HJAR Mar/Apr 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2022 17 who aren’t even in my industry, who care about me and who listen tome and who give a place where I can come and get things off my chest — where I can’t do it at work and I can’t do it at home, but I’ve got a place I can do that. Those kinds of relationships in life are important for me, particularly when going through a difficult time or a challeng- ing time. This has been a roller coaster, as you know. Whether it be a clinical roller coaster, and then it becomes a financial roller coaster, and then it becomes a work- force roller coaster. Those ups and down can be very difficult to manage. I just happen to have a personality that stays pretty steady when those types of things are going on. That doesn’t mean my personality is suited for everything. It just means that I can tol- erate what we’ve been through pretty well. Editor Armchair quarterback your- self, Troy: as a healthcare leader during COVID, what do you know now that you would whisper in the ear of Troy Wells two years ago? Wells I would reassure myself of what I know already. Don’t panic. We’re going to get through it. Believe in your people. They’re going to carry you through this. Believe in your doctors, believe in your nurses, know that they can handle this. Know that your other leaders know how to do their jobs and that they’re prepared. Do not panic. Stay calm. Which, again, is part of, I think, how I’ve managed this. But, I would reassure myself that those are the right things to do. Editor Describe the difference between good care and exceptional care, a good hospital and an exceptional hospital. Wells I think that fundamentally starts with consistency, reliability. We talk about high reliability in healthcare all the time. Good things happen everywhere. Even great things happen everywhere, every place. But, do great things happen every time, every place? I think that’s the aspiration. The aspi- rational part for all healthcare providers is we want the consistency to always be per- fect. Now, we’re not; but that’s the goal, that’s the drive. The ambition is that we’re always working toward perfection, even if it’s unat- tainable. By doing that, we’re always get- ting better. I think the difference is really about the consistent experience — when you can go into a Baptist Health facility any place, and it’s the same, and it’s high quality. You don’t have to question it. I think that’s when you’ve made it. Now, can I say that today — that it’s always going to be the same every- where? I don’t think I can say that, honestly. That’s our aspiration. That’s what we’re after because we want exceptional to be the stan- dard, to be the norm. We don’t want to be exceptional most of the time. We want to be exceptional all the time. Editor Anything else you would like to add before the last question? Wells I’ll say this — for all the challenges that we’ve been talking about today, whether it be those priorities around mental health and workforce or some of the other chal- lenges around the economics here in the state and how we finance healthcare or manage chronic disease, I think it’s really important that we continue to emphasize this notion of partnerships and relation- ships with other organizations or healthcare institutions, with the government, govern- mental agencies and government leaders. These partnerships, whether it be formal or informal, that’s the way we really start to impact some of these things. We’re not always going to have the same priorities, whether it be two institutions or the govern- ment and the healthcare industry, but if we can find those things that are number two or three or four on the list, and they happen to sync up, maybe there’s something there that we can really focus on together. I know that for Baptist Health, we are constantly asking the question of, “Is this something we need to do alone? Or should we do it with somebody else to create the most impact to the people that we serve?” Because that’s what we’re after. It’s not doing something to say you did it and not have an impact — that’s worthless. It’s really, “How do we do this in a way that creates the most impact that benefits the most people?”And sometimes, it’s not something we should do; we need to get somebody else to do it. Sometimes, we need to do this with some- body because we think that together we can be more powerful than we would be on our own. Editor If you were writing a manage- ment manual to future administrators, what would you include that you weren’t taught? Wells I would say never underestimate a couple of things. One being how important it is for you to be visible with the people doing the work — your presence and your visibility need to be a priority. The second thing that I learned many years ago, the hard way, when I was first starting out — you hear the phrase, “People don’t care about what you know ‘til they know how much you care.” Well, there is a reason that gets repeated over and over again. I would say to a new leader, don’t lead with the techni- cal stuff, lead with the relationship. What- ever the situation, whether you’re talking to a nurse in the ER or talking to another younger leader or a senior leader ... what- ever it may be, lead with the relationship first, then worry about the technical stuff, then worry about the job. Don’t lead with the job; lead with the relationship. That’s one of the best lessons I learned when I was a young administrator, and I still try to be mindful of that all the time. Editor Thank you for your time. Wells You’re welcome, Dianne. It was nice talking to you. n