In her current role, Sally Deitch serves as market CEO of El Paso, Texas-based The Hospitals of Providence and leads the efforts for the Transmountain Campus in collaboration with Texas Tech University of Health Sciences El Paso.
Ms. Deitch holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in nursing from the University of Texas at El Paso, as well as and a master's in healthcare administration from San Antonio, Texas-based Trinity University. She has previously held numerous leadership positions, including CEO of Edmond-based Oklahoma University Medical Center.
On Thursday, April 20, 2017, Ms. Deitch will speak on a panel at the Becker's Hospital Review 8th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place from April 17 through April 20 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Ms. Deitch's session, click here.
Question: What is one of your passions outside work?
Sally Deitch: I'm the mother of five children. I have five sons — the oldest is 15 and the youngest is seven. Outside of work, it's about family. It's about my kids and my husband. We all try to have the work-life balance, which will never exist, but it's more about how you integrate your work life and your home life together.
Q: The panel you're speaking on in April is called "Organizational Development and Leadership Becoming One: A Practical Guide to Becoming a System." Why are organizational development and leadership key aspects of becoming a system?
SD: We have a large system. As we have changed the way we think, it goes back to some fundamentals as far as leadership and organization development. It's broken down by the people, processes and the culture of each facility. We have made huge strides in becoming a system. At the same time, while we tout we're a system, you have to honor each other's differences. It's in that that you become much closer.
Q: Which women inspire you and why?
SD: The first one is Indra Nooyi, the CEO of PepsiCo. The first time I heard her speak, she discussed work-life balance and being a mother. She's fascinating to listen to. Her whole background and how she became a naturalized American citizen is interesting to me.
Temple Grandin, PhD, is fascinating to me. My second son — my 12-year-old — is on the autism spectrum and has Asperger's. What Dr. Grandin has done for the community that's on the spectrum is incredible. She's a hero to so many people.
Lastly, my mother inspires me. She's phenomenal. She's struggled with an autoimmune disease, but she's raised three great kids and provided us with a foundation of what family and striving for excellence mean.
All three of them are all different in their own way. Whether through ethnicity, race or something that's a challenge, they're all different and don't fit the cookie cutter answer.
Q: When you were 27, you were the youngest corporate officer ever at HCA Healthcare and its Columbia Medical Center West in El Paso, Texas, according to an El Paso Inc. article. What were the challenges and benefits of holding that position at a young age?
SD: It was more challenging in many cases not to be taken seriously because of my age. That didn't necessarily happen from staff and physicians in the hospital because they knew me. Rather, it happened when somebody from outside the organization would come in. They'd look at me and think, "How old are you?"
There are also challenges when you look at being a female executive. I've been holding different types of officer roles for 21 years. When I go out into the community, there's a lack of inclusion in conversations about things that affect the community. I have market responsibility, but we have CEOs at each of our hospitals. There are two females and two males. It's interesting to hear the different perspectives on how we're perceived once we walk out the doors of the hospital. Men in the community will gravitate toward men in leadership positions. We want to answer the questions of "How do you change that paradigm?" and "How do you change that outside the hospital?"