The selected article, “Boldly go: Character drives leadership at Providence healthcare”, describes how the CEO and president of Providence Healthcare, Josie Walsh undertook to improve the institution’s performance. As the leader, Walsh “led Providence through massive change and turnaround, from potential crisis to financial health and innovation in four, short, action-packed years” (Weil & Reddin, 2015, p. 1). Walsh focused on the best approaches to embed her principles and values to foster collaboration with emerging partners while driving organizational change. Having joined the health facility in 2001, the Certified Health Executive remained committed since she had sought her parents’ treatment from Providence. She clearly understood some of the values that could help transform the organization, such as accountability, dynamic partnerships, compassionate care, and trust.
Providence Healthcare was founded on the concept of responsive innovation and the ability to provide compassionate care. For decades, it has offered long-term, palliative, and rehabilitation care to many patients with diverse backgrounds. The organization’s leaders continued to implement timely transformations to attract talent, fundraise, and introduce new values. Additional efforts included the promotion of these six core values: human dignity, community, social responsibility, social justice, sanctity of life, and compassionate service (Weil & Reddin, 2015). Providence’s top managers understood the importance of focusing on the needs of all key stakeholders in Ontario. Unfortunately, the financial crisis of 2008 led to a deficit that disoriented the institution’s operations due to increased layoffs, closure of units, and cutbacks. Such concerns presented a strong reason for improving performance, reducing wait times, supporting care delivery, and utilizing resources more efficiently.
Walsh believed that quantum transformation would help support the organization’s future innovation. Following numerous consultations with a number of partners, the institution was now ready to “improve patient flow” (Weil & Reddin, 2015, 2015, p. 3). The appointed team designed and implemented a new framework intended to guide the hospital until 2014. The involvement of key stakeholders and the adoption of core values helped change Providence’s organizational culture. Walsh identified key goals that would help transform performance and deliver the much-needed results. The three key objectives included redesigning existing inpatients units, expanding the existing outpatient services and programs, and providing personalized patient care (Weil & Reddin, 2015). Walsh proposed the TbyD project to restructure most of the tools and strategies at the hospital (Weil & Reddin, 2015). The model helped determine the right direction, outline project timelines, promote diligence, support efficient communications, implement a bottom-up approach, remain diligent, and measure continuously (Weil & Reddin, 2015). The CEO went further to focus on collaboration with key stakeholders.
To deliver the intended aims, Walsh remained accountable and responsive while focusing on the expectations of key stakeholders. She guided her followers to start providing compassionate and personalized care. She viewed engagement, collaboration, trust, and accountability as critical components for supporting effective change (Weil & Reddin, 2015). When it came to communication, the CEO owned the transformation process, engaged stakeholders openly, and identified emerging challenges. The hospital began by completing a communications audit to pinpoint challenges and determine the best ways to liaise with stakeholders. The core strategies included the use of multiple approaches for sharing information, involving departmental leaders, using campaigns, and utilizing most of the existing tools. The inclusion of such efforts in the TbyD strategies helped sustain the entire change process.
By 2014, Providence had already recorded a remarkable transformation that helped improve care delivery. Ontario’s Office of Auditor General identified the facility as one of the best choices for representing the wider healthcare sector. Walsh’s efforts made it possible for Providence to get the prestigious Gold Quality Healthcare Workplace Award (Weil & Reddin, 2015). Additionally, the University of Toronto Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation would go further to reward Walsh with a leadership award (Weil & Reddin, 2015). The insights presented in the selected article, therefore, show conclusively that a leader’s personality, effective use of core values, and the ability to support change can transform any organization’s overall performance.
Reference
Weil, M., & Reddin, C. P. (2015). Boldly go: Character drives leadership at Providence healthcare. Ivey ID: 9B15C002. Ivey Publishing.