We recognize that health care is a challenging market to recruit in, so retaining and promoting the development of our current staff and bringing on new hires is the focus of every leader across our organization.
Hardy: Our top priority for 2023 is expansion. This year, we have several large expansion projects on the horizon. First, we hope to expand our physical footprint in Calistoga.
So we are looking at various options that would allow us to have a larger health center to be able to see more patients and offer additional services.
Also in Napa County, we are very close to opening a health center in American Canyon, which is the only major population center where we don’t have a physical presence. Outside of Napa, we are looking to expand our operations in Fairfield (in Solano County).
We currently have two health centers in Fairfield and are looking to build a flagship location that will be more accessible via mass transit and be able to serve more patients.
Finally, we are in the process of merging with another FQHC in Yolo County.When the merger is complete, we will effectively double in size and be able to leverage programs, services, and expertise from CommuniCare Health Centers for our patients in Napa and Solano.
Herber: Our top priority is and remains patient care for our community. From our 24-hour emergency care, Adventist Heart and Vascular Institute, Coon Joint Replacement Institute, Martin O'Neil Cancer Center and Behavioral Health units, we remain committed to our heritage by providing patient-centered, quality care.
Jaeger-Jackson: All of Sutter continues to focus on improving access to care by increasing the number of physicians who practice with us. Additionally, we are also building on the digital advancements we made during the pandemic.
Klein: Primary care physicians are the lynchpin of any health care system. . Despite the importance of this role, recent studies show that by 2025, the shortage of primary care physicians in California alone will be 4,100.
Many older physicians are experiencing burnout, while others are opting to transition out of medicine, and medical students are choosing other specialties. Add to this the high cost of housing in Marin and Sonoma counties, and this makes it very challenging to recruit new primary care physicians. Consequently, recruiting primary care physicians and ensuring our community has access to the care they need is our number one priority.
Kumar: Our top priority is to make sure that we retain the people that we have and also recruit effectively for our open positions so that we have talented, well-trained people in place to provide an excellent care experience for our patients.
Lam: Growth. We expanded in two counties last year, so we want to keep that momentum in 2023. Canopy focuses on serving our community and offering high-quality care. We are a Bay Area owned and operated network. Our goal is to create seamless pathways to care that are coordinated between our health systems.
Peterson: We are committed to improving our staff’s daily work experience by increasing recognition, offering more training and pathways to grow in their careers, and providing more wellness enhancements. We will also be growing our workforce in 2023.
Reader: Caring for our caregivers so that they can, in turn, best care for our communities, is paramount to our goal of being a great place to work and receive care.
Salaway: As an organization we are making major investments to build the pipeline of new, culturally diverse mental health professionals.
The Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Scholars Academy is a $30 million initiative launched in 2020 that supports the training of new mental health professionals committed to working for Kaiser Permanente in California.
To date we have enrolled and provided tuition support for 236 Kaiser Permanente employees across the state in master’s and doctoral degree programs in mental health and behavioral health science through the Mental Health Scholars Academy, preparing them for positions in the Kaiser Permanente mental health workforce.
Additionally, we are investing in recruiting and retaining therapists. Since 2015, we have increased therapist staffing by 30%. Our recruitment, education and training efforts have resulted in our hiring hundreds of net new mental health clinicians since January 2021.
Shulman: A key area of strategic focus is recruiting and retaining the best workforce. We also recognize that different communities have different needs, and we are committed to hiring a diverse workforce.
Please describe one cost-efficient change you made to your organization in 2022 and how it worked out.
Curry: It is not just one thing. It is everything. Kaiser Permanente’s mission is to provide high- quality affordable health care to our members and the communities we serve. It is a team effort. From physicians and nurses to pharmacists to our environmental services staff, everyone is part of this system and is safely caring for patients through our integrated system of care. We aim to be cost-efficient by providing people the care that they need when and where they need it.