“Revolutionizing Healthcare”

Andre Boyd, FACHE COO of New Hanover Regional Medical Center owing to his experience of working with some great organizations has been able to make a positive impact on outcomes, organizational performance, and community improvements. Currently, as Chief Operating Officer at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, there has been some significant transformational work that he has been honored to be part of and guided the institution to new heights. He has been a pioneering part of opening a Surgery Navigation Center that evaluates all surgical patients through a coordinated prescreening process, educate patients on their surgical procedure, and prepare them for what to expect before, during, and after their surgery. They have also partnered with Civica RX to ensure essential generic medications are always available for patients at a fair price, and has culminated as one of the first in the state of North Carolina to provide patients with a new minimally invasive treatment option using an FDA approved WEB device to help repair brain aneurysms. “Nationally, we are in the top 6% for quality scores and the top 25% for shared savings, and we have been repeatedly receiving Center of Excellence designation for our Outpatient Wound Care Center.”

"Andre discussing the impact of Covid-19 says that as cases started to increase in the community, their infection control team and emergency management team kept them focused on the right things every day."

According to Andre, in order to become a successful leader, one must always have passion for the work they are currently doing along with having the ability to inspire others to follow the mission and vision for the organization. “As a COO, you must show this through your actions and not just words. It is imperative that you are committed, through your authentic leadership style, to the success of the organization; but most importantly to the success of the people within the organization,” adds Andre. “Staying focused on outstanding performance and exceptional outcomes will significantly differentiation you as an up and comer that may be poised for a future COO role.”

It is important to know that I have placed a significant importance on mentoring and development of healthcare professionals throughout my career. As an African American executive, Andre feels that it is his responsibility to help increase the number of African Americans that enter the health care leadership profession and help them be successfully on their journey and has made it his mission to mentor and develop healthcare professionals. “In total, I have about 50 mentees from all races including African American and make a personal commitment to speak with 100 young healthcare leaders each year.”

Andre discussing the impact of Covid-19 says that as cases started to increase in the community, their infection control team and emergency management team kept them focused on the right things every day. Today, they are truly in a good position to lead through the challenges that Covid-19 has brought upon by activating their Command Center with a designated Incident Commander and key section chiefs to make sure the organization managed resources and communication effectively through the pandemic. They also created NHRMC Covid-19 Research Team to make sure they had dedicated team members who focused on keeping the organization at the forefront of best practices of Covid-19 from a clinical, operations, regulatory, and innovative standpoint. “We launched COVID Care at Home Monitoring System for Covid-19 patients. This telephone monitoring system is being used to provide care to existing patients at NHRMC and NHRMC physicians’ group. Using the COVID Care at Home tool, the care teams regularly call patients to assess their health status by asking a series of questions, such as about temperature, breathing, and level of activity.”

All of these have been possible because Andre and his organization has been committed to innovation and made it a significant part of their culture at NHRMC—opening the NHRMC Innovation Center in 2018. The innovation center allows their employees and physicians to collaborate with community partners and thought leaders from various industries in an environment conducive to innovative thinking. “We truly believe in being forward thinking and have implemented revolutionary technologies which has resulted in saving the staffs time, improved patient experience, and enhanced overall flow and throughput for the organization.” IE