Selected Podcast
SVMHS Supporting The Community During COVID-19 Pandemic
Pete Delgado discusses how Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System is supporting the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Featuring:
During his tenure at Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Pete has expanded access to care, greatly increasing the services available to all members of the community regardless of their ability to pay. He is passionate about patient safety, quality clinical outcomes, exceptional patient experience, and partnering with patients and their families to achieve an improved quality of life. This dedication to quality has been recognized by national hospital quality organizations such as Healthgrades, Leapfrog, and The Joint Commission.
Pete was also a founding member of the National Forum for Latino Healthcare Executives (NFLHE) – a national organization increasing the representation of Latinos at the executive level of hospitals across the country. Pete has held board positions on the Hospital Association of Southern California, California Health Care Safety Net Institute, California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and currently California’s District Hospital Leadership Forum, California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (CAHHS), Hospital Council of Northern & Central California and BETA Healthcare Group. The Hispanic Business magazine recognized Pete as one of the Top 100 Influential People of 2009.
Delgado received his Master of Science in Hospital Administration from Texas Women’s University, Houston, Texas, and his Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from University of Houston / CLC. Houston, Texas. He has also participated in two senior executive programs at Stanford University and Harvard University respectively.
Pete Delgado, CEO
Pete Delgado is President and CEO of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, where he is responsible for directing the leadership and operations of an integrated network of health care programs, services and facilities. The Healthcare System encompasses an acute care public district hospital licensed for 263 beds, 12 urgent care clinics, a group of primary care and specialty physician practices with 135 practitioners and joint venture ownership of Aspire Health Plan. Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System employs more than 2,400 people and its medical staff includes 331 board-certified physicians.During his tenure at Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Pete has expanded access to care, greatly increasing the services available to all members of the community regardless of their ability to pay. He is passionate about patient safety, quality clinical outcomes, exceptional patient experience, and partnering with patients and their families to achieve an improved quality of life. This dedication to quality has been recognized by national hospital quality organizations such as Healthgrades, Leapfrog, and The Joint Commission.
Pete was also a founding member of the National Forum for Latino Healthcare Executives (NFLHE) – a national organization increasing the representation of Latinos at the executive level of hospitals across the country. Pete has held board positions on the Hospital Association of Southern California, California Health Care Safety Net Institute, California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and currently California’s District Hospital Leadership Forum, California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (CAHHS), Hospital Council of Northern & Central California and BETA Healthcare Group. The Hispanic Business magazine recognized Pete as one of the Top 100 Influential People of 2009.
Delgado received his Master of Science in Hospital Administration from Texas Women’s University, Houston, Texas, and his Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from University of Houston / CLC. Houston, Texas. He has also participated in two senior executive programs at Stanford University and Harvard University respectively.
Transcription:
Scott Webb: COVID-19 is on all of our minds. We wonder if our local healthcare providers are prepared to deal with the virus and provide treatment to the influx of patients. In the case of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, the answer is yes. Here to discuss how the entire system is prepared to help local residents during this time is Pete Delgado, President and CEO of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. This is Ask the Experts, a podcast by Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. I'm Scott Webb. Pete, thanks so much for joining me today. I know how busy you are. First of all, how are things in Salinas and Monterey County right now compared to the rest of California and the country?
Pete Delgado: Well, Scott, I think we're doing very well right now. Our city leaders and County leaders have stepped up. They've done an excellent job advocating social distancing, implementing shelter in place, policies and closing schools and businesses. As a result, we've seen less overall positive COVID testing’s then we anticipate the number of patients have been manageable. We continue to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
Host: Well, you're so right, preparation is key. So how does a health system like Salinas Valley Memorial healthcare system prepare for a situation like one we've never experienced?
Pete Delgado: Our message is prepare, don't panic. Let's take advantage of the time that we've had to prepare. And that's what we've done. We've doubled down on our training, our daily safety huddles, our reviewing of our supplies twice a day. We've done a lot to help prepare the organization for the worst situation.
Host: And so how has SVMHS supporting its healthcare providers and other staff who have to go to work every single day?
Pete Delgado: Besides the care for our patients, the number one priority here is the health of our staff. Without the staff, we can't respond to the community needs. So we've done a lot of work being transparent, working and informing our employees. The more informed our employees are, the more engaged our leaders have been very generous with their time walking the hallways, answering questions with our staff. Many of our staff have been allowed to work from home. Those are basically the nonclinical staff. Our ER have set up tents outside to keep the patients from coming into the building unnecessarily. We've limited our visitations as well. All of those moves have, makes our staff feel much more comfortable to do their work properly.
Host: Yeah, it does sound like you're doing everything you can. What other assistance is out there for employees who just might feel overwhelmed during the pandemic?
Pete Delgado: It's important that we acknowledge those feelings. Our leaders understand the importance of supporting their teams. We make resources available like employee assistance program, sharing articles, webinars that teach people how to deal with these stress. I really hope that businesses in our community are taking advantage of these types of programs to help their own staff deal with difficult times.
Host: What is the healthcare system doing, the entire system, and you oversee the entire system and a lot of employees doing to support the community during the pandemic?
Pete Delgado: Constant communication and updates of what we've learned and sharing that with our community as often as we can. The facts about what's going on. Supporting local businesses where we can, for example, many of our remote sites have trouble with getting food to them. So we've contracted some catering services so that, that's our way of supporting the community as well. We've offered our patients the ability to see their doctors through telemedicine and, you know, it's important for the patients that they stay connected with their physicians, without having to expose them.
Host: Yeah. There's no doubt that staying connected right now is key. We know that public engagement and volunteerism is at the core of SVMHSs commitment to the community. With all these events being halted due to social distancing, how has that affected the organization's efforts in these areas?
Pete Delgado: We're learning as we go, but we are learning how to take all this good work that we do in the community and putting them online. The community events classes online, we are sponsors of the Blue Zone Project and they haven't lost a beat. They just picked up and pivoted and are doing all their community organizations online. We need people to stay active and informed, so we're trying to reach them in new ways and we're learning as we go. We're looking at deploying some of our staff to assist our community outreach and volunteers with less overall patient volume due to this virus. We have the capacity to focus on different things right now. So we are deploying some of our staff to the community. The census has gone down because of the elective surgeries going down. And as a result we have staff that are currently in some units overstaffed. So we are readjusting and instead of sending them home, we are using this resource in the community. If the community needs them.
Host: Really amazing to hear what you guys are doing and isn't it amazing just how people can come together, you know, everybody has a job to do and as you say, some people are just able to pivot in the moment and just do whatever needs to get done. It's, it's really awesome to hear. So Pete, what else do we want people to know right now about COVID-19, the response of the entire system that you oversee, community outreach, anything else we can tell people today?
Pete Delgado: It's important for our patients to focus on their health, or the community overall, the focus on their health. If you have some chronic illnesses, stay connected with your doctor. Don't forget about eating healthy, getting exercise when you can, maintaining your medications and treatment plans. Last but not least, I need to say thank you to every one of our team or Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare team. They've done an amazing job. Our physicians are hospital workers, are volunteers, an amazing job.
Host: That's so well said and thanks so much for your time today, Pete, I know how busy you are. That's president and CEO of Salinas Valley Memorial healthcare System. Pete Delgado. For more information on SVMHS, visit svmh.com. We hope you found this podcast to be helpful and informative. I'm Scott Webb. Thanks for listening and stay well.
Scott Webb: COVID-19 is on all of our minds. We wonder if our local healthcare providers are prepared to deal with the virus and provide treatment to the influx of patients. In the case of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, the answer is yes. Here to discuss how the entire system is prepared to help local residents during this time is Pete Delgado, President and CEO of Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. This is Ask the Experts, a podcast by Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System. I'm Scott Webb. Pete, thanks so much for joining me today. I know how busy you are. First of all, how are things in Salinas and Monterey County right now compared to the rest of California and the country?
Pete Delgado: Well, Scott, I think we're doing very well right now. Our city leaders and County leaders have stepped up. They've done an excellent job advocating social distancing, implementing shelter in place, policies and closing schools and businesses. As a result, we've seen less overall positive COVID testing’s then we anticipate the number of patients have been manageable. We continue to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
Host: Well, you're so right, preparation is key. So how does a health system like Salinas Valley Memorial healthcare system prepare for a situation like one we've never experienced?
Pete Delgado: Our message is prepare, don't panic. Let's take advantage of the time that we've had to prepare. And that's what we've done. We've doubled down on our training, our daily safety huddles, our reviewing of our supplies twice a day. We've done a lot to help prepare the organization for the worst situation.
Host: And so how has SVMHS supporting its healthcare providers and other staff who have to go to work every single day?
Pete Delgado: Besides the care for our patients, the number one priority here is the health of our staff. Without the staff, we can't respond to the community needs. So we've done a lot of work being transparent, working and informing our employees. The more informed our employees are, the more engaged our leaders have been very generous with their time walking the hallways, answering questions with our staff. Many of our staff have been allowed to work from home. Those are basically the nonclinical staff. Our ER have set up tents outside to keep the patients from coming into the building unnecessarily. We've limited our visitations as well. All of those moves have, makes our staff feel much more comfortable to do their work properly.
Host: Yeah, it does sound like you're doing everything you can. What other assistance is out there for employees who just might feel overwhelmed during the pandemic?
Pete Delgado: It's important that we acknowledge those feelings. Our leaders understand the importance of supporting their teams. We make resources available like employee assistance program, sharing articles, webinars that teach people how to deal with these stress. I really hope that businesses in our community are taking advantage of these types of programs to help their own staff deal with difficult times.
Host: What is the healthcare system doing, the entire system, and you oversee the entire system and a lot of employees doing to support the community during the pandemic?
Pete Delgado: Constant communication and updates of what we've learned and sharing that with our community as often as we can. The facts about what's going on. Supporting local businesses where we can, for example, many of our remote sites have trouble with getting food to them. So we've contracted some catering services so that, that's our way of supporting the community as well. We've offered our patients the ability to see their doctors through telemedicine and, you know, it's important for the patients that they stay connected with their physicians, without having to expose them.
Host: Yeah. There's no doubt that staying connected right now is key. We know that public engagement and volunteerism is at the core of SVMHSs commitment to the community. With all these events being halted due to social distancing, how has that affected the organization's efforts in these areas?
Pete Delgado: We're learning as we go, but we are learning how to take all this good work that we do in the community and putting them online. The community events classes online, we are sponsors of the Blue Zone Project and they haven't lost a beat. They just picked up and pivoted and are doing all their community organizations online. We need people to stay active and informed, so we're trying to reach them in new ways and we're learning as we go. We're looking at deploying some of our staff to assist our community outreach and volunteers with less overall patient volume due to this virus. We have the capacity to focus on different things right now. So we are deploying some of our staff to the community. The census has gone down because of the elective surgeries going down. And as a result we have staff that are currently in some units overstaffed. So we are readjusting and instead of sending them home, we are using this resource in the community. If the community needs them.
Host: Really amazing to hear what you guys are doing and isn't it amazing just how people can come together, you know, everybody has a job to do and as you say, some people are just able to pivot in the moment and just do whatever needs to get done. It's, it's really awesome to hear. So Pete, what else do we want people to know right now about COVID-19, the response of the entire system that you oversee, community outreach, anything else we can tell people today?
Pete Delgado: It's important for our patients to focus on their health, or the community overall, the focus on their health. If you have some chronic illnesses, stay connected with your doctor. Don't forget about eating healthy, getting exercise when you can, maintaining your medications and treatment plans. Last but not least, I need to say thank you to every one of our team or Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare team. They've done an amazing job. Our physicians are hospital workers, are volunteers, an amazing job.
Host: That's so well said and thanks so much for your time today, Pete, I know how busy you are. That's president and CEO of Salinas Valley Memorial healthcare System. Pete Delgado. For more information on SVMHS, visit svmh.com. We hope you found this podcast to be helpful and informative. I'm Scott Webb. Thanks for listening and stay well.