Ernie Sadau is president and CEO of Irving, Texas-based CHRISTUS Health, which is composed of over 600 facilities and 45,000 employees across four states and four countries.
Mr. Sadau was promoted to president and CEO of CHRISTUS in 2011 after serving in leadership roles such as COO and senior vice president. He previously held a number of leadership positions at Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health.
Becker's Hospital Review caught up with Mr. Sadau to discuss the primary initiative he will focus on in 2019 and his view on healthcare innovation.
Editor's Note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What one strategic initiative will demand the most of your time and energy in 2019?
Ernie Sadau: CHRISTUS has grown substantially in the last eight years, adding $3 billion to our assets under management. So lately we have been focused on continuing that growth and integrating our new ministries and partners to ensure the success of our system.
After all this focus on new growth, I’ll be spending 2019 refocusing on the basics of healthcare, the simple "blocking and tackling" that's required to succeed in our industry and is unfortunately far from simple. I'll be ensuring that our community benefit commitments are on track, that our strategic approach to growth continues and that our clinical quality work brings us closer to our goal of zero harm, while at the same time being focused on our innovations.
Q: Healthcare takes a lot of heat for not innovating quickly. What's your take on this?
ES: I would agree. It's easy for many industry insiders to see why some are predicting that healthcare venture capital investing could hit an all-time high in 2019. Healthcare, which has at times focused on what's best for providers instead of patients, is ripe for disruption and innovation.
I welcome many of these changes, as they have the potential to drive all of us to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. I also understand, however, that they bring risk to our heavy investments in facilities and services that require intensive resources like our trauma services, and those other services we continue to support not because they are profitable, but because they are vital to the communities we serve. It’s easy to see, therefore, that many health care leaders may be nervous about what their entrance means to our field.
But it's also easy to see that this kind of innovation can be better for those we serve, making healthcare more accessible and cost-effective. So while we look forward to working with those innovators who share our commitment to providing high quality care for all, I want to ensure that this collaborative spirit is alive and well on both sides.
Q: Can you share some praise with us about people you work with? What does greatness look like to you when it comes to your team?
ES: I cannot share enough praise about the people I work with. Our mission at CHRISTUS Health is "to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ," and I am humbled every day by the amazing Associates who make it a reality. I hear often about how they are saving lives during the day and then going to cut the lawn of the elderly woman who lives next to the hospital. Or pioneering first-of-their kind medical procedures in Latin America and serving on medical crews to fix the cleft palates of children in need. Or taking time out of their day jobs to mentor teenagers with disabilities, teaching them skills that will help them find jobs and gain independence. Or arriving late to their mother’s funeral because they have stopped to help a woman on the side of the road in medical distress. There is not enough space or enough praise to summarize the amazing things our Associates do for our health system, our communities, and the individuals we are privileged to serve.
Those Associates and our support for them start with our team, where to me, greatness looks like trust. It looks like leaders I can trust, who will likewise extend umbrellas of grace to their coworkers when times are stressful or misunderstandings arise. Greatness looks like fun; we face many opportunities and many challenges, so we have to be able to laugh together. And finally, greatness looks like humility, understanding that our job is to serve our Associates as we support them in extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ as we find ways to provide care for all those who need us.