Christann Vasquez part of radical change in health care delivery
Her father,
"They both had a chronic disease and no access to regular care," says the president of the under-construction
That is why catchphrases such as "human care," which the Seton Healthcare Family employs regularly these days, mean more than just hospital rebranding for Vasquez.
"We are taking care of people just like us in the community," Vasquez, 54, says in her unassuming office located at the end of a labyrinth of hallways at the old Brack. "We are going to be accountable to the population and build a healthier community, keeping them healthy, not just helping them when they are sick."
While this "
"That's why the new hospital is the same size as this one, despite our growing community," Vasquez says.
"Christann is very focused on quality," he says. "And she digs deep into the data to find solutions. We are already working well together, and I look forward to even closer collaborations."
Headed to health care
Vasquez, who grew up in
"I absolutely loved school," she says. "I'd rather die than miss school because I knew the value it took from my family."
She enjoyed sports, even though her mother insisted that she and her sisters be home by
"She was a very traditional Mexican woman," Vasquez recalls. "Joey could stay out until
She attended a vocational high school. When she asked for a letter of reference to apply for college, Vasquez was told she shouldn't go. So she asked somebody else and studied social work at a liberal arts college.
"I thought I was going to save the world," Vasquez says with smile. "I was going to help the girls of
Always attracted to health care, she had taken finance and accounting courses in college. So she signed on with the revenue side of a small hospital, then moved up to a bigger one. She took those skills along to hospitals in
Scott and Christann grew up half a block up from each other in
"He told me, 'I wouldn't be dating you if you didn't finish college,' " she remembers. "So I stayed in college."
Family and career
In
"You oversee registration and capturing insurance verification ... collecting copays prior to admission, so we can bill appropriately," Vasquez says. "If you do it right, it's not a fight with an insurance company."
Along the way, she earned a master's degree in health care administration from the University of
Meanwhile, the Vasquezes raised three kids. One went into law like their father, another into health care administration like their mother. The third is a senior at St. Mary's
Vasquez caught Seton's eye while serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer for
"I would describe her management style as results-oriented," says Seton President and CEO
A new way
"I was intrigued by what was going on here," Vasquez says about why she answered the call of a national recruiter for the
Collaborating with the medical school,
"We're driving waste out," Vasquez says. "And adding value that's meaningful for patients. We are going from pay-for-performance to focusing on the value of what we bring."
She says that, at this point, no other city is using a community partnership quite like
"You see all these cranes, and you have a vision of what's going to happen on this large piece of property," she says. "When you start to see it all, it's really very exciting to think about. Now we routinely take people up there to imagine in five years what it's going to look like and the value it will bring the community."
Vasquez says that the Seton team in place has been building this new model for health care delivery for years.
"We are trying to not have people come into the emergency room for their care," she says. "And we are seeing decreases. We really focus on that: The right care at the right time and the right place."
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