Written by Natalie Moore on May 8, 2015
4 Hopeful Lessons Anyone Can Learn from Shelly Hunter and a Hospital Rebuild
On Sunday, May 22nd 2011, a tornado rolled over Joplin, Missouri that would change everything for the staff, patients, and community built around Mercy Health Joplin/Kansas, then St. John’s Regional Medical Center. “It took out six miles down the center of the town,” shares Shelly Hunter, Chief Financial Officer at Mercy Joplin. “No one was not affected.”
Condition Gray warnings echoed through the hospital as nurses guided patient beds into the hallways. Moments later the storm lashed through the nine-story facility; doors blew open and windows exploded. In moments the hospital was knocked out. “We have always had storms in our area, but nothing of this magnitude,” their CFO explains. “Wiping out an entire facility, that has never happened before.” This spring a new state-of-the-art hospital stands strong in the center of Joplin. And what started as a bad dream has become a story of hope for the hospital and its patient community.
We are proud to highlight Forward contributor and health finance leader, Shelly Hunter in our Women at the Top series. She shares how the hospital rebuild has brought a community closer together and made her a stronger leader in the office and the community:
1. How did these challenges bring your team and community closer together and change your leadership style?
It was devastating. Almost everyone in the community was affected either personally or professionally, and our hospital was gone. To actually wipe out our entire facility and have to build temporary facilities – that had never happened.
We were in a tent; then a trailer; then a modular facility; talking to the insurance company; working with FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency). All of these were new experiences for us and all while we planned for the new facility. The first week we were in a military style tent and during that time we were planning how we’d get the trailer up, and how we could bring on certain equipment and keep everyone employed. Those were all new things for us.
You learn a lot. The fact that our hospital was being designed, planned and constructed really all at the same time – that has never been done. It took a lot of people being understanding and working together. Together we broke a lot of records. We learned about teamwork and how to control a budget. The budget for the new hospital was done kind of back-of-napkin before the design was complete. And it’s stayed under budget by millions so far. To stay under-budget, four years down the road with a back-of-napkin budget is amazing.
It was about finding the right partners and people to work on the project and being able to ask for help when you needed it. We were just diving in and learning what we needed to learn. I don’t think you can get through this without thinking collaboratively. Those are the two things that were strengthened in me. You are juggling and outside of your scope because you are dealing with things you have no experience with and never anticipated.
2. What does the new state-of-the-art facility mean for a recovering community?
Joplin as a community set records with our rebuild. We had countless volunteers who stepped up and did what we needed them to do and because of them we’re back almost 100%. Healthcare costs are expensive and capital is expensive. So in a normal situation you couldn’t replace all of your equipment at once. In that way it’s been a gift. All of the equipment in this hospital is the latest technology and it was all replaced at the same time.
We have a huge spacious facility with the latest in technology in our linear accelerator, MRI, and the most efficient and disaster-proof emergency room you can imagine. All of the equipment and specialists you could need are right there onsite. We have quick access for emergency vehicles, we moved closer to the highway so that people can get hospital care faster than ever before. And we’re located at the center of the rural area. In a way a terrible tragedy turned into a great gift for this community.
The other impact on our community was that by keeping everyone employed and working within our budget will have a $6B business impact over 10 years community-wide. It would have devastated the region if Mercy had not rebuilt at the pace we did. Mercy Joplin is the second largest employer in the region. It was 2200 people that we kept employed. If we had not kept everyone employed many would have been forced to leave the community, entire families. That is an impact of over 6000 people. There would have been painful ramifications community-wide with all of that.
3. How can facilities prepare for the unimaginable?
Make sure that you have a disaster plan. The one thing that saved us is that we had trained and trained (and trained). We had a statewide earthquake drill the Wednesday before the tornado. Even though the hospital itself wasn’t already in the plan, everyone knew how to modify and what to do to make it work. The staff response that day was perfect: Getting patients to safety. Getting patients the medical and pharmaceutical drugs for temporary treatment locations just worked so perfectly and I think it was because of how well everyone was trained. It also really saved us having our medical records electronic. Make sure you know where your records are and your storage of records – have everything electronically saved in a redundant safe place.
4. What have you learned about leadership over the last four years?
The biggest thing is to make sure you understand your industry and to network and have people you can call on for help (in your own organization and outside). Knowing that you have a network of experts that can help you – you know someone who always knows someone. I’m a member of HFMA (Healthcare Financial Management Association), I know if we hadn’t had the support inside the community, any of those outside folks would have come in and helped.
Really, the most important thing you can do as a leader is listen. We listen to the community. We listen to our coworkers. We listen to our leaders. Making sure you have input from those around you and anyone who might be a stakeholder in a situation or who might have a ramification later down the road from that decision. Listen and think that through. It could be that you could miss something looking at it from your unique perspective. I always get someone’s advice, it’s so important to me. Before I make a decision I talk to our finance leaders, our CEO, and the directors to make sure I have the best information possible to make the best decision.