Becker's Hospital Review

34 POPULATION HEALTH 34 CEO/STRATEGY CHI SVP and division executive officer Jeff Drop on letting people embrace failure By Leo Vartorella J eff Drop is senior vice president of Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives and division executive officer of the system's Fargo division. As division executive officer, Mr. Drop oversees 18 hospitals across North Dakota and Minnesota. Mr. Drop has held leadership positions within CHI for over 20 years, previously serving as president of Pend- leton, Ore.-based St. Anthony Hospital. Mr. Drop earned a master's degree in public administration from Car- negie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and an undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa. Mr. Drop took the time to answer three key leadership questions from Becker's. Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and style. Question: What are the most important factors to consider when building an executive team? Jeff Drop: One of the most important factors for me is that the new team members fit into the management style of the CEO. e execu- tive team must be a complementary addition to the vision the CEO has for the organization. e members of the executive team must also be self-starting individuals and capable of making decisions on their own while not being afraid of making mistakes. Q: In the past 12 months, how have you adapted to new pa- tient experience expectations in the age of consumerism? JD: My way of thinking about patient experience is one of conve- nience — we need to wait on our patients instead of having our pa- tients wait for us to treat them. Quality, speed and convenience will set successful health systems apart in attracting patients to their services. We also have to be ready to offer what the patient wants and needs as opposed to making the patient fit into an outdated healthcare system. Q: How do you develop leaders within your organization? JD: I develop leaders by letting them do their jobs and make their own mistakes. Leaders need to develop their own way of doing things with- in the parameters of the organization. Leaders need to learn from their mistakes and take ownership of both success and failure. It is like being thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool — but I have a life vest attached to them. n NYC Health + Hospitals cuts 35 jobs in cost-savings move By Kelly Gooch N ew York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals elimi- nated 35 positions as part of an overall plan to re- duce administrative costs. In a March 9 letter, President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD, told staff the eliminated positions are central office admin- istrative jobs at every level. The move does not affect clini- cal positions. "These staff reductions are not about identifying waste or excess, and do not reflect on performance by any individu- al. In fact, the elimination of these positions will require our central office teams to rethink, reprioritize and focus on the functions that are the most needed by our health system and our patient care operation," Dr. Katz wrote. NYC Health + Hospitals revealed Feb. 28 during a New York City Council meeting it was continuing efforts to re- duce administrative costs. At the time, the public health system said it had eliminated various consultant contracts in recent months, with $16 million in estimated savings. Dr. Katz said at the hearing the system should only use outside consultants for "specific highly specialized ques- tions," but should otherwise focus resources on the orga- nization's physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers and other support staff. He also said at the February hear- ing the system had already cut administrative positions to save $62 million and would cut more administrative jobs in the near future. NYC Health + Hospitals estimates savings of more than $4.5 million by eliminating the 35 central office administra- tive jobs. Affected employees will be able to access the sys- tem's post employment resources to help find other jobs. n "These staff reductions are not about identifying waste or excess, and do not reflect on performance by any individual." — Mitchell Katz, MD, President and CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals

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