Mitch Edgeworth, MBA, CEO of Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics, brought his senior leadership team to three locations on June 17 for an annual update of initiatives and successes.
The hourlong program, called Catalyst for Change, was itself a catalyst for something new — Edgeworth’s first such road show presentation, which he plans to repeat at least once a year.
Presented in a talk show format, complete with four fun video “commercials” for different units of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), it was an opportunity to present serious topics in a sometimes lighthearted way.
The show traveled from the Franklin Marriott in Cool Springs to Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks to Light Hall on the main campus.
Edgeworth, as talk show host, opened with a monologue, then brought out three guests:
• Titus Daniels, M.D., MPH, MMHC, associate professor of Medicine, executive director of the Vanderbilt Medical Group (VMG) and Chief Operating Officer for Adult Clinic Operations at VUMC.
• Robin Steaban, MSN, R.N., Chief Nursing Officer for Vanderbilt University Hospital and Clinics.
• C. Lee Parmley, M.D., J.D., professor of Anesthesiology and Chief of Staff of Vanderbilt University Hospital.
Edgeworth emphasized four key strategic imperatives that VUMC is pursuing for the forthcoming fiscal year: workforce engagement, Epic Leap, academic performance and strategic growth.
Workforce engagement is a top priority, as evidenced by the VUMC Culture Survey, which took place from May 16 to June 3.
A total of 81 percent of VUMC employees took the survey, and leadership expects to receive the results in August.
“As soon as we do, you will know what those results look like and where we’re going to work to improve,” Edgeworth said. “We hope to learn a lot.”
One area of improvement will be staff retention.
Epic Leap, a move to new clinical systems from the vendor Epic, is on track to happen by November, 2017 and is on budget.
Edgeworth stressed that VUMC’s recent legal separation from Vanderbilt University does not mean any reduced emphasis on academic achievement. VUMC will be “an Academic Medical Center with a capital A,” he said, as its research and teaching mission will continue to be prioritized and connected to its clinical mission.
Lastly, he emphasized strategic growth, specifically the continued expansion of adult clinical services throughout our region and the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network (VHAN), which now encompasses 11 health systems with more than 50 hospitals in four States.
“We’re going to continue to grow, and we are excited about our future,” Edgeworth said.