HJNO May/Jun 2024

DIALOGUE 14 MAY / JUN 2024 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS Nickens The first thing that surprised me is how nice people are. In New Orleans, you pause and talk to each other. This idea that you're going to meet people where they are is super difficult. We meet people who are battling disparities or addiction or homelessness in a different place than someone who isn’t. We have to still meet them where they are, and I've never seen compassion like that of what New Orleanians bring trying to help each other. Houston is very proud. I was in the Texas Medical Center for 25 years. It's incredibly competitive. You can switch jobs and keep the same parking spot. There are seven hospitals there and two medical schools. It's intense. But I'll tell you what, I'll challenge anyone over there to stand up to the com- passion New Orleans has for this community. The is no comparison [like that of] the compassion I've seen and experienced here in New Orleans. If you start with that as a base- line, that's significant because from there, we're going to try to make positive change. We're going to try to create a culture of well- ness. We're going to try to change a generation. Whatever is next, whatever you're passionate about, you've got to have a foundation of compassion. So, that was surpris- ing to me, because Houston was muchmore transactional. It wasn't so personal. On the other side, I think New Orleans sometimes gets in its own way. There are times when we should compete, because competition makes us better, and there are other times when we should collaborate. No one is making big money off of behavioral health. When it comes to behavioral health, we should not compete; we should all come together and work on solving those prob- lems as New Orleanians. When I first got to Children's, I wanted to bring this attitude that was transforma- tional. At UMC, when we talk about those complex cases and the clinical trials, our opportunity to be transformational is big. There's a lot of opportunity. We can do great things here, and that's what gets me excited every day. Editor How would you characterize the present hospital landscape in New Orleans and Louisiana? Nickens Well, in New Orleans, we're down to two health systems — LCMC Health and Ochsner. Editor Is that good for the market? Nickens I think it is. Iron is going to sharpen iron. We're going to settle into our ways. If I go to the pediatrics world, Ochsner has no inpatient behavioral health beds, but they have a really strong and robust outpatient behavioral health program. You could see a day where they grow that pediatric outpatient behavioral health, and when you need an admission, you can send them over to LCMC Health Children's Hospital. The opportunity for us to work together is there. Yes, I think it's very good for the market. It will challenge us in all the right ways it should. But then, we have a shot at really working together like I believe no other city could. I would point back to COVID. During COVID, everybody just stopped with the competition, and we got on calls every day, Ochsner and LCMC Health, helping each other figure out how to best respond. When do we wear masks? How do we do ventilators? What are you seeing in your population? How can we be better in serving New Orleans? So, I'm very optimistic that the two of us will find the right balance of competition and collaboration. When you spread that across the state of Louisiana, boy, that’s impressive work. You look at North Oaks from the North Shore, or you look at what's happening with Willis-Knighton, or in Baton Rouge with Woman's Hospital, we have centers of excel- lence that are amazing. I think our next evolution is working together — all of healthcare. That's one reason why I love your journal. I read both the New Orleans and the Baton Rouge ones. I'm in Baton Rouge a lot; I was there a lot more when I was with Children's. But it offers one common language. We have the opportunity — if that journal can be the Healthcare Journal of Lou- isiana , that would be even more powerful, brings us all together. Editor Thank you. We're actually considering that. Can you explain the relationship between LCMC Health and its governance of UMC? Nickens UMC is a public-private partnership. LCMC Health and the state of Louisiana are partners in running that hospital. There's a certain amount of money that comes from the state through seeing patients with any form of coverage — Medicaid or Medicare. As an entity, we're a public- private partnership. It is my understanding that there are a couple of them in the state. I'm probably not the best at the catalyst of “There are times when we should compete, because competition makes us better, and there are other times when we should collaborate. No one is making big money off of behavioral health. When it comes to behavioral health, we should not compete; we should all come together and work on solving those problems as New Orleanians.”