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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Scott Kashman, President and CEO at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside
00:11:20
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Transcript14 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hello and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. My name is Chanel Bunger and today I'm thrilled to speak with Scott Cashman, president and CEO at Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside, who joins the podcast today to share insights into his background healthcare turns he's keeping an eye on and a bit more. Scott, thank you so much for joining me. Could you get us started out by introducing yourself and sharing a little bit about your background and organization?
- [00:23]
B
Well, I am glad to be here. And as you shared, I'm the CEO of Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside in Jacksonville, Florida and we're part of overall Ascension and Ascension Florida's market specifically. And I've been here just over two years now and it's been, it's been a great experience here. I've worked with Ascension in the past and one of the things just a little bit about my background, that actually started me in healthcare when it actually was when I was 16 years old, I had a friend who came to me. He was going through a health crisis and I was able to help him through that with a lot of support from other people. And through that experience, it helped shape the way I lead today. And even as I joined the organization here and previous organizations, I've been in making sure that my leadership style focuses on the health and well being of the team. And in turn, I found that our patients in our community greatly benefit from that. Specifically at St. Vincent's we've been focused on not only the local care that's provided here for over 115 years that they've been in existence, but it was supported by the community and they provide not only local care, we're also providing regional care focused on oncology, neurosurgery and cardiovascular. And so I'm real glad to be with you today.
- [01:45]
A
Perfect. Thank you so much for the introduction. And now getting into the meat of the podcast a bit, can you talk about the trends that you're currently watching in HealthC in your role today?
- [01:55]
B
You know, as I've seen healthcare continue to evolve, it's always evolving. It's evolving at an even more rapidly paced environment. I'm focusing in three areas. One is how we're reimagining our workforce. Second is I would share is what care makes sense inside the walls of the hospital, what makes sense outside the walls of the hospital. And third is looking at how we're leveraging technology, insight and even the way we're teaching people so we can address our workforce and we can address what makes sense to provide care inside the hospital and outside the hospital. It's interesting as the second thing is looking at what makes sense inside and outside of the hospital. Thirty years ago, in 1995, I remember an old boss of mine at University Hospitals of Cleveland, she moved me from the inpatient to outpatient, and she said, everything's moving to the outpatient. This is Mrs. Farrah Walters. She said, everything's moving to the outpatient, Scott. That's where I'm going to move you. Things are moving outside of the hospital and you can see how trends move in healthcare because 30 years later, we're still having the same conversation. And so those are the three areas that I'll focus on. Another cool thing we're doing as we look at our workforce is honing in on the culture, making sure it's the right fit. Obviously, there's a big push. Some people working in the hospital, some people working remote in the hospital. We obviously need a lot of people who are working inside the hospital. One of the things that our leaders have asked for, though, is to help with this rapidly changing environment and help give them the skill sets. So under the leadership of April Hunt, who's our human resource business partner, she launched a high performance leadership lab. And we started with the program leading like a CEO. And it was kicked off by our Florida state CEO, Don King. They're focusing on four modules around vision, strategy, influence and insight. So it's been really great helping us shape the workforce that helps us build the skills we need on what we're going to do to practice what kind of clinical care is in the hospital, what's outside of the hospital. And then again, as I said, leveraging that technology and the right insights and the right forums to communicate how we're going to improve the workforce and how we're going to improve what care takes place in and out of the hospital.
- [04:21]
A
Got it. And you were mentioning workforce a bunch there. And I'm curious, in Jacksonville specifically, what does that look like? Do you guys have an influx of workforce that you need for wintertime for snowbirds, or how does that look in Jacksonville?
- [04:37]
B
Jacksonville doesn't have as big of an influx of snowbirds that come into the area. We certainly have some seasonality, not the same seasonality that you would see further south. Further south fear, where it can, you know, jump up 10, 20, 30% plus in the wintertime. But we'll go in cycles in terms of where we're struggling with different workforce needs. So we've done a good job partnering with the various schools in the areas, making sure Whether it's different technologists we need or nurses that we need, building our residency program, making sure we're working with the schools in the area to build, to build our pipeline. But again, from a seasonality standpoint, we're not seeing that influx. It's more from specific positions that we're seeing a decline in or we're seeing a change in the competition in the market that we need to change how we're focusing our efforts.
- [05:35]
A
Absolutely. And now looking into the future, but going into the second half of 2025 and into 2026, what would you say you're most focused on and excited about?
- [05:45]
B
I've been here the past two years and when I first started, I had a chance to, to meet with hundreds of physicians and associates and community members. And there was a resounding theme and a shared vision on what's the path forward to reimagine Riverside. And it ended up being five focus areas around culture, strategic growth, operational excellence, community engagement and campus revitalization. And which is wonderful because we're right next to the St. John's river and there are some things we're doing to advance high complex care, like bringing in our lip for brain tumors and recently utilized galvanized to help with lung tumors. We have histosomics that's coming up. So those are ways that we can bring in strategic growth and also focus on a strong culture and the ability to make sure that we can deliver and have that mindset to deliver high end care in this area. So when we look at those five focus areas, I've been fortunate that we've pulled together a really strong leadership team that has incredible momentum going and is helping us fulfill all five of those focus areas to reimagine Riverside.
- [07:02]
A
I love to hear it. And now with all of your experience in different roles in healthcare, I would love to hear your perspective on what advice would you give to evolving leaders looking to have the same impact and success in their careers as you have?
- [07:17]
B
You know, I shared, you know, when I was 16 years old, that's, that's what prompted my interest in healthcare. Not everyone's going to have that experience. Everyone is going to have an experience on why they chose healthcare. So first I would tell people, remember why you chose to go into this field, because as you get into it, sometimes you know, your view can get tainted along the way. So what I encourage a lot of leaders is to stay curious. And that means keep learning, think critically. With all this technology advancements and things that you could look up, it's important that you're thinking critically. It's important that you're bringing your own point of view and that brings you back to remembering why you went into this, remembering your purpose. And second thing is to ask for feedback. Everyone says that they're open to feedback until you give them feedback. And then, you know, if they, they take your head off, you realize that they weren't as open to feedback as it may have seemed. Seemed. So what I share with people is ask for feedback, generously accept it and do something about it. And that may mean that you just share with someone, appreciate you taking the time to give me that feedback. Here's what I've decided to do about it. But it takes a lot for people to give you feedback and they're going to look for your reaction to see did you handle it well? Because with so much conflict that goes on and it's, you know, I'm right, you're wrong, I'm finding that ability to de escalate situations continues to be, you know, troubling. So I think the ability to ask for feedback, it starts to de escalate situations starts, you know, to help build the relationships across the board. So that second one, asking for feedback is really important. And the third, of course, is to take care of your own well being, have the habits, your daily habits you're focusing on to take care of yourself. And so for me, I have my morning habits, the daily habits. We're working in a faith based organization, so we're also fortunate because it'll incorporate prayers and reflections throughout the day so you have a chance to catch your breath. But I've taken that mindset of staying curious and soliciting feedback and taking care of your own well being. And we've made sure we're incorporating that into the workplace, making sure that we're creating an environment here in any place I've worked that we're focusing on the health and well being of our team because in turn, if they're feeling like it's a great place for them to practice, for them to work our patients and our community benefits.
- [09:49]
A
Excellent advice. Well, Scott, I've enjoyed our time together today, but before I let you go, is there anything else that listeners should know?
- [09:56]
B
You know, I think that when we think about the seriousness of our healthcare world, it's important to bring a little humor into the workforce as well. I see that as I shared in previous questions, I see tensions, tensions get high and you find ways in an appropriate way in the healthcare setting that you can help diffuse that. I had someone who was running here into my office the other day, and they're, you know, they were very upset. And, you know, no one understands this and no one understands that they were the only ones who understood it. And, you know, you could see just, you know, how upset they were getting. I said, you know, I may, I don't have your specialty, but. And I'm only a hospital administrator, but, you know, even my parents are still 73% proud of me. And he just, you know, just started to laugh and just realize, like, just bring it down a little bit, you know, and let's, let's help talk through it. So, you know, again, I would encourage, as I said in that last question, make sure you're working through issues together. Healthcare is hard enough as it is. Look for those shared goals together. Look for those opportunities to work together and build off of each other's skill sets, and it makes it a lot greater time to be in healthcare.
- [11:05]
A
Absolutely. A little humor goes a long way, especially in something as serious as healthcare. Well, Scott, I want to thank you once again for your time today and for sharing your insights on the Beckers healthcare podcast.
- [11:16]
B
Thank you.