Chad Aduddell
Name: Chad Aduddell
Hospital: CHI St. Vincent
Education: MBA in Health Care Administration with highest honors from Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business. Bachelor’s of Science with honors from University of Tulsa
What do you think is the biggest issue facing the health care industry in Arkansas today?
The biggest issue for the health care industry is the unsustainable rising cost of healthcare. Keeping people out of an acute care setting and managing the population’s health outside of the hospital should be our goal, and we have to realign the financial incentives to do this. We also have to bend the cost curve of supplies and pharmacy.
What about next year? Five years from now?
The same issues will remain if they are not addressed. Rising costs will continue to be unsustainable for healthcare systems, making it harder to deliver quality care to our patients.
How do you work towards improving physician-hospital relations?
For us, it’s about communication, trust, transparency and involving our physicians in the decision-making process and strategic direction of the organization that is focused on developing a model of care that takes us from a volume to a value health care philosophy. We want to make it a great place to practice medicine for our physicians so they can deliver excellent and compassionate care. If we can create an efficient, high-quality environment for them, that builds a good relationship.
Has personnel shortage been an issue for your hospital? If so, how have you addressed it?
Our physicians, nurses and other staff are the heart of our hospitals, and we cannot deliver excellent, compassionate care to our patients without them. As you know, the nation has been faced with a nursing shortage for some years. That’s why we have partnered with UA Little Rock, Henderson State University and National Park College to establish Pathway Programs for nurses. Not only does this help increase the nurses available in Arkansas, but the partnerships increase the number of educators that are available. It’s important to invest in the future of nurses and educators because everyone benefits from having more resources available to care for the communities we serve.
There has been a lot of reorganization among Arkansas hospitals. How does that impact the industry?
Yes, there is change in the landscape across Arkansas hospitals. We believe health care should remain local as much as it can. So we want to partner with other organizations and communities to help them to achieve that, while we will provide highly specialized, complex care where those resources aren’t available.
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