Christopher Newman, MD, stepped into the president and CEO role at Mary Washington Healthcare last March amid significant leadership transition, workforce pressure and rapid population growth in the region.
Dr. Newman, an internal medicine physician by training, joined Fredericksburg, Va.-based Mary Washington Healthcare in 2019 as COO and chief medical officer. He succeeded the system’s prior CEO after several longstanding C-suite leaders retired, giving him the opportunity to build an entirely new executive team and revitalize the culture, focused on reconnecting staff to the mission and purpose after the pandemic.
“Being able to bring in people to share the vision and mission that we are trying to accomplish was definitely exciting. I’m really lucky to have a fantastic team and I think they’re up to the task,” said Dr. Newman during an interview with the “Becker’s Healthcare Podcast.” “This is a team sport. We need a lot of different people from a lot of different disciplines to bring these visions and dreams to fruition and execute on them.”
Like many health systems, Mary Washington Healthcare is facing financial pressure, access issues and workforce shortages. But their solution is unique. The health system is transitioning from a community-based system to an academic health system that will strengthen the talent pipeline and increase access to high quality care in the region. The transformation takes considerable planning and requires medical staff to expand their daily responsibilities.
“As you can imagine, transitioning from a community health system to an academic health system is a challenge for everybody because all of our caregivers are now having to do some education as well as work with students and residents that we already have within the system,” said Dr. Newman. “We want everybody to understand the why behind the decisions we’re making and get everybody excited about the vision and where the health system is going. That’s a really big part of what I do every day.”
The system is working with the University of Mary Washington on a potential public-private partnership to establish a regional medical school, while also expanding graduate medical education programs. Over the next year, the system plans to add cardiology, gastroenterology, psychiatry and rheumatology training programs, building on recent launches in anesthesia, general surgery and primary care.
“We’re really able to advance the sophistication of care so that people don’t have to leave this community to get care,” said Dr. Newman. “Often historically, they’ve had to go to Washington DC or Richmond or other places for higher level care. We’re making a lot of investments in more sophisticated care and more tertiary- and quaternary-level care, which is exciting.”
Recent investments include a neurology and acute thrombectomy program, expanded neuroscience services and the recruitment of four neurosurgeons. The system is also expanding ambulatory sites to keep pace with community growth.
“Our challenge is where to deploy capital and what to prioritize because we could do so many things,” he said.
Through this transition, Dr. Newman has focused on building a great culture with his team. Every change initiative is tied back to the organization’s mission and he is focused on supporting caregivers and elevating their experience.
“The cultural transformation has to happen and then it really cascades through our whole leadership team,” he said. Mary Washington Healthcare recently received recognition as a Great Place to Work for the fifth year and Forbes named the system as a top 200 midsized employer in the U.S.
Even more promising: internal surveys show a 9% increase in faith in leadership for 2025, which is a huge gain.
“I’m starting to feel it as I round,” he said. “You can see it in the expressions and demeanor of our staff. We’ve removed the distance between the leadership and our bedside caregivers and worked hard to create an authentic relationship between the leadership team and the frontline staff.”
