Administrator's Corner: James Hobson on East Tennessee Medical News

Administrator's Corner: James Hobson

By: JOE MORRIS

Even though it's early in his tenure at Memorial Health Care System, James Hobson already has a solid feel for the organization.

Hobson, who was named president and chief executive officer of the Memorial system in November 2008, came to Chattanooga from Phoebe Putney Health Systems in Albany, Ga., a community-owned, not-for-profit system with three hospitals serving a 25-county region. That stint, as well as other positions around the Southeast, have prepared him well for the challenges at Memorial, as well as given him the ability to see the mission of Catholic Health Initiatives, Memorial's parent, and carry that out.

In fact, seeing those goals being actively carried out was a key factor in his taking the position in the first place.

"Memorial's got a great tradition and history of focusing on the quality of care that it provides, and there's a great partnership in place here with the medical staff," Hobson said. "They focus on quality outcomes, and finding ways to continually improve upon those. Having that foundation in place is going to be a continued focus for the industry as a whole moving forward, and the fact that it was already here was a key component for me as we were in those conversations."

As for Memorial itself, Hobson noted that the organizational culture is one of service and assistance, and that it permeates the system from top to bottom.

"Walking around the building, interacting with the associates here, I was able to understand the value system of the faith-based organization, the culture that it's created," Hobson said. "For me, that is an energizing culture, and I thought it would be a great family to be a part of."

Given the multiple challenges facing the healthcare industry, Hobson has had little time for a honeymoon. That, he says, is fine with him, as he prefers to be a hands-on, interactive administrator from the get-go.

"I'm an out-in-the-building kind of manager, and I like to be in the facilities that I'm involved with," he said. "I want to work with our staff, our associates, as well as department heads, and be really involved in all aspects of what we're doing."

That means that he's already been roaming the halls, getting a deeper sense of what Memorial's all about. And that, he says, has him even more energized about its future.

"Coming into this organization, I knew I wanted to continue building on its history of quality care, and also to be a part of growing the organization," he said. "That growth has been happening over the last number of years, and we're going to be continuing that process in terms of looking at master facility needs and entering into a planning process. Those will be the early things I focus on from the broader perspective."

As a successful administrator, Hobson says he understands that when looking at anything as ambitious as a facility upgrade, expansion or renovation, it's necessary to have a strong buy-in from the entire staff. With that in mind, he plans to work with physicians and support staff alike as Memorial moves forward.

"You work with the medical staff, understand what their needs are, with respect to the facility," he said. "I have to make sure we continue to raise the level of the care we're able to provide, and that the dollars are used strategically in terms of services and technology as well as facilities. We want to be positioned to meet the broader needs of the community that we're here to take are of."

As with any business, regardless of the economy, the wish list is often much longer than the capital budget can handle, so it also comes down to being able to oversee some tough choices and ensuring that everyone's still on board even if their department doesn't get the new equipment this year.

"There's a process by which you try to narrow things down, to manage operating expenses, and the end focus is the care and what sorts of advanced technology will make an impact in the market," Hobson said. "It's a challenging time for everybody, and healthcare is not unique. We're going to have to manage our operating expenses, and what is happening nationally is going to affect our circumstances locally. But all we can do is focus on the quality of our patients' outcomes, which we will do."

That outcome-driven approach is what Hobson says motivates him as an administrator, and it's also behind his inclusive approach to overseeing such a large organization.

"If I'm involved in the delivery system, it's easier for me to have an understanding of where our needs are," he said. "I can see where things are working, and where they're not, and how we're meeting the needs of patients and families. It's also about me having access to all our associates, so they can tell me how things are going."

As Memorial moves forward, Hobson says his charge will be to be as flexible as possible, not to mention more than a little creative, to succeed in a difficult economic landscape.

"We have to be willing to try things differently than in the past, and there are going to be some new skill sets to be learned, things that people are going to have to bring to their jobs every day," he said. "We have to look at how we can improve our efficiencies from the administrative side as well as the clinical side, and that'll mean everything from taking advantage of new technology to using new treatment modalities as they come into the marketplace. Things are changing at a high rate of speed for everybody, and I think the ability to adapt to those changes is going to be important."