OAHHS Hospital Voice Fall/Winter 2020

4 » A magazine for and about Oregon Community Hospitals. i f r t r it s it ls. As I reflect on the last nine months of intensive COVID-19 response, I am awed by the commitment, resil- iency, and humanity within the hospital industry. In the face of a novel virus, with so much unknown, hos- pitals did amazing things. From creating extra inpatient capacity, to standing up ERs in tents, to estab- lishing COVID-19 testing in their communities, hospitals were an anchor amidst fear and uncertainty. That’s not a surprise, it’s what hospitals do. The challenges were extraordinary, and the response was also extraordinary. I’m also proud of the OAHHS team, which moved essentially overnight from working in the office to sup- porting hospitals virtually, without missing a beat. We were the link between state and federal officials and our hospitals, providing information, gathering and reporting on key data, and working on their behalf to advance policy and payment changes to support hospitals. At first, I thought of the COVID-19 response terms of our traditional response to a natural disaster: respond, recover, rebuild. But now, I am shifting my thinking to how we manage COVID-19 over the long-term—more like a chronic disease. The virus, even with a vaccine, will likely be with us forever. We now must manage the pandemic and address the changes it created in the external environment, while also advancing other priorities. COVID-19 highlighted challenges we already faced within health care and put them in stark relief. Behav- ioral health, the inherent weakness of fee-for-service payment, the siloed nature of our health care system, and health equity were “pre-existing conditions” in health care, exacerbated by COVID-19. As we have seen them now with new eyes, addressing them is both an economic and moral imperative. Given the economic disruption of COVID-19, it is likely that we will have fewer resources with which to do so. This means thinking about old problems with new perspectives and applying new energy and creativity to addressing them. We face unprecedented headwinds, but there is opportunity in challenging times to do hard things that are not always possible during times of plenty. The last nine months have been a wild ride—and there is an incredible amount of work ahead. Despite the challenges, I feel blessed to be here and to be able to contribute to that work. I hope we can take this opportunity to learn from the challenges of COVID-19 and seize the opportunity to transform our system for the better. Becky Hultberg President & CEO Oregon Association of Hospitals & Health Systems To find out more about your community hospitals, please visit us online at www.oahhs.org. I recently read a funny post on social media. It went something like, “I can’t believe it’s almost December and March was only 16 years ago.” It does feel that way, doesn’t it? I officially started as OAHHS CEO last December, spent a few months in the office, and then the world blew up in March. That does, in some ways, feel like forever ago.