Scott Polenz, MBA, CPA, serves as Chief Administrative Officer for Marshfield Medical Center - Eau Claire.
On April 2nd, Scott will speak at Becker's Hospital Review 10th 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 April 1-4, 2019 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Scott's session, click here.
Question: What one strategic initiative will demand the most of your time and energy in 2019?
Scott Polenz: Smart growth. Marshfield Clinic Health System is growing rapidly by expanding into the hospital business in many of our markets. We already have close to 800 Physicians in 55 different ambulatory locations in central, northern and western Wi. We also have the sixth largest health plan in Wisconsin but are relatively new to the hospital business. Our goal is to be responsible for all three legs of the health care stool to bring high quality care, a wonderful patient experience, and affordability to our patients and communities. The market I work in we just finished a 44 bed micro tertiary hospital focused on efficiency and integration all on one campus. It’s an exciting time and important we are smart with our growth plans in all of our markets.
Q: ell us about the last meaningful interaction you had with a patient.
SP: Just the other day when we were at capacity for hospital beds and nine of our patients were boarded in our emergency department and PACU. I visited each one with a small gift and card and to apologize for any inconvenience they were facing. Each interaction was positive and the patients were grateful for the apology and the care we are providing them. It was very rewarding and a good reminder to take the time to talk to our patients as they are at the core of all we do.
Q: Can you share some praise with us about people you work with? What does greatness look like to you when it comes to your team?
SP: Greatness is building a brand new hospital in a little over 18 months with a group of incredibly dedicated leaders and staff and physicians. We all shared blood, sweat and tears and it’s a bond we will all have throughout our careers. Adversity and challenges break some teams apart or bring them together to work toward achieving greatness. Our team is definitely the latter and long-term loyalty and teamwork will only benefit our patients.