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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Reimagining the Safety Net with Tesa Anewishki of Loretto Hospital
00:18:46
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- [00:02]
A
This is where healthcare leadership comes together. Becker's 16th annual meeting brings more than 3,500 hospital and health system executives and nearly 800 speakers to Chicago, April 13th through the 16th. This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former President George W. Bush. For the agenda and event details, visit Beckershospitalreview.com and click on the Events tab in the upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you in Chicago.
- [00:32]
B
This is Laura Dirdo with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Teysa Anewisci, CEO and President of Loretto Hospital. Teysa, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
- [00:43]
C
Thank you, Laura. I'm excited to be here.
- [00:45]
B
Absolutely. Now, I'm looking forward to our conversation because it's covering an extremely important topic today, thinking about health equity, safety net hospitals and how they're preparing for some of the coverage losses that are coming down the pipe over the next year or two. So I think this will be a very valuable discussion and I'm looking forward to digging in. But before we do, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself as well as Loretto Hospital?
- [01:09]
C
Oh, absolutely. Loretto Hospital is a community safety net hospital located on the west side of Chicago in the Austin community. We serve a very high Medicaid population. Our current status, about 84% Medicaid with another 11% that struggle with self pay or, and or charity care. We've been around for over 100 years. We are a full service hospital. We do not do trauma, but we do general and acute care at the hospital. I've been with the organization for 15 and a half years in the current capacity, the last three and a half. I'm very excited to have been homegrown and was able to be elevated into this role. Having served a number of roles throughout my time here at Loretto Hospital, but very excited about the current role that I'm in and all of the impacts that we can, that I believe that we can make as an institution in terms of redefining and rebranding the role and reputation of safety nets, not just in Chicago, but throughout the country.
- [02:21]
B
Absolutely. I love that. And you know, clearly Loretto Hospital is a, is a very special place for you. What do you see as being something that, you know, has really kept you there for 15 years? What about Loretto Hospital is so important and you know, how have you been able to grow your passion for safety net hospitals?
- [02:41]
C
Absolutely. Well, I come from a family who has been involved in social service for over 45 years. And so I think it just runs through my veins. But more importantly, I think I've had some personal experiences in terms of the healthcare system and dealing with some of the social disparities that are impacted by vulnerable populations. I myself in my younger years had encountered or experienced several challenges. And so for me it is very personal, very passionate about making sure that, you know, healthcare inequities are addressed in at risk and vulnerable communities. And so again, it just, it's. I was born for this. My family happens to run one of the largest outreach homeless agencies in the city of Chicago. And so my mother is an executive director, my both of My sisters are COOs. My daughter's a LCSW. So we are all heavily embedded in the space of social service, social and human services.
- [03:45]
B
That's amazing to hear and you know, what an important service all of those things are in Loretta Hospital too, to the Chicago community and just really, really grateful to have you and your family having great deep roots here in Chicago. Now, from your perspective, when you think about safety net hospitals, how are you preparing for the increased patient demand in 2026? I know some of the legislative changes will impact the ways that patients are finding access to care, coverage and more. And could you talk to us a little bit about the things you're watching most closely and how you're preparing for the next couple of years?
- [04:22]
C
Absolutely. Well, obviously the proposed Medicaid cuts would significantly impact our patient population. Again, we serve 84% Medicaid population, again with another 11% charity care and self pay. And so one thing that we're looking very closely at is seeing that whether that self pay number starts to rise. And we've actually started to see that trend. So we're monitoring that very closely. As a safety net institution, having that designation means that we serve patients regardless of their ability to pay. Anyone who walks through our emergency room doors gets service. And so we are deeply committed to that mission, to making sure that anyone who needs access to care gets the care they need when they need it most. And so we're looking at, contrary to what other people are likely talking about is, you know, layoffs and cuts. That's the first thing that, you know, comes to mind when you're talking about resources and dollars being stretched. But on the other hand, we're looking at it as, how can we reimagine our service delivery? How can we reimagine healthcare in this community so that the 2010-20 year death gap that these Our communities experience, when you talk about seven miles away, that, you know, people are living at the 80 and you know, on the west side of Chicago, on the southwest side, you're looking at a 20 year difference. And so looking at really growing our service line. And how can we be a better partner to other community based organizations and healthcare providers in the community? And how can we be a better partner with some of the larger public and private institutions that have capacity issues? Currently we're seeing upwards of five to six months just to get a diagnostic test procedure to determine what's wrong with you even before you can begin treatment. And so I think that plays a tremendous burden on a person's quality of life, their mental well being, not knowing what's happening or what's going on with their bodies and having to wait long periods of time. And I think there's an opportunity for larger institutions to really partner with their local safety nets to decrease those capacity issues so that healthcare inequities and access to care doesn't continue to diminish.
- [06:49]
B
That makes a lot of sense. And it's helpful to understand, I think, you know, looking at it and having that mindset shift of not, you know, hey, how are we cutting? But really what do we need to do in order to continue to provide these services and thinking differently and creating different models of care? And those partnerships that you mentioned, I think are so critical. Are there any that, you know, you've been able to enter into that have been particularly fruitful or something that is kind of in the works that you can talk a little bit about, you know, to dig a little bit deeper into the ways that you're working with the community in really finding solutions, you know, in different ways than you have in the past?
- [07:27]
C
Oh, absolutely. So Loretto Hospital is a partner with two HfS transformation collaboratives in the state of Illinois. One is Wellness west, the other is Collaborative Bridges. So we partner with those institutions that bring in a number of community partners and again, community based organizations to really enhance service delivery and access for those in the community. So that if we don't have the current capacity and then we can do some very warm handoffs to one of our partners. Because I think we don't want to lose patients and individuals that need care because there's no immediate access. And so I think in times when resources are strained, we tend to go into survival mode. The immediate thing is competition and not collaboration. And I think when you're talking about the lives of human beings and their health care needs, it has to always the Collaboration, we cannot continue to move in terms of putting profit over people. And so I think we do a great job of partnering with all of our partners in both of those collaboratives. Collaborative Bridges tends to focus more on the behavioral health aspect and then Wellness west does some behavioral health, but addresses a lot of the primary care issues that the community and our patients are faced with. So I think again, we need to continue to build on those collaborations to, to make sure that we are keeping patients within our bandwidth. No one should have to travel more than a couple miles to get care. Community based hospitals and community based organizations are critical to that effort.
- [09:10]
B
That makes a lot of sense and you know, it is really important to have those access points and additional support. I'm curious, when you look at the community overall, how do you see it shifting and changing? Who is being most impacted by some of these coverage losses and where do you anticipate, you know, needing to shift in order to fill some of those gaps?
- [09:30]
C
Oh, goodness, yes. The reality is clear now more than ever. It's expensive to be poor in America. And we are really looking at how, looking at ways that if these Medicaid cuts go through and those requirements that are now needed in terms of workforce, the workforce requirement that we are doing what we can to partner with our patients to address those needs. And so we have a free. We will be the first hospital based free grocery store in the country. And we're looking forward to partnering with our patients so that they can volunteer and fulfill their work requirements in our free grocery store. So we're looking at a number of ways on how we can partner with our community to make sure that they are not impacted, the food insecurities and some of the other things that the community is facing.
- [10:26]
B
That's amazing to hear. I love that idea of the free grocery store and providing that type of resource because those food insecurities are very real and have such a huge impact on the health of individuals as well as families and how their really wellness journey moves forward. So when you think about the free grocery store, can you tell us a little bit more about that and how you set it up and where you see it headed and growing?
- [10:51]
C
Oh my goodness. We're super excited. We are now looking at probably early summer before we are able to open our doors and launch that initiative. But the west side of Chicago is impacted with food insecurities. We're in a health care. Well, we're in a healthcare desert, but we're in a food desert and a healthy food desert. We want to make sure that based on the healthcare needs of the communities. A lot of patients have diabetes and deal with cardiovascular issues. And so we want to make sure that we not only are providing food, but we're also providing healthy food alternatives to the patients in the community. And so we hope to launch that initiative again in the summer. And there'll be an educational component tied to that. So we just don't want to supply food. We want to help individuals and educate individuals on the importance of eating healthy to kind of decrease some of the comorbidities that the community is faced with. So we're super excited about that effort.
- [11:59]
B
Got it. That's helpful to understand, and we'll be looking forward to learning more as you're able to launch in that following on its success. I'm curious, in general, where hospitals are feeling a lot of strain right now is looking at staffing pressures. Some are having to do cutbacks, others are, you know, seeing shortages just be exacerbated by the increased demand for care. And so what are you doing internally at Loretto Hospital to really make sure, you know, you've got a workforce that's stable and addressing some of the wellness needs of the team, too?
- [12:30]
C
Oh, oh, absolutely. You know, we already deal safety net hospitals already deal with live, you know, working off of and operating off of very lean margins. And we simply don't have the flexibility to absorb any level of reduction in Medicaid funding because, you know, it's a greater conversation. It's not just our entities are not just vital to the communities because of the healthcare access, but also because of the economic development that we do. We give to the community. So Loretto hospital contributes approximately $200 million to the local economy. If our doors were to close, you're talking about just shy of 500 individuals that could lose their jobs. And what does that do to the unemployment rates and what does that do to, you know, the crime and violence that, you know, the trends tend to see when unemployment is. Has skyrocketed. And so the greater picture is looking at both the healthcare access and being committed to addressing the healthcare inequities, but also understanding the value that our institutions bring to the communities that we serve. And so workforce, for us, it's about reinvestment. I think I'm a true testimony and testament to having grown up within the organization and being able to move into this new leadership role. And so what we want to do is we know our team members are our greatest asset, and we want them to. To work at their highest levels of certifications and Capabilities and we want to, we want to invest in them. A lot of times we see our workforce are in positions not, you know, out of necessity and not what they dream for their lives. And so we want to support our team in that, in every effort, in every phase, so that they can live the life that they dream for themselves and that they can move and grow within the organization. Like myself.
- [14:32]
B
I love that. I think it's so critical to have that model that you are of growing within the organization and achieving now the highest position within the hospital, which is so impressive and a meaningful journey. When you think about that pipeline and uplifting your team and making sure that talent continues to grow and flourish there, what do you do or how do you make sure you've got a strong pipeline of leaders around you so that you know, no matter what the organization can drive?
- [15:02]
C
Sure. I think it's important to make sure that, you know, you have a, you set out, you know, always first, put the mission first. Right. Why are we here and making sure that we maintain that same level of commitment and dedication and then really getting the buy in from not just your leadership team, but as well as your team members. Where are we going as as an organization and allowing them to be a process, to be a part of the process of us reimagining who we want to be in the future. I think that's how you get individuals committed to the work, where you see longevity. We've been fortunate to have a number of team members that have been with our institution. One was here upwards of 50 years. He started when he was 18 and retired after just a little over 50 years. And so a lot of our employees, they love to work where they live. I think that's important that we hire from the community, that we're supporting the community in that vein as well. And so our workforce is critically important. Our leadership team is critically important to the work that we're doing. And again, it's about being heard. It's about being a part of the process. This cannot happen with one individual. The CEO does not have a wave of magic wand and everything works. It is the collective effort and collaboration of a leadership team along with all the team members within the organization sharing that vision for our service delivery and for our future goals and dreams. I love that.
- [16:46]
B
Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. It's been such a fun conversation. Daisa, one more question for you. When you look into the future as safety net hospitals continue to grow and evolve, what advice do you have for other executives and leaders as they're trying to look out and really seeing a lot of challenges in front of them. What do you do to make sure that you are focused in the right place? What advice do you have for them to kind of navigate these challenging waters?
- [17:17]
C
I think it's time for us to be intentional and innovative in healthcare reform for safety net systems and community hospitals. Not just funding that gets us through the year, but support that allows us to stabilize our operations to build sustainability and increase capacity. Doing some advocacy with your local and elected officials, making sure that they really understand the operational of how safety nets are one paid. We're paid on a very integrated funding formula, which I think needs to be addressed and we need to do some advocacy around that. But again, doing the advocacy, telling your story, sharing the data in terms of the lives that you've impacted, and again, growing your service lines, if we continue to cut and chop away, unfortunately, those health care disparities will continue to grow. And so for me, I firmly believe that the antidote for communities in crisis is access and investment. I think transformative investment allows us to really grow and to create a sustainability model that will see us for the next 100 years. See us through the next 100 years.
- [18:33]
B
I love that. Taissa, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This has been such a. A fun and inspiring conversation and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
- [18:41]
C
Thank you. Thank you, Laura. Thank you for having me.