The Exec: Ronda Lehman on Consumer-Focused Care of the Future

The president of Mercy Health's Lima market shares her passion and insights into pharmacy and provider care.

Editor's note: This conversation is a transcript from an episode of the HealthLeaders Podcast. Audio of the full interview can be found here and below.

Ronda Lehman, PharmD, joined Mercy Health, now a part of Bon Secours Mercy Health, in 1995, beginning in the pharmacy department of St. Rita's Medical Center in Lima, Ohio. Now, 28 years later, she serves as president of Mercy Health's Lima market, where St. Rita's Medical Center serves as the flagship hospital.

The Lima market serves half a million patients across 10 counties in northwestern Ohio through the hospital, three freestanding urgent care centers, a freestanding emergency department, a joint venture with an orthopedic hospital, an ambulatory surgery center, and more than 20 physician practice locations.

Lehman recently sat down with HealthLeaders for a podcast interview, during which she talks about Mercy Health's Lima market and current initiatives she's excited about, and shares her career journey and leadership advice.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

HealthLeaders: What initially drew you to work in healthcare? What has your healthcare career journey looked like?

Ronda Lehman: I was a "volun-teen" at a local hospital in the pharmacy department and I had the opportunity to see young professional women who were mothers and who were having the best of both worlds. I really aspired to be like them, doing something that was challenging, fulfilling, still having a family, and also helping my community. Healthcare was out of the gate something that interested me, specifically pharmacy.

From there, I journeyed on and started pharmacy school, and really anticipated that when I completed pharmacy school, I would probably move into a clinical pharmacist-type role and would be [involved with] direct patient care. I didn't envision leadership per se, but I'm very grateful for the path that my career has taken me, because I have had incredible mentors along the way and lots of opportunities to do many different things in healthcare. Looking back, I can't imagine it any other way. I've worked in operations of the hospital, I've worked in the ambulatory physician practice side, I've worked in population health, and now I'm the president for Mercy Health St. Rita's in Lima.

HL: What initially drew you to work at Mercy Health and then continue to stay with the organization?

Lehman: What I saw at Mercy Health St. Rita's, and what I have seen throughout the years, is a genuine commitment to people, to each other, to our patients. When I think about why I've stayed, it's so hard for me to envision myself anywhere else, quite honestly, because it's such a part of who I am at this point.

It's our mission and our passion for helping people and the fact that I get to bring my whole self to work, I get to bring my faith to work with me every day and that's embraced, I get to do what's right for patients every day and that is exactly what we're here for. For me, having the mission be the first and foremost of what we do is so consistent with who I try to be and who I'm striving to be as a person; that is definitely what's kept me here this long and helped me transition into so many different roles.

HL: What initiatives are you looking forward to leading for the Lima market in the coming year?

Lehman: There are a lot of things to be excited about and encouraged about. One of which is we are a couple of years into dramatically expanding our graduate medical education program for residency. We just graduated our first class of family medicine physicians last year, and this year we're graduating our first class of emergency department and internal medicine residents. The growth of that program is very exciting. We also have partnered with the Ohio State University, and we'll be offering a rural medicine track for medical students here in Lima.

When I think about the future of healthcare, I think that this migration towards a more patient-centric, consumer-focused type of care is the way of the future, whether it's hospital at home, or maximizing some of the asynchronous or synchronous visits that patients can have with their providers. The public is going to continue to demand that type of access and I see that as a real positive. That's a great way we can serve people who are in all walks of life to make sure that they are getting access to the healthcare that they need.

HL: Reflecting on the past 28 years working in healthcare, what are some of the top changes that you've experienced in the hospital pharmacy department and provider care?

Lehman: Wow, there have been tremendous changes in healthcare.

When I started so early in my career, I remember talking to people who'd been here 30-40 years. I used to hear their stories about their manual documentation systems and their manual patient profiles that they would write out by hand. We had a computer system when I started here, but the level of integration was not there at all. We had paper charts, we fought over who got that chart and who got to document in that chart trying to keep things updated. It sounds cliche, but truly as I look over the course of my career, the impact that technology has had, not only on the pharmacy department from a barcoding and scanning and safety standpoint but the impact that technology has had on the entire continuum, is just phenomenal.

Sometimes I think we are hard on it and don't give it credit where it's due. But I think that's probably because we have a lot of people working today who didn't see it before. I can remember the days of us having to manually keep track of who was on call for physicians and now we simply pick up the phone and we've got it all programmed so that at any given moment of the year, you know who's on call for a service. We kind of take those things for granted today. But truly it has propelled us forward light years from where we used to be.

At a more fundamental level, the shift in mindset around consumerism and patient experience has been pivotal. We have come from generations of "doing to" patients, and now we're trying to change a whole mindset and healthcare of "doing with" patients.

Instead of us delivering our great care to them and expecting them to just take it so willingly and appreciatively, we are now called to be so much more engaged, to be activating our listening, and to be understanding of what's important to patients, what they need in their given time. I do believe that while that may seem a little more labor-intensive to the front end, the dividends that will pay on the back end are beyond measure. It's exciting because the outcomes can be so much more impactful than we ever imagined when we are partnering with patients.

HL: What are some of your favorite aspects of being a leader at Mercy Health? How would you define your leadership style?

Lehman: There are a lot, and I know that may sound kind of crazy to some people because it's not an easy job. But I would say that's one of my favorite parts of it, is that it is so incredibly challenging and so incredibly rewarding when things do go well. I love the variety. I love working with so many different constituents even outside of healthcare to help them understand because to me healthcare is one of those things that will impact or has impacted pretty much everyone in the world. It's exciting to think about partnering, whether it's with legislators, or community groups, or the different people within the walls of the hospital, the clinicians, and the people that work a little more behind the scenes to move things forward.

I also love hearing from patients, which happens quite often, about the amazing things that our caregivers do in the moment and every single day here that is touching to them, that is impactful to them and, frankly, changes their lives. That is so exciting to me to be able to be part of an organization and even to be blessed enough to call myself the leader of so many amazing people who do such great things every day.

I would like to be, and I aspire to be, approachable, friendly, enthusiastic, even in difficult times. We need people who are excited about the future and who see a path forward. I've often been accused of being an optimist, and I take that to heart. But I would also like to be known as decisive and action-oriented. I think talk is cheap in that while we need strategy, by the end of the day we also need to see the outcomes of our decisions and the outcomes of our plans and programs. I want to be a caring and compassionate leader that, when people look back on my time here at St. Rita's, however many years from now, they see me as someone who cared deeply about the work that they do, wasn't afraid to make hard decisions, [and] always tried to consider the human aspect of all those decisions along the way.

HL: What advice do you have for women and others who aspire to be leaders in healthcare?

Lehman: I am an advocate for healthcare in general and for leadership in healthcare. It can be incredibly rewarding. I want people to drop any misconceptions they may have about it and I would say that the best advice I can give them is, don't be afraid to learn a lot of aspects of healthcare. I think that starting in positions that may not seem that glorified are important steps for future credibility. I think maybe one of the reasons why people view me as someone that's relatable is … because I've done some of those jobs before and I'm not afraid to do them now. I'd be willing to do anything that it took. Having a heart of a servant leader, I think, is incredibly important.

The other thing I would say is don't shortchange yourself. Most women, and there's research around this, won't even apply for a job if they don't think they're 80% or 90% qualified. I would say, you probably are more qualified than you think you are, and you should go for it. You should absolutely put yourself out there. Then you surround yourself with amazing, talented people who can help lead and steer an organization together.