Brookdale President and Chief Executive Officer Cindy Baier this week joined with the top officers of HCA Healthcare and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) for a wide-ranging virtual discussion to celebrate the Nashville Health Care Council’s 25th anniversary. Baier joined HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen and VUMC President and CEO Dr. Jeffrey Balser in answering a wide variety of questions, including about meeting national demand through the COVID-19 pandemic, the role partnerships play in their companies’ success, and the importance of innovation for their companies and the industry as a whole.
Baier shared that the speed of innovation at Brookdale in response to the pandemic is something she would like to see continue in the organization. Since no one person has all the answers, healthcare leaders need to consider many different perspectives to solve issues quickly.
Baier also said that, in a crisis, organizations should communicate early and often, more often than they might think is needed. As an example of how to do this, she pointed to Brookdale producing informative videos about every three days early on in the COVID-19 crisis. In this way, the company was able to build a library of videos available through the company’s online platforms to keep residents, families, and associates informed.
The hour-long panel discussion was moderated by broadcast journalist and filmmaker Demetria Kalodimos.
