‘We’ve referred to the pandemic as a six-act drama’

How would you say the pandemic has most affected Trinity from a financial, operational or staffing perspective?

We’ve referred to the pandemic as a six-act drama. We had the first impact, and then the summer that looked like we had it under control, and then a bad winter. And then vaccines came out and we thought we were on the mend. And then delta and omicron came along. So, up until recently, we have been in what we call Act 5, which was the two surges, the variants and probably the worst impact of the pandemic.

But we’re now moving into what we call Act 6. And I’m calling it emergence 2.0. We’re really focusing on how we move forward and transform our ministry to respond to the new world that we’re facing, and it’s not resurrecting the past. There’s been a change in people, the impact on our colleagues, the impact on services, the mix of services and how we provide those services. And then finally, the impact on the demand for value.

At what point would you consider COVID-19 to be endemic? And what does Act 6 looks like from Trinity’s perspective?

While we’re very hopeful that we’re moving into an endemic stage now, the reality is we have to be on guard for new variants and what impact they might have on us. We have more treatment opportunities now and more testing opportunities. And we have medications for people who end up seriously ill. So that’s all hopeful. But only 70% of folks are fully vaccinated, so anything could happen.

We’ve really called out four things here at Trinity Health on emergence 2.0. The first is continuing to support communities as we shift from pandemic to endemic. The second is supporting our colleagues. The third is doubling down on the patient/member focus: treating people as members of our health system, keeping them safe, but also really focusing on their needs. And then the fourth is on growth.

You’re investing in programs like hospital at home and bringing that care directly to your patients. Is there going to be any shift in those initiatives as we move on into the new normal?

Trinity has always had a large role in home care. In PACE, we’re the second-largest PACE provider in the country, and in long-term care services as well. We do a ton of telehealth with folks at home and we’re advancing those initiatives at a very rapid pace as well. We see home care and programs like PACE as huge growth areas for us, as we take care to home.

Download Modern Healthcare’s app to stay informed when industry news breaks.

You joined forces with 13 other health systems to create Truveta and use data to improve patient care. What made you decide to be a part of that effort?

Health systems like ours and others that joined Truveta are really a treasure trove of clinical data, as well as financial data, that can be used to really understand at a very macro level the correlation between the care that we provide, the demographics of people that are served and the opportunities for best outcomes. We think it’s important to be part of a national effort like this, to be able to have the data, to be able to mine the data and to make transformational changes in delivering the right care at the right time and using the right resources. And also supporting people as we honor diversity and the impact that has on health.