← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
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- [00:01]
A
This is Laura Dardo with the Beckers Healthcare podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Tanner White, CEO of all True Devils Lake. Tanner, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
- [00:10]
B
Thank you, Laura, for having me.
- [00:12]
A
Absolutely. Now, I'm excited for our conversation. I know we're going to talk a lot about some of the cool things that you're doing at Altrudevil's Lake and how you're thinking about the future. But before we dive in, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself in the hospital?
- [00:25]
B
You bet. Excited to share what we have going on up here in Devil's Lake with Altrue. But before we do that, just a little background myself. So I was born and raised in the great state of North Dakota in a rural community with a population of only 1200. My background is actually in kinesiology, which is unique for someone in a healthcare administrator role. But that background has allowed me to kind of see the human element of helping people on their journey to wellness and living healthier. So out of college, I started working at a local YMCA and then eventually started my own business known as Temple Training, where we offer personal training and health and wellness consulting services. So I won't say that got me looking at health care per se, but again, kind of seeing the human side of things. And I think I like to share that just for context, kind of where I came from. And in 2017, I had the opportunity to sell my business to Avera St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen, South Dakota, which is part of the Avera Health Network. And I joined that team to develop a human performance center that aim to promote a healthier community and focus on prevention to reduce hospital visits. And so that shift in my career opened my eyes to the healthcare field. And I quickly realized that I wanted this to be my career and my calling. And so I went back to school, earned my MBA in healthcare management, became a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. And then when COVID 19 came, like many of us in this industry, our roles evolved. And so that gave me a chance to take on new leadership responsibilities. I gained experience in therapy services, business development, philanthropy, and then network operations, where I supported critical access hospitals in the region we served. And so it was in that role that I got to see the importance of rural health care delivery. And I told my wife I wanted to someday run my own critical access hospital. But where we were at, she kind of gave me a four hour window. And I think she probably wanted me to move further south but yet we did not. We went the opposite direction and ended up here in Devil's Lake, where I serve as CEO. And for those of you who don't know, Devil's Lake is just south of the Canadian border. And a little bit about our hospital here. We are a critical access hospital, so 25 beds. We serve a population of around 25,000, known as the Lake Region.
- [03:04]
A
That's amazing to hear. And you know, what a unique journey that you've had throughout your life and career, but always kind of coming back to this rural space and being part of the wellness and healthcare and taking care of the community. So that's really cool to hear and what a unique kind of foundation that you've got in order to be in this current role. So I'm curious, if you think back for the last year or so, what were some of the most important initiatives that you led? What did you do and what were the results?
- [03:32]
B
Yeah, you bet. So I had the unique opportunity to lead an organization through an acquisition process where Chi St. Alexis, Devil's Lake, which was owned by Common Spirit, was acquired by Altru Health, based out of Grand Forks, North Dakota. And that transition went live on March 1, so, two months ago. And so it's been a busy couple of months, you know, learning new processes, integrating our services, and we implemented a new emr, switching from Meditech to epic. So, yeah, been a heavy lift. But I'm super grateful for our team members who have. They just have never wavered in their compassion while providing healthcare for the Lake Region residents during this transition.
- [04:16]
A
Absolutely. And, you know, that is a huge transition to make. I know there's so much that comes with that type of kind of acquisition. But then, you know, like you said, having to switch EHR systems and be in a process of where you're learning a new organization and figuring out what's going to work the best for the hospital and the community. So from the leadership perspective, what do you do in order to just make sure that the team is ready for these types of transitions and can carry forward the needed changes, but also, you know, making sure you keep the local culture of the hospital and what works well, you know, front and center for the patients.
- [04:56]
B
Yeah, well said, Laura. And it's been a challenge, you know, that when you throw people through change, you know, people don't like change. And so that's. It's been a huge evolution, yet we've always tried to maintain our core identity, you know, of the healthcare services we provided to the Lake Region. So I think just Walking that path with our teams, knowing that they're not in it alone, utilizing the resources that we have in front of us. You know, now we have our flagship hospital 90 miles down the road, so we have resources and support that we have never had before. So we're just trying to endure the change, make the necessary improvements that are out there, but also giving our teams time to adapt and get ready for the journey that we are on.
- [05:49]
A
That makes a lot of sense. And it seems like it's by and large going to be a transition that you'll be able to come out of. And it seems like you said have more resources and support for the future. So as you're looking ahead, what are some of your big priorities and headwinds that you're focused on for the next 12 months or so?
- [06:09]
B
So, as we are beginning this journey, we have two themes guiding us, and that's keeping care close to home and building our culture. So we do plan to bring specialty providers back to this region so folks don't have to travel to get care. We also want to increase the number of acute and swing bed patients within our care. But to do those things, you need the right people on your team. And so that's where our second theme comes in, in improving our culture through trust and transparency. So that folks want to join us in our mission and stay with us in our mission to make a difference for those we serve. As far as headwinds are concerned, that's, you know, up here in Devil's Lake, that's not really something we deal with, actually. Obviously joking. Rural healthcare, like all health care, faces major challenges. You know, rising costs, inflation, workforce shortages, regulatory hurdles. I could go on and on. And we are actually designated as a frontier rural area. So I believe these challenges are even more significant for us. Fortunately, now that we are part of the Altru family, we do have reasons to be optimistic. It's the people we have, the independence we maintain, and the integration of our services now will enable us to effectively handle all the challenges that are ahead of us.
- [07:33]
A
That's helpful to understand. And like you mentioned, always good to have a strong partner on your bench when you're kind of going through these. And one of the things you mentioned really struck me in particular in talking about, obviously keeping care close to home and bringing in additional specialty providers to the region. I know that's something that a lot of hospitals, rural or not, are trying to figure out what to do in order to attract specialists and, you know, keep some of those services in. So is there anything that you found already that works well. Or what are your, I guess, plans as you're thinking about how you want to bring additional folks in to really attract them to the region and then, you know, make sure that they stay?
- [08:15]
B
Yeah, great question. We have had some early success. In the month of April, we had a hand specialist come out and do a couple procedures, which was really our launch into this space. So it just really comes down to building the right teams, making sure that we have a welcoming environment. You know, our core values at Altrue are to win as a team, go above and beyond, be kind to one another. And so when you have, again, the flagship hospital just down the road, you're pretty close. And so just thankful for the providers willing to give it a try to come out here and get them to understand what our patients need and make sure that those services are provided to them.
- [09:02]
A
That's a great example and definitely it seems like a good start to many more specialty procedures being able to come out to the hospital there. Now, I know, you know, headwinds are definitely deep in, you know, some of the regulatory hurdles you mentioned, I think our audience is all too familiar with, as well as the other financial and just industry challenges. So what do you think the hardest thing you'll have to do in the coming year will be?
- [09:29]
B
Yeah, there's just so much, you know, coming at us. And while I am optimistic about our ability to handle those challenges, it certainly won't be easy. This is certainly tough work we do, but the healthcare industry is resilient and I know we will get through this. If I had to identify the most difficult challenge that keeps me up at night, it's hiring quality staff, retaining them, and reducing our dependence, dependence on locums and travelers. Because really, when it comes to providing good quality care, you want people who are, you know, tied to our mission, you know, from the community, and are, you know, provide consistent quality health care. So to achieve this, again, I keep going back to this. It's. It's all about building our culture through trust and transparency, which takes time and. And we just need to make sure we do the right things to get there.
- [10:20]
A
Absolutely. I think that's helpful. And, you know, kind of talking about culture, I love that and I'm so happy that you mentioned some of the core values you have at the hospital there. Is there anything else that you do? Especially, I think in the smaller communities, it can be so helpful to have a great culture. What really makes you unique from the culture perspective and how do you maintain that?
- [10:45]
B
Yeah, we are working internally. So I didn't really share the background of it, but the clinic here in Devil's Lake was actually already owned by Altru, and the hospital side was what was acquired. And so you got a culture, you know, integration between those two teams. You have the culture development between our community and now our hospital. And then you also got Devil's Lake hospital and clinic trying to build that culture with Grand Forks, all true hospital, so tons of moving parts. It all comes down to just being open with folks, building relationships. Again, it takes time, but, you know, one of the initiatives that we think is going to help us out is developing what we're going to call a community voice coalition, where we. It's not. Not a governing board, but community members who can come together monthly and share feedback. You know, what's working well, what's not. I just think it's so important for us to hear the voices of those we serve, and then subsequently of that too, is having those types of groups meeting together between our hospital and clinic teams, between our hospital and Grant Forks, et cetera.
- [12:05]
A
That's such a great idea and really, truly can help solidify, you know, that community focus within the hospital and ability to have such a great culture across the board. Before we wrap up here, where do you see some of the best opportunities for additional organizational growth?
- [12:21]
B
Yeah, we have opportunities of, you know, bringing care close to home, as I mentioned, and the demand to account for it in the next year. I foresee us adding specialty outreach, such as general surgery entities, maybe some cardiology services. Urology has been thrown in that mix. So lots of opportunities and excited that we have providers within the ALTRU system who are willing to travel out this way to make sure that our Lake region residents are cared for from a strategic standpoint. Our market actually is quite untapped to our west, so I do foresee us hopefully gaining some market share in that area. And additionally, I expect us to increase our average daily census, allowing residents of the lake region to stay close to home where families can visit.
- [13:11]
A
I love that. Tanner, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This has been such a fun conversation, so informative and really full of ideas and passion for the healthcare you're providing. So thank you so much for your time today, and I look forward to connecting again soon.
- [13:26]
B
Yeah, Laura, thank you for the opportunity and thank you and all your colleagues at Beckers for what you do for the healthcare industry.