David Levine, New Chief Executive Officer of The Ottawa Hospital

Abstract

New leaders inevitably establish in their minds what an organization should feel like and focus on an organizational value that everyone can agree on. So it is not surprising that in an open and congenial conversation with Hospital Quarterly, David Levine came back several times to the importance of a "noble cause" to help gel the merged hospitals. His cause? "Excellence in patient care."
There is evidence, says Levine, that some Canadian hospital mergers have not recognized this central focus. He cites an example of one major restructured hospital corporation where nothing has appeared to happen in two years, there is no clear vision, and an emphasis on a lot of planning will ensure that it will be four years before anything is implemented. As a result, the volume of research conducted is down, medical staff numbers are down, morale is down, and quality of care is down. According to Levine, it doesn't have to be this way. Clearly, he accepts the burden of defining what the merged organization will do without being charmed by existing cultures, existing organizations and existing facilities. He is committed to development, to strong communications, and to demonstrating that the new vision works. In this way a new organization with a new culture will emerge. You only have to watch him to see that he moves quickly and energetically.
But a merged hospital has other problems. Merging requires extensive staff changes throughout the organization and a certain amount of downsizing to deal with duplication. These changes need to be implemented quickly. Otherwise, says Levine, people will leave, they'll take their buyout and be gone and you'll have less say in who stays to help build the new vision. For this reason new CEOs like to act quickly to replace and name new managers who will get on board with the new program from the beginning.
Business leaders will say that a new CEO must establish strong relationships with board members. Levine goes a step further. He says: "Every CEO has to be aware of internal and external zones of power. Knowing the individuals within these zones means understanding their corporate needs and their personal needs. You need to know them as professionals and as individuals. Each zone plays a role and it is important to understand the interfaces and to leverage the opportunities these provide."
And finally, it's a common theme, but a good executive is a good communicator. Levine: "The big overriding thing is to communicate. It is so important to effective management that I'm going to take some personal time and write about it in the context of these zones of power." (Look for HQ to feature his views.)