Becker's Hospital Review

21 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP 21 CEO / STRATEGY Trinity Health CEO on motivations behind his health system's vaccine mandate By Hannah Mitchell M ike Slubowski, the CEO of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, said there was no hesitation to mandate COVID-19 vaccines at its 91 hospitals and 113 continuing care facilities. "If I could get on my knees and beg everyone to get vaccinated, I would right now," he told Becker's in July. e health system's vaccination rate among its 117,000 employees plateaued in early summer, with around 75 percent of em- ployees having at least one dose. is was not enough for the CEO, who said its mis- sion centers around the safety of its patients and employees. "We're a healthcare provider, and people who come to us for care expect that they're going to be safe. ey expect our people are vaccinated," Mr. Slubowski said. "And for 75 percent of our colleagues who come to work, they expect that their colleagues are vaccinat- ed — that they can be safe coming to work." A second driving factor: the proven safety of the vaccine, he said. At the time Trinity man- dated vaccines, 3.3 billion doses had been administered internationally and 158 million Americans were fully vaccinated. "ere's a rich pool of data about the fact that vaccines are safe and effective," he said. "You're seeing there right now the only peo- ple ending up with serious illness or death [from COVID-19], 99 percent of them are unvaccinated." Many health systems have expressed con- cerns over workforce shortages if employees who are hesitant to get the vaccine choose to quit. However, this was not going to stop Mr. Slubowski and Trinity officials. "We're always concerned about our colleagues and trying to both recruit and retain colleagues," he said. "Like every organization coming out of this pandemic, we have had various shortages in departments across our ministries. ... But the safety, health and welfare of our colleagues is an overarching concern. You can't work if you're not healthy. You can't work in an environment where you're not safe. If you're around unvac- cinated people, you can't make or create a safe environment for the patients." Mr. Slubowski said most hospital employees have been supportive of the vaccine mandate. "ere are a handful of people that have questions and concerns, and we're address- ing those," he said. "But again, I want to re- peat that 75 percent of our people are already vaccinated, so the vast majority have already voted with their feet." n 'It's not personal' + 5 other phrases to avoid in difficult conversations with your staff By Hannah Mitchell W hether you're critiquing a colleague's work or fir- ing a person who is difficult to work with, it can be hard to know exactly how to approach it. Here are six words and phrases to steer clear of, according to a June 21 article published in Harvard Business Review. Six words and phrases to avoid: 1. "Clearly," "obviously" or "beyond doubt" Don't assume your reasoning is obvious and that the per- son you're speaking with will clearly see your viewpoint or agree with you. Using these words makes the assumption that you're 100 percent right, which may not be a good start to a conversation. 2. "You always" or "you never" Don't exaggerate by using hyperboles. In a conversation, it may lead the other person to say, "That's not true," and follow that up with every occasion that counters your claim. If you want some- one to start something or stop it, that should be the focus. 3. "You should be doing this." Telling someone what they should do can make a person feel judged and may imply there is just one path to get de- sired results. Phrases like, "You might consider," or, "Have you thought?" may open the conversation to more possibilities. 4. "You make me so angry when you do that." Allowing your emotions to drive what you say might be coun- terproductive. If a colleague frequently interrupts you, you may want to say, "You make me so angry when you interrupt me." However, this can spark an argument. Consider saying, "Could you please not interrupt me until I'm finished?" or say nothing at all and move on with your discussion. 5. "Unprofessional," "unethical" or "wrong" You may believe what someone is doing falls in line with the definitions of unethical or unprofessional behavior. If you label someone with one of these words, they may be- come defensive. Humans have a deep need to see them- selves as moral, and using one of these words may threat- en the way they see themselves, the article said. Instead, suggest that the problem behavior "detracts from our mis- sion" or is "inconsistent with our core values." 6. "It's not personal." People usually say, "It's not personal," or "Don't take it per- sonally," when they subconsciously know it's personal for the other person, the article said. If someone is hurt or angry by what you have said or done, telling them it's not personal adds insult to injury. Acknowledge that it may be personal to them, or don't say anything about "personal" at all. n

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