Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | DECEMBER 11, 2023 23 FOCUS: 5 WE WATCHED local campuses and have full access to patient records, provide mentoring and support to direct-care nurses, especially new graduates. "We're really just continuing to re-imagine and transform how we can continue to bring expertise and experience into the room with our patients, to continue to deliver safe, quality care and service," Carter said. "It's been great to be a part of rolling out a new transformative care model that really takes advantage of virtual work and very experienced nurses." In some areas, worker shortages have improved, he said. But hospitals are continuing to lose workers to other industries. "There's a lot of competition everywhere, because we're not just competing against the health- care industry," Carter said. "We're competing with the retail industry and a lot of others." He said Trinity Health has made progress filling nursing positions by hiring recent graduates. The orga- nization is looking at ways to help new hires build career pathways and access tuition reimbursement. "We want to be attractive, not just from a compensation perspective, but from a cultural perspective, to be able to recruit and retain people who are connected to our mission," Carter said. Financial hurdles Carter has faced other challenges such as executive-level personnel changes, including the upcoming departure of Thomas Burke, presi- dent of St. Francis and Mount Sinai Rehabilitation hospitals. Burke's departure was announced in October, but he will remain in his position until the end of the year to assist with the transition to an interim president. An executive recruitment firm is working with stakeholders to search for a permanent replacement, Carter said. Meanwhile, Jennifer Schneider left her position as Trinity Health Of New England's regional chief financial officer, a role she held for the past four years. She has relocated down south, according to Trinity Health. Trinity Health is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and is looking to improve its financial footing, since reporting a $46.7 million operating loss and $78 million overall loss in fiscal year 2022. (That fiscal year ended on Sept. 30, 2022, before Carter's arrival). Carter said inflation, along with the workforce shortage, have increased labor costs, which represent about half of the health system's expenses. "The shortages that we have, not just in nursing, which is key, but other areas, have caused us to continue to take on higher-cost labor to ensure that we're meeting safe, quality needs of patients," Carter said. Carter also said rising supply costs, including the price of medications, continue to put pressure on hospitals as insurance reimbursements aren't keeping pace. In fiscal 2023, which ended Sept. 30, Carter said Trinity Health's financial performance was "somewhere in the range" of last year's, although the orga- nization is seeing "glimmers of hope." He didn't provide specific numbers. What's new Despite financial challenges, Carter said the healthcare system has worked to reach patients in their communities, such as by opening an ambulatory access center in Bloom- field in August. The facility, at 852 Cottage Grove Road, has both urgent and outpatient care centers. Trinity Health also completed a $6 million renovation and expansion of its Enfield campus, including the revamped Karen Davis Krzynowek Cancer Center. A new Trinity Health Of New England Mobile Healthcare location recently launched at Johnson Memo- rial Hospital in Stafford. It consists of two ambulances and two non-transport paramedic intercept vehicles, which can be used for interfacility and critical care transfers, and to transfer patients being discharged from the hospital to another facility or their home. Another mobile healthcare location will be opening in Hartford, Carter said. "It allows us to continue to expand our ability, not just to provide emer- gent care, but to actually start to use this to provide non-emergent care, closer to home for patients," Carter said. "It's another way that we can provide more preventive services, and lower acuity services, to meet patient needs, at a lower cost point." Moving forward, the healthcare system plans to complete work by the end of 2024 on a 554-space, three- story parking garage at St. Francis Hospital, he said. Once the Frank Capasso & Sons Visitor Parking Garage opens, employees will be able to park on the hospital's campus instead of being shuttled from remote locations, as they are now. He also said the healthcare system is working to upgrade its electronic medical record system, called EPIC, which is expected to go live in May. It will improve patients' access to online scheduling and the way information is exchanged between providers and patients, he said. Carter worked for Trinity Health Of New England's Michigan-based parent company, Trinity Health, for more than a decade, most recently as president and CEO of St. Mary's Health Care System in Georgia. He began his career as a pharma- cist, then moved into a leadership role at St. Mary's Hospital. He was chosen as Trinity Health Of New England's president and CEO last year after a national search that included about 50 internal and external candidates. Trinity Health Of New England President and CEO Montez Carter is a sports fan and collector of vintage sports memorabilia. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER MONTEZ CARTER President & CEO Trinity Health Of New England Education: MBA, University of Alabama; doctorate in pharmacy, University of Mississippi Age: 49

• Cover