Council builds community, launches legacy
It’s a challenge for them to identify the council’s biggest achievement so far when the entire effort is widely considered to be a resounding success – in progress.
After all, with just a year and a half under their belts, Neko Upson, CNM, and Stuart Bruckman, PA, chair and vice chair of the Saint Joseph APP Council, as well as the council’s members, are just getting warmed up.
Bruckman and Upson
“Now is the time for APPs to get involved in medical staff business, in developing the policies that dictate the care we provide, in developing the connections that foster our fulfillment at work, in establishing a presence that makes our value undeniable,” said Upson. “We have the support we need and we’re reaching out. It’s time for APPs to reach back.”
The APP Council is a formal group of advanced practice providers, with the support of Medical Staff Services and physician leadership, dedicated to improving the influence, visibility and collegiality of APPs at the hospital, in all departments and in all initiatives, within their scope.
Since launching in the fall of 2021, the APP Council has:
Filled more seats at more tables. Upson serves on the Medical Executive Committee representing APP interests and perspectives. Advanced practice providers now also sit on other physician-led committees and workgroups, department-specific and hospital-wide, and invitations for additional opportunities continue to arrive.
Established a CME program with APP-specific offerings. Bridgette Yeboah-Spaun, NP, Family Medicine and APP Committee member, developed a very successful APP CME — Antibiotics and Beyond — last summer. The next one focusing on narcotics is scheduled for June.
Launched a formal recognition program with physician leadership that led to the hospital’s first-ever APP of the Year Award last year. (Lynn Miller, NNP, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, and Chris North, PA, Emergency Medicine, share the inaugural title.)
Socialized more! The council hosts quarterly Happy Hours off campus to help foster the connections and friendships that make work more rewarding.
Before Upson’s term as chair ends this year, she would like to roll out formal exit interviews for APPs to better understand why skilled and valuable providers choose to leave Saint Joseph. Any trends identified would become the catalyst for new initiatives.
Bruckman becomes council chair in 2024. His vision is to “continue to showcase the brilliant APPs at Saint Joseph and expand the council to include other Intermountain facilities. We can become the role model throughout the region to help shape and direct innovative ideas, forging a path toward becoming the model for efficiency and quality in healthcare.”
In fact, that train already has left the station. Seeing its success and following the Saint Joseph model, Good Samaritan currently is laying the foundation to build its own APP Council. Also gaining momentum, Intermountain Health and Intermountain Peaks are considering their own APP of the Year awards.
Looking back on their tenure, both Upson and Bruckman want to acknowledge these clinicians and staff for their support and engagement, for their vision and friendship.
Members of the Saint Joseph APP Committee:
Collette Young, PA, Emergency Medicine | Bridgette Yeboah-Spaun, NP, Family Medicine | Terri Mendoza, NNP, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine | Tammi Backer, NP, Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery
Physician support:
Liz Withers, MD, MBA, Chief of Staff | John Tynes, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer | Marshall Gottesfeld, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Medical Staff Services support:
Holly Church, FACHE, MBA-HA, CPMSM, CPCS, Medical Staff Services Director | Lisa Harmon, BSHCA, CPHQ, Quality Program Manager
Upson and Bruckman would like to hear from physicians with questions about the committee or APPs who would like to become more engaged in medical staff business. They can be reached at neko.upson@imail.org and stuart.lewis.bruckman@kp.org.