Verity Healthcare

As COO of the MUSC Well being-Charleston (S.C.) division, Rick Hundorfean brings a strong historical past of rehabilitation and acute care management to his new place.

Previous to this function, Mr. Hundorfean served as CEO of MUSC Well being Rehabilitation Hospital, a freestanding rehabilitation hospital in North Charleston, affiliated with Birmingham, Ala.-based Embody Well being.

He additionally beforehand served as CEO of College Hospitals Rehabilitation Hospital in Beachwood, Ohio, a three way partnership between Cleveland-based College Hospitals and Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare.

Mr. Hundorfean advised Becker’s that each one of his expertise has ready him for his present function at MUSC Well being-Charleston Division, a regional division of MUSC Well being. He mentioned his new function, the largest alternatives for the division, and his method to strategic decision-making.

Editor’s observe: Responses have been evenly edited for readability and size. 

Query: What drew you to this new function at MUSC Well being-Charleston Division, and the way do you see it aligning along with your previous experiences in rehabilitation and acute care management?

Rick Hundorfean: I have been in Charleston within the rehab function as CEO for somewhat over three years, and I did a lot partnership work with MUSC Well being in serving to to do all the pieces from driving new packages and providers to integrating our doctor networks and extra carefully aligning there. And general, rising providers and growing strategic plans to develop that hospital.

By means of that work, I used to be in a position to get extra in contact with and see all the issues that MUSC was doing throughout the state, right here in Charleston. And I cherished it. All the things round innovation and the brand new tasks and providers that have been popping out. If you happen to go on our LinkedIn web page, MUSC is rolling one thing out actually virtually every day, if not a number of instances a day, whether or not it is a new location we’re asserting or a brand new program or service we’re highlighting. And I assumed, how thrilling is that? To be part of a corporation that is in a progress part and doing all these modern issues.

The truth that I used to be already right here on the town and the chance grew to become obtainable — it appeared like a pure match. I am an industrial engineer by commerce. In order that function and that background will be helpful in any sort of trade, and particularly within the healthcare trade. It might lend itself in lots of optimistic methods, whether or not in rehab or on the educational medical heart aspect, which is the place I’m now on this chief working officer function. However you get in there and discover out what’s working and have a good time it. You discover out what’s not working, pull groups collectively to assist handle these issues, and become involved in all the groups working to develop providers throughout the state.

 Q: What are the largest alternatives for MUSC Well being-Charleston Division to enhance affected person care and operational effectivity within the subsequent 12 months?

RH:  The challenges and alternatives are altering. They evolve yearly. A few years in the past, for the Charleston market, particularly for MUSC, the primary problem could have been entry to care. And we have addressed that by rising our footprint throughout the state of South Carolina. We now have an MUSC facility in each county throughout the state, have acquired a number of new hospitals and ambulatory surgical procedure facilities, and have considerably grown our ambulatory footprint.

So from an entry standpoint, we have labored exhausting to handle a few of these challenges. There’ll at all times be ongoing alternatives associated to adjustments with payer combine and payer contracts, which we handle as these issues come up.

For us in Charleston proper now, it is about how we sustain with demand from a progress perspective. We’re at capability ranges within the Charleston market and past. So how will we proceed increasing our footprint, providers and packages to maintain up with that demand?

When COVID occurred, we began to see a shift in individuals shifting from northern markets and the Midwest down South. And Charleston has skilled that by way of inhabitants shifts. So it isn’t simply concerning the infrastructure of the town, but in addition MUSC Well being — how will we sustain with that progress?

Q: You’ve got led hospitals in numerous markets — what classes out of your time at College Hospitals and Embody Well being shall be most respected in your new function?

RH: In all larger roles, there are at all times little bits and items of takeaways and issues that you just deliver to your subsequent function — even on the issues that did not work so nicely. I see these as instruments in your instrument belt — pitfalls to keep away from sooner or later.

And I might say, some which are most notable — I received nice expertise working on the Cleveland Clinic, understanding a much bigger educational medical heart, particularly a tertiary care heart just like the downtown major campus of Cleveland Clinic. It is similar to the operations we’ve right here at MUSC — our downtown campus — operating all the pieces from the ED to pediatric care to grownup care to complete most cancers care. Seeing all these completely different dynamics and the way the management crew grew all of these portfolios, I used to be in a position to be immediately concerned in that via venture administration work.

In the end, I had the chance to supervise the Cleveland Clinic ache administration division, which included 18 websites. So, not solely was I managing the large core e-book of enterprise — downtown sufferers coming in for procedures and outpatient care — however that additionally expanded into the area. That have lent itself nicely to my subsequent alternative at College Hospitals, the place I took on a unique function. I oversaw neurology and neurosurgery and was additionally a part of the duty drive that helped begin up a backbone and ache administration institute throughout COVID. That function allowed me to handle a broader portfolio of places, each inpatient and outpatient.

Earlier than I left, I had oversight of 47 websites, which gave me nice ambulatory expertise, in addition to administration and oversight of surgical instances with our physicians. From there, I transitioned into the inpatient rehab aspect of care, the place I ran operations at Kindred in Cleveland and later at College Hospitals Rehabilitation Hospital. Most not too long ago, I led MUSC Rehabilitation Hospital. That CEO expertise actually solidified my management expertise — operating day-to-day operations, partnering with my crew to supervise all the pieces from meals and vitamin providers to environmental providers. I labored with advertising to develop methods for bringing sufferers into the hospital, amenities and grounds, all of that.

All of these experiences collectively ready me nicely for the function I am in now.

Q: As healthcare programs face monetary and workforce pressures, how do you intend to method strategic decision-making to steadiness progress, high quality, and sustainability?

RH: I can already see the promising work that groups are doing systematically to handle high quality and satisfaction. I might say affected person care is the No. 1 precedence, adopted very carefully — if not operating in parallel — by workforce engagement. Ensuring our employees are joyful and that this can be a vacation spot group for individuals in the neighborhood to need to work at is crucial.

These elements, in flip, drive income and monetary stability. We’re a number of initiatives — from new web site places within the area to extend entry to care, to increasing our footprint, to bringing care nearer to residence, which is one in all MUSC’s core methods.

We have additionally actually doubled down on our dedication to innovation and are partnering with corporations growing platforms that make care simpler, enhance affected person outcomes, and drive course of efficiencies for our workforce. I will not go into specifics, however there are actually a whole bunch of tasks in progress throughout the system that I’ve discovered about in my quick time right here — all centered on these priorities.