By Elizabeth Landry
A native of Rhode Island, Steven Hanks, MD, has a substantial family lineage of first responders – both his father and grandfather were firefighters. Dr. Hanks developed a different yet related passion, however, and when he decided to follow that passion to study medicine, he took the tradition of his family line in a new direction.
“My passion to practice medicine was really driven by a couple of things: I had a science mind, but I also had a humanist heart. The two really come together in medicine and healthcare, and so that’s what drove me down that pathway. Being an emergency physician is kind of similar in a lot of ways to being a first responder, and it was only natural for me to gravitate toward a specialty that was in line with what my family background was, having grown up with first responders. It’s really kind of intertwined – that science background with that compassion for community is what led me into medicine,” Dr. Hanks explained.
Dr. Hanks attended the University of Rochester, where he received his training in internal medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital, and earned his master’s in medical management from Carnegie Mellon University, becoming a full-time physician executive in 1998. In 2016, Dr. Hanks joined the team at St. Peter’s Health Partners (SPHP) in Albany and went on to become the President and CEO of both SPHP and St. Joseph’s Health in Syracuse two and a half years ago when the two institutions were consolidated under Trinity Health. He shared insights from his experience working mainly on the not-for-profit side of healthcare, and how the faith-based foundation of Trinity Health sets it apart from other healthcare organizations.
“I’ve always been on the provider side; I’ve never wanted to go on the payer side of the industry because I’m a doctor at heart, and I’ve loved my career,” shared Dr. Hanks. “The reason I’ve spent my entire career on the not-for-profit side of healthcare is that commitment to our patients and our communities, understanding that our resources are limited, and they need to be used judiciously to assure the best outcomes for everyone. When I came to SPHP and now St. Joseph’s, I got the additional experience of working in a faith-based, not-for-profit health system. Trinity is one of the nation’s largest Catholic not-for-profits, and we’re committed to our communities and to the mission of our founding orders. We have that additional commitment and moral responsibility and I think that’s what makes us different than other healthcare systems and hospitals in the area.”
Dynamic Leadership from the Front Lines
In his role, Dr. Hanks is responsible for over 20 different organizations within Trinity Health, including hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, large physician practices, urgent care centers and more. He shared that one of the reasons he’s an effective leader is because he is often present at many different locations within the healthcare network, and he values open communication from all of his colleagues.
“The first part of my leadership style that I think is critical is I like to go out and about,” said Dr. Hanks. “I like to see things through the lens of the front-line staff. I’m very rarely in the same place – I move around our ministry quite a bit. You can find me working in Syracuse or Albany, or from Troy or Schenectady, or any number of places where we provide services. I’m very transparent and open and anyone can reach out to me at any time. We invite any colleague to participate in a live town hall with me on a quarterly basis where they can hear updates about our system and can ask any questions they have.”
Another critical component to Dr. Hanks’ effective leadership style is the fact that he still actively practices medicine and can be found at times working in the emergency department alongside his colleagues. For Dr. Hanks, not only does this practice help him boost the morale of the healthcare team, but it also gives him the best insights into how the organization is functioning, so he can make the best decisions for patients and caregivers alike.
“Recently, I covered three days in a row in the emergency department at SPHP in Albany over a holiday weekend. That gets around, and people know that I’m willing to get my hands dirty and get in the trenches with them. I think it improves the morale of our team,” Dr. Hanks explained. “Being trained as a physician brings some crucial advantages. First, it really grounds me in the reality of our front-line caregivers, providing a perspective that helps ensure we’re making the best decisions as an executive leadership team that keep the human impact front of mind. Second, it really gives me a lens into systems thinking. Everything comes together in the emergency department, and I can interact with the lab, radiology, pharmacy, patient flow, et cetera. I really learn more about the way our organization works from the time I spend working clinically rather than the time I spend in board meetings or doing rounds.”
Investing in Patient-Focused Technology and Accreditations
Exciting innovations and new accreditations at both SPHP and St. Joseph’s Health have been a focus of Dr. Hanks’ efforts as President and CEO, and they are further evidence of his effective manner of leadership. Specifically at St. Joseph’s Health, which has long been at the forefront of robotic surgery, the recent acquisition of the DV5, a next-generation, multiport surgical robot, has brought even more advancements to the technologies the hospital offers to its patients. The first healthcare system in the Syracuse area to fully embrace robotics, as Dr. Hanks explained, St. Joseph’s offers a full array of robotic approaches, including all generations of the Da Vinci robot, the Xi, and now the DV5.
“Minimally invasive, robotic surgeries offer many benefits to patients, including decreasing patients’ length of stay, decreasing the risk of complications, decreasing the pain patients experience and lessening the need for narcotics after surgery. Many may be surprised to learn that St. Joseph’s is one of the national leaders in robot-assisted, open-heart surgery. Right here in Syracuse, NY we’re a national leader, and really an international leader, in robot-assisted cardiac bypass surgery. So, we’re very, very proud of our investment in robotics, and we’ll continue to make those investments across all of Trinity Health in New York. It really allowed our surgeons to push the envelope and practice at the very highest of levels.”
St. Joseph’s Health was also recently named a Hernia Center of Excellence, an accreditation given by the Surgical Review Corporation after a lengthy review process. Dr. Hanks explained that this designation is a validation of the organization’s clinical excellence, as well as a signal of the team’s commitment to delivering the highest standard of hernia care.
“One of the things I’ve always insisted on is if we’re going to offer a service, like hernia surgery, I want to provide it at the highest possible level. And so, for areas where there are existing accreditations available, I like to push our organization to seek those accreditations, and that’s exactly what happened with our Center of Excellence for hernia surgery at St. Joseph’s. We’ve met rigorous standards for outcomes, safety, patient satisfaction, and continuous improvement of our quality. For patients, this means they can be confident in the care they’re receiving when they seek hernia care at St. Joseph’s Health. Hernias can be very complex and difficult to care for. We have a variety of approaches that we’ve brought together under the Center of Excellence that allow us to offer many options for patients with the best outcomes in the safest delivery of care possible.”
Perhaps one of the most top-of-mind technological advancements in the realm of healthcare is how healthcare institutions are taking advantage of artificial intelligence (AI). According to Dr. Hanks, AI has the potential to radically transform healthcare, both clinically and operationally, and the teams at St. Joseph’s Health and SPHP are staying abreast of the best ways to utilize this growing technology.
“If you give AI the right data set, it can do things like reduce diagnostic error, personalize treatment, improve the health of populations, and automate administrative tasks that cause burnout. We’ve just deployed ambient listening technology, where the AI system listens to when a doctor or nurse practitioner is 
speaking with a patient, and it creates a note. Now, the doctor or PA no longer needs to either dictate or type the note. This process decreases the amount of time the provider spends on documentation, so they can see more patients and spend more time face-to-face with patients. These are exciting things that are happening, which directly help us improve the experience of and care for our patients.”
Facing Challenges Head-On in the Future of Healthcare
Looking to the future, Dr. Hanks sees healthcare on an accelerated trajectory toward outpatient rather than inpatient settings, with more convenient, consumer-oriented care delivered at home in a model that’s more decentralized and data-driven. He also predicts the healthcare field will place more emphasis on the prevention and mitigation of social influences of health, like poverty and poor food access, and that there will be an increase of reliance on digital tools that can streamline and personalize care. Leading the team at SPHP and St. Joseph’s Health, Dr. Hanks is making sure the wider organization is tuned into these shifts and staying ahead of the curve as transformations occur.
“At Trinity, we’re already investing in these trends,” he stated. “We’ve deployed virtual nursing, and we’re leveraging telehealth for virtual visits with our physicians, including our specialists. We’re growing our home-based services, our value-based care models, and our population health models. We’re reimagining how we support the workforce of the future.
“But the biggest change we’re preparing for really is cultural. How do you embrace a mindset of high reliability, continuous innovation, and partnership? That’s the real engine of transformation,” Dr. Hanks emphasized.
Along with such changes, there will certainly be many challenges, as Dr. Hanks pointed out. These challenges include cuts to government funding, increasing government payer and decreasing private payer models, an aging population with higher healthcare needs, and more centralization of super subspecialities leading to a need for patients to travel longer distances for highly specialized care. To confront these challenges head-on, Dr. Hanks emphasized the need for transparent communication and collaboration across the entire healthcare system and beyond.
“Operationally, we have to be agile. We have to be disciplined and stay focused on long-term strategy while at the same time nimble enough to adapt to the short-term disruptions. We have to work across teams externally, with payers, policymakers, and community partners. No one organization is going to be able to navigate these waters alone.”
With Dr. Hanks at the helm, the providers, staff, and patients at St. Joseph’s Health and SPHP can rest assured the organization will tackle the coming changes and challenges by staying true to its foundational mission.
“We have to be clear about our mission and our values. In times of uncertainty, our North Star remains constant, and for us at Trinity, that mission is to be a compassionate and transforming, healing presence in our communities.”
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