How Huntington Health Turned Crisis Response Into Organizational Muscle Memory

President John Corman says institutional resilience now allows Huntington to focus on long-term cultural and operational growth.

For much of the past several years, hospital leadership has required constant recalibration. Pandemic surges gave way to staffing shortages. Financial strain followed operational strain. Just as one disruption eases, another is quick to surface.

At Huntington Health, a Cedars-Sinai affiliate, recently appointed president John Corman, MD, has experienced that rhythm up close. When he arrived to the Pasadena, California-based organization in May 2023, it was operating in what he describes as a reactive cycle, in which each day seemed to bring a new challenge requiring immediate attention.

“I think the shift that has occurred recently is we’ve gone from this concept of crisis management, where it seems that every day is a fresh reactive response to something that impacts us, COVID being the obvious, but it seemed like every six months brought us something different,” Corman told HealthLeaders.

Today, he sees a different phase taking shape. The environment remains demanding, but Huntington has entered what he calls a more sustainable period, allowing leadership to focus less on immediate disruption and more on defining what the organization intends to be.

That shift has created space to think about culture, quality, and financial stewardship, with an eye toward ensuring Huntington remains strong for the next generation of patients.

Stability, in Corman’s view, does not mean complacency. During his time at Huntington, the organization has been forced to develop an ability to pivot quickly that now feels embedded.

“We have this new DNA of ability to respond to crisis that feels almost natural and normal now, which is a fairly unusual thing,” he said.

That capacity was tested again during the Eaton Fire, a deadly wildfire that ignited on January 7, 2025, in Eaton Canyon in the San Grabriel Mountains near Pasadena, killing 19 people and destroying more than 9,400 structures.

As the community faced widespread displacement, Huntington moved swiftly to expand its care footprint, Corman highlighted. Leadership activated its crisis center and evaluated which spaces could be converted into patient care areas. Units that had previously been closed were reopened. The response drew on lessons learned during earlier emergencies, but it unfolded with greater coordination and confidence.

The experience reinforced Corman’s belief that resilience can be institutionalized. The organization no longer has to build its response from scratch because the muscle memory exists.

With that foundation in place, Huntington’s leadership has turned its attention to strengthening the systems that support its workforce and patients.

Pictured: John Corman, president, Huntington Health.

Building endurance

Corman’s approach to workforce strategy centers on development and continuity.

In recent years, Huntington has formalized a career advancement program designed to help employees grow within the organization. Rather than focusing solely on recruitment, leaders have concentrated on creating clear pathways for existing team members.

He shared an example of an internal medicine physician who began her career at Huntington as a candy striper and cafeteria cook before progressing through medical school and becoming a practicing physician. For Corman, that trajectory reflects the culture the organization wants to cultivate.

The emphasis on retention is also measured. One of Huntington’s annual goals is tracked by how many employees leave within five years of joining. That number, Corman said, is currently at a record low. Physician engagement surveys show similar progress, with Huntington trending upward even as national engagement levels decline.

“As opposed to most of the rest of the country that is declining in physician engagement, we’re actually going the opposite direction,” Corman said. “Press Ganey actually came in here to look at the work that we do and why are our physicians feel more engaged than the rest of the country.”

Corman attributes the improvement to a combination of listening, workflow improvements, and investments in tools that ease administrative burden. Stability has allowed those efforts to take root.

The same philosophy guides capital decisions. Corman believes financial return alone cannot determine whether an investment moves forward, with leaders also needing to consider how decisions affect patient outcomes and workforce well-being. The goal is to ensure that resources support both clinical excellence and operational sustainability.

Corman is a big believer in the Toyota Production System in thinking about operations. The goal is to identify what adds value to patients and eliminate what does not. That mindset shapes his focus on improving access, coordinating care, and aligning services with modern expectations.

“It’s a digitally focused patient population and it’s an impatient group of patients,” Corman said. “How do we improve our communication? People expect instant answers.”

He pointed to practical changes, such as allowing emergency department patients to wait at home or in their cars until they are ready to be seen, or consolidating visits so patients do not need to return multiple times for basic diagnostic steps.

“We should not have an expectation of lower service in medicine than I can get when I make reservations at a local restaurant,” he said.

Corman also frames stability in preventive terms. Hospitals exist to treat acute illness, yet he believes their long-term strength depends on investing in wellness and early intervention.

“In a sense, we’re in the business of putting ourselves out of business in medicine, or at least in the acute care setting,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we didn’t have to build that next acute care facility because we had invested so ardently in preventative care?”

Still, Huntington isn’t likely to go out of business anytime soon, in large part because of how it responds when disruption strikes, and then channeling that resilience into a commitment to continue improving.