November 14, 2024 • 35 mins
Cristina Contreras, CEO of NYC Health & Hospitals/Lincoln | CEOs You Should Know
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, everyone, This is Steve Dallis and welcome to this
week's edition of CEOs. You should know I am excited
that I am joined by Christina Contreras, the CEO of
NYC Health and Hospitals Lincoln. Christina, thanks for being with
us today.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Thank you, Steve, Thank you for inviting me. It's a
pleasure for me to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We're excited to jump in to learn a little bit
more about you, and I'm more about NYC helping Hospitals Lincoln.
So let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Okay. To start off, why do you tell us a little.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Bit about your background and what initially drove you to
have a career in the healthcare.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Interesting question.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I was born in the Dominican Republic, and I came
to this country when I was fifteen years old and
going through high school. I had a lot of challenges,
and I experienced some people that were very instrumental, very helpful,
and there were people that kind of like wanted to
make sure that the kids that were getting off track,
trying to help them identify some of the problems and
(00:52):
help them get through them.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So I found out very helpful and I said.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
You know what I wanted to do something similar, and
that's why I became interested in becoming a social worker.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
That's awesome, and tell us a little bit about that.
Your journey as really as a caseworker to CEO is remarkable, right,
What were those like pivotal moments that helped influence that path?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well? To be honest with you.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I didn't really plan to become a CEO. I never
was never really in the forefront of my mind. But
becoming a caseworker, I did everything under the sun in
the healthcare field. I was very exciting to be able
to help people individually. I did counseling, I did test things,
I did outreach, I did marketing, I did everything discharged planning.
(01:37):
So helping people individually was exciting. However, when I started
transitioning and learned that I could help improve processes, protocol policies,
it helped a broader scale people. Instead of just helping one,
I could help more, So I figured that that would
(01:59):
be better. It was more rewarding for me because you
can you're still helping people, but in a different capacity.
So I was able to explore that as an option
and it was. It was better for me, and I
started transitioning from caseworkers, social worker to administration.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
That's awesome. I think the bestios are the ones that
wore various hats all.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
You see you and I agree, Stee, I really agree.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I finally somebody agree with me.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I'm sure over the last three decades really working in healthcare,
as you mentioned, I'm sure there's a lot of really
rewarding moments throughout your career. Are there any that stand
out in particular?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
There's many, many situations. I think that the opportunities that
I have given some of my you know, employees and
also patients that you see the income the impact directly,
it makes a difference, right, I know. In particular, for instance,
I have a couple of providers that they're doctors.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
In the countries and they come in and and.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
They're struggling obviously with the same things that I struggle with,
the language, the transition, making sure that the documentation, the
credentials are accepted in this country, and having the ability
to at least open up opportunities for them. For instance,
I have two a particular doctors that one is a
resident currently a Lincoln hospital. She's from the Dominican Republic,
(03:22):
and one is also in the same situation from Honduras,
and both of them had the opportunity to volunteer first,
and then there was an opportunity and they went into
the residency program.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
That doesn't happen often, but.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It's good because you're giving people opportunities.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
One they're from the community.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Two they also look and sound like the community that
we serve, so that gives them an opportunity in life.
But also it gives our patients someone that is more
reflective and representative of them. And there are people from
the community, so they're going to become doctors and stay
in the community.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
So it makes me feel really, it makes me feel great.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So when when yeah and inspiring for the community, like
you mentioned, absolutely absolutely So as your role as CEO,
what are some of your initial goals for the organization?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So that's interesting for Lincoln.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I've been a CEO for close to four years now,
but a Lincoln I just this is my fifth week,
so it's kind of.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Like, I thank you, I just got here.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
But you know, a part of my assessment that my
preliminary assessment. I want to make sure that Lincoln becomes
the place that people want to go. I want to
make sure that Lincoln attracts good talent. I want to
make sure my employees they feel appreciative value. I heard
that they're part of the solutions, not just part of
(04:44):
the problem. That they helped me do basically developed the
strategic plan for Lincoln Hospital. Obviously, I want to I
want us to provide state of the art equality care,
which we do, but I want to make sure I
always partner with different funding sources so I can ensure
that we have the best technology, because the people from
(05:06):
the Bronze This serve the best, and that I'm going
to be partnered with anyone that I have to be
partnered with to ensure that it sounds like.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
A great vision. You mentioned community earlier, right, what role
do you see community engagement playing in your leadership style.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Well, I'm a servant leader and my background is social work, right,
So I'm very much you have different type of CEOs,
but I happen to be a CEO of the value
and understand the importance of partnering with community organizations and
community leaders and elected officials, because at the end of
the day, we all have the same goals, right, It's
not just what happens inside the hospital. For me, being
(05:41):
a CEO of a hospital, we have to make sure
that when the patients come in, we provide optimal care,
quality care, regardless of their ability to pay.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
However, I have to partner with.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Community because I understand that the majority of my employees
live in the community. I understand that my patients obviously
have from the community. If I can partner with people
or organizations that help to improve the outcomes, I'm doing
the best thing for my patients because I'm trying to
prevent them but take more ownership of their lives and
(06:12):
the health and prevent.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Them from getting ill.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I don't make a benefit for them to get sick
and come as the last resort. I want them to
choose to come to Lincoln to make us partners in
the prevented care.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
But I want to partner with community.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
There's a lot of great work happening outside of the
hospital walls, and I want us to be like a
hospital with our walls, where patients come in because they
choose to. They want to partner with us to give
education in the community to improve the outcomes. They want
to hear from us what we're doing internally. But also
I want to hear from them what are they doing
(06:48):
and how I can help.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I think that's great. It gives you that, it shows
them that you're supporting the community and gives them that trust.
In Lincoln, absolutely, you guys like credibility too.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Absolutely, that's a that's a very good way to put
in it.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
So I know for years some of your your top
attributes as the CEOs. You love authenticity, you love kindness,
you have transparency. Those are all key pillars of your
leadership style. How do you cultivate that into the culture
of the organization.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
So that's a very good question.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I have a method, right, and I've been blessed that
it always work. I like to I like transparency. So
I want people to trust me. But you have to
leave by example, right, because everybody can tell you, and
all the CEOs can come in.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
And tell you. You have to trust me. You know.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
This is where I'm the CEO, and I know I
don't start by saying that I build trust by following through.
I build trust by listening to my staff. I tell
them and they see in it.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Because this is my fifth hospital in health and hospitals,
I've been through several different hospitals, and people talk to
each other as like a big family.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
So I can tell you one thing.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
But if they don't, if I don't have the history
of the legacy, people are not going to believe that.
So I give them an opportunity. I want my leaders.
I select the right leaders right, so I have to
have the right leaders that basically have the same model.
I want the staff to feel value. I want the
staff to feel heard. I go in and I don't
tell them patients are obviously first. You always hear that,
(08:15):
but that's not my number one agenda. My number one
agendas to take care of the staff. To me, there first,
I take care of the staff, and the staff in
turn take care of each other and the patients.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So I build that because if I.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Feel that, if I make them feel that they're important
to me, that I value them, that I heard that,
I can listen to their suggestions and recommendations, and even
if I don't adapt all of them, they're part of
the solution.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
They understand.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Listen, those are five great ideas that you have, but
two of them I'm not going to be able to implement,
and this one I might have to modify a little bit.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
These two are great.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And I take it because I'm not an expert stive.
My experts are the staff. They do the work, they
know what they're doing. I make sure I have the
right leaders. I make sure that people are skilled, the effective,
and that they take care of the staff. And that's
how I build the trust and the transparency and the legacy.
So it has been, you know, working for me, and
(09:11):
I continued with a model. No.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I think it's a great style. It's a two a street, right, yeah,
being transparent to them and you're getting their trust and
I'm sure right back to you, they're being transparent to you.
So I think that's an amazing style to have as
a CEO.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Thank you, Thank you appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
So tell me about an example or time that when
you were focusing on your team's well being that led
to improve patient care or really a better outcome for
the overall organization.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I can think of many different occasions.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I you know, during COVID was very difficult times for everyone,
but I know that it was difficult for the community,
it was difficult for the staff. So we really built
on the support for the staff, on encouragement, on the
helping healers. We tried to make sure that the staff
(09:57):
felt that we were there for them as well. It
was overwhelming for everyone, and in healthcare more than anywhere obviously,
because instead it's like I always said, with the caps
and the firefires, right, the fire comes and then we're
running the other way and they're running towards the fire.
And you know, it's the same thing with healthcare COVID.
Everybody was running away, staying home. We were encouraging them
(10:18):
to stay isolated and protected. Meanwhile, we have to come
to the hospital to make sure that we took care.
But we really put a lot of things in place
to support them. There was a lot of communication, There
was a lot of group support system. We also tried
to create built on the and I have to be
honest with you. Social media was not my thing and
(10:39):
it's still not my thing. Don't tell anybody, but I
use social media to communicate with the community because I
know people were saturated with a lot of information and
we can give information. We had doctors talking to people
to answer the questions that they're not hearing right because
we heard there was a lot of information, but there
was things that people have questioned. Is that nobody was answering,
(11:01):
and we created an outlet for the staff and for
the patient. So I think that was that was I
guess one good thing that we did that helped improve
the outcomes.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah, it kind of follows that suit of really over
communicating to the community and having that credibility and that
trust during that time mm hmm, there's a lot of uncertainty.
So it's refreshing to hear that you guys were leading
that charge. Oh yeah, no, absolutely, I know what we
just talked about all the great emphasis on the community,
and part of that obviously is the underserved community. What
specific initiatives have you implemented to really improve their access
(11:37):
to care for that population.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
There's so many, Steve, but one of the things that
and again it keeps like coming back, and I have
to say, like you said earlier, I think being a
social worker makes me the best CEO. I know that
there's all kinds of CEOs, you know, there's CFOs that
come from nursing, they come from all different professions. But
I think that the compos it that makes me a
(12:01):
stronger person is because I connect with people and I
understand the importance of certain things.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Right, So the fact that we can like patients that
come in, they.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Have access, they have issues with access because of the education.
Sometimes they don't understand how to navigate the healthcare system,
So you need to understand how to tap into that
so you can be instrumental and really.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Effective to help them.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
So not only in the hospital, I work with the
doctors to understand that we have to create templates that
we have to create access. When I lose providers or nursing,
I always talk to the team to make sure they
bring in bilinguals.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
So it's kind of like.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
An opportunity, right you always keeping that in mind. So
on one hand, I'm improving access internally and leveraging what
we have in terms of the templates, opening access to
a night shift Saturdays, being realistic that the community is working.
We deal with the majority of our community, for instance,
could be chat and they don't have health care protection.
(13:02):
They don't really have a job that we are blessed
to that if you you know, I have to go
to the doctors, can I can afford to make an
appointment and I still get paid. Some people have to
take one day to go to the hospital and they
can't even lose the jobs. They lose their jobs, they
basically can they don't get paid and the majority of
the people, and I'm talking about a lot of different things,
(13:23):
but the majority of the people don't have that loxury.
So when you're making decisions about creating access, you have
to keep that in mind. So you got to be realistic.
It's not what works for me. It's not what's convenient
for me creating access. Oh yeah, we have even in shift,
but the last patient is at four o'clock. How is
that helping anyone that works from until five o'clock said that,
So it's creating the access internally, it's also understanding the challenges.
(13:47):
You know, let's be real, there's a lot of issues
with chronic diseases, right, But how can I tell a
patient in the community Listen, you got to come for
your appointments every once a week, okay, because this is
what's important to you. When the person is dealing with
housing issues, you know, the patient, the person, I mean,
it's patient for us, but community persons they're struggling with
(14:07):
challenges of being evicted, maybe they're going through a divorce,
maybe their child is doing Harvard school.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
They have concrete problems.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And if you cannot tap into that, if you're not
sensitive enough to know that we have to deal holistically
with what they're challenged with. You're really not going to
make a difference because that can increase access. But do
they know about it? Do they know how to navigate?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Do they know how to.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Escalate certain things? You got to give them the tools
for that. For instance, Lincoln in particular, we have I
don't know if you're aware, but Lincoln emergency room was
one of the third busiest emergency room in the nation.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
We have a lot of patients we see.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
We could see between one hundred and forty two hundred
and sixty thousand patients a year, and that's very impressive. However,
we also learn through the data that a lot of
those patients. Of course, there's a trauma center level when trauma,
you know, we have a lot of traumas. We see
a a lot of patients that need to be seen,
But a lot of the patients come in to the
emergency room as a primary care. Is it because we
(15:06):
make it too difficult to come into the clinics. Is
it because they don't really know that, you know what,
just because you have a headache, you're waiting until the
last minute. Or is it because they can lose their jobs,
and you know what, I go at nighttime after work.
I can't deal with this pain. Let me go at
nighttime when it's convenient.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
I don't know. I don't have all the answers, but I.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Can make some assumptions based on the data that I
see in the communities now.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
It's refreshing to see that you're seeing a problem and
you guys are actively working to fix it. So I
think that's great for anyone tuning in that's part of
that community, the work that you guys are doing there.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Thank you. I know.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
One of the recognitions that you get a lot is
for advocating for minority women. What specific initiatives have you
champions to support this demographic.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
There's so many.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
We don't have three hours, right, No, but I can
think of a couple that have to do with healthcare.
I take pride in saying that, you know, obviously some
of the challenges. One of the reasons I like to
highlight the fact that I'm a CEO is because there's
not a lot of people that look like me in
positions like this. The reality is, even growing up, I
(16:09):
never saw anybody that I could relate to in as
a CEO, I don't even know what a CEO was,
and I still don't know not but you know, like
joking as I I like people like women, especially minority women,
Black women, Hispanic women, Latino women, Dominican women, to see
and see that there's an opportunity that if there's something
(16:31):
they want, they can.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Obviously get there.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
But I have to create the spaces right because it's
easier for us to say, oh, you know, you should
become a CEO.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah, how do I do that? Where do I go?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So I try to work with community organizations that help
women or help the youth in some training and create
easier access, streamline processes for them to be considered for
entry level jobs. I also create what I we don't
have really a defined program right now, but it's pay internship.
(17:03):
You do internship when you need to do internship, you
do obviously because of educational requirements. You do a lot
of different things. But the reality is, I don't know
a lot of people like me. But I was when
I was in college. Obviously, I was struggling being a
full time mom, full time student. I had two jobs.
I didn't even know if I was working, you know,
(17:24):
seven days a week. So sometimes I was leaving my house.
I don't remember if I was going to school or
going to work. And that's my reality, and I'm sure
a lot of people can relate to that. So if
that was my reality, if I can add something something
like a pay internship to give them an opportunity to
get into the system.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
It's a win win stiff because I get.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Someone a minority woman coming into the system getting a
pay internship so she can actually afford to be there
and learn more about health care, maybe choose one of
the disciplines that I have.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Not everybody has to be a doctor or nurse.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
We have accountants, have lawyers, we have everything inside the hospital, drivers,
we have all different types of professions.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
So I always try.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
To create the space where women can have opportunities everyone overall,
but I always try to highlight women because we don't
get a lot of chances. And also I partner with
local schools like Hostess Community College, Women College.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Different organizations.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
We had a very important program back at Metropolitan that
I want to adapt here. We're probably not going to
call it the same obviously, but it's an opportunity for
young people from high school to come into healthcare and
for five weeks.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
They not only shadow the leaders, they also have.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
An opportunity to be part of the experience. Right, So
they see the people, the phlebotomist, they see the lap tex,
they see the radiologists, they work with anesteciologists, they see
what a doctor for obgyn?
Speaker 3 (18:51):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Because you can conceptually, you can talk about it, but
if they see it, they can really see, Okay, this
is something I want. And I'm selfish, so I kind
of integrated the part of the administrative for them to
have a shadow opportunity to talk to me because I wanted.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
To consider becoming a CEO.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Hey I'm important too, so I want to make sure
that I create those spaces and finally, just some of
the things that I do. I also work with community
organizations to create mentorship programs.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I like to mentor people.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
People are you know, they always gravitate towards me. I
don't know why, but they wanted me to mentor them,
and I do that, especially when it's women and minority women.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I make an effort because I think it's important.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
You know, they might not know what they want to
do in life, but at least they discuss options and opportunities.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah, I think first of all, I think that's amazing
and definitely inspiring. I think that it's awesome that you
integrate yourself into it, because what an inspiring journey obviously
coming from the Dominican or public, having all the various
roles and now being CEO. So I think that's really important.
But the other key takeaway for me is you're giving
them that opportunity, right, They're getting that foot in the
door into the healthcare, and then from there they could
(20:01):
see what opportunity they want to take next.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Let's I can hire them.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
That's awesome. It's a remarkable program you should be proud of.
Let's talk a little bit about your vision, right, I
know that you said you're five weeks into the role.
What is your vision next? What do you see next
for NYC Health and Hospital Lincoln.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
So, you know, it's very interesting because when I first came,
I did a townhome meeting introducing myself, and everybody also
asks questions, Right, I'm not the type of CEO that's
going to come and dictate. I'm kind of like collaborative,
serving leader. So I came in and the first thing
I did was trying to engage the clinical leaders.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Most of the.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Times, I don't know if everybody understand the dynamic of
the hospitals, but the clinical leaders they do an amazing job.
But you know, it's unfortunately in some instances like a silo.
Right they're working in this direction and the CEO and
administrative team is working in that direction. For me, I
want to bring everyone together, and we're working right now
and developing what that strategy looks like for the hospital together.
(20:57):
I don't want to come in and say, Lincoln Hospital,
this is what you need to do, or this is
what I think you need to do.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I want to come up.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
With the decision of the definition what the strategy should
be for us, where we need to focus our efforts,
what we need to do, How do we want to
bring Lincoln to the next phase.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Obviously they do.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
I have amazing staff, I have an amazing team, so
I'm very proud of that. But I want to work
collectively with them to see what that looks like for
the future and what my role is going to be
in all that. But right now, definitely, one of the
main things I want to do is increase the morale.
I want to make sure that Lincoln people feel excited
to come to work that they love working in Lincoln Hospital,
(21:38):
and I want to attract good talent that people understand
the value. How iconic Lincoln Hospital is. I'm learning the
beautiful history that it has, but how iconic and instrumental
for the community it is. You know, I have close
to five thousand employees, which is impressive, and like I
said before Steve, a lot of those people work in
the community. So there's no way that I can come
(21:59):
in and develop a strategy that has nothing to do
with the community.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
There's no way otherwise I'm going to be I'm not
going to be successful.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
So whatever the strategy we're developing right now, I want
Lincoln to be number one. I want people to choose
us because they want to come to Lincoln and they
have confidence in the care that we provide. I want
to attract great talent. I want great people to work there.
Already have good people, but I'm you know, I'm putting
together part of a new CEO. You do assessment, and
you do and you have to restructure and restructuring to
(22:30):
have the best thing possible that aligns with my vision
and my and there's my strategy to work with the
staff to support them.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
So that's kind of.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Like in a nutshell, kind of like the framework or
how I'm working on the strategy and and you know,
anything that can help me provide excellent care, quality, care,
state of the art, equipment, state of the art, making
sure that the facility feels welcoming, that's part of my strategy.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
That's awesome if I see what we talked about earlier,
about that collaboration and getting the feedback from your team
from the South Bronx community to be able to make
that vision come to life. Very confident from our time together,
you're going to help boost the morale.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I think that's that. I think that's a no brainer.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
I need that support. So, speaking of the.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Community, how do you plan to collaborate with other district
leaders and community organizations to help implement solutions to some
of the problems in the South Bronx.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Oh my god, that's a great question, Steve. Did I
tell you to ask me?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Then?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Let me tell you the first thing I did. I
told you is five weeks, right, but I already started.
And that's why I'm always a little busy, right because
I do I do a lot of internal assessment, internal work,
internal support internal rounds, internal, internal, internal, but I also
do external, so I already reach out to a lot
of the community organizations. I'm already setting up meetings with
(23:48):
elected officials. I met with some of them already discussing
my agenda and making sure that it collaborates basically with
their agenda to see how we can partner.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I have community entities that are doing great work.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
His Story work, They're doing amazing worker, Mary Mitchell's, the
Mothers on the Move, the Community board in one, community
board two. We already establish conversations and many more because again,
I need to find out how I can kind of
be instrumental and how what is my role as a
Lincoln Hospital as an entity, What is our role in
(24:23):
helping their agenda? Because if their agenda means well, and
I'm gonna be honest with you, Steve, it has to
be something that means something for the community. I'm not
gonna partner with anyone that has no real intentions of
making a difference. You have to want to make a difference,
and you have to have a track record. I want
to make sure the transparency is there and everybody claims
(24:44):
to do work, and that by all means keep doing that.
But if I know that you're doing something great, I
want to be part of that. I want to be
part of that. And we discussing right now wat in
which we can make a difference. And it could be
partnering with maybe bringing education something to the schools for
us to give education on a regular basis. It could
(25:05):
be the doctors going out there more. It could be screening.
It could be them coming to you know, using the
hospital more for education, for counseling. Maybe they do it
like the person want to do the council meetings, No problem,
Welcome to Lincoln. It could be us maybe developing some
curriculum for education for programs like we have an amazing
program right now on their Guns Down, Life Up, which
(25:27):
is like after school program.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
We have the kids. You know, at the end of
the day, we have to make sure that the.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Kids have options because everybody talks about the crimes and
what's happening and being victims, right but at the end
of the day, what are we doing to add to
the solution? Are we're creating spaces for them to go to?
So right now this program is amazing because they bring
him to the hospital and I'm actually looking for partners
and right because it's a great opportunity for for them
(25:53):
to get education in sports, right, for them to do dancing,
anything that's productive that keeps their minds off getting into
gangs or getting into trouble.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Right, I wish I had those options.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Thank God I didn't get in trouble, but you know,
it could have been different, easier for me, but giving
them an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
So that's how I being.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Partnered in community organizations, elected officials, you know, community leaders.
They're really being embracing me, and I'm very thankful for
everyone because they treating me really like I'm the answer
to the prayers and I'm you know, I really don't
want to disappoint anyone.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
So no, that's definitely inspiring. It's the future of the
community that you're impacting and you're helping. I know there's
been a recent funding for the Bronx Recovery Center. How
do you envision that facility really helping impact the opioiate
crisis of the community.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Oh, it's a very important program. And I think the
fact that we can bring it from because right now
it's in one of the off sites. If we can
bring it, which was that's the funding is for to
restructure the department, build it internally so we can offer
the patients in the community the services they are so
they don't have to go to Velvist. They can come
straight to Lincoln Hospital and receive the services that they
(27:06):
deserve in the hospital that they belong.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
I'm sure that there may also be some challenges coming up, right,
What are some of those strategic challenges you're anticipating for
the healthcare landscape?
Speaker 3 (27:18):
You know?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
In general, again, I wish more minority people will go
into healthcare, especially leadership positions, and just because again diversity matters,
representation does matter. Being a social worker helped me my
perspective because I feel that, again it's just me talking
about me, right, but I feel that it makes me
(27:39):
a better leader because I understand the struggles and I've
been there and done that. So it's not like somebody
is telling you, oh, it's a conceptual something you're learning
in the books. I've been through those rough situations. I've
been through the struggles. I had my fair share, So
I think that more people should really be considered. But
(28:00):
it's kind of scary sometimes. So that's why we need
to make an effort us in leadership position and to
bring people into the spaces and teach them and then
not make it so scary, right because at the end
of the day, it's not scary. But sometimes when you
don't know what does the what.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Does a CFO means? What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (28:17):
You know, like it's not just count you know, it's
not something conceptually that a CFO. Maybe if you good
in math and you get an accounting and you get
your degree, you can become a CFO and it's just
guiding all the finances efforts, you know. And so it's
always I think encouraging more minorities to get into leadership
positions and to get into healthcare because everybody, you know,
(28:40):
scared to get into hospital settings. But it's not scary,
and you don't have to just be a doctor or
a nurse. You could and that's amazing and we support you.
But this entire operations team that support the day to
day operations of a hospital, and I want more people
to get into that.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
That's a really good fact because a lot of people
probably as soon as they hear health care, they immediately
probably got a doctor and nurses. But to your point,
there's so many other roles within the industry that are available.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
And the finances is always a challenge.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Right, things are changing and we need to be more
proactive and more involved in preventive care versus because the
hospital structure over the years has changed, we're not encouraging
people to stay.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
In the hospital. We really want them out there to
stay healthy.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
So everything is kind of like changing. It's a transforming
in a good way.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, well, looking at a HEAT you have a great
vision for the future, but I'm sure there's a lot
of immediate needs also. Stepping into the CuO role, how
do you balance those too? How do you balance the
immediate needs of the hospital but also the future vision
that you have, You know, I do.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I honestly, this is very simple for me. I want
to believe Steve that I'm balancing. I try my best
because I feel that what I.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Do is not for me. I really mean that, you know.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
I think that I represent a lot of people, and
I I don't want to disappoint anyone. I think that
I represent not only the women, you know, the minority women,
Dominican women, everyone out there that we're telling them to
get into that space and become a CEO. So I'm
here now, and I don't want them to feel that,
oh my god, you know, she's doing a horrible job.
(30:17):
And of course we're never going to get opportunities. So
I feel that I'm balancing. But it takes the all.
It takes a toll because I have to sacrifice sometimes,
you know, most of the times. I have four kids
and not kids anymore. But my youngest is eleven going
into twelve, and I think she thinks she's twenty. But
I have four kids, right, and they know I always
(30:37):
become they have to be part of what I'm doing
a lot. I do a lot of community work. I
do a lot of what they call volunteer work sometimes.
And I always used to take them with me so
they can see how come their mom sometimes is missing
some of the performances. So sometimes why mom is not
always there? And I'll tell you a quick joke before
(30:57):
my daughter wants she was too small for me. She's
the one that kept me my schedule for the personal,
anytime personal. She had to keep my schedule, and she
told me, Mom, you have to go to parent teacher
comforts and say, oh my.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
God, no I don't have time. You know, I have
a meeting, blah blah. She said, no, I already spoke
to your secretary and I booked.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
So you know, she was smart enough to know, you
talk to me, I probably don't make the time, but
if you talk to my secretary, what happened. So she
booked herself, you know, and I had to go to
the parentageer comforts. But it was funny, but it was
But that's the life of a CEO. Sometimes, you know,
you have to really be, you have to represent. So
sometimes my presence it's important in different spaces now because
(31:36):
I don't have anything better to do, but it's because
I have a voice, right and now I'm talking for
five thousand people, and I need to make sure that
I'm in the spaces so I can represent what they
need and what they want.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Well, I'm sure just as your inspiration to many that
are looking to aspire to see you, I'm sure to
your kids, they're very proud of you, inspired by word.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
They think they're my CEOs. They're telling me what I know.
Oh man, oh my god, they didn't get the memo.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
As healthcare continues to evolve, what advice would you offer
to other organizations within the space to respond to new challenges.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
You know, I'm going to tell you something that I
always tell my staff and my team and people that
are trying to be in leadership position, And you know,
something that was scary for me before that I have
been able to overcome.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
You don't necessarily have to have all the answers.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
So even though things are changing, doesn't mean that we
have to know everything right now. But be open and
receptive to things and always think fairly. And I think
we're never going to make a mistake. We're always going
to do the right thing. You're always going to.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Be represented of everyone. You're always going to be.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
I guess followed, respected, well regarded if you do things.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
Fairly and if you do it for the right reasons.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
So, even though there's a lot of things changing, transform
I think if you have the right team with you
and the right you know, you always be transparent and
embrace them, they're always going to be there for you
and we can, you know, overcome anything that comes through.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
We covered a lot right, yeah, But looking ahead, are
there any key goals or initiatives that we might have
missed that you want the listeners to know about you?
Speaker 3 (33:22):
No, I really want to emphasize that.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I you know, in healthcare, especially health and hospitals, we
have a great mission. So we take care of everyone
regardless of the ability to pay, and that's important, regardless
of other immigration status.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
That's a great mission.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
You know, you have to be mission driven to be
there because not a lot of people. You know, we're
not there for the money. We don't make the money,
it's not that's not the reason. So I want people
to realize that there's a lot of challenges financially, so
in the future, I'm always part of being a CEO.
It's trying to get those opportunities, trying to consider different
funding sources, trying to advocate, trying to have in those conversations.
(34:00):
And that's part of my role. It's not just internally
trying to make sure we provide high quality care, provide
good outcomes, and that we're doing the right thing when
patients come to us, but also be instrumental in the community.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
But I want to make sure.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
I'm responsible enough to get the right funding for the
hospital so we can continue to thrive and survive and thrive.
And that's part of my responsibility. So if you know
any funding sources out there, please by all means.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
If anyone wants to reach out to you, right or
if anyone wants to learn more about NYC Health and
Hospitals Lincoln, what is the first step for them to do.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Oh definitely go to our websites and don't kill me,
but I'm going to make sure that the website is
for it.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Yeah, NYC Health and Hospitals.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Dot org and you have not only they live in hospitals,
but everything that we do, all the businesses under the
hospital industry. But you welcome to get more information about
everything individual hospitals. But go to Lincoln because I'm here
representing Lincoln Hospitals and we do great WORKO.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Christina, it was an absolute pleasure having you. I am
definitely very inspired by having you on the show. I'm
so excited to see what you're going to do next.
But I'm sure everybody tuning in that heard your journey.
Thank you so much for sharing with us, and we
appreciate all that you do for the community.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Thank you so much, Steve, Thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure for me to be here in iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Thank you, congrats Christina, and thank you to everybody that
tuned in. Please tune in next week for next week's
edition of CEOs. You Should Know
Hi, everyone, This is Steve Dallis and welcome to this
week's edition of CEOs. You should know I am excited
that I am joined by Christina Contreras, the CEO of
NYC Health and Hospitals Lincoln. Christina, thanks for being with
us today.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Thank you, Steve, Thank you for inviting me. It's a
pleasure for me to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We're excited to jump in to learn a little bit
more about you, and I'm more about NYC helping Hospitals Lincoln.
So let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Okay. To start off, why do you tell us a little.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Bit about your background and what initially drove you to
have a career in the healthcare.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Interesting question.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I was born in the Dominican Republic, and I came
to this country when I was fifteen years old and
going through high school. I had a lot of challenges,
and I experienced some people that were very instrumental, very helpful,
and there were people that kind of like wanted to
make sure that the kids that were getting off track,
trying to help them identify some of the problems and
(00:52):
help them get through them.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
So I found out very helpful and I said.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
You know what I wanted to do something similar, and
that's why I became interested in becoming a social worker.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
That's awesome, and tell us a little bit about that.
Your journey as really as a caseworker to CEO is remarkable, right,
What were those like pivotal moments that helped influence that path?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well? To be honest with you.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I didn't really plan to become a CEO. I never
was never really in the forefront of my mind. But
becoming a caseworker, I did everything under the sun in
the healthcare field. I was very exciting to be able
to help people individually. I did counseling, I did test things,
I did outreach, I did marketing, I did everything discharged planning.
(01:37):
So helping people individually was exciting. However, when I started
transitioning and learned that I could help improve processes, protocol policies,
it helped a broader scale people. Instead of just helping one,
I could help more, So I figured that that would
(01:59):
be better. It was more rewarding for me because you
can you're still helping people, but in a different capacity.
So I was able to explore that as an option
and it was. It was better for me, and I
started transitioning from caseworkers, social worker to administration.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
That's awesome. I think the bestios are the ones that
wore various hats all.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
You see you and I agree, Stee, I really agree.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I finally somebody agree with me.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I'm sure over the last three decades really working in healthcare,
as you mentioned, I'm sure there's a lot of really
rewarding moments throughout your career. Are there any that stand
out in particular?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
There's many, many situations. I think that the opportunities that
I have given some of my you know, employees and
also patients that you see the income the impact directly,
it makes a difference, right, I know. In particular, for instance,
I have a couple of providers that they're doctors.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
In the countries and they come in and and.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
They're struggling obviously with the same things that I struggle with,
the language, the transition, making sure that the documentation, the
credentials are accepted in this country, and having the ability
to at least open up opportunities for them. For instance,
I have two a particular doctors that one is a
resident currently a Lincoln hospital. She's from the Dominican Republic,
(03:22):
and one is also in the same situation from Honduras,
and both of them had the opportunity to volunteer first,
and then there was an opportunity and they went into
the residency program.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
That doesn't happen often, but.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It's good because you're giving people opportunities.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
One they're from the community.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Two they also look and sound like the community that
we serve, so that gives them an opportunity in life.
But also it gives our patients someone that is more
reflective and representative of them. And there are people from
the community, so they're going to become doctors and stay
in the community.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
So it makes me feel really, it makes me feel great.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So when when yeah and inspiring for the community, like
you mentioned, absolutely absolutely So as your role as CEO,
what are some of your initial goals for the organization?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So that's interesting for Lincoln.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I've been a CEO for close to four years now,
but a Lincoln I just this is my fifth week,
so it's kind of.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Like, I thank you, I just got here.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
But you know, a part of my assessment that my
preliminary assessment. I want to make sure that Lincoln becomes
the place that people want to go. I want to
make sure that Lincoln attracts good talent. I want to
make sure my employees they feel appreciative value. I heard
that they're part of the solutions, not just part of
(04:44):
the problem. That they helped me do basically developed the
strategic plan for Lincoln Hospital. Obviously, I want to I
want us to provide state of the art equality care,
which we do, but I want to make sure I
always partner with different funding sources so I can ensure
that we have the best technology, because the people from
(05:06):
the Bronze This serve the best, and that I'm going
to be partnered with anyone that I have to be
partnered with to ensure that it sounds like.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
A great vision. You mentioned community earlier, right, what role
do you see community engagement playing in your leadership style.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Well, I'm a servant leader and my background is social work, right,
So I'm very much you have different type of CEOs,
but I happen to be a CEO of the value
and understand the importance of partnering with community organizations and
community leaders and elected officials, because at the end of
the day, we all have the same goals, right, It's
not just what happens inside the hospital. For me, being
(05:41):
a CEO of a hospital, we have to make sure
that when the patients come in, we provide optimal care,
quality care, regardless of their ability to pay.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
However, I have to partner with.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Community because I understand that the majority of my employees
live in the community. I understand that my patients obviously
have from the community. If I can partner with people
or organizations that help to improve the outcomes, I'm doing
the best thing for my patients because I'm trying to
prevent them but take more ownership of their lives and
(06:12):
the health and prevent.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Them from getting ill.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I don't make a benefit for them to get sick
and come as the last resort. I want them to
choose to come to Lincoln to make us partners in
the prevented care.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
But I want to partner with community.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
There's a lot of great work happening outside of the
hospital walls, and I want us to be like a
hospital with our walls, where patients come in because they
choose to. They want to partner with us to give
education in the community to improve the outcomes. They want
to hear from us what we're doing internally. But also
I want to hear from them what are they doing
(06:48):
and how I can help.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
I think that's great. It gives you that, it shows
them that you're supporting the community and gives them that trust.
In Lincoln, absolutely, you guys like credibility too.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Absolutely, that's a that's a very good way to put
in it.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
So I know for years some of your your top
attributes as the CEOs. You love authenticity, you love kindness,
you have transparency. Those are all key pillars of your
leadership style. How do you cultivate that into the culture
of the organization.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
So that's a very good question.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I have a method, right, and I've been blessed that
it always work. I like to I like transparency. So
I want people to trust me. But you have to
leave by example, right, because everybody can tell you, and
all the CEOs can come in.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
And tell you. You have to trust me. You know.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
This is where I'm the CEO, and I know I
don't start by saying that I build trust by following through.
I build trust by listening to my staff. I tell
them and they see in it.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Because this is my fifth hospital in health and hospitals,
I've been through several different hospitals, and people talk to
each other as like a big family.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
So I can tell you one thing.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
But if they don't, if I don't have the history
of the legacy, people are not going to believe that.
So I give them an opportunity. I want my leaders.
I select the right leaders right, so I have to
have the right leaders that basically have the same model.
I want the staff to feel value. I want the
staff to feel heard. I go in and I don't
tell them patients are obviously first. You always hear that,
(08:15):
but that's not my number one agenda. My number one
agendas to take care of the staff. To me, there first,
I take care of the staff, and the staff in
turn take care of each other and the patients.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So I build that because if I.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Feel that, if I make them feel that they're important
to me, that I value them, that I heard that,
I can listen to their suggestions and recommendations, and even
if I don't adapt all of them, they're part of
the solution.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
They understand.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Listen, those are five great ideas that you have, but
two of them I'm not going to be able to implement,
and this one I might have to modify a little bit.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
These two are great.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And I take it because I'm not an expert stive.
My experts are the staff. They do the work, they
know what they're doing. I make sure I have the
right leaders. I make sure that people are skilled, the effective,
and that they take care of the staff. And that's
how I build the trust and the transparency and the legacy.
So it has been, you know, working for me, and
(09:11):
I continued with a model. No.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I think it's a great style. It's a two a street, right, yeah,
being transparent to them and you're getting their trust and
I'm sure right back to you, they're being transparent to you.
So I think that's an amazing style to have as
a CEO.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Thank you, Thank you appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
So tell me about an example or time that when
you were focusing on your team's well being that led
to improve patient care or really a better outcome for
the overall organization.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I can think of many different occasions.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I you know, during COVID was very difficult times for everyone,
but I know that it was difficult for the community,
it was difficult for the staff. So we really built
on the support for the staff, on encouragement, on the
helping healers. We tried to make sure that the staff
(09:57):
felt that we were there for them as well. It
was overwhelming for everyone, and in healthcare more than anywhere obviously,
because instead it's like I always said, with the caps
and the firefires, right, the fire comes and then we're
running the other way and they're running towards the fire.
And you know, it's the same thing with healthcare COVID.
Everybody was running away, staying home. We were encouraging them
(10:18):
to stay isolated and protected. Meanwhile, we have to come
to the hospital to make sure that we took care.
But we really put a lot of things in place
to support them. There was a lot of communication, There
was a lot of group support system. We also tried
to create built on the and I have to be
honest with you. Social media was not my thing and
(10:39):
it's still not my thing. Don't tell anybody, but I
use social media to communicate with the community because I
know people were saturated with a lot of information and
we can give information. We had doctors talking to people
to answer the questions that they're not hearing right because
we heard there was a lot of information, but there
was things that people have questioned. Is that nobody was answering,
(11:01):
and we created an outlet for the staff and for
the patient. So I think that was that was I
guess one good thing that we did that helped improve
the outcomes.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah, it kind of follows that suit of really over
communicating to the community and having that credibility and that
trust during that time mm hmm, there's a lot of uncertainty.
So it's refreshing to hear that you guys were leading
that charge. Oh yeah, no, absolutely, I know what we
just talked about all the great emphasis on the community,
and part of that obviously is the underserved community. What
specific initiatives have you implemented to really improve their access
(11:37):
to care for that population.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
There's so many, Steve, but one of the things that
and again it keeps like coming back, and I have
to say, like you said earlier, I think being a
social worker makes me the best CEO. I know that
there's all kinds of CEOs, you know, there's CFOs that
come from nursing, they come from all different professions. But
I think that the compos it that makes me a
(12:01):
stronger person is because I connect with people and I
understand the importance of certain things.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Right, So the fact that we can like patients that
come in, they.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Have access, they have issues with access because of the education.
Sometimes they don't understand how to navigate the healthcare system,
So you need to understand how to tap into that
so you can be instrumental and really.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Effective to help them.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
So not only in the hospital, I work with the
doctors to understand that we have to create templates that
we have to create access. When I lose providers or nursing,
I always talk to the team to make sure they
bring in bilinguals.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
So it's kind of like.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
An opportunity, right you always keeping that in mind. So
on one hand, I'm improving access internally and leveraging what
we have in terms of the templates, opening access to
a night shift Saturdays, being realistic that the community is working.
We deal with the majority of our community, for instance,
could be chat and they don't have health care protection.
(13:02):
They don't really have a job that we are blessed
to that if you you know, I have to go
to the doctors, can I can afford to make an
appointment and I still get paid. Some people have to
take one day to go to the hospital and they
can't even lose the jobs. They lose their jobs, they
basically can they don't get paid and the majority of
the people, and I'm talking about a lot of different things,
(13:23):
but the majority of the people don't have that loxury.
So when you're making decisions about creating access, you have
to keep that in mind. So you got to be realistic.
It's not what works for me. It's not what's convenient
for me creating access. Oh yeah, we have even in shift,
but the last patient is at four o'clock. How is
that helping anyone that works from until five o'clock said that,
So it's creating the access internally, it's also understanding the challenges.
(13:47):
You know, let's be real, there's a lot of issues
with chronic diseases, right, But how can I tell a
patient in the community Listen, you got to come for
your appointments every once a week, okay, because this is
what's important to you. When the person is dealing with
housing issues, you know, the patient, the person, I mean,
it's patient for us, but community persons they're struggling with
(14:07):
challenges of being evicted, maybe they're going through a divorce,
maybe their child is doing Harvard school.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
They have concrete problems.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
And if you cannot tap into that, if you're not
sensitive enough to know that we have to deal holistically
with what they're challenged with. You're really not going to
make a difference because that can increase access. But do
they know about it? Do they know how to navigate?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Do they know how to.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Escalate certain things? You got to give them the tools
for that. For instance, Lincoln in particular, we have I
don't know if you're aware, but Lincoln emergency room was
one of the third busiest emergency room in the nation.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
We have a lot of patients we see.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
We could see between one hundred and forty two hundred
and sixty thousand patients a year, and that's very impressive. However,
we also learn through the data that a lot of
those patients. Of course, there's a trauma center level when trauma,
you know, we have a lot of traumas. We see
a a lot of patients that need to be seen,
But a lot of the patients come in to the
emergency room as a primary care. Is it because we
(15:06):
make it too difficult to come into the clinics. Is
it because they don't really know that, you know what,
just because you have a headache, you're waiting until the
last minute. Or is it because they can lose their jobs,
and you know what, I go at nighttime after work.
I can't deal with this pain. Let me go at
nighttime when it's convenient.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
I don't know. I don't have all the answers, but I.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Can make some assumptions based on the data that I
see in the communities now.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
It's refreshing to see that you're seeing a problem and
you guys are actively working to fix it. So I
think that's great for anyone tuning in that's part of
that community, the work that you guys are doing there.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Thank you. I know.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
One of the recognitions that you get a lot is
for advocating for minority women. What specific initiatives have you
champions to support this demographic.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
There's so many.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
We don't have three hours, right, No, but I can
think of a couple that have to do with healthcare.
I take pride in saying that, you know, obviously some
of the challenges. One of the reasons I like to
highlight the fact that I'm a CEO is because there's
not a lot of people that look like me in
positions like this. The reality is, even growing up, I
(16:09):
never saw anybody that I could relate to in as
a CEO, I don't even know what a CEO was,
and I still don't know not but you know, like
joking as I I like people like women, especially minority women,
Black women, Hispanic women, Latino women, Dominican women, to see
and see that there's an opportunity that if there's something
(16:31):
they want, they can.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Obviously get there.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
But I have to create the spaces right because it's
easier for us to say, oh, you know, you should
become a CEO.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah, how do I do that? Where do I go?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So I try to work with community organizations that help
women or help the youth in some training and create
easier access, streamline processes for them to be considered for
entry level jobs. I also create what I we don't
have really a defined program right now, but it's pay internship.
(17:03):
You do internship when you need to do internship, you
do obviously because of educational requirements. You do a lot
of different things. But the reality is, I don't know
a lot of people like me. But I was when
I was in college. Obviously, I was struggling being a
full time mom, full time student. I had two jobs.
I didn't even know if I was working, you know,
(17:24):
seven days a week. So sometimes I was leaving my house.
I don't remember if I was going to school or
going to work. And that's my reality, and I'm sure
a lot of people can relate to that. So if
that was my reality, if I can add something something
like a pay internship to give them an opportunity to
get into the system.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
It's a win win stiff because I get.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Someone a minority woman coming into the system getting a
pay internship so she can actually afford to be there
and learn more about health care, maybe choose one of
the disciplines that I have.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Not everybody has to be a doctor or nurse.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
We have accountants, have lawyers, we have everything inside the hospital, drivers,
we have all different types of professions.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
So I always try.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
To create the space where women can have opportunities everyone overall,
but I always try to highlight women because we don't
get a lot of chances. And also I partner with
local schools like Hostess Community College, Women College.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Different organizations.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
We had a very important program back at Metropolitan that
I want to adapt here. We're probably not going to
call it the same obviously, but it's an opportunity for
young people from high school to come into healthcare and
for five weeks.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
They not only shadow the leaders, they also have.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
An opportunity to be part of the experience. Right, So
they see the people, the phlebotomist, they see the lap tex,
they see the radiologists, they work with anesteciologists, they see
what a doctor for obgyn?
Speaker 3 (18:51):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Because you can conceptually, you can talk about it, but
if they see it, they can really see, Okay, this
is something I want. And I'm selfish, so I kind
of integrated the part of the administrative for them to
have a shadow opportunity to talk to me because I wanted.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
To consider becoming a CEO.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Hey I'm important too, so I want to make sure
that I create those spaces and finally, just some of
the things that I do. I also work with community
organizations to create mentorship programs.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I like to mentor people.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
People are you know, they always gravitate towards me. I
don't know why, but they wanted me to mentor them,
and I do that, especially when it's women and minority women.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I make an effort because I think it's important.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
You know, they might not know what they want to
do in life, but at least they discuss options and opportunities.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah, I think first of all, I think that's amazing
and definitely inspiring. I think that it's awesome that you
integrate yourself into it, because what an inspiring journey obviously
coming from the Dominican or public, having all the various
roles and now being CEO. So I think that's really important.
But the other key takeaway for me is you're giving
them that opportunity, right, They're getting that foot in the
door into the healthcare, and then from there they could
(20:01):
see what opportunity they want to take next.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Let's I can hire them.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
That's awesome. It's a remarkable program you should be proud of.
Let's talk a little bit about your vision, right, I
know that you said you're five weeks into the role.
What is your vision next? What do you see next
for NYC Health and Hospital Lincoln.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
So, you know, it's very interesting because when I first came,
I did a townhome meeting introducing myself, and everybody also
asks questions, Right, I'm not the type of CEO that's
going to come and dictate. I'm kind of like collaborative,
serving leader. So I came in and the first thing
I did was trying to engage the clinical leaders.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Most of the.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Times, I don't know if everybody understand the dynamic of
the hospitals, but the clinical leaders they do an amazing job.
But you know, it's unfortunately in some instances like a silo.
Right they're working in this direction and the CEO and
administrative team is working in that direction. For me, I
want to bring everyone together, and we're working right now
and developing what that strategy looks like for the hospital together.
(20:57):
I don't want to come in and say, Lincoln Hospital,
this is what you need to do, or this is
what I think you need to do.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I want to come up.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
With the decision of the definition what the strategy should
be for us, where we need to focus our efforts,
what we need to do, How do we want to
bring Lincoln to the next phase.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Obviously they do.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
I have amazing staff, I have an amazing team, so
I'm very proud of that. But I want to work
collectively with them to see what that looks like for
the future and what my role is going to be
in all that. But right now, definitely, one of the
main things I want to do is increase the morale.
I want to make sure that Lincoln people feel excited
to come to work that they love working in Lincoln Hospital,
(21:38):
and I want to attract good talent that people understand
the value. How iconic Lincoln Hospital is. I'm learning the
beautiful history that it has, but how iconic and instrumental
for the community it is. You know, I have close
to five thousand employees, which is impressive, and like I
said before Steve, a lot of those people work in
the community. So there's no way that I can come
(21:59):
in and develop a strategy that has nothing to do
with the community.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
There's no way otherwise I'm going to be I'm not
going to be successful.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
So whatever the strategy we're developing right now, I want
Lincoln to be number one. I want people to choose
us because they want to come to Lincoln and they
have confidence in the care that we provide. I want
to attract great talent. I want great people to work there.
Already have good people, but I'm you know, I'm putting
together part of a new CEO. You do assessment, and
you do and you have to restructure and restructuring to
(22:30):
have the best thing possible that aligns with my vision
and my and there's my strategy to work with the
staff to support them.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
So that's kind of.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Like in a nutshell, kind of like the framework or
how I'm working on the strategy and and you know,
anything that can help me provide excellent care, quality, care,
state of the art, equipment, state of the art, making
sure that the facility feels welcoming, that's part of my strategy.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
That's awesome if I see what we talked about earlier,
about that collaboration and getting the feedback from your team
from the South Bronx community to be able to make
that vision come to life. Very confident from our time together,
you're going to help boost the morale.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I think that's that. I think that's a no brainer.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
I need that support. So, speaking of the.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Community, how do you plan to collaborate with other district
leaders and community organizations to help implement solutions to some
of the problems in the South Bronx.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Oh my god, that's a great question, Steve. Did I
tell you to ask me?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Then?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Let me tell you the first thing I did. I
told you is five weeks, right, but I already started.
And that's why I'm always a little busy, right because
I do I do a lot of internal assessment, internal work,
internal support internal rounds, internal, internal, internal, but I also
do external, so I already reach out to a lot
of the community organizations. I'm already setting up meetings with
(23:48):
elected officials. I met with some of them already discussing
my agenda and making sure that it collaborates basically with
their agenda to see how we can partner.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I have community entities that are doing great work.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
His Story work, They're doing amazing worker, Mary Mitchell's, the
Mothers on the Move, the Community board in one, community
board two. We already establish conversations and many more because again,
I need to find out how I can kind of
be instrumental and how what is my role as a
Lincoln Hospital as an entity, What is our role in
(24:23):
helping their agenda? Because if their agenda means well, and
I'm gonna be honest with you, Steve, it has to
be something that means something for the community. I'm not
gonna partner with anyone that has no real intentions of
making a difference. You have to want to make a difference,
and you have to have a track record. I want
to make sure the transparency is there and everybody claims
(24:44):
to do work, and that by all means keep doing that.
But if I know that you're doing something great, I
want to be part of that. I want to be
part of that. And we discussing right now wat in
which we can make a difference. And it could be
partnering with maybe bringing education something to the schools for
us to give education on a regular basis. It could
(25:05):
be the doctors going out there more. It could be screening.
It could be them coming to you know, using the
hospital more for education, for counseling. Maybe they do it
like the person want to do the council meetings, No problem,
Welcome to Lincoln. It could be us maybe developing some
curriculum for education for programs like we have an amazing
program right now on their Guns Down, Life Up, which
(25:27):
is like after school program.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
We have the kids. You know, at the end of
the day, we have to make sure that the.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Kids have options because everybody talks about the crimes and
what's happening and being victims, right but at the end
of the day, what are we doing to add to
the solution? Are we're creating spaces for them to go to?
So right now this program is amazing because they bring
him to the hospital and I'm actually looking for partners
and right because it's a great opportunity for for them
(25:53):
to get education in sports, right, for them to do dancing,
anything that's productive that keeps their minds off getting into
gangs or getting into trouble.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
Right, I wish I had those options.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Thank God I didn't get in trouble, but you know,
it could have been different, easier for me, but giving
them an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
So that's how I being.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Partnered in community organizations, elected officials, you know, community leaders.
They're really being embracing me, and I'm very thankful for
everyone because they treating me really like I'm the answer
to the prayers and I'm you know, I really don't
want to disappoint anyone.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
So no, that's definitely inspiring. It's the future of the
community that you're impacting and you're helping. I know there's
been a recent funding for the Bronx Recovery Center. How
do you envision that facility really helping impact the opioiate
crisis of the community.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Oh, it's a very important program. And I think the
fact that we can bring it from because right now
it's in one of the off sites. If we can
bring it, which was that's the funding is for to
restructure the department, build it internally so we can offer
the patients in the community the services they are so
they don't have to go to Velvist. They can come
straight to Lincoln Hospital and receive the services that they
(27:06):
deserve in the hospital that they belong.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
I'm sure that there may also be some challenges coming up, right,
What are some of those strategic challenges you're anticipating for
the healthcare landscape?
Speaker 3 (27:18):
You know?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
In general, again, I wish more minority people will go
into healthcare, especially leadership positions, and just because again diversity matters,
representation does matter. Being a social worker helped me my
perspective because I feel that, again it's just me talking
about me, right, but I feel that it makes me
(27:39):
a better leader because I understand the struggles and I've
been there and done that. So it's not like somebody
is telling you, oh, it's a conceptual something you're learning
in the books. I've been through those rough situations. I've
been through the struggles. I had my fair share, So
I think that more people should really be considered. But
(28:00):
it's kind of scary sometimes. So that's why we need
to make an effort us in leadership position and to
bring people into the spaces and teach them and then
not make it so scary, right because at the end
of the day, it's not scary. But sometimes when you
don't know what does the what.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Does a CFO means? What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (28:17):
You know, like it's not just count you know, it's
not something conceptually that a CFO. Maybe if you good
in math and you get an accounting and you get
your degree, you can become a CFO and it's just
guiding all the finances efforts, you know. And so it's
always I think encouraging more minorities to get into leadership
positions and to get into healthcare because everybody, you know,
(28:40):
scared to get into hospital settings. But it's not scary,
and you don't have to just be a doctor or
a nurse. You could and that's amazing and we support you.
But this entire operations team that support the day to
day operations of a hospital, and I want more people
to get into that.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
That's a really good fact because a lot of people
probably as soon as they hear health care, they immediately
probably got a doctor and nurses. But to your point,
there's so many other roles within the industry that are available.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
And the finances is always a challenge.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Right, things are changing and we need to be more
proactive and more involved in preventive care versus because the
hospital structure over the years has changed, we're not encouraging
people to stay.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
In the hospital. We really want them out there to
stay healthy.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
So everything is kind of like changing. It's a transforming
in a good way.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, well, looking at a HEAT you have a great
vision for the future, but I'm sure there's a lot
of immediate needs also. Stepping into the CuO role, how
do you balance those too? How do you balance the
immediate needs of the hospital but also the future vision
that you have, You know, I do.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I honestly, this is very simple for me. I want
to believe Steve that I'm balancing. I try my best
because I feel that what I.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Do is not for me. I really mean that, you know.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
I think that I represent a lot of people, and
I I don't want to disappoint anyone. I think that
I represent not only the women, you know, the minority women,
Dominican women, everyone out there that we're telling them to
get into that space and become a CEO. So I'm
here now, and I don't want them to feel that,
oh my god, you know, she's doing a horrible job.
(30:17):
And of course we're never going to get opportunities. So
I feel that I'm balancing. But it takes the all.
It takes a toll because I have to sacrifice sometimes,
you know, most of the times. I have four kids
and not kids anymore. But my youngest is eleven going
into twelve, and I think she thinks she's twenty. But
I have four kids, right, and they know I always
(30:37):
become they have to be part of what I'm doing
a lot. I do a lot of community work. I
do a lot of what they call volunteer work sometimes.
And I always used to take them with me so
they can see how come their mom sometimes is missing
some of the performances. So sometimes why mom is not
always there? And I'll tell you a quick joke before
(30:57):
my daughter wants she was too small for me. She's
the one that kept me my schedule for the personal,
anytime personal. She had to keep my schedule, and she
told me, Mom, you have to go to parent teacher
comforts and say, oh my.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
God, no I don't have time. You know, I have
a meeting, blah blah. She said, no, I already spoke
to your secretary and I booked.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
So you know, she was smart enough to know, you
talk to me, I probably don't make the time, but
if you talk to my secretary, what happened. So she
booked herself, you know, and I had to go to
the parentageer comforts. But it was funny, but it was
But that's the life of a CEO. Sometimes, you know,
you have to really be, you have to represent. So
sometimes my presence it's important in different spaces now because
(31:36):
I don't have anything better to do, but it's because
I have a voice, right and now I'm talking for
five thousand people, and I need to make sure that
I'm in the spaces so I can represent what they
need and what they want.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Well, I'm sure just as your inspiration to many that
are looking to aspire to see you, I'm sure to
your kids, they're very proud of you, inspired by word.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
They think they're my CEOs. They're telling me what I know.
Oh man, oh my god, they didn't get the memo.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
As healthcare continues to evolve, what advice would you offer
to other organizations within the space to respond to new challenges.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
You know, I'm going to tell you something that I
always tell my staff and my team and people that
are trying to be in leadership position, And you know,
something that was scary for me before that I have
been able to overcome.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
You don't necessarily have to have all the answers.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
So even though things are changing, doesn't mean that we
have to know everything right now. But be open and
receptive to things and always think fairly. And I think
we're never going to make a mistake. We're always going
to do the right thing. You're always going to.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Be represented of everyone. You're always going to be.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
I guess followed, respected, well regarded if you do things.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
Fairly and if you do it for the right reasons.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
So, even though there's a lot of things changing, transform
I think if you have the right team with you
and the right you know, you always be transparent and
embrace them, they're always going to be there for you
and we can, you know, overcome anything that comes through.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
We covered a lot right, yeah, But looking ahead, are
there any key goals or initiatives that we might have
missed that you want the listeners to know about you?
Speaker 3 (33:22):
No, I really want to emphasize that.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I you know, in healthcare, especially health and hospitals, we
have a great mission. So we take care of everyone
regardless of the ability to pay, and that's important, regardless
of other immigration status.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
That's a great mission.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
You know, you have to be mission driven to be
there because not a lot of people. You know, we're
not there for the money. We don't make the money,
it's not that's not the reason. So I want people
to realize that there's a lot of challenges financially, so
in the future, I'm always part of being a CEO.
It's trying to get those opportunities, trying to consider different
funding sources, trying to advocate, trying to have in those conversations.
(34:00):
And that's part of my role. It's not just internally
trying to make sure we provide high quality care, provide
good outcomes, and that we're doing the right thing when
patients come to us, but also be instrumental in the community.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
But I want to make sure.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
I'm responsible enough to get the right funding for the
hospital so we can continue to thrive and survive and thrive.
And that's part of my responsibility. So if you know
any funding sources out there, please by all means.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
If anyone wants to reach out to you, right or
if anyone wants to learn more about NYC Health and
Hospitals Lincoln, what is the first step for them to do.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Oh definitely go to our websites and don't kill me,
but I'm going to make sure that the website is
for it.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Yeah, NYC Health and Hospitals.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Dot org and you have not only they live in hospitals,
but everything that we do, all the businesses under the
hospital industry. But you welcome to get more information about
everything individual hospitals. But go to Lincoln because I'm here
representing Lincoln Hospitals and we do great WORKO.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Christina, it was an absolute pleasure having you. I am
definitely very inspired by having you on the show. I'm
so excited to see what you're going to do next.
But I'm sure everybody tuning in that heard your journey.
Thank you so much for sharing with us, and we
appreciate all that you do for the community.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Thank you so much, Steve, Thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure for me to be here in iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Thank you, congrats Christina, and thank you to everybody that
tuned in. Please tune in next week for next week's
edition of CEOs. You Should Know
Popular Podcasts
Good Game with Sarah Spain
Good Game is your one-stop shop for the biggest stories in women’s sports. Every day, host Sarah Spain gives you the stories, stakes, stars and stats to keep up with your favorite women’s teams, leagues and athletes. Through thoughtful insight, witty banter, and an all around good time, Sarah and friends break down the latest news, talk about the games you can’t miss, and debate the issues of the day. Don’t miss interviews with the people of the moment, whether they be athletes, coaches, reporters, or celebrity fans.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.