Today’s guest is Marie Vienneau, the President and CEO of
Mayo Hospital in Dover Foxcroft, Maine. Mayo Hospital is a critical access
hospital in rural central Maine. Mayo Hospital is the primary hospital for the
17,000 residents of Piscataquis county, spread over a land mass roughly the
size of Connecticut.
Prior to coming to Mayo Hospital, Marie worked at Millinocket
Regional Hospital, in her home town of Millinocket, Maine, where she rose from
staff nurse to President and CEO. During her tenure, like much of rural Maine,
the two paper mills that were the economic engines of her community closed
down. We talk at length about what it is like leading a non-profit community
hospital during a time of economic downturn, and how she led the organization
and worked with the community to care for her fellow residents.
Marie has been the President and CEO of Mayo Hospital since
2014. Mayo Hospital has a unique governance structure: it is a
quasi-governmental entity governed by a Hospital Administrative District, which
I was not familiar with. We discuss how this governance structure is different
from the typical non-profit hospital’s governance structure and the challenges
of working in this different environment. Mayo Hospital is currently in
negotiations to merge with Northern Light Health, formerly the Eastern Maine
Health System, one of the three largest health systems in Maine, and we discuss
some of the challenges of going through a merger process. We close on a
discussion of leadership.
Links to Podcast:
Anchor:
Full Length: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Marie-Vienneau--President-and-CEO--Mayo-Hospital-full-length-egra8pAbridged: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Marie-Vienneau--President-and-CEO--Mayo-Hospital-abridged-egra5n
Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-health-leader-forge
YouTube: https://youtu.be/XQzM5CMaXew
Podcast Outline (Applies to Full-Length version)
Time Topic
0:02:24 Early career in nursing - Boston
0:04:08 returning to Maine - Millinocket Regional Hospital
0:05:38 becoming CNO of Millinocket Regional Hospital at 26
0:06:47 about Millinocket and and the collapse of the paper industry
0:09:40 making the transition from staff nurse to senior leader
0:12:06 advice for making the transition to leader from individual performer
0:14:03 being young in a senior leadership role
0:15:54 transition to CNO/COO
0:16:38 becoming CEO
0:18:31 Millinocket Regional Hospital and the economy
0:21:40 effects of the contracting economy on the hospital
0:23:30 1/3 of the population becoming uninsured in one day
0:29:00 surviving the downturn - loyalty of the medical staff
0:31:07 reflecting on rise from staff nurse to CEO in one organization
0:34:54 importance of having been a clinician and support of the medical staff
0:39:02 CEO is the face of the organization in the community
0:43:14 moving from Millinocket to Mayo Hospital
0:45:49 about Dover Foxcroft, Maine
0:48:39 Mayo Hospital
0:50:12 challenge of maintaining specialties in a small facility
0:53:40 challenges of recruiting physicians to rural hospitals
0:55:01 foreign medical graduate program
0:57:31 reliance on non-physician providers
0:58:28 reliance on telemedicine in the emergency department
1:01:08 telepsychiatry, other telemedicine
1:02:19 Governance - Hospital Administrative District - quasi-governmental district
1:07:08 founding of Mayo Hospital as a Hospital Administrative District
1:08:41 Northern Lights (Eastern Maine) Merger
1:09:50 strategic advantages of the proposed merger
1:13:21 merger must be approved by Maine legislature
1:15:25 lessons from 17 years as a CEO - it's lonely at the top
1:18:13 what keeps her up at night as CEO
1:20:09 leadership philosophy
1:21:56 what she looks for in a leader
1:22:30 advice about worklife balance
1:24:49 why healthcare administration?
Links to Topics discussed
Mayo Hospital
Millinocket Regional Hospital
Northern Light Health
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