Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. V I M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 2 0 24 sbsavings.bank | (207) 284-4591 insurancepc.com | (207) 283-1486 Not FDIC Insured No Bank Guarantee May Lose Value Personal Banking | Business Banking Insurance¹ BUSINESS LOANS IN IT TOGETHER FOR MOMENTS LIKE THESE. C M Y CM MY CY CMY K MaineBiz 2020.pdf 2 3/5/2020 3:32:54 PM of the urgent care centers, where patients can get less expensive service for treat- ment they would've gone to the emer- gency room for in the past. "It saves them money and it saves the health care system money," he says. "And it begins to change the paradigm for how health care is going to be reshaped." That paradigm change is something that U.S. Sen. Angus King is also look- ing for. The two discussed it when King visited the under-construction Lewiston urgent care center last month. Ben Tucker, King's regional represen- tative, got a look at the center during a legislative breakfast earlier in the month and knew King would want to see it. One February afternoon, Tucker, King, Brickman and developer David Bateman toured the building with some CHM staff and Mainebiz. King said he's looking for ways to incentivize innovation in health care, par- ticularly in rural areas, to make it less expensive for patients. He told Brickman the work CMH is doing is "exactly what I'm looking for." Brickman says the system is designed to work well into the future. "Our approach has been to focus on access, to focus on affordability, to focus on population health and prevention so that we can do a better job of linking our strategies with health care policy and needs," he says. He's worked at turning around other troubled health care systems, but says it's taken 12 or 16 months longer than he expected to get CMH where it is now, but the challenges were worth it to build a strong sense of direction and focus, a level of higher quality and patient safety, all on a much stronger foundation. The key to it all, he says, are the people — the staff and community that are at the heart of CMH. "Our staff are our most important asset in this organization," Brickman says. "They have demonstrated amazing patience, resiliency and loyalty. There's something very special about our staff." He also credits a community that has "tremendous pride in its health care sys- tem and wants to see it be successful." Without the staff and community, "I don't know that we would be at this point today." Jeff Brickman 5 QUESTIONS Age: 64 Leadership icon: The late Jack Welch, former CEO of GE. Maine's biggest challenge: Maine is a rural state with an aging demographic. Biggest opportunity: Providing access to health care through a distributed network of ambulatory care sites. Best business advice: Never skimp on talent as that will define success. Treat your staff well and they will treat your customers well. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Jeff Brickman, CEO of Central Maine Healthcare, was under fire for the first two years of his tenure. But things have changed as the health care system has rebounded financially. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E

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