Becker’s asked C-suite executives from hospitals and health systems across the U.S. to share how their system has been expanding their access to care.
The 50 executives featured in this article are all speaking at the Becker’s Healthcare 13th Annual CEO+CFO Roundtable on November 3 – 6, 2025 at the Hilton Chicago.
To learn more about this event, click here.
If you would like to join as a speaker or a reviewer, contact Mariah Muhammad at mmuhammad@beckershealthcare.com or agendateam@beckershealthcare.com.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Jessica Cole at jcole@beckershealthcare.com.
As part of an ongoing series, Becker’s is talking to healthcare leaders who will speak at our conference. The following are answers from our speakers at the event.
Question: What has your system done to most effectively expand access to care?
Joseph G. Cacchione, MD. CEO of Jefferson Health (Philadelphia): Expanding access to care is at the core of Jefferson’s mission to improve lives, and we’re taking a comprehensive approach to ensure all patients can get the care they need — when and where they need it. That means breaking down traditional barriers by investing in both digital and physical infrastructure, care coordination, and programs that improve speed to treatment.
One of the most impactful initiatives has been Jefferson Health’s “Same Day/Next Day” cancer care program. We recognized that the period following a cancer diagnosis is often filled with anxiety and uncertainty, so we created a model that allows patients to meet with an oncology care team within 24 hours. Nearly 1,200 patients have already accessed this service through our Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, significantly accelerating their treatment journey.
We’ve also launched virtual primary care, improved online scheduling, expanded mobile community clinics, and started a multi-year effort to modernize two of Philadelphia’s busiest Level I Trauma Centers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital. These upgrades will not only enhance the patient and caregiver experience but will also help us better meet the growing demand for acute and emergency services in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
Ultimately, we want Jefferson Health to be the most accessible health system in the county — and we’re delivering on that promise through innovation, infrastructure, and a relentless focus on reducing barriers to care.
Maneesh Goyal. COO of Mayo Clinic Platform (Rochester, Minn.): At Mayo Clinic, expanding access to high-quality care is central to our mission. Through innovations like Advanced Care at Home and Cancer Care Beyond Walls we’re delivering hospital-level care to patients where they live — safely and effectively. The Mayo Clinic Care Network extends our knowledge and expertise to trusted health systems around the world, allowing patients to receive Mayo-quality care close to home. And through Mayo Clinic Platform’s technology and data-driven transformation, we’re enabling scalable, clinically validated, AI-powered solutions that bring expert care to more people, faster than ever before.
Craig Albanese, MD. CEO of Duke University Health System (Durham, N.C.): At Duke Health, we’ve approached access to care in two ways: through strategic growth and operational excellence.
We’re growing with purpose – to earn the privilege of caring for more people across North Carolina. Through our “buy, build, partner” strategy, we’ve recently acquired a hospital in Lake Norman to serve a rapidly growing community, are building a new campus in Wake County, and have partnered with Novant Health to expand outpatient care across the region. From inpatient to outpatient, virtual to in-home care, we’re creating touchpoints to meet people where they are — delivering timely, convenient care in the appropriate setting, closer to home.
We’re also optimizing access through operational improvements focused on flow—across emergency departments, inpatient units, clinics and beyond. Using industrial engineering principles and technology, we’re redesigning processes to improve efficiency without creating overburden for our teams. Tools like Abridge streamline documentation with generative AI, giving providers more time with patients. Virtual nursing, self-scheduling and check-in kiosks enhance flexibility and ease. We’re using technology to notify patients of earlier appointment openings and redesigning care models to expand hours into evenings and weekends, supporting on-demand access.
Improving access isn’t about growing our footprint — it’s making care easier to reach, more efficient to navigate, and centered around the people we serve.
Albert L. Wright, Jr. President and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System (Morgantown, W.Va.): To expand access to care, our health system announced nearly $1 billion in capital investments over a two-year period. Separately, the 10 projects are all transformative for their respective regions; collectively, they reaffirm the WVU Health System’s mission to deliver high-quality, accessible care to all West Virginians regardless of where they live and reinforce the system’s national leadership in rural healthcare. Our true north remains our commitment to our patients and our ability to serve them in a caring and healing environment, and by expanding the breadth and depth of our programs and infrastructure, we ensure the health system is well-positioned long-term to meet the needs of our patients.
Paul R. Hinchey. MD. COO of University Hospitals (Cleveland): At University Hospitals one of the most effective ways we’ve expanded access is by making it easier for patients to schedule and navigate their care. We improved our scheduling system, including enhancements to our “Find My Provider” directory and decision trees, and added patient preferences such as location and provider gender. These changes led to real impact — 95% of more than 30,000 patients surveyed said they successfully scheduled their appointments and were satisfied with the process. Additionally, 75% said they would recommend University Hospitals, and patient sentiment improved by 6 percentage points year over year. We also streamlined the check-in process and launched a Wayfinding App to help patients find their way around our larger campuses with ease. Our new Visitor Management App goes even further by enabling real-time communication between caregivers and providing both patients and staff with increased visibility and a more coordinated experience.
Conor Delaney, MD, PhD. CEO and President of Florida Region at Cleveland Clinic: We remain deeply committed to innovation as a way to expand access to care and deliver the best possible outcomes for as many patients as we can. That’s why we pioneered the Hospital Care at Home program, bringing acute-level care beyond hospital walls and serving more than 3,000 patients to-date. We also launched the clinical access team, pairing physicians with advanced practice providers to ensure patients receive timely, high-quality care when they need it most. Thanks to these and other efforts, the primary care wait-times at our Florida locations have been significantly reduced.
Alongside these programs, we’re also deepening our commitment to the neighborhoods we serve. Through meaningful collaborations with community-based organizations, we’re meeting people where they are and proactively addressing access to care, behavioral health, food insecurity, and other critical social determinants that impact health and well-being.
At Cleveland Clinic, expanding access to care isn’t a milestone – it’s an ongoing mission. And we’ll continue to move forward with purpose, progress and the communities that count on us.
Rick Carrico. CFO of Baptist Health (Louisville, Ky.): Baptist Health has expanded access through major investments in new facilities, digital health services and behavioral health integration. Last year, the system opened outpatient centers in Lexington and Elizabethtown, an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Louisville, a behavioral health unit in La Grange with outpatient support, and a 32-bed cardiovascular unit at our hospital in Southern Indiana, while also breaking ground on a new ER & Urgent Care in Louisville. In addition, we’ve opened a new Central Pharmacy Services Center that serves hospitals, community pharmacies, clinics and staff. Our digital health offerings grew significantly, with increases in video visits, e-visits and telestroke consults. Behavioral health services were also integrated into many primary care locations, resulting in more than 36,000 visits last year. Our goal in expanding access is to ensure the right care is available, at the right time and right place.
Damond W. Boatwright. President and CEO of Hospital Sisters Health System (Springfield, Ill.): At Hospital Sisters Health System, our approach to expanding access to care has been multi-faceted to address the diverse needs across our largely rural geographic footprint. We continue to expand our surgical platform through partnerships between our physician enterprise and local provider groups to optimize our operating room capacity, grow our network of ambulatory surgery centers, and strengthen care coordination. These strategic partnerships strengthen the healthcare infrastructure of rural communities and help reduce the burden on patients who would otherwise need to travel for care. Aligning with talented, mission-driven providers delivers sustainable, local solutions to persistent access issues. Keeping care local matters — for outcomes, experience, and the long-term health of our communities.
Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD. President at the University of Texas Medical Branch; CEO of UTMB Health System (Galveston, Texas): Access to care is an institutional priority. We implemented enhanced use of the nurse triage system, which connects patients with an actual clinician to find them access to appointments more quickly. In addition to hiring more providers, we have refined the functionality of Fast Pass in our Epic appointment system to make better use of the automated wait list for patients. This way cancelations by a patient become an open slot for another patient on the wait list. We are increasingly using AI for scheduling and have opened a Care Coordination and Referral Center for patients with multiple medical issues and easy access to customized care. Finally, UTMB has embarked on a hospitality-driven focus to elevate the care experience on all levels.
Gerard Colman, PhD. CEO of Baptist Health (Louisville, Ky.): Providing the right care at the right time and place is a core goal at Baptist Health as we expand our points of care and leverage insights from our community health needs assessment to help guide planning efforts. As the first health system in Kentuckiana to combine urgent and emergency care in a single location, our hybrid ER and Urgent Care centers offer convenient, affordable treatment. This model reduces confusion by combining two levels of care into one freestanding location, helping patients receive timely, appropriate treatment and avoid higher-cost emergency room visits for less urgent needs. Two hybrid ER and Urgent Care facilities are currently operational, and we are expanding this innovative approach to more communities, having broken ground last month on a new facility in Radcliff and with another slated to open this summer in Louisville. Additionally, as technology advances, we continue to enhance virtual care options to complement our facility expansions and upgrades.
Wendy Horton, PharmD. CEO of UVA Health University Medical Center (Charlottesville, Va.): At UVA Health, expanding access to care is a top priority, and we have taken a comprehensive, multifaceted approach to meet the evolving needs of our communities. We are committed to operational excellence by rigorously evaluating every aspect of our care delivery, including rethinking bed geography, establishing discharge lounges, creating surgical short stay units, and standardizing discharge bundles. These efforts optimize patient flow and improve efficiency across ambulatory clinics, operating rooms, and inpatient services.
We leverage technology and data analytics to increase capacity and reduce bottlenecks through predictive scheduling and strategic care team deployment. Our targeted capital investments include expanding clinical and surgical spaces and building a new hospital bed tower to meet demand and reduce wait times.
We have also expanded telehealth and digital platforms to provide convenient care at home. Strong partnerships across the Commonwealth allow us to deliver complex care closer to patients, easing pressure on our academic medical center and ensuring timely access to advanced services. All of this supports our mission to provide high quality, patient centered care so no Virginian has to leave the state for care.
Trampas Hutches, MHA. Regional President of Mountain Region at MaineHealth (Portland): At MaineHealth, expanding access to care starts with equipping our care teams to meet the unique needs of our communities — especially in Maine, the oldest state by median age. We’ve embraced technology as a force multiplier, from ambient listening tools that ease documentation burdens for physicians to telehealth expansion enabling same-day access in our medical group. We’re also building a robust post-acute care division that includes transitional care, virtual care-at-home, and remote patient monitoring, while creating a high-functioning regional network of PAC providers to improve care transitions and reduce avoidable hospital days. Most importantly, we are undergoing a transformation in how we operate — recognizing the full power of being a fully integrated health system and empowering our teams to lead with flexibility, clarity, and urgency to deliver accessible, timely care across every setting.
David Ohm. Chief Strategic Development Officer of MultiCare Health System (Tacoma, Wash.): MultiCare Health uses a hybrid organization model where MHS is neither a holding company nor an operating company. We leverage economies of scale and expertise from robust resources while enhancing speed and execution by shifting necessary authority to in-market, customer-facing stakeholders. This empowers those closest to the customer to provide care tailored to their local market.
MultiCare’s connected care platform ensures healthcare delivery where patients live and work. Our network includes Indigo Urgent Care clinics, the Pulse Heart Institute, and continued expansion into often underserved markets. Our commitment is to provide the highest value of health as a system.
As one of MultiCare’s four pillars, Trust is by far is our most valuable asset.
Vincent Jensen. System Chief Executive of City of Hope (Duarte, Calif.): At City of Hope, we aim to close the gap between the innovation taking place at academic cancer centers and the people who can access these breakthroughs. To accomplish this, we’ve expanded to five major metro areas, reaching 86 million people and nearly 160,000 patients last year. We advocate nationally for better access, driving efforts like the California Cancer Care Equity Act to connect more patients with lifesaving cancer care. We collaborate with community providers, rural hospitals, and other NCI institutions to expand access, and we are creating a national model for clinical trials to increase patient diversity and access.
David Dunkle, MD. President and CEO of Johnson Memorial Health (Franklin, Ind.): At Johnson Memorial Health, JMH, we have created a culture centered around the idea of always putting the patient first. Improved access to care is an important part of fulfilling this mandate. In our primary care practices, we have accomplished this mainly through creating standardized scheduling templates for our providers and by allowing patients to book their own appointments via an online portal. These efforts have resulted in approximately 25% more encounters with providers occurring on the same day that they were scheduled, a significant decrease in the amount of time it takes for someone to establish themselves as a “new” patient, and improved patient satisfaction scores.
Nizar Kifaieh, MD. CEO of Hudson Regional Health (Secaucus, N.J.): Hudson Regional Health has most effectively expanded access to care by recently unifying four hospitals into one integrated network — creating operational efficiencies, shared clinical standards, and stronger community alignment. This transformation is about building an accessible, unified system that delivers modern, patient-centered care across all hospitals. This has allowed us to reopen critical services, such as the cardiac catheterization lab at Bayonne Medical Center, and to launch advanced specialties, including a new neurosurgery department at Hudson Regional Hospital. We’re also leveraging AI-assisted diagnostics in radiology and expanding access to specialists across all sites to bring cutting-edge care closer to underserved communities. Our approach ensures that no matter where a patient enters our system, they receive access to consistent, high-quality care supported by the latest clinical advancements.
Jennifer K. Mendrzycki, JD. President and CEO of TMC Health (Tucson, Ariz.): Access to care in our communities today is complex and requires a strategic approach that extends beyond simply deciding where to open our next site. Instead, we must focus on optimizing existing locations and exploring ways to extend care beyond traditional clinic walls. At TMC Health, we’ve enhanced the provider experience through the implementation of DAX Copilot, which has been embraced by 85% of our primary care physicians. They report that it has freed up time in their schedules, reduced after-hours charting, and improved work-life balance. Additionally, we introduced TMCOne Today, a virtual primary care program that offers real-time appointments for medication refills and select non-acute conditions. These initiatives have not only improved provider experience but also expanded capacity — without the need for additional brick-and-mortar locations. As a result, TMCOne has built a strong reputation as an innovative primary care practice that prioritizes the well-being of its providers alongside operational success — an invaluable asset for recruitment, retention and growth.
James E. Craven, MD, MBA. Chief Physician Executive of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (Baton Rouge, La.): Our patients want to be able to consult with their providers from the comfort of their homes. To meet this growing expectation, virtual visits have been a fundamental offering for FMOLHS since before the COVID-19 pandemic. We allow patients to see their providers via video visits during the day or see an on-demand video provider, ensuring they have access to care at convenient times. Additionally, patients have the option to consult with a team of employed providers after hours and weekends, which promotes continuity of care and collaboration through our shared EMR. This system facilitates seamless health management as all records are maintained within a single EMR.
Ashwani Bhatia, MD, MBA. CEO and Chief Medical Officer of BayCare Clinic (Green Bay, Wis.): Over the past year, we have significantly expanded access to care by implementing targeted strategies across our surgical subspecialty services. Recognizing the increasing demand for timely specialty care, we extended clinic hours for key services such as ENT and plastic surgery, creating more entry points for patients, particularly after hours. In response to hospital operating rooms nearing capacity, we strategically shifted appropriate procedures to our ambulatory surgical centers. This not only alleviated pressure on hospital resources but also improved the patient experience by reducing delays and offering a more streamlined, convenient setting for care.
In parallel, we broadened our continuum of care by integrating chiropractic and non-surgical orthopedic providers into our system. This expansion allows us to offer patients non-invasive treatment options and earlier intervention, reinforcing our commitment to delivering comprehensive, patient-centered musculoskeletal care. Together, these initiatives reflect our deliberate focus on improving access, optimizing resources, and meeting patients where they are with timely, high-quality care.
Wayne Gillis. President and CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (Gallup, N.M.): At our organization, expanding access to care has required a multi-faceted approach centered on breaking down traditional barriers and rethinking how we deliver services. One of the most effective things we’ve done is embrace the principles of continuous improvement to streamline workflows, reduce wait times, and better utilize our limited resources — especially critical in rural and underserved areas.
We’ve also expanded access through:
- Partnerships with community organizations to bring care closer to where people live, particularly for behavioral health and preventive services.
- Investments in telehealth that allow us to reach patients in remote areas without compromising quality.
- Redesigning our care teams and schedules to improve access while supporting work-life balance for our providers — a necessity in today’s healthcare environment.
But perhaps most importantly, we’ve worked to create a culture where our teams are empowered to innovate and remove friction points in the patient journey. Access is not just about appointments — it’s about trust, convenience, and consistency.
Scott Neeley, MD. President and CEO of Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Dignity Health (Grass Valley, Calif.): While we have a number of initiatives aimed at increasing access to care, such as expanding our primary care provider base and investing in more urgent care locations, I think that our most important work in improving access to care is creating more opportunities for post graduate training of physicians. California has not only a physician shortage, but a shortage of opportunities for physicians to complete the all important graduate medical education residency training that they must complete to work in a medical specialty. We have created a new rural Family Medicine training program here in my rural market in Northern California, and our organization has created literally hundreds of training opportunities across the state in the past few years in locations such as Stockton, Santa Cruz, Bakersfield, and San Bernardino. Physicians often practice near where they train, and we expect this work to substantially contribute to the physician workforces in these communities.
John Mallia. Interim CFO of Arnot Health (Elmira, N.Y.): Arnot Health has expanded access to care by finalizing our affiliation with Cayuga Health to form Centralus Health — creating a stronger, more coordinated system across the region. We’re especially focused on addressing the rising mental health needs in our communities by expanding behavioral health services and access points. Together, we’re building a more resilient, patient-centered network to meet people where they are and improve outcomes across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes.
James F. Dover. President and CEO of Avera Health (Sioux Falls, S.D.): At Avera, we believe access to healthcare starts with a strong primary care network. That’s why we’ve made primary care available across our broad, rural footprint with hundreds of locations serving our communities. We’re also expanding access through more convenient options such as acute and virtual care, as well as growing our specialty care services in key areas to ensure patients have access to quality health care near them.
Kyle Benoit. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of BayHealth (Dover, Del.): Bayhealth has taken a multifaceted approach to improving access to care:
- Expanded Locations
- In recent years, we have expanded our service locations to include both primary and secondary markets. We have increased our services across the health continuum, including physician offices, a free-standing emergency department, walk-in clinics, and enhanced inpatient bed capacity.
- Enhanced Recruitment
- We have streamlined our recruitment process to ensure that we attract the finest and brightest in the most effective manner possible. We have also created a new compensation scale to guarantee we’re competitive in all job roles.
- Expanded GME
- We have added GME programs throughout the last several years. We have successfully retained several of our graduates. We now have over120 residents and fellows conducting their medical training at Bayhealth.
- Standardized Schedules
- Across our physician enterprise, we use standardized clinic templates to guarantee that all doctors optimize their schedules and access to care. We also standardized the appointment times per specialty. The effort has resulted in a significant increase in clinical visits.
- Optimizing Technology
- We continue to focus on optimizing EPIC, particularly MyChart, in order to streamline our patients’ access to care. Self-scheduling, fast pass, and appointment reminders have resulted in lower no-show rates and higher volumes. We are also increasing the use of ambient voice technologies, allowing our providers to spend less time documenting and more time with patients.
Anthony Ashby. President of CHI Health Immanuel (Omaha, Neb.): At CHI Health Immanuel we doubled our primary care capacity with a brand new 40,000 square foot, 68 exam room family health center. The center includes primary care, urgent care, a diabetes clinic and integrated behavioral health care serving a community with some of the highest health disparities in Omaha. In the former primary and urgent care space on campus we are investing $5.2 million to optimize that space for future specialty clinic growth
Paula Stabler, MSN, RN. President of OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital: We are expanding access to care by implementing open scheduling, allowing patients to be seen more efficiently. We have also launched a new process to ensure unattached patients are connected with a primary care provider, strengthening continuity of care.
EJ Kuiper. CEO and President of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (Baton Rouge, La.): The development of our regional transfer center model aims to expand access to care by creating a symbiotic relationship with rural hospitals across Louisiana and Mississippi. By centralizing and standardizing transfer communications, we’re generating key insights that help us adapt in real time across individual markets, regional corridors, and the broader healthcare system. This enables more efficient patient movement and ensures that individuals receive the right level of care, in the right place, at the right time, while simultaneously supporting rural hospitals in managing local care and optimizing critical swing beds. This approach preserves capacity at our tertiary and quaternary centers for the most complex cases. Over time, this evolving model will create a more integrated and responsive system that strengthens rural partnerships and improves access to high-quality care across the region.
Kellan Tittle, MBA. CFO of People Incorporated Mental Health Services (Eagan, MN): Our system has most effectively expanded access to care through a focus on integration, care coordination, and the development of clear, documented training and workflows. By integrating behavioral health services, we’ve streamlined access points and reduced barriers for clients. Enhanced care coordination ensures individuals receive the right services at the right time, with smoother transitions across levels of care. Additionally, standardized workflows and training have empowered staff to deliver consistent, high-quality care while increasing overall system efficiency and accessibility.
David Banks. President and CEO for AdventHealth (Altamonte Springs, Fla.): Expanding access starts by paying attention to where the need for care intersects with the realities people face every day – like the mom trying to get care between shifts, or the retiree managing a chronic condition from home. That’s what guides our approach at AdventHealth, which is focused on making it easier for people to get quality care when they need it.
Our primary health division brings care closer to home, with more convenient options like same-day appointments, evening hours, and a connected experience across primary, urgent and virtual settings.
Another way we’re expanding access is through our AdventHealth app, which makes it easy for people to take that next step – whether that’s scheduling a visit themselves, refilling a prescription, or talking with someone about a more complex need.
One of the main questions guiding our work is, ‘If this were me, or a loved one, what would make this easier?’ That keeps us focused on making the experience more personal, more connected, and something that leaves people feeling whole.
Amit Rastogi, MD. President and CEO of Jupiter (Fla.) Medical Center: Over the last several years, Jupiter Medical Center has undergone significant expansion to meet the growing demand for our services. Completed projects have included the renovation and expansion of our emergency department, and the all-new Johnny and Terry Gray Surgical Institute, epitomizing our commitment to providing the entire continuum of leading-edge surgical care. Looking ahead, our expansion initiatives will further elevate our reach in the region with the opening of a new 92-bed Patient Care Tower on our main campus this winter. This will expand access to inpatient care, featuring specialized oncology, cardiovascular, and orthopedic units to serve our growing region.
Additional planned expansion projects will enhance access to timely medical care for more patients throughout our region. We will soon break ground on the Neighborhood Hospital in Avenir, connecting our western neighbors with high-quality care close to home. We continue to expand access to primary care physicians and specialists across the region, making it easier for residents to access essential health services.
Our commitment to collaboration extends beyond our hospital walls as we partner with primary care providers, specialists, and community organizations to enhance access to vital resources and preventative care. Through innovative programs, educational initiatives, and outreach efforts, we empower individuals to take charge of their health, ensuring that high-quality care is accessible to all.
Collectively, these efforts aim to increase access to care and ensure optimal outcomes for our patients, as evidenced by the consistently high-quality rankings we achieve.
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Jill Wiedemann-West. CEO of People Incorporated Mental Health Services (Eagan, Minn.): We have been intentional in our approach to care access by consistently and creatively reaching out to our community. Rather than waiting for those in need to seek us out, we actively meet them where they feel safest and most comfortable. We recognize that some members of our community face significant healthcare challenges yet may never walk through our doors. For various reasons, they may not seek direct assistance for their concerns. By being present in familiar spaces where these individuals feel secure, we can foster trust, build relationships, and ultimately encourage access to essential services.
Pamela J. Gallagher. CFO of Catawba Valley Health System (Hickory, N.C.): CVMC has expanded access to care through urgent care clinics launched in partnership with Urgent Care of Mountain View. We’ve also grown our primary and specialty care networks and enhanced employee health services. The Catawba Medical Foundation supports mobile outreach initiatives, including a mobile mammography unit that reaches underserved areas. These efforts ensure patients can access timely, convenient care, including after-hours and preventive services. We are also investing in school-based health and partnering with local schools to support long-term provider availability.
Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD. President and CEO of Houston Methodist Physician Organization; Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive of Houston Methodist: Access is quality. If our patients can’t get an appointment with the right doctor at the right time, every time, then we aren’t providing unparalleled care.
Houston Methodist implemented an access transformation initiative, which has significantly enhanced scheduling and patient engagement by automating scheduling rules, optimizing workflows and enabling cross-site scheduling. We have introduced self-scheduling options and decision trees that streamline appointment booking across multiple specialties. Since implementation, we’ve seen about a 40% increase in online self-scheduling and improved scheduling accuracy.
In our Joy in Medicine Initiative listening and learning tour, we heard directly from our primary and specialty care physicians what brings them joy and what we can do to create a better environment for our patients and our people. The importance of access to care was mentioned in every session. We’re streamlining communication between physicians and their care teams to tailor scheduling rules for each specialty to serve every one of our patients in the best possible way.
Expanding and coordinating access is an ongoing journey. We have made great strides, and our work continues.
Alen Voskanian, MD. COO and Vice President of Cedars-Sinai Medical Network (Los Angeles): Access was one of our biggest challenges, and we discovered that to address it, we first needed to make relevant data available to our teams. We created dashboards that allowed us to understand our data better, to set targets and establish a leadership team aligned around improving access with incremental targets.
We use a framework that considers access in terms of supply (the availability of appointments, physicians, and other clinicians), demand (ensuring that right patients are seen by the right doctor at the right time) and waste (unused appointment slots when patients fail to show up or cancel last minute). This approach allows us to improve access for patients and help physicians see their patients at the right time, while reducing patient loss for our organization.
We’re now exploring the integration of AI components into our patient triage processes to further optimize efficiency and access. This multifaceted strategy ensures that we’re addressing access barriers in a comprehensive way while advancing our fundamental commitment to delivering exceptional patient care.
Meghan Doyle. CEO of Partum Health (Chicago): Partum Health is focused on ensuring every family has access to high quality, whole person perinatal care. We’ve always been committed to providing in-network by contacting with major commercial payers (BCBS, Aetna, Cigna, United) and are actively expanding into Medicaid, enabling us to reach families in need of support including birth and postpartum doula care, lactation support, and more. Beyond the focus on coverage we’re also launching new and innovative partnerships to help more patients access perinatal specialty support that’s cohesive and connected – both with their OBGYN care and their inpatient L&D experience as well as by staying connected with them outside the four walls of the hospital through mobile app, text, and more.
Aaron L. Boyd, MD. President and CEO of Norman Regional Health System (Norman, Ok.): Norman Regional Health System has expanded care to our community by giving patients easy access to the services they need. We’ve taken a patient-first approach and listened to our patients. Where do they want to go to receive care? How can we improve our timeliness of service delivery?
Last year, our health system finished its five-year plan to modernize our facilities. This plan included the building of an additional freestanding emergency department plus, expanding our flagship campus with a new 96-bed patient bed tower and opening an ambulatory care center. It also included the consolidation from two inpatient hospital campuses into one. We heard from patients that our historic inpatient campus was both difficult to access and showing its age. So we moved acute care services to our new flagship campus that is not only modern, but a quick exit off the highway.
Our patients also need quick access to clinic-based care. We expanded our offerings with two walk-in clinics and two urgent cares. Additionally, we implemented self-scheduling software that has the ability to automate waitlists to fill canceled or rescheduled appointments. We’ve seen increased volumes for not only these urgent-type clinics, but also our primary care clinics.
Matt Walsh. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Rush University System for Health (Chicago):
Ambulatory growth
RUSH has continued to expand its ambulatory footprint to bring care closer to home. We have opened two sites in the past 12 months and have another site opening in a few days. Each brings a mix of services in a facility and parking format that makes it easy for patients to get the care they need.
Digital Strategy: Rush Connect
In addition to rolling out a new app for engaging with patients, we have added a number of online services that allow patients to access care from wherever they are. These include both on demand specialty and primary care as well as urgent care.
Operational access improvements
We continue to leverage Epic scheduling functionality to improve access. FastPass and scheduling tickets are the latest functions implemented to ensure we efficiently and effectively get patients seen and keep provider schedules appropriately filled.
Tim Riddell, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Northshore, Mississippi, Gulf Coast, Baton Rouge, Acadiana and Rush Regions at Ochsner Health (New Orleans): Expanding access starts with meeting patients where they are. Our system has made significant strides through e-visits and e-consults, which allow patients to connect with providers and specialists without the need for in-person appointments. These tools reduce wait times, eliminate geographic barriers, and help ensure timely, coordinated care. By integrating virtual touchpoints into our care model, we’re making it easier for patients to get the right care at the right time — no matter where they live. On the clinical side, e-consults empower our providers to tap into specialist expertise quickly, often avoiding unnecessary delays or referrals. These solutions not only improve timeliness and convenience for patients but also strengthen care coordination and make better use of our clinical resources across the regions we serve.
Jamie Phillips. President and COO of Seattle Children’s: Seattle Children’s has focused on several key initiatives to expand clinical access and ensure we are able to serve patients and families counting on us for life-saving care. This includes enhancing capacity management by integrating advanced tools within Epic, ensuring all provider availability is optimized and utilized across our regional clinic sites. In addition, while our provider base and capacity has increased, the demand outstrips the supply across many of children’s specialties. To address this, we’ve focused on referral management, redesigning the referral and intake processes allowing our patient families seeking specialized care the ability to quickly self-schedule appointments. We’re also leveraging AI tools to fortify our centralized contact center to streamline intake, triage, and scheduling which has significantly improved the experience for Seattle Children’s patients as well as our providers.
Tania Conde. President of Multy Medical Rehabilitation Hospital (Ponce, Puerto Rico): At Multy Medical, our strategy to expand access to care has focused on decentralizing services and strengthening our presence in traditionally underserved areas. We have prioritized expansion into rural regions and successfully established strategic coverage across the island’s four cardinal points.
One of the pillars of this growth has been the negotiation of exclusive agreements, even under lower per diem arrangements, which has allowed us to secure a larger share of the market and ensure continuity of care. These agreements have been key in significantly increasing the number of lives under our responsibility, which in turn has enhanced our operational capacity and enabled us to provide more accessible and community-based services.
Our commitment to equitable access and resource optimization has positioned us as an efficient, resilient, and continuously expanding healthcare system.
Alice Pope. Executive Vice President and CFO of Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.): At Novant Health, our work to expand access goes beyond adding more physical locations, and I’m proud of the ways our teams are creatively solving some of the biggest challenges patients face today. From growing our telehealth programs based on patient feedback, like our virtual menopause clinic, to expanding our financial assistance policy, our focus is on making sure care is convenient, affordable and accessible – not just in more places, but to more people.
Derek Goebel. CFO of Altru Health System (Grand Forks, N.D.): Altru’s focus on both virtual care and walk-in clinics, branded as Express clinics, has helped expand access across the market for patients. Virtual offerings continue to account for about 5% of total encounters. While this is down from the height of the public health emergency in 2020, it’s double what we saw in 2019. Express clinics, open for family practice, orthopedics, and pediatrics in our community, have also increased access for patients when and where they want care, without the need to schedule ahead of time. This has been a big satisfier for patients but also for providers who have created increased capacity in the daily schedule for post-hospital visit follow-ups and new patients in new markets.
In addition to the expanded access in the clinic and virtual settings, Altru is also finalizing the acquisition of a critical access hospital on the western edge of our market. This expanded footprint is intended to bring specialty care and procedural services to that community and increase availability for patients without the need to drive as far for services.
Britt Tabor. Executive Vice President and CFO of Brooks Rehabilitation (Jacksonville, Fla.): Brooks Rehabilitation enhances access to care through strategic expansions, community-focused programs and program specialization. Brooks is one of the few rehabilitation systems in the nation that offers a complete post-acute continuum of care for effective patient access. The continuum of care includes inpatient physical rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics (physical, occupational, and speech), home health, custom care, skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, physician clinics, research and community programs.
Brooks is addressing the growing demand for specialized rehabilitation services by expanding into Phoenix, Arizona, with a joint venture with Mayo Clinic Arizona. This 60-bed hospital will support patients recovering from brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, strokes, transplants, and other disabling illnesses. In addition, Brooks previously added a 60-bed hospital bed in Jacksonville, Florida, along with renovating and adding 10 new beds at its original 160-bed Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital – University Campus. Brooks also just added 12 beds to their 40-bed inpatient unit in partnership with Halifax Health in Daytona Beach, Florida. Brooks patients have access to outpatient rehabilitation at 55 clinics throughout northeast and central Florida and our home health division serves 23 counties throughout Florida to promote easy access for follow-up care.
Brooks offers a range of community programs aimed at promoting the physical, social and emotional well-being of individuals with differing abilities. These programs, such as Adaptive Sports and the Brain Injury Clubhouse, are available at little or no cost to participants and are open to individuals regardless of their association with Brooks. To support out-of-town patients and their families, Brooks operates Helen’s House, a nonprofit hospitality house offering affordable lodging.
In response to a shortage of pediatric rehabilitation beds, Brooks has doubled the number of pediatric beds at its University hospital campus. The facility now features a secured pediatric area with specialized gyms and provides the only no-cost school re-entry services in the region. Collaborations with Nemours Children’s Health, Wolfson Children’s Hospital and UF Health Jacksonville further enhance pediatric care by integrating specialized medical expertise and ensuring comprehensive rehabilitation services for children.
Michael Antoniades. President of UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial: At UChicago Medicine, our community hospital plays a vital role in delivering on our commitment to expand access and bring high-quality, academic-level care closer to where people live and work. We’ve taken several significant steps to enhance services and improve the patient experience across our region, and I’m proud to say that UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial is playing a key role:
– Behavioral Health Services: In response to rising demand, we’ve expanded both inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services. This investment helps address a critical gap in our region and ensures patients can access timely, compassionate mental healthcare.
– Primary and Specialty Care Integration: Through close collaboration with UChicago Medicine physician and administrative leadership, as well as important community partners, we are growing access to a wide range of services, including urology, cardiology, GI, bariatrics, vascular surgery, neurosurgery, general surgery, minimally invasive gynecology and obstetrics. These expansions mean more patients can receive complex care in a community setting supported and integrated by academic medical excellence. This approach supports a seamless, integrated care model, allowing for better coordination and continuity of care.
– Cancer Care Expansion: UChicago Medicine is building the state’s first and only freestanding NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. This landmark investment will extend advanced cancer care, research and clinical trials beyond Chicago’s South Side and into all the communities served by Ingalls Memorial.
– Emergency Department Enhancements: To meet the growing needs of our community, we’ve expanded emergency department capacity at Ingalls Memorial, ensuring patients receive emergent care when they need it most.
Together, these initiatives reflect our commitment to expanding access, reducing health disparities, and delivering on the promise of high-quality care in every community we serve.
Kathy Kelly. Market CEO of Kindred Healthcare (Louisville, Ky.): Kindred Hospitals in Chicago has expanded access to care in the area by opening up additional rooms at our hospital on Montrose Avenue as well as our Northlake Hospital. We are standardizing services across the Chicago Market to include wound care with specialty beds, LVAD patients with new cardiologists, ventilator patients with our new purchase of ventilators and we have opened our doors to referring physicians to see their patients at both Kindred Hospitals. Additional services and standardized care has helped our buildings run at capacity.
Deborah Visconi. President and CEO of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center (Paramus, N.J.): At Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, expanding access to care has been at the heart of our mission — and we’ve taken bold, intentional steps to ensure we reach those who need us most.
We have grown by strategically aligning services with unmet community needs, including behavioral health, addiction treatment, primary care, and LGBTQ+ inclusive services. Through the opening of satellite locations, we’ve been able to bring care directly into underserved neighborhoods.
We’ve also leveraged digital innovation by implementing telehealth programs that remove transportation and scheduling barriers, and launched a mobile care initiative to reach patients where they are — literally.
Most importantly, we’ve prioritized culturally competent, trauma-informed care and built trust in historically marginalized populations. Access is not just about availability — it’s about belonging.
At Bergen New Bridge, we’re redefining what it means to be accessible: care that’s local, equitable, and deeply human.
Len Lacefield. CEO of Clinton (Okla.) Regional Hospital: Clinton Regional Hospital is in a unique position as a 100-year institution getting a chance to do a full restart after a closure as a result of serious mismanagement from a third-party healthcare conglomerate. Fresh starts can be strategically beneficial and that is posture myself and our incoming ownership has based our future on. The key strategies and forward motion hinges upon creating a “destination for care close to home.”
Transferring as a habit or strategy is not a success or acceptable model. Nor is a solution to the rural healthcare crisis. While hundreds of other rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate, creating access is driven by providing services that otherwise would require western Oklahoma residents to drive more than an hour to receive. Many large hospitals secure management agreements to perpetuate the transfer model that does little to stabilize rural facilities. CRH is forming its new structure with the local patient care model in the forefront of our strategic planning.
An example of increasing access to care is the startup of our Wound Care Center. While onsite services are beneficial, we’re expanding this startup to include in-home or mobile wound care for those who otherwise find great difficulty to come to the hospital for treatment. The focus is not only on services offered within the area, but access to those services. Another is in-home/mobile dialysis as well as onsite outpatient dialysis services.
Improving our service with care close to home, being offered with the patient’s ability to receive care in the most effective way. Other areas of improvement and focus to increase access to care and community engagement include telehealth and virtual care services, remote patient monitoring, partnerships and community outreach, financial access improvements, multilingual and culturally competent services, transportation and accessibility solutions, to list a few.
Jim Heilsberg. CFO of Tri-State Memorial Hospital and Medical Campus (Clarkston, Wash.): Tri State Health continues to look at opportunities to maintain or expand needed services for the communities served by our primary care network. At the current time we are looking at adding OB, orthopedics and other clinic staff to support all that is needed by our patients in the areas we serve.
Darin C. Roark, BSN, MBA, FACHE. President and Chief Operating Officer of Mass General Brigham Wentworth Douglass Hospital (Dover, N.H.): To better serve our community, we opened an orthopedic walk-in clinic at our main orthopedic office. The clinic is open six days a week and serves patients as they arrive without requiring them to schedule an appointment. The clinic has been very successful in serving patients with an acute injury. These patients are able to obtain care and a treatment plan in a timelier manner.
Joe Avelino, RN, BSN. CEO of College Medical Center (Long Beach, Calif.): College Medical Center has expanded our emergency department, doubling the size from 2,500 square feet to approximately 5,200 square feet. Second, we will be adding an additional 27 behavioral health beds to address the shortages of beds to manage our behavioral health patients. Third, College Medical Center has completed building a 22-bed EmPATH (i.e., emergency psychiatry assessment, treatment, and healing) Unit. The EmPATH functions as an extension of the emergency department, offering a rapid and focused approach to addressing behavioral health needs in a less restrictive setting compared to a traditional emergency room. In essence, by providing additional beds through the ED, behavioral health beds, and EmPATH, this will expand and improve access to care to our community in order to meet College Medical Center’s mission, “to heal with compassion and to perform with distinction.”
