71 executives share their top partnerships of the year — and what’s next

Becker's asked C-suite executives from hospitals and health systems across the U.S. to share their most beneficial partnerships in 2024. 

The 71 executives featured in this article are all speaking at the Becker's Healthcare 12th Annual CEO+CFO Roundtable on Nov. 11-14, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.

To learn more about this event, click here.

If you would like to join as a speaker or a reviewer, contact Mariah Muhammad at mmuhammad@beckershealthcare.com or agendateam@beckershealthcare.com. 

For more information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Jessica Cole at jcole@beckershealthcare.com.

As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who will speak at our conference. The following are answers from our speakers at the event.

Question: Which partnerships have been most beneficial this year, and what more are you looking for in the next year?

Matthew E. Cox. CFO of Corewell Health (Grand Rapids and Southfield, Mich.): At Corewell Health, our partnerships play a crucial role in enhancing our ability to serve our communities effectively. These collaborations not only help us strengthen our core services but also enable us to diversify our revenue streams, thereby increasing the amount of capital we can reinvest each year. One notable partnership that has significantly benefited our organization this year is with Atlas Healthcare Partners. Through our collaboration with Atlas, Corewell Health has successfully expanded our ambulatory surgery footprint across the state of Michigan.

Looking ahead, Corewell Health remains committed to leveraging partnerships to further our mission of providing exceptional healthcare and coverage. We will continue to seek out collaborations that align with our strategic goals and enhance our ability to serve our communities.

Pete November. CEO of Ochsner Health (New Orleans): At Ochsner, we know partnerships are essential to fulfill our mission, and we also know partnerships must be truly collaborative where parties share their expertise, resources and networks and approach the relationship with humility and generosity, knowing that none of us has all the answers on our own.  

One recent partnership I am particularly proud of is our relationship and clinical integration with world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center.  We recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of this relationship that provides the nation’s leading cancer

care to patients right here in Louisiana and has resulted in improved access to the most up-to-date cancer care for local patients. Our patients have access to select clinical trials through our MD Anderson partnership. This has been a terrific collaboration.

Looking ahead, we are so excited about our partnership with Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), one of the country’s top ranked HBCUs, to launch the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine. When XOCOM opens, it will be one of just a handful of historically Black medical schools in the country, and the only HBCU medical school in the Gulf South. This is critical, as nationally we are facing a projected shortage of 86,000 physicians total by 2036, and this project will produce more top physician talent to serve

 the growing and diverse health needs in Louisiana and across the country. 

XOCOM builds on a long standing partnership with XULA that began in the 1980s when Ochsner began offering clinical training for the Xavier College of Pharmacy and has continued through our new Physician Assistant (PA) program launched in 2022. We’re thrilled about opening this new HBCU medical school together in downtown New Orleans in the coming years. 

Marschall S. Runge, MD, PhD. CEO of Michigan Medicine (Ann Arbor); Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs at University of Michigan: Over the past year, our interactions with community hospitals in our network have been especially rewarding. Contrary to our faculty's expectations of a one-way flow of knowledge from the academic medical center to the community, we've learned just as much, if not more, from these dedicated clinicians. Their focus and commitment have been invaluable, and I look forward to strengthening these partnerships in the future.

Peter Banko. President and CEO of Baystate Health (Springfield, Mass.): Baystate Health has had a thriving and expanding 25-year partnership with Shields Health in imaging, pharmacy, and other clinical areas. This past year, we divested our laboratory to LabCorp and are working through the sale of our health plan, Health New England, to Point32Health. Looking forward, we have a unique opportunity to bridge our revenue gap with partnerships (including our unrivaled academic physician network) that create sustainable organic growth in core service lines, ambulatory/outpatient, and key geographies. We see mergers and acquisitions – framed within our strategy for the future – as the most powerful lever to drive growth, innovation, transformation, and system-ness (not just in name only).

Wendy Horton. CEO of UVA Health University Medical Center (Charlottesville, Va.): I am most excited for partnerships that put patients and our communities at the center. This year, I’m particularly enthusiastic about a few key collaborations. First, we’ve partnered with a group of individuals to develop a clinic within public housing, providing accessible care directly to underserved communities. Additionally, we’re opening a new pediatric behavioral health center in December, in collaboration with a health system we’ve traditionally competed with — showing that when it comes to patient care, collaboration outweighs competition. Lastly, we’ve formed a statewide pediatric congenital care partnership with two other health systems, ensuring that no patients in Virginia need to leave the state for care. Ultimately, coming together for patients and the community is always the right answer, and it is exciting to see these partnerships grow and expand.

Maneesh Goyal. Chief Operating Officer of Mayo Clinic Platform at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.): Over the last five years, Mayo Clinic Platform has established itself as the first comprehensive healthcare platform and has effectively partnered with and connected multiple sides of the healthcare ecosystem.

On the one hand, our distributed data network — the first global network of its kind — forms the knowledge foundation. Mayo Clinic Platform is curating data of 38 million de-identified lives across world-class health systems and populations in four continents to create a level of diversity and size previously unseen in healthcare. 

On the second side, early stage and mature companies are accessing data and technologies to build AI-enabled healthcare solutions, develop new drugs, and create diagnostic tools, etc. In the past year, we have built a vibrant solution developer ecosystem and we’re actively enabling a faster pace of innovation. 

On the third side, healthcare provider organizations are contributing to and benefiting from the distributed data network, gaining insights from data, and developing and adopting innovative solutions. 

We’re growing and strengthening partnerships on every side of our ecosystem and the partnerships have been beneficial to all participants. We are working together to improve diagnostic and treatment capabilities, reduce burden on clinical teams and improve care outcomes. 

And in the year ahead, we are excited about the impact we will be able to make and fundamentally change how care is provided. 

Albert Wright. President and CEO of WVU Medicine (Morgantown, W.Va.): As we continue to transition our care model by evolving to an integrated delivery and finance system, our continued close partnership with our providers, especially our physicians, will be critical. One of our foundational strategic priorities is to do everything possible to make the WVU Health System a great place to practice medicine. We want to equip our doctors and other caregivers with all the tools necessary for them to do what they do best and to be able to practice at the top of their licenses. A strong partnership, one built on trust, transparency, shared values, and open communication, is a must for us to meet our patient-care mission.

Chanda Chacon. President and CEO of Children's Nebraska (Omaha): At Children’s Nebraska, we define partnership on many levels from alignment of work to fully integrated missions. As healthcare continues to move outside the walls of the traditional healthcare model, it is essential to work with other organizations that are dedicated to solving the 80% of health that is determined by where you live, work and play. We have seen this work be most impactful as we work to create a network of care for behavioral health across the state of Nebraska and beyond.

Michael Backus, President and CEO of Oswego (N.Y.) Health: In 2024, Oswego Health worked with its local nonprofit volunteer Board of Directors to implement its three-year strategic plan with a five-year financial framework. This engagement originated with a consulting agreement with Guidehouse, which helped form the strategy and is now assisting with its execution, especially in growing the health system in primary and ambulatory care delivery. 

Similarly, working collaboratively with Upstate University Hospital to develop service lines like Upstate Urology at Oswego Health and Upstate Cancer at Oswego, we have brought in strategic partners in care that help the community hospital provide access locally. Continuing to execute the strategic plan in 2025, along with scaling the relationship with Upstate to increase access for patients, will be a priority for the leadership team of Oswego Health.

Ian Jasenof, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Mile Square Health Center - UI Health (Chicago): The most beneficial partnerships this past year have been our own team members. Our journey in receiving various HRSA Quality Badges has demonstrated how a complex system with multiple geographic locations can work as one and achieve the success that we have had. We have had a very pragmatic approach in embracing Clinical Integration. Our core Quality Improvement Team has approached the task of QI improvement in a very intentional manner. In part, it does require a group effort, not just from the providers, but all team members.

Aiesha Ahmed, MD. Vice President of Population Health, Vice President and Chief of Neuroscience at Corewell Health West (Grand Rapids and Southfield, Mich.): A specific payer related partnership to address areas of mutual interests has been an important collaboration. This partnership experiment is not a formal 'payvider' organizational structure/model which is usually how payvider is defined. Instead, it’s an informal partnership to explore areas that impact both payer and care delivery systems. An example that can be shared is creation of a longitudinal process to help reduce provider burnout through administrative burden reduction, which is also aligned with reducing administrative work on the payer side. 

An associated patient experience improvement aspect has been important as well. Expanding scope and scaling up would be the natural next steps. Ideally, there remains an opportunity for additional collaborators to join these conversations, such as regional/national specialty societies (due to their focus on practice guidelines) to contribute towards standardized clinical pathway development so the payer policies can be influenced appropriately.  

Naveenraj L. Solomon, MD. Vice Chair of Administration, Department of Surgery and Medical Director, Quality Improvement in Surgery at Loma Linda (Calif.) University Health: The most beneficial partnerships have been with our Operational Excellence Team, operating room and floor nursing teams. We’ve been able to work on several patient care projects that have been successful. I look forward to growing these relationships as well and working more with our hospital leadership in providing safe surgical care.

Thomas Miller. President of Aurora BayCare Medical Center (Green Bay, Wis.): This year, our most successful partnerships have focused on workforce development. We've collaborated with nursing schools to expand clinical rotations, worked with hospital teams and local high schools to enhance Youth Apprenticeship models, and partnered with the state to promote healthcare-focused funding for workforce innovation. These initiatives have generated the most excitement and tangible results. Additionally, we've gained valuable insights from industries like manufacturing and hospitality, which have experience in sparking career interest among the next generation of workers. While our primary focus has been on expanding the nursing workforce, we plan to apply these lessons and partnerships in the coming months and years to other hospital areas, including technicians, technologists, and plant operations.

Marie Langley. CEO of Desert Valley Hospital & Medical Group (Victorville, Calif.): This year, our partnerships with independent physicians, particularly local specialists such as orthopedic surgeons, rheumatologists, and dermatologists, have been instrumental in enhancing patient access to specialized care. These collaborations allow physicians to maintain their autonomy while benefiting from the resources and support of a larger entity like Desert Valley Medical Group affiliated with Desert Valley Hospital and Prime Healthcare Services.

While this model has been effective, it does present challenges in terms of sustainability, as the control and strategic alignment often rest with the independent physicians. Looking ahead, we aim to increase the recruitment and employment of specialists directly within the medical group, ensuring alignment of goals and securing sufficient patient volume to support their practices. Additionally, there remains a critical need to recruit more primary care physicians to better serve our rural communities and improve access to essential healthcare services.

This strategic shift will enable us to maintain a high standard of care while expanding our capacity to meet growing patient needs.

Charles Emerman, MD. Chair of Emergency Medicine and Medical Director, Service Line at MetroHealth Medical Center (Cleveland): We have recently partnered with a community adolescent facility for placement of these sometimes challenging patients. We provide them with medical clearance for their transfers. They work with our psychiatric social workers on assessment and intake.

Arshad K Rahim, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Population Health at Mount Sinai Health System (New York City): Value based care excellence is a team support that requires 'the village,' which includes targeted industry partners. The quality of the offering and partnership to execute are both highly important; key to this is the provider entity having clarity on what makes most sense to partner, buy and build. A lack of clarity can sink almost any partnership. To date, some of our most valued partnerships have been in targeted data partnerships for our SNF and post-acute programs, and for increasing timely and affordable access to behavioral health services. Key investments on the horizon include bi-directional data exchange (i.e. point of care reminders and regular ingestion of clinical data related to VBC performance metrics in structured and unstructured fields) with our community provider partners who sit on many different EMR, and specialty episode performance data.    

David Berger. CEO of University Hospital at Downstate (Brooklyn, N.Y.): We don’t have the capital to buy practices in the community. As a result, we have adopted the strategy of partnering with both private primary care practices and unaffiliated multispecialty groups. In this model we place our specialists in these private settings and allow our providers to perform outpatient procedures for which our private partners can bill the facility fee. In exchange we are able to build a volume of more complex procedures in the academic medical center.  This has proven beneficial to our private partners, our employed physicians, and our tertiary care facility.

Mark Klyczek. President and CEO of Virginia Health Services (Newport News): At Virginia Health Services, our vision statement is to be the trusted partner and provider of choice in the communities we serve. We believe to serve our community we cannot be all things to all people and need great partnerships to be successful.

We have been selected to participate in the CMS demonstration project, GUIDE Model, caring for individuals with dementia in the community. We have already initiated partnership discussions with other GUIDE enrolled providers, some of which are in our market and we have not had partnerships in the past. This will help to increase the population we serve and continue to diversify our revenue streams.

Strengthening payer relationships will be a priority in 2025. Where there are frustrations, we will be looking for opportunities to create win/win/win partnerships for VHS, payers and the patients we serve based on quality outcomes. In the Mid-Atlantic the payer market is changing rapidly to match the national trends of higher Medicare Advantage penetration. We will need to develop good partnerships as reimbursement will be 85% of what we have received in the past.

Ebrahim Barkoudah, MD. System Chief and Regional Chief Medical Officer of Baystate Health (Springfield, Mass.): This year, our healthcare organization has benefited significantly from two key partnerships. Internally, collaborating with emergency department leaders has enhanced patient flow. By working closely with emergency medicine leadership management and staff, we've introduced new triage protocols, optimized bed management, and improved interdepartmental communication. These initiatives have reduced wait times, boosted patient satisfaction, and increased efficiency in transitioning patients from the ED to inpatient units or discharge. 

Externally, our partnership with mental health hospitals’ chain focused on mental health care delivery, leading to expanded psychiatric services, evidence-based treatments, and better coordination between mental health providers and other medical specialties. This collaboration has improved our community's mental health services and enhanced care quality for vulnerable populations. 

Regionally, our collaboration with other hospitals has streamlined patient transfers to higher care levels, ensuring quick and safe movement of patients needing specialized treatments. This has balanced patient loads across the region, optimizing resources and improving outcomes for critically ill patients. Looking forward, we aim to strengthen our regional network, develop new collaborations to forge clinical and academic partnerships, and support care delivery.

Cliff Deveny, MD. President and CEO of Summa Health (Akron, Ohio): The partnerships that have driven the most value for Summa Health in 2024 have been

  1. Our integrated emergency medicine/hospitalist provider organization which has improved throughput metrics, length of stay, patient engagement and referring physician satisfaction
  2. Our specialty pharmacy partner that has continue to improve access and affordability for our patients which has resulted in improved provider engagement

Catriona McDonald Harrop, MD. Senior Vice President of Jefferson Medical Group; Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia): For me, the partnerships that have been most beneficial for me have been with our advanced practice clinicians.  At Jefferson Health we recognize the important role that APCs play in the health care team, and we have the benefit of having an exceptional leader in Janeen Duckworth, APRN, who is the VP of APCs for Jefferson Health. Janeen and her Team have been working hard on expanding their governance structure, standardizing on-boarding and clinical practice workflows, and working on continuing education. I am excited to see how this talented group of individuals continues to grow at Jefferson.   

Ryan Nicholas, MD. Chief Quality Officer of Mercy Medical Group (Sacramento, Calif.): Over the past four years, our most transformative partnership has been with organizational development consultants. Due to rapid growth, a strategic reorganization of our traditional structure was required. They have helped facilitate our governance transformation through a challenging process of organizational optimization. We have shifted from a managerial board of directors to a governance board. We have centralized operational decision making at the division level with our department chairs and built strong dyad leadership teams to support each division. We continue to streamline our financial processes and have significantly increased transparency, communication clarity, and front line provider participation in governance. 

Our long-term strategic partnership with Dignity Health Medical Foundation and CommonSpirit remains foundational to the care we deliver every day. We depend on our partner organizations for the tools and resources we use to deliver healing every day. Without a strong strategic partnership, we would not be able to take on the value based care transformation that is rapidly developing in our market.

Our future partnerships will increasingly include AI driven real-time transcription solutions and data analytics services. In the modern landscape with many competing technology platforms, the temptation can be to implement solutions without fully assessing the risks. We must prioritize data security and integrity while moving rapidly to develop tools to gather actionable quality and value data within our practice landscape.

Brian Peters. CEO of Michigan Health Hospital Association (Okemos): Understanding the significant workforce challenges confronted by our member hospitals and health systems, we have partnered closely with the higher education community and state government to lift up healthcare as a career path for young people and mid-careerists, and to provide new programming and support for their educational journey. We launched a new state-wide campaign featuring billboard, radio, and digital advertising, as well as a new website: Home - MI Hospital Careers These efforts have led to our hospitals’ success in filling over 60,000 open positions over the course of the last year.

Susmita Pati, MD. Chief of Primary Care Pediatrics and Chief Medical Program Advisor, The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science of Stony Brook University (N.Y.): Partnerships with various stakeholders across our clinical care, medical education, and research missions have been incredibly beneficial to achieving our goals this year. These highly effective interprofessional teams help create a positive workforce culture that, in turn, contributes to high quality patient care. In the next year, Stony Brook Medicine plans to continue to leverage our vast data repositories and digital technologies to support our workforce by reducing administrative burdens and, thereby, enabling them to increase their focus on direct patient care.

Natalia Cineas, DNP, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive; Co-Chair, Equity and Access Council, New York City Health + Hospitals: Partnership and collaboration in all directions is essential to leadership and innovation, and I believe that there are opportunities at every level. In many cases, our greatest resources are right in front of us. For instance, front-line staff are well-positioned to understand the needs of their patients and the communities we serve — they are the ones most likely to know where the service gaps may occur, and can provide creative solutions to addressing potential issues.

Looking forward, we are focusing on developing numerous cooperative and collaborative relationships with major colleges and universities throughout the greater New York metropolitan area, with two goals in mind: the first, to create conduits to train and advance professional practice for incumbent NYC Health + Hospitals nursing staff, and the second, to tap into the local nursing graduates to provide a pipeline of diverse, highly trained professionals to expand and replenish the nursing workforce at NYC Health + Hospitals. We currently have an exciting and expanding partnership with the City University of New York. 

CUNY and NYC Health + Hospitals have embarked upon a synergistic Nursing Academic-Practice Partnership (CHAPP) that integrates and links nursing education, practice innovation and scholarly efforts across CUNY nursing programs and NYC Health + Hospitals nursing practice to facilitate nurses' contributions to the advancement of patient care and outcomes. We also partnered with Hunter College of the City University of New York to secure a $52 million gift, the largest in Hunter’s history, for the establishment of the Evelyn Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program at Hunter College, creating a powerful education and employment pipeline between Hunter and NYC Health + Hospitals, which will serve as formal training sites under the supervision of senior nursing and medical staff. 

These types of collaborative efforts both within healthcare settings as well as throughout the larger community being served will allow our system to achieve our goals of providing inclusive health and wellness treatment based on evidence-based best practices and address the challenges of a changing and increasingly varied and multi-cultural society.

Ronda Lehman. President of Mercy Health Lima (Ohio): This year I am particularly excited about the partnership that Bon Secours Mercy Health has developed with The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Together, we launched a Community Medicine MD Track to address one of Ohio’s biggest challenges – ensuring there’s an adequate number of community medicine physicians to care for patients in rural communities. As part of the program, the students’ first two years of medical school will be completed at Ohio State’s Columbus campus and their final two years of core clinical training will be completed at Mercy Health in Lima, Ohio. 

We welcomed our inaugural class of 15 students into this program in Fall of 2024. We are thrilled about the opportunity to educate future physicians and encourage upcoming generations on the unique and amazing practice opportunities that exist practicing medicine in more rural settings.

Hoda Asmar, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of Providence (Renton, Wash.): In 2024 Providence launched and expanded our strategic partnerships in the areas of technology, artificial intelligence, and healthcare systems collaboratives with a focus on the common good. We believe the future will bring on more innovative partnerships in support of patient outcomes, affordability, access and growth. In 2025, we are also putting a renewed focus on internal partnerships with our physicians, and existing clinical operations partners. 

Adam Breslow, MD. President and CEO of Children’s Primary Care Medical Group (San Diego): Children’s Primary Care Medical Group depends on numerous partnerships to thrive in Southern California's highly competitive healthcare marketplace. Four have been mission-critical for our success in 2024: 

1. Our integrated delivery system partner, Rady Children’s Health Network, has allowed us a safe harbor in a larger system since we’re a standalone medical group; 

2. Our academic affiliation with The University of California San Diego (via UCSD Health) has brought us access to newborns and university employee children; 3. Children’s Physician’s Medical Group - our independent physician association for its excellence in contracting and care coordination; and 

4. The multiple (four) Medi-Cal Health plans we work with have been good partners in helping us deliver care to the underserved. In 2025, we will keep our diversification strategy at the forefront of our business. There is a California ballot initiative, Proposition 35, which will dramatically help safety net providers such as us when (fingers crossed) it passes. We continue to work with our partners to show the value of high-quality primary care as the bedrock of a high-functioning healthcare system.

Edward S. Kim, MD, MBA, Vice Physician-in-Chief of City of Hope National Medical Center (Duarte, Calif.); Physician-in-Chief of City of Hope Orange County: In cancer care, partnerships are essential for advancing the science and innovation that will lead to cures. I am especially proud of the clinical collaborations we've established with leading cancer institutions both in the United States and internationally. Another key initiative, AccessHope, is a partnership among NCI-designated cancer centers that provides virtual expertise to community oncologists, including rural and underserved regions. This initiative has had a tremendous impact, reaching nearly 7 million lives and advancing access to specialized care, no matter the location.

We are also partnering to train the next generation of cancer scientists. Recently, City of Hope established a relationship with Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, a historically Black medical school. This initiative aims to train a more diverse workforce in cancer research, addressing the persistent racial and ethnic disparities in representation among oncology doctors and scientists.

In the year ahead, we look forward to deepening these relationships. Cancer is a complex, multi-dimensional disease, and the only way to end it is through collaboration — working together to bring about meaningful change and breakthroughs.

Francesca Varallo Sims, PsyD. Director of Education and Training of Baptist Health (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Wolfson Children’s Hospital: To ensure a sustainable and thriving workforce, we are dedicated to developing our partnerships with academic institutions nationwide. This connectivity supports recruitment efforts, serving as direct pathways for early career providers to train and increase familiarity with the health system. We also maintain consistent communication with our local partners to inform programmatic services and align these with the needs of our community populations. Further, strengthening interprofessional partnerships within our own organization is essential for integrating advanced practice providers into the care model across medical disciplines. In the coming year, we will be focused on bolstering these national, community, and internal partnerships to support the organization’s strategic operating plan.

Sachin K. Gupta, MD. Chief Medical Officer of UNC Physicians Network (Durham, N.C.): Across UNC Health, a focus of the last year has been creating deeper connections and productive partnerships across the academic and community arms of our system to improve the care we deliver across the state. This work has included close coordination between physician and operational leaders along with system partners like patient access, information services, supply chain, and many others who play a role in supporting patient care. We hope this will result in a more seamless experience for both patients and clinicians and teammates. 

Bhawna Jha, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Heart City Health (Elkhart, Ind.): Over the past 13 months, we have developed a multidisciplinary team focused on chronic care management of our primary care patient population across different service lines. This team works toward the organization's quality metrics, surveils utilization behavior (ER visits, referral management), and transition of care services while screening for areas of improvement to enhance patient care and delivery.  

Data analytics has proven to be a powerful tool for our strategic planning. It has allowed us to implement carefully crafted, customized pilots. Step 2 involves a company-wide rollout, with thorough pre-launch information sharing and education for our frontline staff and department leads, and ensuring capacity adequacy in advance. By establishing a defined systematic process involving dedicated stakeholders, ensuring alignment and clear areas of responsibility, we have increased efficiency and reduced redundancies. We are already seeing positive shifts in quality metrics and engagement. There have been no additional investments toward recruitment so far, and the initiative has primarily relied on strong strategies, cross-functional team operational efficiencies, engagement, and the innovative culture of our organization.

Bill Munley. Administrator of Shriners Children’s Greenville (S.C.): For Shriners Children’s Greenville, our biggest success for partnerships have been in the areas of telehealth, FQHCs, RHCs, CAHs, other rural hospitals and school screenings. We specialize in pediatric orthopedics and neuromuscular conditions. Since we treat patients from all over the United States as well as many foreign countries, we often align with other entities to connect with appropriate patients. For example, we recently partnered with a rural hospital system with four locations in North Carolina for orthopedic telehealth. 

We also developed our SCAN program (Shriners Children’s Access Navigators.) This initiative allows us to build upon the overlapping missions of Shriners Children’s and those of our SCAN members. Through ongoing education and resource sharing, SCAN keeps providers and staff informed about pediatric conditions Shriners Children’s can treat. 

Another successful partnership: Because the school nurse is sometimes the only primary care source for underserved children, we have conducted multiple school screenings in the state. These have resulted in many referrals to our orthopedic hospital in Greenville as well as other Shriners Children’s locations specializing in burns and cleft lip and palate. Finally, we have secured membership in a large CIN, and another membership is ready to be signed. We have also secured multiple managed care/commercial bundled payment agreements. All of these strategies and arrangements have led to partnership success.

Swannie Jett, DrPH. CEO of Park DuValle Community Health Center Inc. (Louisville, Ky.): Currently partnering with primary care associations and hospital associations has been a major help over the last few years. We are building relationships with community partners in the non-profit and health system world to provide better care for our patients. In the past, our care was coordinated as well as it could be. We intentionally conduct meetings to better coordinate care.

Audrea Caesar, PhD. Chief Community Health Officer of UNC Health (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and UNC School of Medicine: Over the past year UNC Health has focused on making a positive impact on maternal health including raising awareness and offering resources to birthing people and families spanning preconception to postpartum. Through partnerships with local FQHC Advance Community Health and LEADoula, we hosted a series of community screenings of the film Toxic. In the coming year, we hope to collaborate more with our local health departments and community based organizations to make families aware of these services and our award winning maternity care.

Peter Chang, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer of Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital: Our Innovation and Technology partnerships have flourished over the last year — specifically, with GE and Palantir. As we progress the design and build our care coordination operating system over the next year, we’re thrilled about the positive impacts we’ve already seen for patients, clinicians, and team members.

Mohammed Quadri, MD. Vice President of Strategy, Academics, Research and Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.): As VP of Strategy for Academics, Research and Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health, I'm excited to help direct and enact our vision for building a robust ecosystem of partnerships driving scientific breakthroughs to address unmet clinical needs.

This year, we've witnessed the immense value of collaborations with leading academic institutions, government agencies, industry leaders, and venture capital firms. These partnerships have fostered groundbreaking research, attracted top talent, secured crucial funding, and accelerated the development and implementation of novel therapies and technologies, directly impacting patient care. Success has compounded, and built on itself.

Moving forward, we're actively seeking to expand our network of partners, including academic institutions, public and private funding agencies, industry leaders, and venture capital firms. We believe that by fostering a connected ecosystem that engages clinicians, academicians, scientists, and investors, we can accelerate the translation of research into clinical practice and address critical unmet clinical needs in real-time, ultimately leading to better health outcomes for our communities. We believe the future is now, each and every new day.

Dirk Steinert, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Ambulatory Care at ThedaCare (Neenah, Wis.): Froedtert ThedaCare Health is grateful for the opportunity to care for our communities. We have strong legacies of clinical excellence and commitment to the people of Wisconsin.

One of the ways we’ve already begun to advance this goal is by working together across our new combined system and in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), to expand access to high quality care. By enhancing our relationship with MCW, our academic medicine partner,  we can amplify the mission of education, research, patient care and community engagement. 

The pillars of our partnership between Froedtert ThedaCare Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin include:

  • Care Coordination: Developing connection points and processes for teams across locations to more easily discuss cases, collaborate on a patient’s treatment plan, share information, and coordinate care along the entire patient care journey.
  • Enhanced Local Care Access: Integrating care teams to seamlessly provide the right level of care in the right place so patients across Wisconsin can access services they need close to home, with potential to see advanced care specialists locally. 
  • Innovative Resources: Researching and adopting innovative technology resources that will elevate quality and broaden access – for example, virtual visits and e-consults with care teams.
  • Transportation Coordination: Expediting transitioning patients to the appropriate care site for the specialist and emergency care, when elevated care need is identified. 

By creating greater access to more research and resources, we can continue providing high quality care for people across Wisconsin. These shared commitments represent what our combination is all about – help the people of Wisconsin live their unique, best lives.

Lisa Carter, NE-BC, FABC. Southern Regional President of Ballad Health (Johnson City, Tenn.): Some of the most beneficial partnerships for my organization this year have been in the digital space. We are working on many improvements in our technology-based services and how our patients and providers send and receive information. We've also been fortunate to have the opportunity to expand several services and facilities, so we have worked with some amazing architectural and construction firms. And finally, our organization continues to invest in leader growth and development, so we have partnerships in that space that are extremely valuable to that support.

Andy Anderson, MD. Chief Medical and Quality Officer of RWJBarnabas Health (West Orange, N.J.): Our partnerships with physicians have been highly impactful this year as we continue to build a comprehensive medical neighborhood of services for our patients. We have expanded our physician alignment through direct employment, our deep partnership with Rutgers, joint venture arrangements, a clinically integrated network, and by tighter alignment of private practice physicians who provide care for our patients as part of our system hospital medical staff. We are making it easier to align with the RWJBarnabas integrated health system so that we can navigate our patients to our expert clinicians and improve the health care and the health of our communities.

Greg Rosencrance. President and CEO of WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals (South Charleston, W.Va.): This year, our most beneficial partnerships have been those that improved patient care and streamlined our integration into the larger WVU Medicine system. Most notably, our EPIC electronic health record system has enhanced care coordination and clinical quality. Looking ahead, we plan to deepen these system relationships and explore new partnerships to expand telehealth services and workforce development. Additionally, we're seeking innovations in technology that optimize both patient outcomes and operational efficiency. As we near the completion of our integration, regional partnerships will also be crucial to broadening our service offerings. These partnerships will help drive sustainable growth and enhance community health in the years to come for the communities we serve.

Theresa Dawson, DNP, MSN, RN. Chief Nursing Officer of Oaklawn Hospital (Marshall, Mich.): Over the past year, we have been working on finding a partnership for delivery of oncology services. We are a small rural hospital that in the past had offered oncology services (chemo, infusion, consultation). After the oncologist retired, we had difficulty finding an oncologist for our limited services. We felt very strongly we should offer these services locally, as the patients are in a state of health that makes it taxing to travel to other oncology units. 

At the end of July of this year, after pursuing many potential partnerships that just didn’t work out, we decided to reach out to our competitor approximately 20 minutes away.  They operated a well-established oncology center, known for quality care. They also provide radiation oncology services with state-of-the-art linear accelerators. Even though we had been competing for some oncology patients in the past, we were able to come together with an agreement whereby they would provide us with an oncologist a couple days a week on our campus. They would utilize our pharmacy for the chemotherapy orders and oversee our oncology nurses for infusion. In return, we would send any of our patients in need of radiation treatment to them rather than other centers in the region.

We are very excited to embark on this partnership beginning at the first of the year.

Michele Johnson, MSN, RN. Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of AdventHealth Fish Memorial (Orange City, Fla.): This year, our partnerships with local educational institutions and community organizations have been crucial in strengthening AdventHealth’s workforce and advancing the health of the community. Collaborations with Volusia County Schools and Daytona State College, in particular, have created valuable opportunities for experiential learning and career advancement preparing future health care professionals for success. As someone deeply committed to improving mental health in our community, especially through my role as a board member with SMA Healthcare, I am passionate about addressing these needs. Looking ahead, I am excited to not only strengthen existing partnerships but also explore new collaborations that can make a meaningful impact.

Gaston Bushiri. Vice President of Finance at OhioHealth (Columbus): Health equity and capacity management continue to be challenging for most health systems throughout the country. To accelerate and improve our impact in these areas in a meaningful manner, we (OhioHealth) partnered with Deloitte Consulting and Qventus to develop a strategy and roadmap. Deloitte assisted us with developing a couple of dozen health equity charters; a health equity dashboard that will help measure the impact we have on our patients, associates and communities served; and the resources and organizational structure we need to support a meaningful health equity strategy across OhioHealth. Qventus assisted us with developing analytics and adopting proven capacity management solutions to improve throughput and associate engagement. Initial results include a more than three-times increase in the number of patients with an early accurate care plan, significant mean excess days reduction, and increased effective bed capacity.

Angela Marith. Chief Administrative Officer of Population Health at Providence (Renton, Wash.): At Providence, we've forged valuable partnerships with disability experts within the healthcare industry through organizations such as DisabilityIn and the Health Equity Collaborative. Additionally, we’ve established alliances outside the healthcare sector where accessibility drives both innovation and business success.

Did you know that people with disabilities represent the largest minority group globally? Are you aware of how accessibility is integrated within your organization? In the upcoming year, we plan to collaborate with clinician partners who have lived experience with disabilities. Their firsthand knowledge of the considerable gaps in healthcare will be instrumental in helping us better meet the needs of the disability community. Their dual perspectives as both recipients and providers of care will enable us to seize this opportunity to enhance our services for people with disabilities.

Editor's Note: Which partnerships have proven most beneficial this year, and what additional alliances are you seeking in the coming year? Angela Marith, CAO of Population Health at Providence, and Sarah Quinto, Senior Strategy Officer in Philanthropy at Providence, will discuss the significant potential within healthcare to better serve the disability community through advanced accessibility strategies in their interactive presentation, “Take Accessibility Out of The Boiler Room.”

Wendy Ross, MD. Director of Center for Autism and Neurodiversity at Jefferson Health (Philadelphia): At Jefferson, we always reach out to the population that we serve first and foremost before creating plans and spaces for care. Being person-centered is critical to our mission to improve lives. When one considers the rising population with neurodiversity, this includes taking into account sensory and environmental issues as well as interpersonal processes. It is clear that a comprehensive approach  enhances patient and employee satisfaction, increases value-based care, decreases costly long term expenses by reducing untreated illness, and aids in employee retention.

The Jefferson enterprise includes a health system, health insurance and a university, which makes us uniquely positioned to incorporate design and health disciplines from an academic perspective and apply them to clinical practice. We regularly do this while participating in community engagement.   

With this in mind, the population with intellectual disability and/or autism was incorporated over the past several years in the inclusion processes we use in everyday care delivery and in the creation of our new state-of-the-art specialty care center, The Honickman Center. The design effort also culminated in an award from Fast Company for the development of sensory friendly waiting room seating. We anticipate continuing collaborative efforts with design, health, and the community to help create a sense of belonging for patients, employees, and the public, whether it be in our academic medical center or the community. 

Mohamed Rami Nakeshbandi, MD. Chief Medical Officer of University Hospital at Downstate (Brooklyn, N.Y.): One of the most valuable partnerships has been with community-based organizations to address social determinants of health (SDOH) within our patient population, a crucial step to improve patient outcomes. These collaborations facilitate a closed-loop electronic referral process, ensuring that patients are connected to essential services like housing, transportation, nutrition, and mental health support. By streamlining data-sharing between the hospital and CBOs, healthcare providers can track referrals and follow-ups, allowing for a more coordinated approach to care that addresses the multifaceted needs of patients. Engaging key stakeholders—including, community providers, social workers, community leaders and resources — enhances the effectiveness of these initiatives, creating a robust support network that amplifies community health efforts.

To maximize the impact of these partnerships, we developed a comprehensive educational plan for healthcare providers and community workers. This ensures that all parties are equipped with the knowledge to address SDOH effectively. Additionally, we created a dashboard with reporting capabilities to allow community providers and hospital leadership to monitor progress, evaluate outcomes, and refine strategies based on real-time data. This transparent reporting process not only fosters accountability but also encourages continuous improvement, ultimately leading to healthier communities and a more equitable healthcare landscape.

Michele Moran. Vice President of Emergency Services at Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital: Emergency services and other departments across Tampa General have benefitted from a key strategic partnership this past year. This partnership consists of “all hands” meetings that featured our president and CEO, chief operating officer, our EVP, chief physician executive and chief medical officer, and our EVP and chief nursing executive as well as all key leaders and stakeholders, including leaders within our CareComm Command Center and Support Services. These meetings, which have and will take place on a regular and frequent basis, have kept our capacity management efforts and quality and safety as a key focus of the organization. Additionally, many initiatives and improvements are a product of this continuous collaboration. Thanks to constant communication, innovative ideas, collaboration and collective efforts of our whole team, Tampa General continues to make strides toward our vision of being the safest and most innovative academic health system in America.

Robert Brooks. President and CEO of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children (Philadelphia): After emerging from bankruptcy in 2019, it was evident that St. Christopher’s would need significant financial support to stabilize, both from the government and community partners. Knowing that the government assistance process would take several years, a number of prominent regional institutions — Jefferson Health, Temple Health, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Independence Health Group — stepped in to support this vital community resource.

Our partners knew that St. Chris is not only an invaluable safety-net provider in Philadelphia, it is also one of the largest CHGME teaching programs in the country, and they stepped up to ensure that the hospital was on solid footing in the short-term. Without those local partnerships, the future could have been very different for St. Chris.

After a four-year journey, St. Christopher’s has now become part of the Philadelphia Hospital Assessment, a joint federal, state and local government program that supports hospitals with a high percentage of Medicaid-insured patients, which will significantly increase St. Chris’s revenues going forward and help put the hospital on a much more stable financial path.

Over the next year, a vital partnership piece for St. Christopher’s will be re-establishing strong relationships with referral hospitals for our tertiary care services; a number of those connections were lost or diminished during our bankruptcy and the ensuing pandemic.

Kenneth Waller. CEO of Norwalk (Conn.) Community Health Center: Norwalk CHC is a primary care ambulatory medical service provider with an omni presence, with the overarching objectives to strategically address both medical and social determinants of health needs of a patient community, which has been traditionally underserved and affected by healthcare disparities. Consequently, Norwalk CHC must deploy a holistic health service model that meets the array of emerging health and socioeconomic demands its patients present at the time of their treatment. 

To achieve optimal care outcomes with our targeted patient population, we view partnerships as an organization imperative. Our ongoing community-based engagement focus has been the catalyst to ensure Norwalk CHC can provide wrap-around services to meet those alternative needs that cannot be provided within the walls of its medical facility. We enjoy and continue to be assisted by having thriving and effective synergistic relations with non-medical CBO’s e.g., housing, education, workforce development, food insecurity, and medication providing entities. 

In addition, NCHC does receive a fair amount of value from its collaborative cooperation with its local community hospital system. Both partnership arrangements have been beneficial in advancing continuity of healthcare service offerings for our patients and have served to close essential medical care gaps Norwalk CHC are not able to support. 

Going forward, Norwalk CHC plans to have a meaningful voice when it comes to health policy, and more importantly, we will be aiming to adopt digital health and AI generative strategies to expand service access and capacity across its medical service portfolio. We acknowledge these 2025 initiatives would be a “big lift”, and partnerships will be a critical feature to us realizing these essential organizational objectives are met. 

But, to meet this BHAG, payers and legislators will need to become active participants at establishing a cooperative relationship with FQHC’s to facilitate how community health centers can improve their positioning to effectively address the ongoing complex medical care needs of our nation’s increasingly aging population. And the health insurance industry must recognize medical professional shortage (2030) and that its membership is facing a rise in chronic-illness and comorbidities. A strengthening of payers and legislator partnership’s is the last headwind NCHC plans to manage through to unleash its fullest potential and to improve the health and well-being of its community into the future.

Timothy Collins, EdD. CEO of UCR Health (Riverside, Calif.): This past year, our most beneficial partnerships have been with our physician leaders and organizations serving the community's needs. I have always found that being transparent with my physician partners and giving them access to the "big picture" drives greater collaboration and deeper alignment in pursuing an opportunity. 

Individuals and groups closest to a problem or opportunity in the community will have a deeper understanding and insight into developing possible solutions because they understand the "real problem." Community organizations and partners understand the critical drivers of challenges and opportunities, and those too far removed lack real-time information and insight. In these partnerships, listening, understanding, and empowering are keys to success over the next year.

Carolyn Doyle. CEO of FlexStaff and System Vice President of Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.): Over the past couple of years, Northwell Health’s leadership embarked on a project to integrate contingent labor management onto a single workforce technology platform. The goal was to streamline the sourcing and deployment of all temporary resources across the enterprise through a seamless, unified workflow. We needed centralized management tools that would give us visibility and data across our entire temporary workforce so we could optimize resource use, manage credentialing, and track performance efficiently.

In 2023, we partnered with Dallas-based Prolucent to integrate FlexStaff — Northwell’s internal staffing agency and resource pool — with all external contract staffing agencies using one centralized platform across Northwell’s 21 hospitals. Now, we can manage both internal and external contingent staffing resources in one system, enabling us to make timely and cost-effective staffing decisions. Automated workflows and advanced analytics provide real-time insights, helping us optimize resource allocation and streamline candidate sourcing, credentialing, and compliance management. As a result, Northwell has gained greater efficiency, reduced administrative tasks, and developed a more data-driven approach to staffing strategies and labor cost management.

Michael S. Oshiki, MD, MS, FAAFP, FACHE. President of Riverside Regional Medical Center and Acute Care Division at Riverside Health System (Newport News, Va.): One of the partnerships that’s been a tremendous success in the last year has been the strategic alliance between Riverside Health and UVA Health, which has proven to be a successful model for the synergistic cooperation between academic and community-based health systems. We made significant progress in clinical program development, medical research, and graduate medical education that has elevated the level of care available to our patients in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. 

Looking to the year ahead, we not only plan to continue to grow our alliance with UVA Health, but we look to significantly grow our Hospital Violence Intervention Program known as Hand in Hand. In partnership with the City of Newport News, Riverside Health is leveraging a $1.4 million annual grant to extend the reach of the Hand in Hand program within the community and broaden its scope to include victims of domestic violence alongside victims of gun violence, stabbings, and physical assault. 

The grant will allow us to grow our network for collaboration, working closely with local organizations to address the root causes of violence and providing comprehensive support to victims in the hospital and once they return home. The establishment of a Hand in Hand advisory council, comprising key city and community stakeholders, will further strengthen these efforts, ensuring that the program remains responsive to the evolving needs of the community.

Alison Avendt. President of Mercy Health Perrysburg Hospital (Perrysburg, Ohio): I represent Mercy Health – Perrysburg Hospital in Ohio. The partnerships that have been the most beneficial to us have been with our academic affiliations. We take a multi-pronged approach to create a pipeline of future healthcare workers. Mercy Health has a great relationship with our local Junior Achievement chapter. In a combined effort with Junior Achievement, and our local high schools, Mercy Health creates opportunities for students to learn and observe different healthcare careers. The student can see what areas of healthcare are attractive to them and then begin charting out a path to completion, sometimes while still attending high school. Our Mercy College provides healthcare and health science programs that target the areas of need within our community. For the future, we have engaged with Toledo Public Schools on a Pre-Medical and Health Science Academy, to further grow and develop our next generation of health care providers and leaders.

Martin Schreiber, EdD. Vice President of Mission Leadership Institute at Providence (Renton, Wash.): The most beneficial partnerships this year were thought leaders around sensory awareness in leadership like the Fort Smith Symphony, Second City, Playte Kitchen and the Catholic Health Association. We look to continue offering dynamic learning platforms for our caregivers that engage meaning and purpose in medicine.

Babette Hankey. President and CEO of Aspire Health Partners (Orlando, Fla.): The partnerships that have been most beneficial this year are the ones that focus on purpose, passion and performance that result in improved patient and business outcomes. Certainly, the collective community partnerships in healthcare, private businesses, state and local governments and concerned individuals have been tremendous. As an integrated behavioral health company with a specialty psychiatric hospital, partnerships with the universities for residency and clerkship programs, as well as nursing and clinical internship programs have been extremely beneficial. 

We also have been able to establish on site MAT services for inmates in partnership with the Orange County jail which has led enhanced medical care while incarcerated, as well as better successful integration into the community upon release. 

Finally, the partnerships with elected officials, stakeholders, local hospitals, philanthropists and other like businesses to bring resources, awareness and education to the mental health and behavioral health space has been incredible in reducing stigma, improving regulations/laws and expanding much needed services. In the future, we are looking to build additional partnerships that will focus on advocacy, parity, and needed expansion for our communities and those we serve. 

Maureen Sintich, DNP, RN. Chief Nurse Executive of Inova Health System (Falls Church, Va.): Healthcare is complex and it takes numerous partnerships for a health system to achieve success. I believe that this was evident at Inova in 2024 when we solidified our commitment to our operating model grounded in 10 service lines with clinical leadership. We had unprecedented growth in our priority programs and saw significant improvements in our year over year retention, inclusive of new graduate RNs. 

At Inova, our CEO Dr. Stephen Jones laid out a clear vision and strategy as a member of the CEO Cabinet. There is clarity in roles responsibilities and how we partner to deliver on the system priorities. 

When I think of the partnerships that were most important, I reference my clinical triad partnership with our physician and administrative leaders. I would be remiss if I didn’t also point to our chief people officer whose leadership is instrumental in creating an environment of mutual respect where our team members can thrive. This wouldn’t happen without a clear vision and strategy where nurses are actively involved in decision making at all levels of the organization. 

As we prepare for 2025, we will continue to build upon Inova’s strong foundation and strategy.  Key partnerships throughout our sites of care, as well as with our chief quality and safety officer, the chief digital and information officer and the chief marketing amd communications officer will serve us well as we continue to deliver on our mission of providing world class healthcare.  

Rozanna Penney, CRNA. President and CEO of Heywood Healthcare (Gardner, Mass.): As a community hospital system primarily serving public payor patients, we continue to rely heavily on strong partnerships—both formal and relational—to deliver more than basic services to our communities.

We place significant emphasis on our relationships with legislators, local and state officials, rural health organizations, and the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association. Our common goal is ensuring that patients in our region have consistent access to quality care. This collaboration was particularly vital as we navigated challenges such as our filing and independent exit from Chapter 11. Operating with full transparency contributed significantly to our successful reorganization — an achievement that less than 5% of health systems that filed Chapter 11 over the past 12 months managed. This outcome was largely due to the high degree of communication and collaboration among our partners.

Similarly, as we assess service viability, we work with regional partners to avoid gaps in care. For example, we collaborate with our local Federally Qualified Community Health Center, Community Health Connections, Inc., to identify duplicative efforts and optimize regional services such as urgent care.

On the formal partnership front, we continue to collaborate with schools and community organizations to address service gaps and strengthen the care network across our region. Examples include a robust non-emergency transportation program offered in partnership with our local EMS provider, Woods Ambulance, as well as community partnerships like HEAL Winchendon and Gardner, which work to improve health equity and strengthen access to nutritious food through upstream efforts focused on financial literacy, economic empowerment, and youth development. We also partner with five school districts, comprising 20 schools, to provide a range of services, including onsite acute care and behavioral health, telemedicine, tele-behavioral health, A-CRA (Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach), peer mentorship, and Handle With Care — a partnership model with schools and EMS that offers timely trauma-informed support to children exposed to trauma.

Another key collaboration is with Clinical and Support Options (CSO), a local behavioral health provider. CSO offers assessment and placement services in our emergency departments.This allowed us to focus on reopening our inpatient mental health unit and expanding our ambulatory behavioral health services.

On the educational front, we maintain close partnerships with educational institutions including Mount Wachusett Community College and Montachusett Regional Tech Vocational School, offering clinical sites for students in medical assisting, CNA, and nursing programs. Many of these students join our new graduate program upon completion of their studies.

Additionally, we partner with the Montachusett Opportunity Council (MOC), our local anti-poverty agency, to provide employment opportunities for migrants, fostering self-reliance and empowerment.

By providing these services, we build trust and deepen relationships with both community partners and our patients, reinforcing our shared commitment to the region's well-being.  

As we look to the year ahead, it is essential that we continue to build on these relationships, strengthening our ability to deliver comprehensive care and meet the evolving needs of our community.

Kathy Baker, PhD, RN. Chief Nursing Officer of UVA Health (Charlottesville, Va.): One of the most effective partnerships I have had as chief nursing officer at UVA Health this year has been the continued expansion of the Earn While You Learn (program, formed in response to staffing shortages by paying community members to train and work in critical health care professions. Since its launch two years ago, EWYL has hired over 400 employees into roles across the UVA Health system, including as EMTs, phlebotomists, and certified nurse assistants (CNAs), ensuring we can provide quality care to patients and avoid staff burnout.

Due to our initial successes with EWYL, we recently launched an advanced training program, which collaborates with the UVA School of Nursing and a local community college to train 20 of our current CNAs into RNs, all while continuing their employment and clinical experience at UVA Health. By offering clear pathways for skill development and professional advancement for our CNAs, and by keeping the broader EWYL pipeline open, we continue to reduce nursing staffing shortfalls. Additionally, we have created a clinical instructor role so our clinical nursing staff can provide a rich training experience to EWYL employees during their existing workday, avoiding overtime training shifts while reducing class load for instructors at the school of nursing.

Kevin Smith. CFO of SSM Health (St. Louis): At SSM Health, we believe in the power of partnerships to improve the health and well-being in the communities we serve while making health care more affordable and sustainable. Emblematic of this approach is our nearly five-year partnership with Navvis, a Surround Care company, through which we created a new value-based care model that helps patients manage their health and well-being throughout every stage of life and recognizes the physicians and clinicians at the center. This work has resulted in proven best practices, tools, technology, and support services to accelerate the transition to value-based care, meaningfully engage and support physicians and clinicians, improve health equity, and help patients achieve their best health.

Our joint efforts combine SSM Health’s high-quality and compassionate community-based care across the continuum with Navvis’ population health services and enabling technology. This includes an advanced care-management platform that integrates data from electronic health records, claims, and other sources to address modifiable lifestyle risks, helping providers identify high-risk patients needing appropriate interventions and a “one care team” approach that supports physician practices in providing impactful care management between visits in addition to a physician peer-to-peer learning platform. As a result, one in three SSM Health patients now receives virtual care management services, helping them better manage their health. At the same time, we are optimizing care models to control costs while supporting long-term well-being and management of chronic disease. This partnership continues to deliver benefits for both organizations and, most importantly, our patients – and we look forward to growing our impact over the coming year and beyond.

Olusegun A. Ishmael, MD, MBA. Chief Operating Officer and President of Hospital Division at MetroHealth (Cleveland): Reflecting on this year and last year, the most valuable partnership wasn't external but internal — with our nursing team. Their impact has been immense, and their collaboration has been invaluable, from boosting the capacity in the operating rooms to improving inpatient length of stay. Together, we have initiated multidisciplinary rounds, readjusted the ratio of surgical to medical beds, streamlined emergency department and inpatient processes, and tackled inefficiencies head-on. Despite the rise in patient needs and staffing challenges, they've been exceptional partners, driving crucial changes and improving quality metrics.

Kudos to our nursing team for their unwavering dedication and outstanding teamwork!

Regardless of which external partners we have in 2025, I depend on my team for our success. Because of them, I am looking forward to a better 2025.

Leong Koh, MD. President and CEO of Northwest Permanente (Portland, Ore.): Northwest Permanente constantly strives to walk the walk when it comes to our EID efforts both within the organization and in the community, through sponsorship of National Medical Association membership with participation in the Oregon chapter, Cascade State Medical Association. The goal of CSMA is to foster a community for Black physicians,  healthcare professionals, trainees and allies in Oregon and southwest Washington. CSMA has partnered with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan for vaccine efforts in the Black community in Portland Metro, participated in the Urban League of Portland health fare, and with Oregon Medical Education Found as mentors for black medical students and allies. We are excited to see this partnership grow in the upcoming year.

Christopher Ragsdale. Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Value-Based Care at Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health: I've found partnerships within our organization to be most impactful in the population health space. In large systems, it’s easy to lose sight of all the great work that is occurring across different care sites, service lines, modalities, etc. By identifying opportunities for intra-system partnership and collaboration, we can eliminate redundancies, make workflows more efficient, and create a more seamless patient experience. Next year, we’ll be looking at how to deepen our partnerships with local community-based organizations to provide more holistic care for our patients.

Kristen Sutton, MSN, RN. Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Palm Coast/Flagler/St. John’s Market, AdventHealth (Altamonte Springs, Fla.): AdventHealth’s partnerships with local schools, universities, and community organizations are incredibly beneficial in strengthening our workforce and the overall health of the communities we serve. In Flagler County and St. John’s Counties, our education partnerships, particularly with Flagler Schools, Jacksonville University, Daytona State College, and University of North Florida to name a few, allow us to invest in the next generation of health care professionals as we create opportunities for hands-on learning and career development. In the coming year, I look forward to expanding these relationships and exploring new collaborations that can further address community health needs.

Nayan Patel. CIO of Upson Regional Medical Center (Thomaston, Ga.): We’ve had two key partners this year with CereCore and Cloudwave. Both have executed critical SOWs that provided the infrastructure and clinical quality measures for regulatory reporting. This next year will be a very important year for doing more with less by consolidating many applications through a slow, yet methodical rationalization process.

John J. Herman. CEO of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health: Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health sees value based payment as a complement to Traditional fee for service payment models. We describe it as an 'and' strategy. Two key opportunities include MSSP program participation and direct to employer programs. The most beneficial Medicare Shared Savings Program partnerships in 2024 have come from the expertise of two consultants. Validate Health helped guide actuarial analysis of our predicted performance in delivering value-based care to inform track, risk corridor and assignment methodology for our 2025 decision to participate in MSSP Enhanced Track. The second is Patient360 who is assisting us in implementing the tools and processes needed across numerous EHRs to successfully meet the change in quality reporting requirements for the MSSP. We are also exploring how we can expand our DTE services' and self-insurance programs, and are partnering with consulting group Rule Of Three (ro3) to enhance our technical capabilities and local brokers and chambers to grow our employer customer base.

Ronald Place, MD. President and CEO of Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center (Sioux Falls, S.D.): With so many hospitals and healthcare providers conducting community health needs assessments, it is important to use this information to make a tangible, positive impact on our communities. Crisis intervention and management is a tough challenge, but one where we’ve had meaningful collaboration in our community. Avera partnered with another local healthcare provider, along with the City of Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County, to provide services to this population at The Link. 

As the operating partner, we offer our community an innovative approach to address gaps in critical services for people living with mental health and substance use challenges by providing crisis intervention, safe sobering, and medical management services. In its first three years, The Link had more than 10,000 client visits.

As we look ahead, addressing food insecurity has been and will continue to be a long-term focus for us. We work with food bank partners on innovative approaches to meet those we serve where they are – and look forward to continuing to expand in this space with some additional pathways. Additionally, our Avera Research Institute team offers clinical and community-based research in this space as well, focused on access to fresh, healthy food, information and resources for more vulnerable populations.

Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD. President and CEO of Houston Methodist Physician Organization; Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive of Houston Methodist (Texas): One of our most beneficial partnerships has been collaborating with Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business to develop our Physician Leadership Development Program. Entering the fourth year, the program invests in physician career growth and develops Houston Methodist’s future quality and patient safety physician leaders.

During the six-month long program, participants are taught healthcare management and leadership by both Houston Methodist executive leaders and Rice University business faculty. In the program, participants work together as management consultants to solve real-time opportunities identified by executive leadership that could enhance our system of hospitals and clinics. Additionally, through interactions with our executive leadership team, participants also gain a greater understanding of all the components of the decision-making process.

Overall, this programmatic approach enriches the learning experience by directly connecting Houston Methodist's mission, vision and strategy to the lectures. Previous cohorts have thrived upon completing this program and we look forward to continued investment in our physician leaders. 

Vi-Anne Antrum, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Cone Health (Greensboro, N.C.): Partnerships are the lifeblood of how community health systems get things done. We have exceptional partners in a number of spaces. For example, we are partnering with a number of our academic institutions on workforce development and community health. 

We are certainly excited about our ability to become part of Risant Health in the coming year! This will help us accelerate our strategy of providing a value-based care delivery system that improves quality through evidence-based care delivery, enhances the experience of consumers and clinicians, accomplishes health equity through the elimination of disparities, and improves affordability for all.

Arianne D. Dowdell, JD. Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Houston Methodist: Houston Methodist is an organization that prides itself on helping the communities we serve. Some of our most beneficial partnerships are those we have with more than 100 nonprofit organizations. We continue to expand how we work with these community organizations because together, we know we have the power to build health equity and work toward eliminating disparities that prevent every individual from achieving optimal health.

From our DEI and community benefits grant programs to our employee resource groups collaborating with local organizations to support the underserved, we’re addressing social drivers of health at every level from education, access to health care, nutritious food and more. Addressing health equity both inside and outside the walls of our hospital remains a top priority as we look ahead to 2025 and the years to come.

We continue to look for ways to partner with employees and potential employees with diverse skill sets, so we’re proud to have recently launched a workplace inclusivity program, which places individuals with disabilities between the ages of 18-35 years old in non-clinical departments to learn more about operations and career opportunities in healthcare. We will once again support the next generation of healthcare leaders in our fourth cohort of our summer scholars program, administered by the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, next summer. This program provides college students with hands-on non-clinical healthcare experience and professional development training throughout the organization.

Geralda Xavier, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Hackettstown (N.J.) and Newton Medical Centers, Atlantic Health System: One of the most beneficial partnerships in our Western Market has been with the leading multispecialty physician group in the region. This expands patient access to primary care services and a wide range of specialties within our community, improving comprehensive care and addressing our patient’s diverse health care needs more effectively.

We are increasingly focused on innovation, patient centered care, population health, and addressing operational and workforce challenges for the year ahead.

One of the many areas is our focus on workforce resilience and well-being. Addressing workforce shortages, burnout, and retention is critical. Our leaders are prioritizing mental health support, flexible scheduling, and professional development programs to build a more resilient, and satisfied healthcare workforce.

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