Dominican Hospital CEO on Female Leadership and Positive Community Rapport

Nanette Mickiewicz, MD, uses her role as CEO to better serve and support the hospital's community.

For Nanette Mickiewicz, MD, the COVID-19 pandemic wasn't her first-time treating patients during a health crisis.

After completing her internship, residency, and fellowship at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, she moved to Santa Cruz to work with a private practice as their infectious disease physician—arriving at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis.

"I [was] there before there were any medications, and care was mostly palliative, taking care of people when the medications were coming out,"  Mickiewicz said. Many of the patients she cared for during that time, she said, are alive and thriving today.

After seven years with the practice, she was offered the opportunity to be the director of infections prevention for Dominican Hospital. The new role, along with assisting the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in their efforts to enhance patient safety, marked the beginning of her journey as a healthcare administrator.

"Shortly thereafter, I joined the board of directors at Dominican, which gave me the opportunity to learn more about the operations, the mission, and work more with the CEO," Mickiewicz said. "Then in 2000, I was approached by the CEO at the time to become the chief medical officer."

After seven years as the hospital's CMO, she was approached by the CEO in 2007 who asked if she would succeed her once she retired. Uniquely, throughout the hospital's 80-year history, every administrator or president has been a woman.

"When I first started in leadership here in the hospital, I was the only female in [the Dignity Health] system at the time. So being the lone female voice was always interesting," Mickiewicz said. "I'm really proud that now [the system has] added many women, not only to the CMO ranks, but also the CEO arena, which has historically been more [male]."

Mickiewicz added that the women who founded the hospital were forward thinking in their efforts to "read the signs of the times" and to promote women in leadership. Being both a clinician and a mother, she believes that her intuition has helped her along her career as she navigates and develops relationships with her patients.

"What I would say, though, is I have used my position here as a platform to focus on things that tend to lean toward women's wellness and health," she said. "As well as issues or anything that pertains to children; while continuing to provide the full array of care and support for the community."

One example is her involvement with the Second Harvest Food Bank and leading its annual food drive. Seeing the number of individuals suffering from food insecurity in the community, she uses her influence to draw and bring attention to the issue any chance she gets.

Also, with the completion of the hospital's wellness center, she said that they're able to focus on issues specific to women, such as dealing with menopause and childbirth.

"We are the third largest employer of the community, so I always tell our team, 'we're not taking care of just anyone, we're taking care of each other, and our neighbors, and our school teachers," Mickiewicz said. "And the list goes on and on."

During the nation's first surge of COVID cases, the hospital was fortunate in that it didn't experience the influx of patients that other hospitals were experiencing, so they were able to prepare themselves. According to Mickiewicz, the hospital's first significant wave of patients came in October 2020. A second influx came in early 2021.

"We were blessed with a strong nursing staff, as well as the entire hospital and physicians. Our physicians stepped up in every department and went out of their comfort zones to make sure that our patients and each other were safe during this time," she said.

The community the hospital serves responded in kind to their hard work; from school children writing letters of support, to surrounding hospitals and organizations providing face shields and sharing medical supplies.

"I do believe that the outpouring of support for the hospital really suggests and reinforces that people appreciate the work that we do," Mickiewicz said.