← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Stabilizing Operations and Workforce at Henry Ford Health with Emily Moorhead
00:27:39
Loading summary
Transcript25 lines
- [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 Deardle with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Emily Moorhead, president of the Macomb Market at Henry Ford Health. Emily, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
- [00:42]
C
Thank you so much, Laura. It's a pleasure being here.
- [00:45]
B
Absolutely. Now, this is an exciting time in healthcare right now. I know there's a lot going on. I'm particularly looking forward to our conversation because getting your perspective on some of the cool things you're doing at Henry Ford, as well as how you're thinking about the future will be really, really beneficial for our broader audience. But before we dive in, can you tell us just a little bit more about yourself and the health system?
- [01:06]
C
Yeah, I would love to. So I'm the president of Henry Ford Macomb, as you stated, which is a large tertiary hub within the Henry Ford Health system in southeastern Michigan. We're actually one of the fastest growing counties in Michigan. So Macomb county actually has 11 people moving into the county every single day. So it's a very fast growing county. It's the third largest in Michigan and we really have a highly diverse population. So the Macomb Market, I'm responsible for a full range of acute and ambulatory services here. And I've been with the health system for gosh, it's been over six years now. I've only been at the Macomb Market and servicing Macomb for the last six months. Prior to that, I had the honor and privilege of serving as the president of the Jackson Market in Jackson, Michigan, which is more south central Michigan, but also with Henry Ford. So it's an absolute pleasure. It's a wonderful organization and it's a true honor to have this opportunity to serve this population.
- [02:20]
B
That makes a lot of sense. And you know, it's so incredible to have that kind of community around you. And I can imagine a lot of the folks living with the community and grow up there end up working at the hospital and caring for their own neighbors and community members, which is always such a special Culture to be able to build.
- [02:37]
C
Oh, you hit the nail on the head. That is definitely something that is very special. Macomb seems, although it's a little bit more of an urban population than what I served in Jackson, Michigan, which was a little bit more rural. Similar culture, like you said, where you have people that are servicing a community that they live in and they play in and so it's their friends, their neighbors, and it's really a tight knit team. It's definitely not a job, it's more of a calling.
- [03:09]
B
Absolutely. And it so is so much of health care now. When you think about the last year or so, could you tell us about an initiative that you led? What did you do and what were the results?
- [03:19]
C
Oh, goodness, yes. You know, I think the most impactful initiative and it's, it's not over, it's going to be continuing into 2026 is really more on the operational stabilization and I'm going to add another one around workforce stabilization and workforce sustainability. We really do need to do a reset in healthcare. We have a lot of burnout. There's inconsistency. I think prior to us starting, we were talking a little bit about all the headwinds that healthcare is experiencing right now. And just that lack of clarity around priorities is definitely something that I've had to slow down to speed up, if you will, in the last year where we need to take a step back. We really need to make sure that we're working, working on the right things that were okay with saying, okay, we can't do that right now. We're going to put that on the back burner so that we can really stay focused on the things that are really going to make an impact around staffing, throughput, discharge processes and really creating that leadership sustainability and that leadership visibility so that frontline teams feel supported. And we can make sure that we stop the turnover rates that healthcare has been experiencing in recent years and really create more retention and cultures of belonging.
- [04:54]
B
I love that. And I think it's so critical to have that type of mindset when you're thinking about the workforce and when there's so many stressors out there today, especially not only for clinicians and others when they're thinking about caring for patients, but also just knowing how much is changing about the workplace and how work is done in the healthcare space. I can imagine it's a lot to take in. And so when you are taking that lens and trying to build in some additional ways to support the frontline teams and stop some of the turnover how do you see yourselves doing that? Or what's been the most successful ways? You know, how can you obviously build the culture that you want, but at the same time change with the times and leveraging all the different opportunities and possibilities to keep the right access to care and quality and all those kinds of things for patients.
- [05:42]
C
Yeah, I think really a focus on metrics and making sure that we're heading in the right direction and being okay to even celebrate our failures. Right. If something's not working around our throughput process, for example, we have to be courageous in our leadership, from my level all the way down to the supervisory level, to take a step back and say, hold on, something's not working, and we're going to have to tweak that. You know, I think the engagement and the belonging scores has been a huge focus, you know, not just in the last year, but definitely in the last year and definitely into 2026. Really slimming down those initiatives and making sure that we're not jumping to the next shiny thing, that we're not getting too distracted with everything that's hitting us. It's really easy to get very busy. You'll see my air quotes if we were on video. But not necessarily making progress. That's why we need to have clear measures of outcomes and really making sure that there's clear ownership as well. There's nothing worse than when you think that somebody's got the ball and is running towards some improvement opportunities. And then the next meeting comes around and everybody's looking and saying, oh, yeah, we should do that, and nobody's actually owned it. So really making sure that we're getting back to the basics of who's owning what, how are we going to measure success and making sure that we're also circling back and celebrating those successes as minute as they are. Baby steps is still progress. So we have to make sure that we're celebrating the things that we're doing around the patient experience, around staff engagement, really making sure that people are feeling supported and empowered to stop the line, to say, hey, this isn't working the way that we thought it was going to, and that's okay, and let's tweak along the way as we go. I think we need to get more nimble in healthcare, and that's something that we're really working on here.
- [07:53]
B
That makes a lot of sense, and I appreciate you explaining that a little bit further and helping us understand how your thinking through these things in what is going to make a difference for 2026. And speaking of That I know you mentioned some big headwinds ahead. Which ones are you most focused on? What are your top priorities? How are you thinking about the next year?
- [08:14]
C
Yeah, I would say it kind of boils down to three main things. Or I will boil it down to three main things, which, you know, number one has to be financial sustainability, the headwinds around reimbursement trends and access and insurance accessibility, healthcare navigation and access. We have to be financially sustainable. So that's number one, that workforce resilience and in workforce retention, we really need to make sure that we have a stable workforce in the years ahead. And then I would just say execution discipline, really making sure that we have clear owners, clear measures, not too many initiatives that we're making sure that we're prioritizing appropriately. I think that oftentimes when we look at our cost models, they're misaligned. Labor and supply costs are continuing to rise, and yet the reimbursement lags, and then patient expectations are continuing to change in the years ahead. The health care model of the past, of the traditionalists and the baby boomers, is shifting with different expectations of our consumers. And we need to be nimble and evolve with that.
- [09:41]
B
Absolutely. That's such a great point. Because I think when you look at the side of it, when there's the patient expectations, the healthcare consumer trying to understand what this next generations of high consumers and their families, quite frankly, are going to want and need from their healthcare space, how do you make those evolutions match up with then, you know, looking ahead, making those plans, but then knowing kind of the financial constraints that exist today and the potential challenges that are ahead and just being smart about resource allocation. I think that's one of the things that comes up time and time and again when I'm speaking with leaders. And so how do you keep your teams grounded, but also making sure that you're not getting stuck into the passive or a place where you're gonna be left behind as healthcare continues to evolve?
- [10:35]
C
Yeah, yeah. Gosh. And I think it's a big challenge and we're gonna have to reassess constantly because driving productivity by asking to do more with less, it just isn't gonna work. And we're seeing that. And that's why the high and the high turnover rates that we've been battling for years. So it's really around smarter care models in my mind, that we are consistently reassessing the way that we're doing the work. This means everything from, do we have the right skill set in the right roles when we have attrition and retirements, it's a wonderful time to take a step back and say, instead of just replacing that position as is, do we need a different level? Do we need an advanced practice practitioner to replace a physician? Or do we need a physician to replace the advanced practice practitioner because we're seeing different disease states or an aging population or different disparities of care? I really think that we need to start tackling avoidable variation. There's waste in health care. We need to make sure that we're being courageous leaders in our organizations and saying, do we really need to be doing that test every day or every four hours? Is there different ways that we can be utilizing our resources? Is, is that test going to change the diagnosis or the treatment plan and not just checking the box? Because we've always done it. I think that we need to be asking ourselves, why are we doing this? Who's doing the work? And then making sure. It's not a popular thing for a hospital president to say, but we really want to make sure that people are getting care in the right location, which oftentimes, unless you're really sick and need ICU care or surgery or there's been a trauma, we really need to be driving more access to the outpatient world, which is the lower cost place to be getting your care anyway. How do we start leveraging the home environment more, leveraging technology with telehealth opportunities and mail order and people coming into the home, as opposed to having to have a lot of expensive bricks and mortar?
- [13:20]
B
That is fascinating to hear and I think certainly, you know, kind of the age old question, especially in these days, is you're trying to figure out how to make the dollars stretch more. You know, it almost seems like just a huge challenge. And then looking at quality of care too, how do you create that access and create that experience that patients want with the same quality, you know, in knowing that the payment might not match up as it did when everything was in the inpatient hospital? So I think that's so critical and a fascinating kind of, you know, thing that hospital leaders are having to deal with right now.
- [13:57]
C
Absolutely, absolutely. And, you know, something that definitely comes to mind or it's front and center, because earlier today we had a leadership forum where we were, it was more of a town hall that was led by our emergency management department, really talking about what are the things that keep you up at night? And a theme, and this is something that definitely makes me toss and turn at night, is around the aggressive patient behaviors that we're seeing. It is rare for a day to go by on our safety huddle not to hear about someone being hurt at work. And those should be never events. It is never okay to be hurt at work, whether that's a physical abuse or a verbal abuse or God forbid, a sexual abuse. And our frontline workers are in such a vulnerable space right now. And it's something that we heard all departments, all, all units, it's on the top of everybody's mind and how to make sure that we're, we're creating that zero tolerance environment. Yes, the expectations of our patients are changing and it's not okay that we're allowing folks to continue to abuse the people that are caring for them.
- [15:27]
B
That's such an excellent point and you know, very well said. A problem without an easy solution. I know. And you speaking of that, what do you think the hardest thing you'll have to do in the coming year will be?
- [15:39]
C
Well, I think definitely addressing that safety issue. I think we also. It's difficult decisions. That's what I'll group it into because there's a lot in that. But we have to be comfortable and I have to be comfortable making difficult, unpopular decisions. And that's everything from adhering to the administrative discharge policy, for example, in regard to unacceptable behaviors from our patients. We really need to be able to be courageous and make that difficult decision that unless coming in through the ed, unless a trauma, that patients that have a track record of abuse are going to have to get help elsewhere. I also think making sure that we're saying, you know, it's, we got to stop doing some things. And it's not because it's not important. It's because we have to prioritize our time, our resources on things that are going to give the biggest impact. Now, that being said, we also need to keep a tally and a running list of the things that need to be revisited on a regular basis. But I really think that the difficult decisions, challenging folks of we're not just going to replace this position because we've always had it. We're not always going to have to provide these services at all of our locations. We're going to have to make some tough decisions just because of the competency of our staff too. It's the right thing to do. And then, you know, kind of engaging our community. I was meeting with some community leaders yesterday and one of the. It was a trusted advisor group that I've set up and different community leaders, political leaders, etc. And one of the things that really Struck me in the conversation was just the lack of trust that people have in healthcare today. And how do we regain that trust of our consumers and the reputation and making sure that people see us as a service provider and a reliant team, not somebody that is being untruthful or telling you that you need to get surgery when you don't really need surgery. We really need to regain our trust of our communities that we are their partner in health.
- [18:27]
B
Fascinating to hear. And you know, I think it's such so interesting to get that kind of community focus and community base. I think, you know, when you talk about being in that position where you have to potentially make cutbacks or do things that you know are not necessarily exciting for the broader organization, but we better to build the foundation for sustainability moving forward. How do you prepare leaders for that? What's the kind of communication that you have to do to get ready for those kinds of things and try to make it go as smoothly as possible, even though it's a big challenge and something that so many hospitals and systems are facing today?
- [19:12]
C
Yeah, I would say that it comes down to culture and it comes down to open and candid and honest conversation. We need to make sure. And here at Macomb, because I'm a new leader here, people are getting to know me after six months. So there's been definitely a lot of storming and norming, if you will, relationship building both in large groups as well as small groups, but also cross partnerships. So making sure that leaders of different units, different departments, different environments, the ambulatory world versus the hospital based world, and hearing what their initiatives are. Because what I love about healthcare and healthcare operations is that everything is so, so linked in that you, you can pull a string or a lever in one area and if you're not being mindful and intentional, it can cause a downstream, either positive or negative impact on a different department. So we've really done a lot of work around the transparency of the things that we're working on. It starts with executive leadership. My executive leadership team and I, we came together at the end of 2025, established our vision for the future as well as our intention for 2026. The things that we're committed to as a leadership team and how we're going to support them moving forward. And then consequently, we asked for each department to also create a plan, according to our strategic plan of the initiatives that they're going to focus on. We challenged each other on making sure that there was not 500 different things on that list that were really focused and have measurable outcomes and metrics that are going to be looked at both leading indicators as well as the lagging indicators, so that we can make sure that we all are aware of the things that we're working on as well as engaging our frontline staff. It was really important to me while we were developing our 2026 plan, that staff knew what was important to leadership, but also how when they show up to work every day and they're making their individual contributions, how that's leading to the outcome measures that we're reporting out on a monthly basis on our dashboards so that they can say, you know, I am making a difference. I'll just tell you a quick story. Yesterday, it was the best day of my week for sure. I had an opportunity to job shadow with food service. So I did a couple hours in the kitchen to see how the dishes were washed and the trays were prepared. I rolled silverware, I had the gear on. People started to see me as just a trainee. That's how I wanted to be treated. And then I spent the rest of the shift actually passing trays to patients and following around one of our tray passers. And then the very end of the shift, because all of the trays were passed, we started to take dinner orders and breakfast for the following day. And I will tell you, the woman that was training me, she looked at me in the elevator and she said, I'm so nervous walking around with you because you are so important and I am not. And I paused because it felt like just such a punched to the stomach because I looked at her and I gave her the biggest hug and I said, you are one of the most important people here and I just so very appreciate you. And I don't want you to be nervous because you are making a difference in our patients lives. And I see the smile on the faces that you're, you're bringing in the food and you're making them happy and nourished and they are getting to know you. And she was just beaming and she said, you know, now that you say that, someone stopped me in the grocery store the other day and said, you brought me my food and I just want to give you a hug. And she said, I think you're right. I do make a difference. So I really think just we got to make sure that our staff are feeling loved and supported and realize the difference that they make each and every day. Because it's the little things that are going to get us to the big things.
- [24:20]
B
I love that story. I Think it's so illustrative of what it takes in order to be actually at the front lines, actually taking care of patients and the little things that can make a big difference as people are going through whatever healthcare journey they're going through within the hospital. I love that. And certainly being able to keep that priority and make sure that staff understand their role in the. Creating that experience in the outcomes for patients is just incredible. Before we wrap up here, I just wanted to see are there any other opportunities that you're looking at for growth in the next year or so?
- [24:55]
C
Oh, absolutely. With a growing county that I have the opportunity to serve in, I have to be looking at growth. And we have an aging population as well as a very mixed diverse population in terms of socioeconomic and ethnicity. So we are looking at growth in lots of different areas, particularly in the tertiary spaces, more complex advanced care. We're not just a community hospital. I think that as we're looking at access opportunities and what needs to be done in the hospital, we're really making sure that people have access to those services close to home. We are never going to be a quaternary center. That's what we have our downtown hospitals for. There are level ones, they're doing the transplants. But here at Macomb, we're really making sure that we're focusing on a lot of high complex surgeries. Cardiac is a huge growth opportunity for us, as well as neurosurgery and spine care, as well as really making sure that people have access to primary care. I talked a little bit about variation in the beginning of our talk. I really think that the prevention and moving the care upstream is the wave of the future. And I personally am not celebrating when my ED volume is super, super high. I'm actually asking the question of how many of those ED visits could have actually been seen in the primary care visits or could be going to a freestanding ED or an urgent care. So we're really looking at that information to make sure that people aren't coming to the hospital unnecessarily. So really that balance of the growth on the things that people need to be in the four walls for and then the decanting for those services that should be done elsewhere is a huge focus area.
- [27:04]
B
That's so helpful to understand. Emily, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This has been an incredible conversation. I appreciate your candor and you know, looking ahead at some of the great opportunities as well as challenges. So thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing you at our annual meeting. I know you'll be speaking on a panel in April, and it'll be exciting to dig deeper into some of these themes as well as just be able to connect with so many leaders from across the country. So I'm excited to see you there.
- [27:29]
C
Yes, I am looking forward to it as well. Laura. I'll see you in April. Thank you so much for the opportunity and have a great rest of your day.