🔒Physician Perspective: New Waterbury HEALTH CEO brings doctor’s insight to role

As he embarks on his new position leading the Waterbury HEALTH network, Dr. Justin Lundbye says his background as a physician will help him accomplish his goals to grow the organization, improve patient care and increase services.

Lundbye is a cardiologist and internal medicine physician, and also teaches at the University of Connecticut, where he is an associate professor of medicine. He took over as CEO the first week of November, replacing Lester Schindel, who retired.

Lundbye now leads the entire health network, which includes Waterbury Hospital, Alliance Medical Group, Cardiology Associates of Greater Waterbury, VNA Health at Home, Access Rehab Centers, and the Greater Waterbury Imaging Center. The network provides primary, emergency and home health care to Waterbury and several surrounding communities.

Lundbye had most recently served as senior vice president and chief medical officer of Waterbury Hospital, a role he had since Dec. 2016. During the pandemic, Lundbye has led testing and vaccination efforts, and served as the network’s primary medical spokesman.

The for-profit Prospect Medical Holdings acquired Waterbury HEALTH, financially troubled at the time, in 2016, around the period Lundbye joined. He previously held leadership roles at Hartford HealthCare.

According to Lundbye, the Waterbury HEALTH system’s financial position has improved since the Prospect acquisition. Previously, Waterbury Hospital, its largest asset, had been experiencing financial losses and job cuts. Prospect acquired the health system’s assets for $43.3 million, and agreed to invest more than $50 million.

Waterbury Hospital in fiscal year 2020 generated $237.3 million in operating revenue and a $19.5 million operating margin, making it one of the top-performing Connecticut hospitals, according to recent data published by the state Office of Health Strategy. The hospital’s total net assets have grown from $37 million in 2017 to $111 million in 2020.

New Haven Biz recently chatted with Lundbye about his plans for his new role, and how he hopes to improve and change the health system.

Is it unusual for a physician to be in the CEO role?

It is becoming a norm more so than it was. I think a lot of healthcare systems and organizations realize that the physicians understand not only the clinical aspect but they have the administrative background. It really is a sweet spot, or a secret sauce for effective leadership.

There have been studies that have looked at physician leadership. It turns out that if a physician is in a leadership role, a CEO role in an organization, their outcomes are better, their quality is better, their finances are better, it ticks better all around.

What do you hope to accomplish in your new position?

I want to continue to provide what I consider high-quality care at an appropriate value. The other thing that has become more acute to me is the change in our staffing landscape.

There is this ‘Great Resignation’ going on out there. Health care is also impacted.

It is very important that people feel happy at their workplace. Every day when I get up in the morning, I look forward to coming in because I know I am going to help someone, I am going to improve something, and it keeps me challenged.

I want people to feel that appetite when they come into this organization as an employee. A lot of them do today. I think that is one of the ways you can continue to retain people -- build them and make them really take pride in what they do.

Has COVID had an impact on people deciding to leave the health profession?

Yes. People had this immense adrenaline surge the first round of COVID when we saw our first spike. People really stepped up into action and were ready to fight it.

Now it is going into its second year, people are exhausted. This adrenaline surge is wearing off. We have seen people who have left the profession, from physicians to mid-level practitioners to nurses and other areas.

These people would go into the rooms everyday, gown up and get all their [personal protective equipment]. There was death and suffering. That really takes a toll on people after awhile.

Do you anticipate changes in how health care is delivered?

We need to really think about how we can redefine ourselves and how we do health care. We can’t do it the usual way where you come into the hospital, you stay for four days and then you go home.

Maybe there is another opportunity to revisit things like hospital to home care, where you get most of your therapy and then you go home and get the rest at home with some sort of resource that we introduce. It is an opportunity to redefine ourselves.

Do you anticipate the health network will grow? If so, how?

It will definitely grow. One of the things we take pride in is our ability to create what we call coordinated regional care models where we create clinically integrated networks.

We work with patients, payers (such as insurance companies) and providers to coordinate care better. That will build on our existing network, and I think that will expand even more beyond where it is today.

We continue to add new physicians to our growing group. Today we have 42 primary care providers in our community. We have about 160 or so employed physicians just in the Waterbury area who provide excellent care to our patients every day.

Are you thinking of expanding in different care areas or regionally?

We want to continue to expand our cardiac care. Our cardiac care is superb, but there are opportunities to bring new therapies locally, so patients don’t have to travel to get it.

We started a transaortic valve replacement program just two or three months ago, which has allowed patients to get their care right here in the community and get an aortic, a heart valve replacement, pretty amazing stuff.

You said you wanted to increase services — what type?

One of my biggest focuses is cardiac ablation. And that is basically going in and eliminating abnormal heart rhythms using a special catheter that we can bring into the heart.

You need a team of physicians and providers and nurses to do that. We are slowly evolving into that area as a new service here.

Any new technology you would like to add?

This cardiac ablation would bring some new machinery and technology with it. We are also looking to expand our neurosurgical capabilities to be more comprehensive.

That would require us to bring in special cameras that can take very good pictures, and microscopes, to help support that service.

We have acquired a second da Vinci system, (which allows surgeons to perform robotic-assisted procedures). We are going to continue to build on those areas that are a need for the community.

What impact has COVID had on the health network?

COVID has had an incredibly challenging impact on our health network.

We saw a significant drop in our patient volume. We had to cancel surgeries at one point. We had to use the OR for an ICU overflow area for a while to make sure we had all the resources.

All of that obviously has a significant financial impact on any organization. Like any other business, you need the volume to get through your doors to be able to keep the doors open.

We have a very strong parent company that was able to support us and ensure we could maintain and really minimize any staff cutting or anything like that during COVID.

How is the health system doing financially overall?

Overall the health system is doing well, and we obviously always want to do better. One of the things I want to try to improve is making sure we can continue to provide all the services in an effective way.

One of the challenges we have had is a staffing shortage. We have brought in external resources, travelers (who travel for temporary assignments) and so forth, and those are very costly. I would rather hire someone who is committed to this organization and stays.

How has it been for Waterbury Hospital since its acquisition and change to a for-profit model?

We are only one of a few hospitals in the state of Connecticut that is for-profit.

[Since being acquired by Prospect Medical Holdings in 2016] it has been an incredibly good story for the organization. We have been able to introduce the capital that is needed to maintain the organization. There was a commitment to about a $50 million capital investment, and that has been done.

Financially, we have been able to turn around the organization. The organization was in a lot of financial distress.

What Prospect does well is they know how to organize a healthcare system in a way everything is running very efficiently. And our quality of care has improved.

You mentioned how, like many hospitals, people postponed care due to the pandemic. Has that trend reversed now?

People have come back and they are seeking their care. We are almost back to where we were pre-COVID, not quite, but very close.

Have you been able to attract enough talent?

We have open positions, a lot of nursing openings. That is one area we continue to recruit, and I want to recruit more.

Do you foresee any future facility expansion?

If there is one area we have put some attention to it is the emergency department — expanding that. That is still in the planning phase.

Last August, your health network announced it was requiring all healthcare workers and staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19. What was the final compliance rate?

If you count everybody who is eligible to be vaccinated, before that mandate, we were at about 86 percent. Folks were really engaged in getting vaccinated.

I’m guessing we are north of 90 percent now. We did allow for both religious and health exemptions like everybody else. No one lost their job.