Ms. Addo, who also serves as system president and COO, told Becker’s that when she was asked to step in as interim CEO, Penn State University’s president, Neeli Bendapudi, PhD, emphasized the need for a leader to bring progress during the transition. “I said, ‘I’m the person, put me in,'” Ms. Addo said.
One of the big projects Ms. Addo is overseeing is Penn State Health’s systemwide transition from Oracle Health, formerly known as Cerner, to Epic’s EHR. The system entered into negotiations with Epic last September.
“[The transition] is a huge undertaking, and I think is something that really is going to be transformational for us,” Ms. Addo said.
Penn State Health is also working to unify its two separate medical groups in another “transformational move.” The system currently has an academic medical group and community medical group, and is working to bring them together as the Penn State Health Medical Group.
Amid Pennsylvania’s booming and competitive M&A landscape, Penn State Health is focused on maintaining a strong position for potential mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Addo said that the system aims to remain well-positioned for any opportunities related to acquisitions or mergers.
On the infrastructure side, the system is in the middle of developing a new cancer center and behavioral health hub in the state’s West Shore region.
While managing these large-scale initiatives, Ms. Addo emphasized the importance of having a strong support team, maintaining continuity and ensuring that the transition to a future permanent CEO is as smooth as possible.
“It’s leading the way, it’s courage in the heart and it’s removing the barriers,” she said. “Those are some of the things that I try to do so that our team can be successful. That’s the only way that this works.”
Ms. Addo also said she holds weekly meetings with the executive team to review key performance indicators and strategic goals to ensure that the organization remains on track.
As Penn State Health continues its search for a permanent CEO, Ms. Addo highlighted the need for the next leader to have resilience, strong vision and energy to navigate a competitive healthcare environment.
“They need to be somebody who’s willing to get in the middle and so some fighting if we need to fight, but also have that spirit of camaraderie when you need to do that,” she said. “It needs to be that kind of balance. They’ve got a strong governance team that is behind them, and that’s going to support them in the work that they do, and that we need to continue to move ahead.”
Ms. Addo also had three pieces of advice for other interim healthcare leaders: just because you get the job, don’t stop interviewing for it; realize the strength of the team around you; and do your homework.
“If there are gaps that you have, make sure that you’re working to fill in those gaps, because there are all kinds of resources available for you now,” she said. “You’ve got friends, you’ve got mentors and you’ve got other people who’ve done it, so make sure that you’re investing in doing your homework so that you can serve well.”
