Becker's Hospital Review

50 CMO / CARE DELIVERY complex and as finances became more finite, physicians understood that to be able to be more in charge of their destiny as practitioners and leaders, they needed to get more involved in the day-to-day operations and the management of the healthcare facilities." He also said the evolution of healthcare in recent years contributed to "a perfect storm with regard to physicians understanding they need to garner even more skill sets." At UTMC's Physician Leadership Academy, Dr. Gray strives to be intentional about training for the business of healthcare. He said he wanted to create a program that was accessible and affordable and relevant to the issues UTMC is experiencing. "What has made the program successful and what has made us successful from an organizational standpoint and promoting physicians into leadership positions is relationship[s]," Dr. Gray said. "Building a relationship among physician leaders and then having physician leaders build relationships with administrative leaders." He said the Physician Leadership Academy also "quickly separated the wheat from the chaff, meaning those physicians who were really interested in healthcare administration and those who decided that this was not for them." About 10 percent of academy graduates have gone on to seek an MBA. n Inside Penn Medicine CEO's decision to support nurse staffing legislation By Erica Carbajal In July, Penn Medicine's CEO took a stance many other hospital CEOs wouldn't dare touch. Kevin Mahoney, CEO of Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania Health System, co-authored an opinion piece published July 9 in which he supported a Pennsylvania bill that, if passed, would set limits on the number of patients nurses can be assigned in different units. Taking the position was about much more than mandating ratios through legislation, according to Mr. Mahoney. Already, "I'm over the top proud of the ratios that Penn provides," he said. And he's well aware nurse-to-patient ratios are not the sole answer to solving the healthcare industry's staffing challenges — that's not what drove him to take the stance. "My heart is I want people to come back to healthcare," Mr. Mahoney told Becker's. Supporting the legislation, "is what I hope is a statement that we have to look in the mirror and we need to fix the workplace," he said. "It's not just [about] giving bigger pay raises." There's no shortage of surveys and reports indicating nurses' and other healthcare workers' intent to leave, and in many cases, feeling stretched too thin on the job is referenced as a reason why. Mr. Mahoney worries about how this affects younger generations and their interest in pursuing a career in healthcare. "What are our nurses right now telling people? I want it to be a positive message," he said. "But I worry if we don't make these jobs safer and more rewarding — intrinsically and extrinsically — people won't go into these jobs." Staffing ratios have sparked debate between nurse associations and hospitals for decades, and volumes of research point to benefits on both sides of the coin. In any case, Mr. Mahoney is passionate about attracting people to healthcare careers, and part of that involves showcasing what can be done to make the work environment as safe as possible. "As an industry, how do we make people want to come back [to healthcare]…to pick us first," he said. n Nursing schools, hospitals don't agree on how to solve nurse shortages By Erica Carbajal T he nursing shortage is like an endless domino effect of the worst kind, with existing staffing issues and burnout driving more and more nurses to cut their hours or leave the industry entirely. All stakeholders want to solve the problem, but hospitals and nursing schools have different ideas about what is needed most to do so. In a July 31 report, Cal Matters laid out how this is playing out in California. Hospitals and unions want nursing schools to prioritize applicants that already have experience in healthcare for admission. Nursing schools say doing so won't enable them to graduate more nurses, pointing to the need for more faculty and training opportunities to expand class sizes. e California Hospital Association and SEIU are co-sponsoring a bill that would require community colleges to reserve 15 percent of their enrollment slots for healthcare workers looking to advance their education and move into a higher-paying position, such as nursing. "When we talk to our hospital members, workforce issues are the number one thing that keep them up at night," Jan Emerson-Shea, spokesperson for the CHA, told the news outlet. "We also hear from employees that they've tried getting into community college programs, but because they're so impacted, it can take them three, four or five years to get into the program."

• Cover