Albert Wright serves as president and chief executive officer at West Virginia University Health System.
Mr. Wright will serve on the panel "Academic Medical Centers in 2023: Key Strategies, Issues and Partnerships" at Becker's 10th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the roundtable, which will take place in Chicago from Nov. 7-10, 2022.
To learn more about the conference and Mr. Wright's session, click here.
Becker's Healthcare aims to foster peer-to-peer conversation between healthcare's brightest leaders and thinkers. In that vein, responses to our Speaker Series are published straight from interviewees. Here is what our speakers had to say.
Question: What is the smartest thing you've done in the last year to set your system up for success?
Mr. Wright: Over the past several years, we’ve built many successful partnerships with several independent community and critical access hospitals across West Virginia and the broader region. Those partnerships have ultimately led to those hospitals joining our health system as full members. This has been a win-win for everyone involved: The community and critical access hospitals have a new partner that can enable them to continue serving their communities, but in new and expanded ways, and the health system benefits from creating additional entry points into its network of providers. Today, we’re a health system with 19 hospitals in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio.
Q: What are you most excited about right now and what concerns you the most?
AW: I’m most excited about the West Virginia University Health System serving as a spark that ignites meaningful, positive and lasting changes to the health trajectory of West Virginia. Many West Virginians of all ages are burdened with significant health issues, and the state frequently ranks poorly in several key health outcomes. To change that course, we’ve made significant investments to expand our access and network of hospitals and clinics, as well as their programs and services. We’ve been especially focused on recruiting providers in a variety of specialties and subspecialties, expanding our telehealth and outreach clinics to reach the most remote parts of the state, and in September, we’ll open a new, 150-bed children’s hospital on our main campus in Morgantown, W.V. In tandem with the investments in our people, programs, and infrastructure, we’ve also launched a health insurance company in partnership with Marshall Health and Mountain Health Network. That new company, which we’ve named Peak Health, will help bring all these pieces together by building an inclusive, provider-led health plan to help West Virginians live healthier and fuller lives.
I remain most concerned about our team members and the stresses they face at all levels of the organization during some very unsettling times. I know we’re not alone in that regard – the last few years have stressed us all. More than ever, leaders at all levels must be visible, highly engaged, accessible, and empathetic.
Q: How are you thinking about growth and investments for the next year or two?
AW: Our strategic decisions are guided by one, simple question: Are we meeting our mission as the academic health system of the land-grant university of the state of West Virginia? If the answer is no, then that’s where we focus our energy and resources. As a land-grant institution, West Virginia University has a special place in the hearts of all West Virginians, and as the university’s affiliated health system, our obligation is to ensure that West Virginians have easy access to a comprehensive network of care.
Q: What will healthcare executives need to be effective leaders for the next five years?
AW: Be authentic and plainspoken; be accessible and kind; connect directly with your team members at all levels – from those working bedside to those working on the loading dock. Listen to their suggestions and feedback; empower them to make decisions; challenge them to take risks; and make sure they know you have their backs.
Q: How are you building resilient and diverse teams?
AW: The ups and downs of the pandemic have taught all of us to be more resilient and nimble. What I’ve been most impressed with is how quickly our teams have adapted to the sudden and disruptive changes that the pandemic forced upon us. Through all those ups and downs, our workforce didn’t miss a beat. They’re amazing people. When you see such outstanding performance during a crisis, that cuts to culture, and at the West Virginia University Health System, we work hard to nurture and sustain a culture that taps into the grit and fortitude inherent in this part of the world while inspiring people at all levels of the organization to do great things.