As the region’s only academic medical center, UC Health has a leadership role to play in making Cincinnati-area health care more affordable and accessible, Dr. Richard Lofgren, UC Health’s new chief executive officer, told the Journal-News in an interview.
Lofgren became president and chief executive of the nonprofit doctor and hospital group effective this month. When asked about his priorities going forward, he said, “the element that will be unique that really distinguishes UC Health is the ability to provide the most advanced, the most technologically advanced care.”
“Advanced care really requires much more than technology. It really requires a team of experts,” Lofgren said while visiting West Chester Hospital for an employee town hall meeting.
“The toys are nice, but that’s really not the issue. The thing that’s unique is the expertise. That’s actually where the academic backbone plays into the strength of the organization,” he said.
As one of Cincinnati’s largest health systems, UC Health is transitioning to new leadership under Lofgren. UC Health, affiliated with University of Cincinnati, includes the Cincinnati market’s only adult Level One trauma center, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. The group also includes West Chester Hospital, a joint venture on Mason’s Lindner Center of HOPE, the Drake Center, and the 800-doctor group UC Physicians.
Altogether, UC Health has more than 10,000 employees.
Lofgren succeeds James Kingsbury, who retired after leading the network since 2010.
Kingsbury came out of retirement to establish UC Health after the break-up of the former Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati. In announcing his retirement plans earlier this year, Kingsbury said his focus has been to build UC Health internally. Now that the group is established, the next CEO will need to spend more time making outside connections, Kingsbury had said.
Lofgren said among his priorities “is extending that advanced specialty care from downtown to the region so it makes it easier to access and reach a broader population, which I think is our obligation, and frankly, what we need to be doing at UC Health.”
“As we extend out even further into (the suburbs), it’s going to be a lot of partnerships, alliances with local community hospitals,” he said. “In the metro region, it’s more complex. I think it’s going to be a combination of partnerships and different strategies to be able to improve access to the advanced specialty care.”
One example of a new partnership is with UC Health and The Kroger Co. The two organizations in November announced they were partnering on The Little Clinic, Kroger’s in-store health service. The Little Clinic treats patients for common illnesses, minor injuries and vaccinations, and provides physicals and other wellness services. Through the new collaboration, UC Health and certain Little Clinic locations will share electronic medical records, with patient permission.
Also through the arrangement, clinic staff can refer patients needing more specialized care to UC Health.
New UC Health medical office buildings are under construction in the area including Florence, Ky., and in Columbia Twp. along Interstate 71. UC Health is also building a new doctors office in Trenton.
“Other changes you’re going to see is a laser focus on quality and efficiency, and eliminating unnecessary variation of waste in the way we treat the delivery of this high-end care so that we actually can affect more of the community,” Lofgren said.
“There are areas where the advanced specialty services are really key. Those include cancer, neurosciences, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders; top of the list, trauma, transplants. In those areas that are really key, it’s important that we figure out ways in which we deliver those kinds of services more effectively and efficiently so they in fact can be affordable and accessible,” he said.
“Then I think we need to understand the dynamics of the community about where we can really make that available and that gets into partnerships and relationships and affiliations.”
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