Patty Maysent did not know what to expect after receiving a February 2020 phone call. It was from San Diego County officials, and they were asking if UC San Diego Health was willing to accept some of the first COVID-19 patients coming to the U.S.
"We didn't even know what that meant at that time, and we stood up our team," Ms. Maysent, who became the health system's CEO in 2016, told Becker's.
When the pandemic first started, UC San Diego Health was in the beginning stages of implementing tiered daily engagement huddles, with tier one being the local level and the most critical issues discussed at tier five with the executive leadership team, she said.
"The pandemic forced us to get into that kind of rhythm, so that every single day we were making changes and improving operations," Ms. Maysent said. "And it accelerated us moving into this system of how we manage."
It is how they operate every day, she said, adding that decision-making can be nimble when big problems are brought up through the tiers.
"While [the pandemic] was stressful, it was such a beautiful experience, watching the team do extraordinary work, watching the partnerships," Ms. Maysent said. "You would never think coming out of the pandemic that there would have been something that brought you joy, but it brought me joy that every day we came to work focused on trying to manage this and bringing our best work forward."