Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association MEMBER MOMENTS: Baystate’s Banko Lays Out Improvement Plan
Baystate Health President and CEO Peter Banko has been on the job since only June, but already he has laid out a plan to help the system bounce back from the financial losses that every hospital in the commonwealth has experienced in recent years.
In an interview with Becker’s Hospital Review published yesterday, Banko said one of his goals is to “create a bridge that readies the organization for change in our future. We’re trying to create a sense of momentum in the organization, leveraging our brand and that pride, streamlining and being more transparent with our communications, and building a sense of team because a new CEO creates anxiety in the organization.”
Banko discussed with Becker’s the streamlined decision-making he instituted, cost cutting measures, as well as efforts to expand key clinical areas.
“Our population is aging in Western Massachusetts,” he said. “More than 70% of our patients are now on Medicare or Medicaid. Our service area, like most in the Northeast, is not growing, so inpatient growth is stagnant over the next five years. So, we strategically have to look at how do we grow in the outpatient, patient ambulatory, virtual space, and digital space. We’ll continue to face cost pressures, workforce challenges with recruitment, retention, engagement, inflation on medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.”