Alex Walker, Executive Vice President and COO, Catholic Medical Center

Today’s guest is Alex Walker, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire. Alex took an unusual route to senior leadership in the healthcare field. Prior to joining Catholic Medical Center in 2012, he spent more than twenty years practicing corporate law and litigation at one of New Hampshire’s largest and most prestigious law firms.

In the podcast we talk about Alex’s journey from his early experiences in the Marine Corps, to what it was like to rise to become President of Devine and Millimet, and ultimately his decision to change careers and industries and join the team at Catholic Medical Center.

What I thought was especially interesting about Alex’s story was how he described the experience of joining a mission driven non-profit hospital, and how important that was to him. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Anchor: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Alex-Walker--Executive-Vice-President-and-COO--Catholic-Medical-Center-egra6a

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-health-leader-forge

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/healthleaderforge/id981989377 

YouTube: https://youtu.be/lNps_gdjNT4 

Podcast Outline

Time Topic

0:01:27 Becoming a Marine - growing up, diversity

0:08:34 coming home, Umass Boston - first in family to go to college

0:13:55 law school at Northeastern

0:18:13 joining the firm of Divine Millimet in Manchester, NH

0:22:27 the partnership model of law firms

0:25:47 commercial litigation

0:27:11 defending Catholic Medical Center during de-merging

0:31:25 becoming Chairman of Divine Millimet

0:35:29 what do people misunderstand about the practice of law

0:38:06 coming to CMC

0:42:24 about CMC

0:46:37 from general counsel to COO

0:51:17 inernal focus of the COO

0:53:27 Granite One System

0:58:32 Affiliation with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health

1:03:40 leadership philosophy

1:04:55 how did leadership style change coming from law to healthcare

1:06:37 influences on his leadership style

1:11:23 organizaitonal culture

1:13:53 importance of mentors

1:16:15 advice to early careerists

Links to topics discussed:

Catholic Medical Center

Granite One Health

Dartmouth Hitchcock Health

Devine Millimet

Northeastern Law

UMass Boston

US Marine Corps

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Dr. Joseph Pepe, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of CMC Healthcare System

Today's guest is Dr. Joseph Pepe, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Medical Center Healthcare System. Dr. Pepe has served the CMC Healthcare System since 1990, first as a staff physician, then as Chief Medical Officer, and since 2012 as the system President and CEO. The advice he gives early careerists entering the field of administration is to volunteer for additional responsibility, and that positions will follow. His own career reflects that fact. In the interview, Dr. Pepe describes his choice to become a primary care physician, and how his interest in improving the operations of the practice resulted in him being "volun-told" that he would be the Chief Medical Officer. After thirteen years of successful leadership as the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Pepe was selected to lead CMC as the CEO and president. We discuss strategy and how Dr. Pepe is working with the board and senior management to ensure CMC's success in a rapidly changing health care environment, while remaining true to CMC's Catholic identity. We conclude with a discussion of leadership and mentorship.

I really enjoyed this interview because Dr. Pepe made it clear that CMC’s identity as a faith-based organization goes beyond just a historical origin; it is critical to the organization’s mission today, and influences its strategy on an ongoing basis. 

Links to the Podcast:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/healthleaderforge/dr-joseph-pepe-md-president-and-chief-executive-officer-of-cmc-healthcare-system

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-health-leader-forge

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/healthleaderforge/id981989377

Transcript

Podcast Outline

Time	Topic
0:02:23	Educational background, wanting to become a physician
0:04:48	Medical school at Tufts
0:06:45	Residency in internal medicine
0:07:37	The “Physician Identity”
0:08:46	Working at Catholic Medical Center (CMC) after residency
0:09:50	The community of Manchester, New Hampshire
0:11:10	History and mission of CMC
0:15:04	Size of CMC
0:16:03	Being a hospital-employed physician at CMC
0:17:34	Transitioning from clinical practice into hospital administration
0:20:05	Role as Chief Medical Officer at CMC
0:21:37	Organization of CMC’s medical staff, peer review
0:24:13	Helpfulness of CMO experience in the CEO role, conflict resolution
0:26:34	Day in the life of a hospital CEO
0:27:34	Advantages of being a physician-administrator, moving to value-based reimbursement
0:29:26	Do you see patients as the CEO?
0:30:09	What metrics do you track?
0:31:26	For people outside of healthcare: what’s it like to run a hospital?
0:32:34	Function, responsibilities, and composition of the CMC Board of Trustees
0:35:54	Most difficult part of being the CEO
0:37:46	CMC’s partnerships with other hospitals, external entities
0:39:48	Biggest surprise upon becoming the CEO, growing into the position
0:42:39	Strategic planning processes at CMC
0:46:22	Adapting to value-based reimbursement at CMC
0:48:26	Growth opportunities in healthcare
0:50:12	Partnerships and reimbursement in “population health”
0:52:38	Personal leadership philosophy
0:54:17	What makes a good leader? Why?
0:56:52	Hiring and evaluating good leaders
0:59:41	Personal mentors
1:00:51	Developing leaders within an organization
1:03:21	Membership in professional organizations, professional career development
1:05:30	Importance of involvement in professional organizations, networking
1:07:22	Advice for young clinicians and others looking into a career in healthcare administration

Links to Topics Discussed:

Catholic Medical Center

St. Anselm College

Tufts School of Medicine

Granite Health

Tufts Health Freedom Plan

Thanks to Sameer Panesar for production support!

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Phil Alexakos, Chief of Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness

For today’s interview I return to the Manchester Health Department to talk with Phil Alexakos, the Chief of Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness Division, about how he and his department plan and prepare for public health crises. As we remembered the 14th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 just a few days ago, Phil’s division’s focus has expanded from naturally occurring public health threats like pandemic flu to responding to bioterrorism. The interview is fascinating because Phil and his colleagues focus on developing capabilities to respond to a wide array of unknown and unknowable events by finding ways to repurpose existing infrastructure in diverse ways. The podcast concludes with how government organizations like the Health Department cannot do this mission alone – they need the help of an army of volunteers. While Phil talks about some of the volunteer programs specific to New Hampshire, listeners should consider what opportunities they have to help make their communities more robust.

Links to the Podcast:

Anchor: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Phil-Alexakos--Chief-Of-Environmental-Health-And-Emergency-Preparedness-egra92

Stitcher: https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/40479354&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/40479354

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/phil-alexakos-chief-of-environmental-health/id981989377?i=1000352240222

Podcast timeline:

Time	Topic
0:01:35	background and early career
0:10:45	organization of emergency public health in NH
0:15:27	shifting planning, post-9/11
0:20:46	Manchester's anthrax history
	anthrax at UNH
0:24:53	data surveillance for public health emergency detection
0:28:49	mass treatment - Points of Dispensing (PODs)
0:36:29	formal partners for emergency planning
0:42:03	planning for shelter operations
0:49:40	the planning group and role of the health care system
0:55:39	incident command, the EOC and the MACE
0:58:02	planning for MED Surge - accordion planning
1:05:15	integrating community based groups
	Medical Reserve
	CERTs

Links discussed and for further reading:

Manchester Health Department http://www.manchesternh.gov/Departments/Health

NH Responds: New Hampshire Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals https://www.nhresponds.org/

Medical Reserve Corps https://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/HomePage

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams

FEMA Incident Command Training https://training.fema.gov/nims/

CDC - Public Health Preparedness Capabilities:National Standards for State and Local Planning http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/capabilities/index.htm

Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/legal/pahpa/Pages/default.aspx

National Health Security Strategy http://www.phe.gov/preparedness/planning/authority/nhss/Pages/default.aspx

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Bridget Stewart, Vice President for Physician Services, Elliot Health System

Today’s guest is Bridget Stewart, the Vice President for Physician Services at the Elliot Health System in Manchester, New Hamsphire. Bridget’s career spans a wide variety of hospitals and clinical activities, but always focused on operations management. She has worked at several world famous Boston hospitals such as Brigham and Women’s, Boston Children’s and most recently before coming to the Elliot, as the Vice President for Operations at the Joslin Diabetes Center. In addition to earning her Bachelor’s degree from Health Management and Policy here at the University of New Hampshire, she holds an MBA and a Doctor of Law and Policy. In this podcast she talks about her career journey and some of the differences between the organizations she has worked for, and concludes with advice to early careerists. This full-length podcast is approximately 84 minutes in length – an abridged version of the podcast is available that only focuses on her roles at Joslin and the Elliot. 

Links to the Podcast:

Anchor: 

                     Unabridged: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Bridget-Stewart--Vice-President-for-Physician-Services--Elliot-Health-System-egraac
                 
                      Abridged:  https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/AbridgedBridget-Stewart--Vice-President-for-Physician-Services--Elliot-Health-System-egra7b

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bridget-stewart-vice-president-for-physician-services/id981989377?i=1000351059011

(the following times apply to the unabridged version of the podcast )

  Time                                    Topic

0:01:28	-	0:10:32	education at HMP and MBA
0:10:32	-	0:12:40	University of Iowa Medical Center, Division of Cardiology
0:12:40	-	0:19:07	Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Medicine
0:19:07	-	0:36:43	Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Cardiology, management grand rounds, management of philanthropic funds
0:36:43	-	0:41:12	earning a Doctorate of Law and Policy, coordination of electronic medical records
0:41:12	-	0:50:29	Vice President for Operations, Joslin Diabetes Center
0:50:29	-	0:55:49	reflecting on the Boston health care community
0:55:49	-	1:11:31	Vice Preseident for Physician Services, The Elliot Health System
1:11:31	-	1:15:43	thoughts on leadership
1:15:43	-	1:19:47	mentorship and networking
1:19:47	-	1:21:52	advice to early career women leaders
1:21:52	-	1:24:02	advice to administrative interns
1:24:02	-	1:26:09	advice to early careerists

Links to Topics Discussed:

Health Management and Policy

St. Ambrose University MBA

University of Iow Medical Center

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Boston Children's Hospital

Joslin Diabetes Center

The Elliot Health System

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Tim Soucy, Director of the Manchester Health Department

This week's guest is Tim Soucy, the Director of the Manchester Health Department. Tim started in the Department as a health inspector and worked his way up to the be the Director in 2006. In this podcast, Tim talks about his 25 years of service to his home city, how the Department has evolved, and the challenges and opportunities public health workers face everyday trying to make Manchester a safer and healthier city.

Links to the Podcast:

Anchor: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Tim-Soucy--Director--Manchester-Health-Department-egra7i

Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=63805&refid=stpri

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tim-soucy-director-manchester-health-department/id981989377?i=1000342214358

YouTube: https://youtu.be/gVIYraHXM1E 

Time                 Topic

1:03-8:29           Manchester - Challenges and Opportunities

8:30-13:04         Early career as a health inspector

13:05-19:18      Transition to leadership: Chief, Environmental Health

19:19-30:11       Public Health post-9/11        

30:12-43:08      The mission of the Department; the mission of the divisions

                              School Health Division
                              Community Health Division
                              Chronic Disease Prevention and Neighborhood Health Division

43:09-55:22      The Neighborhood Health Improvement Strategy

55:23-58:36      Public Health and the Direct Healthcare Delivery System

58:37-66:10      How the Department has changed in 25 years; the future of Public Health; 
                          thoughts on leadership and mentorship

Links Discussed:

Manchester Health Department 

New Hampshire Institute for Local Public Health Practice at the Manchester Health Department

Manchester Health Department Health Clinics

Neighborhood Health Improvement Strategy

National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)

Masters of Public Health, University of New Hampshire