John Harding, EdD, began his role as executive vice president and COO of Minneapolis-based Children’s Minnesota on April 27 and told Becker’s the opportunity marks a progression in his career.
“Having come from Children’s healthcare most of my career, I’m looking forward to stepping in and learning from all these folks here in such a great organization and to see how I contribute,” Dr. Harding said.
In his role, he will provide enterprisewide operational leadership across the system’s hospitals, specialty centers and clinics, according to an April 29 system news release shared with Becker’s.
Dr. Harding joins Children’s Minnesota from Indianapolis-based Riley Children’s Health, where he served as COO. He previously served as COO of Norfolk, Va.-based Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters Health System and held leadership roles at St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and Washington, D.C.-based Children’s National Medical Center.
At Children’s Minnesota, he said his initial focus is on learning the organization’s priorities and operations.
“My first priority as the new administrator is going to be to learn and really understand what the organization’s priorities are, understand how leaders and teams work to provide great care and services for families and learn the operational management system to understand how I can add value to the work that’s already going on here,” Dr. Harding said.
He said his second priority is evaluating the continuum of care, from primary care through post-acute care, and improving care experiences for patients, families and team members.
“I like to focus on patient access and [patient] flow, because if patients get good access to care — the right care at the right time and in the right place — that helps outcomes,” Dr. Harding said. “If we’re efficient in our operations, it helps with quality, safety and financial measures.”
Children’s Minnesota is also preparing to implement a new Epic EHR, which Dr. Harding said he will focus on supporting as he steps into the role.
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