RJHA Supports Washington Health Institute
with Change Management Initiatives and
Culture Change Transformation
We recently had the pleasure of meeting with the Founder and CEO of Washington Health Institute (WHI), Jose Bordon, MD, PhD, and the new Chief Operations Officer, Michael Shankle, MPH, to discuss how Renaye James Healthcare Advisors (RJHA) has impacted their organization in providing patient-centered medical home/practice transformation support, harnessing change management initiatives, and implementing a culture change transformation.
The answers they provided during our meeting truly align with our mission which is to create healthy communities by transforming healthcare organizations and healthcare partners into high-quality, efficient, safe, patient-centered, value-based venues for healthcare.
Can you tell me about the organization and how it got started?
Dr. Jose Bordon:
Providence Hospital, which was chartered by Abraham Lincoln more than 150 years ago, announced that it will be closing in late 2018. At that time, I was the Chief of Infectious Diseases and we provided inpatient and outpatient services available at the hospital. Once we knew the hospital would be closing, I spoke with my medical team as well as Michael Shankle, who was at a different organization at the time, and we decided that we will continue to work in the same place under a new name. We then drafted a nonprofit organization, which is today called the Washington Health Institute (WHI), and we received technical assistance from the Government of the District of Columbia, under Michael Shankle’s leadership.
When did you start working with Renaye James Healthcare Advisors (RJHA)?
Dr. Jose Bordon:
In the summer of 2021, it was a very unique time, it was a time of crisis for us at WHI. I would say more than a unique time, it was in the knick of time when we were dealing with some challenges and we were referred to Dr. Washington at Renaye James Healthcare Advisors.
In any organization you have challenges, ups and downs, peaks and valleys in part related to the rapid growth of our organization and items were not fully aligned in relation to operations and various staff positions. Our culture was not the best, our communication was not optimal. Therefore, we had to put the brake pedal down as much as we could to essentially reassess our practice. We got a call that Dr. Washington was there to help and offer business consulting to improve our operations. We acquired an angel, Dr. Washington, and her team.
What are the challenges that RJHA is helping to address at your organization?
Dr. Jose Bordon:
RJHA arrived with many consultants and WHI underwent a thorough assessment, and then a time and milestone-oriented plan was ultimately developed. We agreed to two projects, one was change management which is fantastic, and the next was the culture change. These two projects ran in parallel with one another and supported us in providing missing resources and tools, such as SOPs, policies and procedures, job descriptions, trainings and competencies. The culture change was more in relation to challenges related to not having the optimal communication and management of our employees, including supervisors and staff.
Michael Shankle:
During this rapid change, there were a lot of missing pieces they had to tighten up and provide clarity. This is one of the steps RJHA is doing is building clarity amongst our team, and defining different roles that each team member plays in helping a patient drive towards their health outcomes.
Would you work with RJHA again?
Dr. Jose Bordon:
We wouldn’t hesitate to call RJHA again if we have any new challenges. I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to recommend RJHA to any organization in need of support and coaching in relation to outpatient services like ours.
Michael Shankle:
One of the most powerful aspects of RJHA is that the consultants will lend a hand to guide us in the right direction or find someone who will. They will also share policies and procedures with us and go out of their way to be constructive and supportive as the organization grows. We were focused on working towards a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model and discovered that we had to make cultural adjustments and we were able to make those adjustments and navigate very fluid-like versus being very rigid and staying in your own lane. If Dr. Washington does not know the answer directly, she will find out or will bring you someone to talk to and that is so helpful and so insightful.
