Scott Davis recently left his role as CEO of HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest to helm HCA's Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colo.
Mr. Davis brings more than two decades of experience at Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare to the role.
Before joining HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest in March 2019, he was CEO of Methodist Hospital Texsan and Methodist Ambulatory Surgical Hospital in San Antonio. Mr. Davis also served as COO of Ogden (Utah) Regional Medical Center and as COO and CFO of West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell, Idaho.
He told Becker's he is looking forward to enhancing Swedish's employee culture and will emphasize the importance of leader rounding. He discussed his new role — in which he leads more than 2,000 employees — his leadership mentality and his priorities moving forward.
Editor's note: These responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: How are you feeling about the new role so far?
Scott Davis: Doing great. I have the luxury of having done this a few times in my career, which is nice. It helps balance the stress and pressure of getting to know everyone. Swedish is a great organization with great people and a great foundation, which certainly helps the transition. For me, it's fun and exciting to get to know new people, positions, employees and partners. I definitely appreciate and enjoy that experience. It's stressful to memorize all the names, but it's a great opportunity to meet new people.
Q: Do you have any specific mantra or leadership mentality that you bring into the organization?
SD: For me, I'm a strong proponent of culture in an organization. When you look at my resume, you'll see I've led many organizations to be best places to work in healthcare and top performers for employee engagement. I believe a strong culture drives the organization, and that starts at the top. When I run an organization, I engage staff at all levels in building that culture and fostering teamwork. Swedish has a great foundation, and I'm excited to build upon its legacy.
Built in 1905, it has been around a long time with many tenured folks committed to the organization. I'm looking forward to working with them and building on that culture. I anticipate making Swedish Medical Center a best place to work in healthcare as well. It's already got a lot of the necessary foundation, and we need to put some pieces in place to get that recognition.
My big focus in my first 90 days and ongoing tenure at Swedish will be building that culture and interjecting my personality. I love to engage with people and share personal stories. My mother always said, "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care," and that's how I lead. Our culture and patient experience are very important. I got into healthcare 20-plus years ago to contribute to a positive patient experience. I didn't think I'd ever be a CEO, but now that I am, I lead that effort. Every patient touch matters, whether it's environmental services, dietary, nursing, physicians or administrators. We can make a difference in their lives when they need us most. That will be a big part of my focus at Swedish — emphasizing patient experience and ensuring our patients have a great stay, both clinically and compassionately.
Q: Can you expand on that patient experience component? Any specific plans or strategies you've seen work at your previous organization?
SD: For me, there are a couple of key things. First is leader rounding. It's important for nurses at the bedside, nurse managers, supervisors and executives to be visible in patient rooms. This helps address any issues and ensures patients have a great stay. It not only helps us improve patient [experience] but also identifies areas for process improvement, benefiting future patients. I'll focus on hardwiring this process in our organization.
You've probably heard of AIDET, a communication framework for interacting with patients. I'll customize and hardwire it at Swedish to ensure meaningful connections with patients. My goal is for every patient to leave with a positive story to tell, which enhances their experience and our organization's reputation.
Q: What's next on the horizon for Swedish?
SD: This organization has continued to grow, with some recent expansions. We now have 504 licensed beds. Our service lines, especially our robust level 1 trauma center, have grown significantly. We impact seven different states with our care, and I expect that growth to continue. Supporting rural hospitals is also a focus. I recently met with rural CEOs and found great opportunities for collaboration. Our burn unit has seen great growth, and I anticipate that will continue. Oncology and neurosciences are also key areas of growth.
Q: What is your advice for other hospital executives facing similar healthcare challenges right now around capacity, access and workforce issues?
SD: About a year ago, I was asked about the success in my previous organization. We managed to get turnover below 8% and achieved other successes. Key to this was creating an environment of collaboration and multiple communication pathways. Engage staff at all levels, spend time with managers and leaders, and ensure clear communication. Today's employees access information differently, so use various methods to ensure they receive messages. I also use formal and informal workgroups, like employee and physician advisory groups, to gather feedback and disseminate information. These strategies help build culture and address issues, especially important in the current healthcare environment with staffing struggles and dynamic changes.