Kecia Kelly, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, serves as Division Chief Nurse Executive - Northern California for CommonSpirit Health and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Executive for Saint Francis Memorial Hospital.
On April 6th, Kecia will serve on the panel "Homeless and Mental Health – Solutions for a Growing Population" at Becker's Hospital Review 11th 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 on April 6-9, 2020 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Kecia's session, click here.
Question: What's one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare?
Kecia Kelly: I learned very early in my career, and admittedly the hard way, that all of the amazing work you do means nothing if you don’t have your team on board. It’s easy to be driving the bus only to park it and find out over 75% of your team got off along the way. I’ve learned now to engage my team and stakeholders every step of the way. Gauge their interest and engagement along the way. LISTEN to their ideas and concerns and act accordingly.
Q: What do you see as the most exciting opportunity in healthcare right now?
KK: The most exciting opportunity I see in healthcare right now is the complete transformation of where healthcare is occurring. Hospitals are no longer the sole place where people seek their healthcare. Healthcare is everywhere: your local grocery store, pharmacy, community center, church, or park for that matter. I am excited to see how we are now addressing the social determinants of health and the potential impact this will have on not only hospital admissions and readmissions, but also the overall health of the communities we serve.
Q: Healthcare has had calls for disruption, innovation, and transformation for years now. Do you feel we are seeing that change? Why or why not?
KK: We are seeing this change, however, not at the rate that one would prefer. Healthcare organizations are squeezed very tightly just to make a margin that is sustainable to keep their doors open. There is technology that can really transform the way care is delivered in the hospital. For example, medical device integration, also called MDI (with the electronic healthcare record) is implemented at varying stages, if at all, in many organizations. MDI can not only reduce the amount of potential medical errors in a hospital but could significantly reduce the amount of time a clinician documents in the EHR and allow for more time to spend with the patient.