Time out with T.O. – Business as usual

As Nebraska Medicine’s new CEO, James Linder, M.D., doesn’t anticipate making major changes but says the organization must be ready to adapt to an ever-changing health care landscape.

“This is not a house on fire,” he told a standing-room-only gathering of the hospital management team last month. “We’re in great shape. Nothing has changed with our mission, values and strategies.”

He emphasized that the change in leadership had nothing to do with the credibility or ethics of his predecessor, Dan DeBehnke, M.D., who had served in the CEO role for the past two years.

See a message from Dr. Linder

The day before he was announced as Nebraska Medicine’s CEO, Dr. Linder said he played the role of “secret shopper.” He walked around the hospital and watched people work.

“It was really impressive,” he said, noting that nobody had any idea who he was or what he was doing.

Some of the nuggets Dr. Linder shared at the forum included:

• After reviewing the criteria for U.S. News & World Report rankings, he thinks Nebraska Medicine could make the top 20 list of best U.S. hospitals;
• With the Munroe-Meyer Institute moving to the First Data Resources building, it will eventually provide an opportunity for Nebraska Medicine to build new facilities on the MMI site. “It won’t happen overnight, and the way the health care delivery is changing, it won’t just be a bed tower.”
• As CEO, “You listen a lot, create strategy and build a leadership team. It’s better to swim in one direction than splash around in the water. You can’t do everything on your own. You need a team. Everything is open to discussion. I believe in productive conflict.”
• On the tight relationship between UNMC and Nebraska Medicine – “At least 40 percent of the activities in the UNMC strategic plan overlap strongly with Nebraska Medicine.”
• The already “deep relationship” with Children’s Hospital & Medical Center “will only get deeper. We are very aligned culturally.”
• That he understands that life is filled with challenges, noting that he was accepted into medical school at UNMC after a failed first attempt. When he later served as interim dean of the College of Medicine, that irony was not lost on him.
• “You can’t value friendships over accountabilities. If you don’t know that about me, you don’t know me.”
• Omaha’s philanthropic community “has enormous pride in UNMC/Nebraska Medicine.”

A longtime golfer, Dr. Linder recounted how he used to be a caddy at Happy Hollow Club. “You learn a lot about people at a country club,” he said. “You see the best and worst of humanity.”

Judging from the warm response he received, it was obvious the audience thought he had learned his lessons well.