North Shore Medical Center was in a tough position when Manny Linares took charge. The hospital was falling behind in its effort to maintain equipment and technology, and patients were beginning to take notice.
The lack of capital improvement was particularly evident at the hospital’s cancer center, says Linares, the hospital’s CEO. It was once the place where North Shore sent many of its cancer patients for treatment. But that wasn’t the case anymore.
“It was a radiation therapy center that had equipment that was really antiquated,” Linares says. “It had really lost its name and presence in the community. The medical staff had stopped referring any patients to the center.”
It certainly wasn’t the only area that needed an upgrade at North Shore, which is owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp.
It may not even have been the most urgent need in the eyes of some people. But fewer patients ultimately means fewer dollars, and Linares needed to turn that trend around. He decided the cancer center was a good place to start in making a statement to those who had grown concerned about North Shore’s future.
“The morale of the staff was lacking,” Linares says. “Motivating and inspiring the staff to understand their role as a community hospital and in the community we’re serving was important.”
It would also provide a financial boost by getting patients moving through the center’s doors once again to use its state-of-the-art technology and equipment. But Linares had to convince his people that the restorations wouldn’t end there and that he was serious about doing what it took to get North Shore back on strong footing.
“It’s really talking that vision, expressing that vision and ultimately executing on that vision that is very important,” Linares says. “You start to gain consensus and momentum, and once you deliver that, people start to believe in you and work harder.”
The project did, indeed, deliver results, as visits to the cancer center increased 282 percent from the time of project completion in 2005 to 2009. Digital mammography was added in 2007, followed by a new digital imaging system and a new stroke center in 2008.
The success helped restore the faith of both the community and the staff and helped lay the groundwork for a merger with Florida Medical Center, which brought the organization’s total work force to more than 1,800 people.
Here are some of the steps Linares took to identify the changes that would help North Shore turn things around.
