Becker's Hospital Review

52 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP 'Walk in their shoes': Inside a Virginia system's quality gains By Kristin Kuchno R enuka Gupta, MD, never expected to leave New York City aer moving to the U.S. from India in 2002. However, since joining Mary Washington Healthcare in Fredericksburg, Va., in 2023 as vice president and chief quality officer, she has made a significant mark on the health system's quality strategy and outcomes. Under Dr. Gupta's leadership, Mary Washington Healthcare has strengthened its quality department, leading to improvements in patient safety indicator metrics. In 2024, among 31 hospitals, Mary Washington Hospital ranked first in Virginia for patient safety indicators, according to Vizient. "e vision of my leadership was very clear: We want to improve quality and patient safety and make it No. 1 for our community," Dr. Gupta told Becker's. "We are one of the few independent hospitals le, and we want our community to feel confident coming to us. at can only happen when every team member is invested in quality and safety." A collaborative playbook for quality Dr. Gupta began her role at the two-hospital, 571-bed system by listening, building relationships and rounding early in the morning to engage with night-shi staff. "You can make a real difference in an organization when associates feel heard," she said. "Sometimes we miss that. My philosophy is to walk in their shoes, make them feel important, learn from them, and then truly understand what's working and what isn't." Once she gained team buy-in, Dr. Gupta fostered a culture of collaboration. Her approach to launching initiatives involved meeting with every team member individually to gather input and support. is, she noted, builds trust and confidence. "en, when you bring them all together in one room, there's no back- and-forth or hesitation because the majority of the work is already done," she said. "Everyone feels part of the team and has a voice in the process. at was a game changer. When people are aligned, you can't lose." Breaking down silos Recognizing that multiple groups were working in silos on similar quality initiatives, Dr. Gupta implemented a single quality governance structure. If multiple projects focused on the same goal, they were consolidated under one team with a designation owner and accountability lead. e quality governance teams met monthly, initially overseeing nine key projects. Between meetings, teams continued their work with one-on-one support from Dr. Gupta's team. A standardized project template ensured consistency and accountability. She then established a quality council with executive leadership. Each quarter, front-line teams — including physicians, care coordination, nursing, pharmacy and laboratory staff — presented their projects directly to senior leaders. is structured approach contributed to improved performance in key patient safety measures, including central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections and surgical site infections. Looking ahead, Dr. Gupta and her team are working to embed quality into every department by collaborating with leaders to identify key metrics and develop dashboards to track progress against national benchmarks. From the army to academic medicine Before joining Mary Washington Healthcare, Dr. Gupta spent nearly 14 years at Weill Cornell Medicine, serving as chair of medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital in New York City for the last three years of her tenure. Raised in a middle-class family in India, she was encouraged by her parents to become the first physician in the family — a rare path for girls in her community. Aer earning her medical degree, she served as a captain in the Indian army, managing a 20-bed hospital, providing primary care, promoting immunization awareness and launching health education programs for women. Dr. Gupta moved to the U.S. to advance her education but quickly faced financial hardships. "e money ran out fast," she said. She worked multiple jobs — at restaurants and dollar stores, also shoveling snow and tutoring — to support herself before being accepted into a residency program. "ere were a lot of failures. I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I kept going because the drive was there," she said. "ere were days I cried alone — I had no friends, no family, and it was very lonely. But who you are, what you believe in and why you want to do something — that focus has to be there, and it will drive you." Dr. Gupta's leadership philosophy was shaped by her experiences as a woman in the male-dominated army. She encourages women in healthcare to advocate for themselves and take bold steps toward leadership. "If you believe you are capable of a position, step up and have your elevator pitch ready," she said. "And remember, failure is OK. You have to fail to succeed." n "You can make a real difference in an organization when associates feel heard. Sometimes we miss that. My philosophy is to walk in their shoes, make them feel important, learn from them, and then truly understand what's working and what isn't." — Dr. Renuka Gupta

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