Program Details
A unique component of the TACHC Executive Leadership Program, when compared to other leadership programs available to health care professionals, is our focus on improving the overall functioning of theentire leadership team of the community health center instead of only working with one position such as the Executive Director or Chief Medical Officer to improve their leadership and management skills. We know that in today's complex health care environment it takes more than a dynamic Chief Executive Officer to successfully lead a community health center; thus, it is critical that the health center have a strong and well functioning leadership team that includes administrative, operations, clinical and financial representation. By working with the entire health center leadership team in this program, the participants have a built in support system and ongoing feedback from their co-workers with unique perspectives to continuously improve and enhance their leadership abilities and support necessary changes in their center. "Participation in the TACHC leadership program was absolutely beneficial. An external challenge to look honestly at yourself, your organization, and how it functions is necessary on a regular basis. Participating has made us a better leadership team. The TACHC Leadership Initiative is one of the most important programs offered by TACHC." Roland Goertz, MD, Executive Director, Heart of Texas Community Health Center.
In the Executive Leadership Program, the health center's Chief Executive Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Clinic Manager and Chief Financial Officer are provided with training, technical assistance, individual leadership plans, mentoring with a professional peer, and monthly coaching with the project consultant and TACHC staff. Many of the participating centers have expanded their leadership teams to include Dental Directors, Directors of Nursing, Information Technology Directors and Human Resource Directors.
"The TACHC Leadership Program has really helped gel the leadership team at our health center. We are so much more effective now because we have learned how to openly communicate with each other and we all freely contribute ideas and work together. In the past we really got bogged down in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of running a community health center. It was great to be able to get away and focus and work on how to communicate and be more effective leaders in our health center," Emily Alpert, Director of Operations at Brownsville Community Health Centers in Brownsville, Texas.
Each year TACHC staff recruit up to seven health centers to participate in the program to keep the program to a manageable size and allow for lively interaction and hands on technical support from the project consultant and staff. The 37 health centers that have participated in the project represent both urban and rural health centers as well as large multi-site centers and smaller health centers with one site. The leaders from these health centers also represent the gamut of professional knowledge and experience in the community health center family. Professional peer-to-peer networking and support is emphasized and built into the leadership program.
The program design utilizes a variety of mediums to provide ongoing training, support, and technical assistance. Over a 12 month period, four interactive, face-to-face leadership learning sessions are held to provide information designed to improve communication, leadership and management skills. Prior to the first learning session, a 360 Degree Assessment of each team member's leadership and management skills is conducted. An individual leadership plan for each participant is developed from the feedback received from each team member's peers, direct reports, supervisor, as well as a self assessment. The leadership plan includes areas of strength and weaknesses and the participant's goals for improvement. A post 360 Degree Assessment is also conducted for each team member to determine the participant's progress and areas still in need of improvement.
One common trait of successful participants are those who actively work with mentors throughout the project period. These individuals tend to make even greater strides in improving their leadership competencies. In the program, each participant is asked to select a mentor to work with them on issues identified in their leadership plan as well as other issues facing the leadership within their center. Health Center leaders who have participated in past TACHC Executive Leadership Initiatives in many instances act as the mentors to current leadership program participants from other community health centers in the state. Due to the success of this project and the effectiveness of peer mentoring, TACHC has developed mentoring networks for Executive Directors, Chief Medical Officers, Dental Directors, and Clinic Managers. A successful CFO network, implemented by TACHC in 1993, is already in place with active participation among all CFOs in community health centers in the state.
Throughout the project, TACHC staff and the project consultant also provide ongoing support through monthly coaching calls utilizing videoconferencing and teleconferencing to check in with participants on the center's leadership team and track individual progress. Additional information including books, articles, leadership tools, and surveys were also provided to participating leadership staff through email to discuss during coaching calls and mentoring sessions. "Because we met at off-site locations, on the telephone and utilized the videoconference technology, we had an opportunity to learn through various media," noted Joyce Tapley, Chief Executive Officer, MLK Jr. Family Clinic in Dallas, Texas.
Both qualitative and quantitative evaluation techniques were used to assess the effectiveness of the project. Project evaluations are collected from team members and baseline and follow-up data on overall health center staff satisfaction were collected from each of the participating centers. The data collected from the staff satisfaction survey shows that staff satisfaction among 95 percent of all health centers participating in the project improved significantly and confidence in and trust among staff of their leadership teams increased in each of the health centers. In many instances, participating center staff satisfaction scores increased by an entire point out of a scale of one to five. Other key deliverables for this program include:
- Succession plans for each of the executive leadership positions;
- Development of health center vision, mission and corporate value statements; and
- Individual leadership action plans
To provide continuing support and training for health center leadership and management development beyond the TACHC Executive Leadership Program, TACHC also offers a variety of leadership and management sessions targeting all levels of leadership and management in community health centers including:
- Advanced leadership training and other types of resources/information to past participants to support their continued development and progress as leadership teams;
- Training and support targeting mid-level management of health centers with a particular emphasis on managing frontline staff for exemplary customer service in their centers;
- Employee engagement training to support retention of health center staff; and
- Training to enhance collaborative relationships among health center CEOs and their Board Chairs to improve the overall governance of health centers.
