of AI, we'll be able to see that in a different light.”
—Michelle Conger ([15:42])

7. The Leadership Mindset for the Next 5 Years

• Adaptability as a Core Value: The ability to iterate, innovate, and remain resilient is seen as the fundamental leadership skill ([17:03]).
• Never Losing Sight of the Mission: Sustaining a clear, mission-driven culture is critical for navigating future uncertainties ([18:37]).
• Cost Management & Innovation: A balance of financial discipline and visionary strategy is key.

Quote:
“[You] cannot take your eye off of culture. I think you have to continuously be focused on why you’re there, the communities you’re serving.”
—Michelle Conger ([18:45])

Memorable Quotes

• “It's not how we've always done it, so let's see how we're going to do it going forward. You have to be relentless in the pursuit of innovation and constantly reimagining how we can do things better.”
  —Bob Searing ([17:09])

• “As you’re thinking about how you provide care differently, it becomes clearer because you really don’t lose focus on what your culture is.”
  —Michelle Conger ([18:54])

Summary Timeline

| Timestamp | Topic | |-----------|----------------------------------------------| | 00:00–02:30 | OSF introduction, scope, and recent wins | | 03:28–05:17 | The rise and embedding of innovation at OSF | | 05:44–08:27 | Major priorities: financials, staffing, care delivery | | 08:27–10:41 | Destination centers and access transformation | | 10:41–12:59 | Workforce development and culture of change | | 13:33–15:18 | Future growth: digital, AI, sustained innovation | | 17:03–18:54 | Leadership imperatives for the next 5 years |

Conclusion

This episode offers an inside look at how OSF HealthCare is leveraging its size, mission-driven culture, and relentless focus on innovation to navigate industry-wide upheaval and shape the future of care delivery. Both leaders clearly emphasize the importance of adaptability, continuous learning, and keeping people—both staff and patients—at the center of every strategic decision.