ÍáÍáÂþ»­

As I reflect on my first year as Chief Medical Officer here at Sanford Health, two things come to the top of my mind.

First, the Sanford Health strategy of becoming the premier rural health system in the country is exciting and timely for the Bemidji region. Second, the clinician leadership required to achieve such an ambitious goal is alive and strong here in the Bemidji region.

When we talk about becoming the premier rural health system in the country, we talk about zip code independent care. This means that you should have the same access to high-quality care regardless of where you live.

This idea of advancing high-quality care close to home is ambitious, and success requires a specific approach. This includes improving the quality of existing care through innovation and continuous improvement. A great example of this is our use of virtual care innovation that is expanding access to maternal care for our expecting patients in more rural areas of our footprint.

It also involves expanding care to new services that didn’t previously exist in our region. A great example of this success in the Bemidji region is our heart and vascular care.

Before bringing interventional cardiology to the region over a decade ago, the cardiovascular mortality rates in Beltrami County were among the highest in the state. After the expansion of these services to the Bemidji area, the cardiovascular mortality rates improved significantly.

The ambitious goal of zip code independent care depends on several key items. First, it requires us to continue to think differently. Unsolved problems need novel approaches. Second, it requires us to grow and sustain our local clinician workforce.

The foundation of each of these is the presence of strong physician and advanced practice provider leadership. I’m excited to say that strong clinician leadership is alive and well here at Sanford.

The importance and impact of strong clinician leadership on the success of health care delivery systems continue to become more appreciated, particularly in the areas of clinical quality outcomes, clinical care efficiencies and the recruiting and retention of clinicians. Becoming the premier rural health system in the country is dependent on our ability to perform at the top of these areas.

It is hard to overstate the direct correlation between clinician leadership and high-quality patient care. Because clinician leaders spend the bulk of their time providing direct patient care, they are uniquely positioned at the leadership table to provide frontline knowledge of clinical practices, patient needs and challenges posed by operational inefficiencies.

Clinician leaders influence policies and practices that prioritize patient-centered care in a way that is truly grounded in the frontline care experience. In turn, our clinician leaders are well-positioned to advocate for novel approaches and evidence-based practices that improve health outcomes despite the complexity of challenges that are inherent to our region. Clinician leaders lead us to think differently to impact the quality of patient care.

Beyond the quality of care, clinician leaders impact the efficiency of patient care. We do this by building a culture of collaboration among our care teams, which allows more effective and safe care coordination.

In Bemidji, our clinician leaders continue to advance integrated care models that bring together multidisciplinary teams to deliver comprehensive services. Clinician leadership must also navigate the rapid changes driven by technological advancements, regulatory shifts and evolving patient needs.

Their extensive training and clinical experience position them well to assess the relevance and applicability of new technologies and treatment modalities. The ability of our clinicians to lead initiatives that streamline operations and improve efficiency results in more access to care for our patients — a critical need for our community. Clinician leaders lead us to think differently about the efficiency of patient care.

Perhaps the most notable impact of strong clinician leadership is on the recruitment and retention of our clinician workforce. Clinicians want to work in an environment where care is high quality, efficient and connected to the community. Strong clinician leadership achieves this.

Since my first day on the job here in Bemidji, I have been impressed with our clinician leadership. We have hundreds of years of clinical care and leadership experience amongst our current leadership team. Some of our clinician leaders have been here for several decades, others for several years.

Some were born and raised here in Bemidji, others halfway across the world. Some are primary care, and some are specialists. All lead with their own unique set of leadership abilities. All lead with excellence in clinical care. All share a commitment to delivering the highest quality care in a manner that continues to expand access to care for our communities. Most importantly, they share a strong connection to the well-being of our communities.

This coming year, we will bring the voice of our physicians and APP leaders to you through this column in the Pioneer. They will talk about the health of our communities through the lens of their leadership roles.

I am excited for you to hear from them. I am proud of their commitment to make the health of our communities better. Most notably, I look forward to what the future holds for all of us through their leadership in action.

Our team of clinician leaders position us well to become the best rural health system, an outcome that our community deserves.

Daniel Hoody, MD, MSc, is the chief physician and medical officer of Sanford Health’s Bemidji region. He can be reached at (218) 333-5367 or daniel.hoody@sanfordhealth.org.