Conversation with Chris Loftus

Chris Loftus served as captain for his soccer team at Duke University in 2005 and 2006 and played Major League Soccer for teams in the northeastern U.S. and Sweden. Working as a team was equally as important to him as scoring goals against opponents, he said.

After he decided not to sign a three-year contract with a Norwegian soccer team a few years ago, Loftus decided to pursue another passion: the medical field, earning a master’s degree in health service administration from the University of Evansville.

After holding a range of administrative positions at local health facilities, such as Venice Regional Hospital, the 30-year-old is helping motivate his new teammates: staffers at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, where he is the new chief operating officer.

The Affordable Health Care Act is something we've been working to understand. It's something that will impact every health care center in the country. Here, we're dealing a lot with what's called value-based purchasing, which means the centers for Medicaid and Medicare reimburse us for their members — our patients — stay at the hospital. Hospitals only get reimbursed if they provide what those centers call "the best possible care."

More than ever, we have to focus more on quality than quantity; good service doesn't just mean getting people in and out as quickly as possible. We're evaluating hopsital-acquired conditions, such as ensuring that patients don't get sick when they get to the hospital, or injured while they're here. Our ultimate goal here is to make sure patients don't have to come back two weeks later with the same problem or worse.

I don't see rapid growth in East County as a challenge, but more as an opportunity. There are new subdivisions popping up in Lakewood Ranch, and more people are deciding to live here full time, rather than going home in the summer. Our population is growing, and that's an opportunity for us to make those residents our patients, if they need care. 

This growth is forcing the hospital to pay closer attention to our master planning process to decide if we need more programs or need to expand current ones in place to meet the needs of our community. The health care landscape is changing, and we need to always be looking for innovative ways to change with it. 

We're looking at expansion ideas. That doesn't mean we're going to build a whole new wing onto the hospital, but more patients means we need more beds and diverse types of products to fit those needs. We're considering opening a wound care center in one of our medical office buildings, to treat individuals who are suffering from more than a broken bone. But we have to evaluate more closely how much that service is needed.

After nearly two months in my position, my responsibilities include working with and checking in on my departments, such as cardiovascular, laboratory, medical imaging and therapy services. Overseeing those departments doesn’t mean I tell them how to do their jobs — I don’t. I’m just their resource. I’m the GPS, AAA — whatever tool they need to help them and the hospital run as smoothly as possible.

Anywhere you work, you have to be a team player. If one person has an issue, it’s everyone’s responsibility to help the person with the problem. We all own every failure and success.

It’s important to have open communication with your team. Ask how someone’s mother or children is doing; invest in them as a person. Happy employees translate to happy patients and a community hospital that will make us the best place in the area to receive care, which is my ultimate goal.

My goals for the hospital fall on pillars of the three P’s: people, process and product. Hiring quality people who provide great customer services is critical to creating a warm and efficient hospital. And we need products, such as equipment, that work. If we don’t have those things working together, we won’t continue to grow or have financial successes.

Getting the most qualified people to work here starts with setting higher standards during the interview process. We need to be asking those difficult questions.

I’ve been implementing the Stop Light Report in all of the departments within the hospital. It’s a sheet divided into three sections, and it’s a tool for employees to communicate suggestions to management. Employees write in need projects in the top box, and projects that receive the OK are written in the green box. Projects that aren’t feasible right now will be written in the red area, with an explanation.

This chart shows employees that their ideas are valued. Sheets are hung up in each department. This helps us be transparent and it shows we’re listening.

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, said he couldn’t become a wealthy man without listening to his employees. That couldn’t be more accurate. Listening is something we can always improve on here, and we will.

Most importantly, we have to remember that the people we’re treating are our neighbors, friends and community members. Everyone who comes in is valued. Finance and growth will come later.

So far, I'm sleeping soundly. I know growth is coming, but I'm working with talented individuals who are passionate about health care and our community. We all work together to make one cohesive machine work properly.