Critical Conversations is a series of discussions spearheaded by the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce focusing on timely topics and issues facing the Frederick County community.
Join us for this conversation as we focus on the current state of Frederick Health with Cheryl Cioffi, DNP, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Frederick Health.
Transcription edited for readability:
RW: Welcome everybody to the latest episode of Frederick County Chamber of Commerce Critical Conversations. Today, we’re thrilled to have a conversation with Cheryl Cioffi from our regional health system, Frederick Health. Cheryl is a healthcare executive with 27 years of experience- she had to start in kindergarten- in a variety of clinical and operational roles.
She holds a doctorate in nursing practice from the University of Maryland and a post-master’s in teaching nursing and health professions. She’s also a board certified nurse executive and a fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives. And I have to tell you, selfishly, we are incredibly proud that we get to count Cheryl Cioffi in our superstar, VIP alumni for our Leadership Frederick County leadership development program.
Cheryl, welcome to Critical Conversations.
CC: Thank you, Rick. It’s great to be here.
RW: So I have to tell you- the folks that are watching – we communicate about these conversations in advance to make sure we cover the topics that we think are most pertinent and most beneficial for you. So Cheryl and I had some coordination and initially I really didn’t want to focus too much on COVID.
But the more we both thought about it, the more we realized that this sets the foundation for a lot of things we’re going to talk about relative to what the future looks like. When it comes to Frederick Health, it would have been an act of supreme irresponsibility. If I didn’t ask you about the last two years.
So I study organizational development and leadership, and it’s something that’s been an adult passion of mine and I have to tell you- this has been one of the most impressive displays of executive organizational leadership in the face of a nearly overwhelming public health crisis. The executive team at Frederick health took charge, immediately right out of the gate before even our federal, state and local governments were able to react in a regulatory environment, Frederick Health was acting with purpose and vision.
Really you guys led our whole community through this global pandemic and at the front of it all where the rubber met the road were your amazing employees. Could you talk for a few minutes about what this experience has been like for the health system itself?
And about those people, the frontline healthcare workers who were doing the critical work to keep people alive and keep our community safe.
CC: Sure. Thank you, Rick. You said it well, of course we all know our teams are our greatest assets and certainly in healthcare that has been the utmost of truth throughout this pandemic. Little did we know two years ago, we would still be talking about this now, two years later. We saw up to 120 patients in one day- COVID patients- throughout this pandemic, it actually was just most recently with the Omicron wave. When all of this started, we actually thought it was just going to be a supply issue. We were not sure what was going on but as you said, we needed to get together and respond to this.
So really when we look at this in hindsight, as everyone else was shutting down, we were just beginning to ramp up. Our team stood ready, as you said, on the front lines to receive these most acutely ill patients who were stricken with COVID-19 at a time when PPE was scarce. So we didn’t know how exactly we were going to protect our employees, the clinical treatment of this was unknown- our providers were doing the best they could to figure out how we could collaborate to figure out treatment plans. We weren’t even sure how this virus would spread and so of course at that time, there was pretty much panic across the nation, as we were dealing with this.
But our employees and medical staff truly had to put their own fears aside to do what they needed to do for this community. They had the utmost compassion and clinical skill, often being the last person to hold someone’s hand if unfortunately, you know they passed and the family was not able to be at the bedside.
So all of this about the frontline workers I think, was covered very well in the news. So we know that story all too well but there were many behind the scenes who also didn’t get mentioned as much, but were equally as important.
When we think about our laboratory processing, all of those COVID specimens- at one point they were opening every single vial to stir it because of however they needed to make the machines work until we had a multi-process machine in place. Our registration clerks, greeting people and exchanging papers- and that was so taboo at the time. Radiology staff doing chest x-rays and asking people to take a deep breath and hold it, you know, all of those components- housekeeping cleaning the room.
So we have so many workers across our health system, we have about 3,400 employees across our system, not including all the providers who come in and out. There’s so many people that we could not have done this without and we’re very proud of the selfless dedication of all of our team members who pulled together to take care of this community in this very challenging time.
One thing I would like to mention is throughout all of this, the strength of our clinical team continued. We earned magnet designation during the pandemic- that’s something that only 7% of hospitals have. We were also recently recognized by Health Grades as one of America’s Hundred Best Hospitals and so these types of recognitions we’re really proud of on top of everything else that our team has been dealing with.
RW: That’s just incredible. I mean, it’s certainly the kind of professional affirmation that you seek, but that’s the affirmation you seek in a perfect world. The last two years have been kind of everything but the perfect world, but maybe we’re beginning to see a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, right?
With new case infection rates, falling and capacity demands on our community hospitals beginning to dial back a little bit. So, you know, looking at the last two years, I guess our hope is that we’re on the cusp of a return to some semblance of social norms that allow us to reconnect and re-engage. So as we all look forward, you know, we’re getting ready to start having live in-person events again- and that’ll be the first time in two years that we’ve been able to do that- what are some of the priorities of Frederick Health and how do you see the system beginning to return to a semblance of normal?
CC: Right. Well, one thing that we are really focused on is our healthcare workforce. So as you know, with all areas of the workforce we’ve been challenged but when you look at healthcare alone, last year 40,000 nurses across the nation decided not to renew their license. One thing that we need to do to get back to normal is really maintain the focus on our workforce, just like all other businesses. We are always growing as a healthcare system to meet the needs of our community, regardless of where someone is on their healthcare or wellness journey, so our growth and partnership focused mindset really served us well during the pandemic. It allowed us to scale and leverage the entirety of our team, it allowed us to change what we were doing and be nimble. We also worked really hard to redistribute clinical care and services across our network of locations and so a lot of that- that happened during the pandemic- we are keeping some of that in place. It really allowed us to be more positioned as we move into quote unquote, new normal.
So as we move beyond the pandemic, we are continuing to grow as a system. Our community continues to grow so we need to have the appropriate matching healthcare services for our community.At the hospital, I know you’ve heard about this, our critical care expansion project- this will reimagine the remainder of our emergency departments getting renovated. We are co-locating pediatrics down to next to the emergency department, we’re enhancing our intensive care unit and expanding our heart cardiac catheterization lab.
When the pandemic started, we actually were asked if we should continue this project, because it might take away, you know, beds and so forth but we’re really glad that we stayed course with this because it is allowing us to be most prepared for the critically ill that we saw during the pandemic and other people who will be seeking our services. We actually were able to change and enhance the design of the rooms to add more components for physical separation and waiting rooms and the like. Also we were even able to intervene and improve how our air exchange was going to be so we can compartmentalize the air flows and lock down certain areas if we need to provide for respiratory isolation.
So the timing couldn’t have been better for all of that. I can’t believe it already, but the first phase of this will open in July. You’ll see the new ED entrance and ICU and cath lab and then the second year will be to finish out the remaining phases of the interior of the ED. Then pivoting out to our medical group, we are continuing to grow there. Again, meeting the needs of the community, we are bringing on elite nationally recognized providers to our community to add enhanced services.We’re increasing access to care throughout people’s healthcare journey and adding new specialties to our community. Then we’re also expanding to new locations- we are looking at our new location in Emmitsburg opening later this year. We have a new location in our Urbana where we will transition to over the next few years and then we are also working on a location in New Market for that growing community. So we’re really trying to get out there and create hubs for better access all across Frederick County.
RW: That’s fantastic and it’s really exciting. I think just about one acquisition decision- The Village- and had it not been for that foresight, which was way before a global pandemic- how in the world would you run a testing operation on the scale that you did? So it’s pretty amazing when you think about all this stuff and I know our members are gonna love to hear about future plans and I think. The partnership with Hood College now morphs into a partnership with Mount St.Mary’s and that’s really exciting- a lot of incredible stories and things to look forward to.
So all of this comes from strategic partnerships and collaboration, and Frederick Health is the best at that of all the organizations that I’m familiar with, certainly in the nonprofit and healthcare sector.
You guys are the masters- you are genius level at figuring out how to leverage other groups, organizations, and partners. Would you talk a little bit about how you’ve partnered with others thus far and how you see Frederick Health continuing to build on those strategic partnerships going forward?
CC: Yeah absolutely. You’re right- we definitely have a lot of partnerships and we do believe that relationships are the key to anything, both internal to our building and how we operate with one another but also externally. When we think about just our longstanding great partnerships we have with local emergency management services and the Frederick County Health Department, just thinking about them alone we couldn’t have done what we did through the pandemic without our partnership with them.
We worked hand in hand with the health department on vaccinations and testing, just as you said, over at the Village being even a backup and a partner with them standing up these operations. With EMS we have a standing program that sends the EKG readings, right from the rig into our clinical ED so that we are ready on standby if a patient is experiencing a heart attack when they arrive here to the hospital. We also have great relationships with the City and County law enforcement and so many more clinical organizations who deliver care across our community- like the Mental Health Association, Heartly House, and many others.
The Frederick County Healthcare Coalition is another example of our communities collaborative focus, and that brings many, many important organizations across our community together. Those who share similar missions can collectively create an impact towards the long-term health improvements needed.
And this really helps to focus our planning and outreach efforts to those who need it most. We’ve also developed key relationships with many employers through our Frederick Health Employer Solutions, which is a healthcare resource for major employers in Frederick County. Through Live Well Frederick we provide health and wellness education that employers can access free of charge.
This includes activities to engage employees, tips and education, and there’s really a lot of great resources available through LiveWellFrederick.com . Live Well Frederick also partners with organizations like the Frederick County Public Libraries, the YMCA, the Maryland Extension, and Frederick County Public Schools.
So we’re really looking to provide education on healthy lifestyle behaviors through the 5-2-1-0 program, which is a great example of where we’re trying to tackle the future health of Frederick County,starting at a young age and getting people on the right path for future health.
And I just want to ask you, do you happen to know what 5-2-1-0 stands for?
RW: Yeah but I’m a ringer because through our business health committee. I had the good fortune to work with Heather Kirby and Carlo Fano from Frederick Health to try to figure out how the Chamber could help message five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, two hours less in front of the PlayStation or iPad, one hour of solid physical activity every day and zero sugary sweet drinks- 5-2-1-0. It made so much sense that when I was 58 going on 59 and heard this pitch, I finally started to take my own personal health more seriously, thanks to a simple set of tools in 5-2-1-0. And so in the intervening four years, I’ve lost almost 80 pounds, 76 pounds. I’m healthier than I was when I was 30- I don’t ride elevators, I take stairs- I don’t ride escalators- I take stairs. I work with a kettlebell and a real simple routine that a great chiropractor named Don Barry taught me and we walk our dog for a mile and a half every day. This stuff really works, Cheryl. You know, I would urge every adult male who thinks 5- 2-1-0 is a message geared toward children- no, no, no. It’s a message geared toward humans. These are simple steps to take that provide untold benefits. I mean, it’s look better, be healthier, feel better, be able to interact more effectively, not have to bend over and gasp for oxygen at the top of a two-story stairwell. Yeah, like I said, I’m probably a ringer.so that’s awesome.
CC: That’s awesome and I did not know this in advance!
RW: Yeah it works and I can’t think of anything more compelling than to tell somebody it’s never too late to take your personal health journey more seriously. With a partner like Frederick Health, with the resources that are available through the Live Well Frederick site, anybody can do this. If I can, anybody can do this.
So look, the future’s feeling bright and exciting. We have a lot of new business announcements, we’re working in partnership with the County and City Office of Economic Development on rolling out some really exciting things.
Our small businesses are starting to kind of recover clients and customers and we know that innovation is critical to an organization’s success. Can you share some of the health systems plans for the next few years, once we’ve kind of fully unloaded the COVID burden?
CC: Yes. So of course with us, you know, we want to remain the community-based healthcare system.
So part of that is all of those relationships that we just talked about and hearing what our community needs- looking at our data and partnering with those who share our mission so that we can continue to serve this diverse community. We really want to continue focusing on access to healthcare, which in a lot of ways will require innovation and we want to make sure that we’re bringing in innovation to our health system wherever possible.
So we’re going to be looking at new technologies. Even things like access to our patient portal and how can patients access their health information in a meaningful and prompt way, increasing ways that people can have virtual access to care, increasing the connections between all of our locations.
We have a vision right now of having one patient one chart, so we’re continuing to work on that throughout our health system and bringing others in as we can. And as clinical technology continues to evolve, we want to make sure that we’re keeping up with that. So we have a growing surgical robotics program we’re really looking at how do you use robotics to perform minimally invasive surgery.
We’ve had this in place for years, but as more and more modalities are coming on to the platform, we want to make sure that we have surgeons who are capable of continuing that minimally invasive approach, which is better for the patient. Most recently we added a lung biopsy surgical technology that is almost like someone said a colonoscopy for the lungs where you can go to the deepest end of the lung to get the smallest of tumors to see if it is cancer or not, and diagnose people at much lower stages so that their chance of full recovery is even greater. Dr. Murray Smith and his colleagues have been leading at the forefront, and that’s just an example of the things that we want to continue for this community.
As far as services, continuing to evolve, screening and prevention has always been a major focus of our healthcare education and the concept of this, of prevention- what does that really mean? It’s constantly evolving and we’re excited to play a role in that.
We recently launched a new precision medicine and genetics initiative, that’s a service that we have now located over at Crestwood and we will be moving that to the Village in the coming year. Really what precision medicine and genetics does is it educates and empowers individuals to use their genetic information, to understand it and make different healthcare choices.
So we’ve been very familiar with this when it comes to cancer and early, you know, genetic testing with cancer risk. So you get on this path of making different choices for yourself and early screenings and so forth. But now this is moving into the world of someone with, let’s say cardiomyopathy, so a heart condition. We can now test and see that that person has the gene that was hereditary cardiomyopathy, which means then that there’s a 50/50 pass rate to their offspring and then get them tested. The whole point is if you know early, you can be on treatments and therapies early, that will help prevent your cardiomyopathy from being worse.
We’re also entering into the world of pharmacogenomics, which is looking at your genes and saying ‘are certain medications contra-indicated for you based on your genetic makeup’. Will certain medications not really be effective for you? Those types of questions can be answered now with pharmacogenetics or which antidepressants are most likely to work best for you based on your genetics- those are the types of things.
And then also finally, Nutrigenomix, that’s another place where we’re looking at how well you absorb certain vitamins? Are you at risk of having too much iron… there’s so many things that we can learn. So talking about innovation, this is the future where we want to head for our community and this will certainly…focusing on programs like these will move us well past COVID-19 hopefully in the rear view mirror and to a healthy and bright future.
RW: That’s so exciting. As we tape this conversation tomorrow I’ll be driving to Annapolis to testify in favor of a bill that would allow small businesses who employ fewer than 15 people to go onto the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, buy health insurance for their workers and get a subsidy back from the feds and the states.
So can you imagine if we can get small businesses, you know, our trades, contractors, our landscapes to be able to provide an HMO plan for their employees so they can go see a GP to get that initial diagnosis and not show up at the ER or you know, a more expensive portal into the healthcare system. So this stuff all fits together.
I’m really excited for the future. And I love that I look at the senior leadership team at Frederick Health and I see five LFC alumni in that distinguished group. And I love the fact that we spent a lot of time today talking about strategic collaboration, because Cheryl, that is the difference.
When people ask me, what’s the secret sauce that makes Frederick special it’s that we don’t view conversations as competition- we view them as opportunities to collaborate on behalf of our community and Frederick Health has been doing that as well as anybody. Thanks to you and Tom and the entire leadership team over there. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship and I really appreciate that you took this time to talk to Chamber members about the future.
CC: Thank you, Rick. It was a pleasure and as you know, it’s always great to share the wonderful works that Frederick health has underway. Thank you.
RW: Absolutely. Thanks a lot, Cheryl.
Frederick Chamber Insights is a news outlet of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. For more information about membership, programs and initiatives, please visit our website.