INTERVIEW
Improving the Health of All People Lisa Shannon, CEO, Allina Health
Taking over from Penny Wheeler are some big shoes to fill. What can you tell us about how she has helped you to continue her legacy?
have come together and rallied to continue caring for our community in the most challenging of circumstances–we quickly pivoted to virtual care, found new ways to connect patients to their loved ones during times when we couldn’t have them at the bedside and quickly implemented important safety measures as part of our Safe Care Commitment to assure our patients it was safe to receive the in-person care they need, whenever they needed it.
I feel an incredible pride and honor to be able to lead Allina Health at this time following Dr. Penny Wheeler, who is a tremendous leader for our organization and who brought me to the organization. I am privileged to have been able to work alongside Penny for the last four years. She has been an exceptional leader, mentor and friend and I am grateful she is extending her service as a member of our Board of Directors.
What can you share about how the Allina Health Aetna partnership has developed?
“...” to all voices Listening is critical to providing the highest quality, compassionate care. “...”
As I look to the future, I hope to accelerate the foundation we have laid as an organization to ensure every part of our system works in coordination to provide a seamless experience for our patients, while continuing our momentum to change how health care is delivered to serve all patients and create more access and greater affordability.
I’m inspired by our entire team because it is truly extraordinary to watch the compassionate work that everyone is involved in, not only in the pandemic, but prior to COVID-19 and for countless other care needs that our community has.
Allina Health/Aetna was developed as a way to bring together two health care organizations with proven reputations for caring for the community with a goal of delivering an expert, cost-effective, personal and more comprehensive approach to health and wellness. Some examples of how we are delivering value-based care to patients are alignment on incentives and motivations to optimize patient health, sharing of real time clinical data to ensure holistic and personalized care and creating a streamlined patient experience by cross collaboration of our customer experience teams.
We recognize that cancer care can be complex and overwhelming–that’s why we’ve set out to reimagine cancer care by taking the right steps to ensure that every part of our system works in coordination to create an effortless care experience that fits the lives of our patients and their families. We believe a seamless cancer care experience is one of the most important services we can provide.
Please tell us about the new Allina Health
Our teams are 100% committed to caring for the communities we serve. They are not only dedicated to providing high-quality, compassionate care to our patients; they are deeply dedicated to each other. Our teams set a high bar for themselves, and they consistently strive to be best at what they do.
Cancer Institute?
The Allina Health Cancer Institute redefines how cancer care is delivered by providing comprehensive, expert cancer care that puts patients at the center and surrounds them with dedicated and compassionate caregivers, who work as a coordinated team to provide treatment and remove stress and inconvenience, allowing our patients to focus on healing.
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JANUARY 2022 MINNESOTA PHYSICIAN
The unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 are now echoed by the Omicron variant. What stands out in your mind around how Allina has reacted to the ongoing pandemic?
The resiliency and humanity I have witnessed, despite how fatigued and challenged our teams have felt, is nothing short of remarkable. Our teams
Another challenge that has become front and center is health care equity/social disparities in health care. How has Allina addressed these issues?
For our organization, the interlocking crises of a global pandemic, economic inequality and systemic racism have led us to an inflection point in how we seek to understand our role as a health care provider—to facilitate change for those we are privileged to employ and serve across Minnesota and the region. We are committed to eliminating racial disparities and inequities in care for all. As an organization, we have implemented a DE&I council that I lead, created an operations committee that includes representatives from teams such as human resources and community partnerships and we’ve developed employee resource groups to empower employees at every level to become advocates. Our DE&I goal is to improve the health of all people in our communities by using our collective strength as a care provider, employer, purchaser and community partner to eliminate systemic inequities and racism. We acknowledge this is a long-term journey, and as an institution we have much to learn. Please tell us about the Allina Integrated Medical (AIM) Network.
The Allina Integrated Medical Network brings together physicians and Allina Health to
