Marquette, MI – June 7, 2017 – Brian Sinote, CEO of the UP Health System joined the Marquette West Rotary Club in the Sky Room at The Landmark as today’s speaker. Qualified with a Masters in Business Administration and Hospital Management, Brian Sinote brings leadership and energy to the job.
With 1,000 of America’s 6,000 hospitals near closing or at risk of closing, Sinote has a difficult and demanding job. The new dynamic will be family care centers versus a hospital in every community. With doors threatening to close at hospitals across the country and the challenge of costs being so high, it is a common feeling that the previous president’s Affordable Care Act legislation created a tougher time for hospitals to remain open.
Within the first fiscal quarter of 2017, 12 hospitals closed their doors. These locations are not just rural hospitals; academic centers and urban facilities have challenges as well. Because of those challenges, all American hospitals are making profound changes to structure. The world renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota has even created special programs for patients with good insurance trying to find and hold onto good revenue because there’s tremendous fixed costs in the past four years.
Brian Sinote also spoke on U.S. spending habits. The United States of America spends 17.7% of its GNP on healthcare, double what other developed nations spend. Thankfully, despite varied opinions on broader topics, all economists agree this is not sustainable.
Premiums have skyrocketed so people are more sensitive about what they get for health care. People are more willing to drive longer distances for cheaper rates, and are even canceling procedures because of high costs. With 2006’s highest deductible being around 3%, 2016 saw deductibles as high as 33%!
Change is hard, tough and painful. The healthcare industry is changing. Because of all the hardship and change, partnerships are helping in Marquette. Brian is looking at tax paying versus non tax paying organizations. Quality care, services, decreasing expenses, and how we grow are now the same issues with all hospitals.
All hospitals have to stabilize a patient and make sure they are comfortable regardless of cost. Sinote noted that despite the chaos, there’s lots of opportunity. He referenced the book, “The Art Of War” and how it shows the way in this environment.
While medical services continue to strive to be a high performing organization, they are looking inwards at systems and frameworks as a slow reboot of systems from top to bottom.
“In hospitals, 999 things go right and 1 goes bad,” said Sinote. “And we should not let the 1 bad thing define us.”
We have great doctors, nurses, and techs here in Marquette. At UP Health System, they are focused on the basics of quality and service. They train some physician leaders with fellowship training in leadership so these doctors can rally.
Because of all of Brian Sinote’s work as well as the entire staff at UP Health System, while a lot of hospitals are at risk of closure, UP Health System is not one of them. New partnerships have put the medical facility in a good position. Sinote hopes to rekindle Upper Peninsula relationship. There are quality physicians and care all throughout the U.P. that need to connect and grow.
Finished, Brian estimated that in three to five to seven years from now, the UP Health System journey should place them with the best of the best. Leadership and accountability is being built in the organization to become the regional provider of choice. Though it is not a fast process, Sinote said “I feel very good that we can accomplish this.”
To learn more about this rising organization, visit the UP Health System Website. To contact UP Health System, call (906) 228-9440.
