Aaron Chang, FACHE and President of Jefferson Health East Region

In this episode, Aaron Chang, FACHE and President of Jefferson Health East Region, joins Laura Dyrda to discuss how Jefferson is expanding access to care, addressing workforce challenges, and investing in clinical innovation. He also shares insights on leadership, partnerships, and the impactful oncology expansion bringing expert cancer care closer to South Jersey communities.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is Laura Deirdo with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
Aaron Chang, president at Jefferson Health East Region.
Aaron, it's a pleasure to have you on
the podcast today. Hi, Laura. Thank you for
having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
Absolutely. Now I know you you have been
doing some amazing things at Jefferson Health. Really
a lot of growth over the last year
or so and then more to come.
I'm excited for the conversation, but before we

(00:22):
dive in, can you tell us a little
bit more about yourself and Jefferson Health?
Sure. I'm Eric Chang, and I started my
health care journey in quality and process improvement.
So much of my thinking is rooted in
how to develop systems and create environments that
are most conducive for the delivery of great
care and wonderful experience to the people we
serve. And by people, I mean, the patients

(00:43):
that walk through our doors and the many
physicians,
nurses, and staff who live at our mission
each day. I've also had the privilege,
working in health system that have a regional
and or
national footprint in in different sectors of health
care. So academic, private, and nonprofit, faith based,
which means
I have a pretty healthy list of good

(01:04):
eats in multiple states.
But, more importantly,
I believe I have a balanced perspective of
what it takes for hospitals to adapt, transform
while addressing the unique needs of one community
versus another.
So currently, as you said, I'm the region
president for Jefferson Health East, which is the
New Jersey market,
and it's comprised of three acute care facilities,

(01:24):
approximately 30 medical group practices,
and several other ambulatory offerings.
Jefferson's system is headquartered in Philadelphia
and has 32 hospitals and 700 care sites
across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Beyond the health delivery enterprise,
we're anchored by Thomas Jefferson University
and also a health plan. Our overall mission

(01:46):
is to improve lives. I tell you, we
make that happen every day,
and our goal is to be the most
accessible
health care system.
Wow. That's an amazing goal and huge too.
I I know accessibility is such a challenge
these days, but certainly, Jefferson Health, I I
know is known for, really being pervasive throughout
the region and and then providing many different

(02:07):
access points.
So given some of the things that, you
know, you you talked about today and just
where the health care landscape is, what are
some of the trends that you're currently watching?
That's a great question. I think like everyone,
the federal government activity and, you know, the
subsequent impact to health care systems like ourselves
and the vulnerable populations.

(02:28):
Obviously,
having the federal budget done and having the
reconciliation
occur, we're just curious to see how that's
gonna affect each of our areas,
in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey. So that's
one area that we're look looking at. The
other one is workforce. I think that remains
another key area that I'm observing.
We're still seeing shortages in select physician specialties

(02:50):
like neurology and anesthesia
and,
other areas like laboratory and imaging where candidates
are just harder to come by. So it's
a matter of, you know, meeting the demand.
And
based on what we're seeing in the aging
workforce. Those are problematic areas.
That's probably a great segue too for the
third area, which I'm sure everybody is talking

(03:11):
about as well as AI and clinical innovation,
particularly how it can augment or optimize workflows
and staffing models for us.
Yeah. Absolutely. I think all of those are
such great points and certainly, you know, looking
at the federal government,
and trying to figure out exactly what the
next moves are gonna be, how they'll impact
the community, and especially the vulnerable populations. And,

(03:34):
you know, in looking at some of those
spaces and and workforce, I know is very
much tied to that, especially shortages,
and trying to figure out how you can
support the team that you have to provide
additional care, that access you were talking about
to the broader community.
What do you really see as being things
that you're doing today in order to, prepare
whether, you know, future is uncertain, but prepare

(03:56):
for growth and, development in those areas?
You know, I think to the earlier points,
I mean, although there are some workforce issues,
you know, I think Jefferson here, we're we're
focused on just creating the
workforce and models for the future and definitely
ramping up to the extent possible using our
university arms to help create that pipeline for

(04:17):
us. And and looking at unique ways to
make sure that once we have individuals
that are part of our teams, giving them
unique pathways just like how nursing has done
over the years in terms of the clinical
ladders.
So whether you're a patient care tech, you
know, letting them know that there's tiers to
that and that eventually if you wanna pursue

(04:38):
a nursing career or you wanna completely flip
to something else that our, you know, Thomas
Jefferson University program will offer you different pathways.
And especially because we have the various branches,
various arms within Jefferson as an organization.
You know, if you wanna seek a career
in population health
and,

(04:58):
be an administrator of sorts,
that's also another pathway.
I think growth in the traditional sense is
big for me as well. And, you know,
while we're trying to innovate and grow in
a different way, you know, I we're still
focused on what's needed in the community.
So particularly in South Jersey,
we're expecting a two to 3% increase over

(05:20):
the next five years.
So,
that means we have to keep up with
the demand and make sure
that we have the ambulatory offerings, that we
have the program to service at our hospital
to meet those needs. And quite frankly, we've
been doing that these last eighteen months. So
particularly in the areas of oncology,
heart and vascular, and neurosciences,

(05:40):
from achieving the comprehensive stroke center designation and
offering STEMI elective PCI services
at our Washington township hospital, which is our
tertiary medical center,
to opening the brand new state of the
art medical infusion
and radiation oncologist. We had Cherry Hill Hospital.
You know, we're really providing
everything to South Jersey residents,

(06:02):
in their backyards.
And
we've also hired 50 plus physicians and AVPs
this past year to make sure, to the
earlier point, that patients
have that access,
while we're trying to innovate with new models.
And, you know, overall,
health care is local, so
I'm excited for that. And that's probably the

(06:23):
work that I'm looking forward to continuing to
carry on this next fiscal year,
to give our, you know, neighbors, friends, and
family expert care close to home.
That's great to hear. You know? And certainly,
it seems to make a lot of sense
to have that kind of stability
in your plan for the future. No matter
what happens, you're able to keep those patients
front and center, and that engagement and growth

(06:46):
is important as well.
From your perspective, what are you most focused
on and excited about for the future?
You know, I think the programs that I
just listed, we still have a lot of
opportunities as particularly in those service signs of
oncology, heart and vascular, and neurosciences.
You know, I think the capacity
for us, is only gonna increase because we

(07:07):
have new infrastructure projects that we're planning to
build up for the hospital. And I mentioned
a little bit earlier the ambulatory offerings and
making sure that we have the access not
only from a primary care perspective, but the
subspecialties
that we're seeing,
ramp up a bit more. And I think
those are gonna be key areas for us.

(07:27):
And I think growth also in the form
of partnerships.
You know, I think we have opportunities to
work closely
with other health care providers, health care systems
here
to think of the innovative ways that we
should be delivering care. And,
you know, coming from different
markets and different regions in California

(07:48):
and New York and now here,
a lot of times,
there was no better example,
than COVID,
we have to figure out how to work
together and be frenemies, so to speak, with
even our competitors
to make sure
that, you know, we can leverage each other's
expertise to to grow. And I think whether
it's working with other health care systems in

(08:10):
the traditional sense or,
you know, FQHCs,
long term care facilities to figure out,
how do we really make sure we cover
the whole gamut and continuum.
That's a key focus for us as well.
And that makes a lot of sense. You
know, it just will be fascinating to see
how the next several months play out. I
really appreciate the focus on partnerships for growth

(08:31):
and being able to forge relationships with folks
you haven't in the past just because it
seems like that, so many, you know, organizations
are are trying to solve the same problems
and needing to do them together to make
it work. Now I'm curious. Could you talk
a little bit about a project or initiative
or something you're most proud of from the
last six to eighteen months or so?

(08:52):
Sure. The one that comes to mind is
our most recent oncology expansion at our Cherry
Hill facility.
It's been wonderful to see.
We made significant investments into the state of
the art medical oncology suite that opened in
May of twenty twenty four and the radiation
oncology suite in January of this year. And
the community reception
has been overwhelming. From the ribbon cutting to

(09:15):
the patient family feedback, everything has just been
incredible.
As you are aware,
cancer care involves a structured treatment schedule,
including regular appointments,
medication adherence,
and general follow-up care. And we talked about
access before.
By expanding this oncology access through these sites,

(09:35):
patients in the ZIP code are now able
to receive top notch care from a program
that has received one of the highest quality
designations as an NCI comprehensive
center, and they have the latest in cancer
treating technology.
I mean, it doesn't get much better than
that. I know you asked for one example,
but I have to mention our community outreach
work, which really gets to the core of

(09:56):
who we are. This last fiscal year, we
completed 280
events that took place all over South Jersey
region, particularly in underserved communities or what you
would call areas that are health care deserts.
Our team of caregivers provides education,
free screenings,
and connect them with health care services
all with one objective in mind, which is

(10:18):
to improve lives.
Pretty special, and I couldn't be more proud
and grateful for an incredible team of physicians,
nurses, and staff that help make this happen
every day.
That's helpful to know. And and what a
a great way to provide such a needed
service, and congratulations on NCI designation as well.
I think it's truly, truly,

(10:39):
helpful
to show how great you're doing and especially
as you mentioned, being able to, provide
much needed care for a broader community. So
that's awesome to hear. Before we wrap up,
I'm curious, what advice would you have for
leaders evolving in the health care space today?
I think first and foremost,
you have to be inquisitive

(11:00):
and have the desire to learn.
If you don't have that innate desire,
work at it and develop it. Because if
there's one thing that's constant in health care,
it's change,
and you have to be able to adapt
to the times and and mold the punches.
Another piece of advice that I'd offer is
to develop good communication skills. And I think

(11:23):
a big part of that is developing the
habit
and,
really, the comfort of over communicating.
I personally believe 99% of the issues that
we face in health care are related to
not knowing or not receiving information.
So it's important for a leader to be
able to convey important information
and

(11:44):
customize it or format it to different people
as needed.
It's also one of the biggest building blocks
to forming a strong relationship,
which is paramount in any type of work
environment.
So the last piece of advice would be
to be bold and, to be authentic.
Be a leader that's true to themselves,

(12:05):
not afraid to speak their mind,
and one that can respectfully challenge status quo.
Don't be satisfied with the answer because that's
how we've always done it.
I love it. Aaron, thank you so much
for joining us in the podcast today. This
has been such a fun conversation, and I
look forward to connecting with you again soon.
Absolutely, Laura. I appreciate it.