David Chambers – Harvard class of 1965, Stanford University Ph.D., academic dean of University of Pacific Medical School, husband and father – is a man of much accomplishment. He hadn’t yet achieved, he realized last spring, the rewards of community service like his wife Jean Hopman. “She would come home energized, and more positive,” he said of her many volunteer activities. “She was contributing, and it contributed to her.”
When the opening on the board of the Sonoma Valley Health District opened in June, Chambers saw his chance. He applied, and was invited to appear at special meeting last month, where he was picked to fill the term vacated by Arnie Reibli.
The fact he had no sense of the hospital’s previous political issues may have helped win him the job. “The intention was to avoid controversy,” surmised Chambers, guessing that the panel looked at him and said, “This guy doesn’t bring any baggage.”
What he does bring, the board members summarized at last month’s meeting, is business-world experience and an aptitude for understanding complex systems.
His emphasis on performance excellence also impressed the hospital board members. Chambers has served on two prestigious national review boards: the Commission on Dental Accreditation, and the Baldridge National Quality Award program – evaluating healthcare systems.
“I have experience defining, measuring and building systems for sustained quality,” he said.
Chambers is researching the job, meeting local experts and health-care professionals. He’s on a fact-finding “honeymoon. This is the time I get to ask dumb questions.” As he establishes relationships, “Physicians are getting my ear,” he said. He’s acting as a conduit between staff and board which has been missing in recent years. “I think they feel I understand health care.”
Chambers is also already receiving lengthy and detailed staff reports, right down to beds filled per night. His initial reaction is that the board is choked with data, much of the data minutiae which is not actionable at that level. “That one bed is filled or isn’t, that’s a useless number. The board needs to focus on strategic issues that it can monitor. Boards that try to manage, that’s a disaster.”
He endorses a system of tracking key indicators covering finance, operations and growth. The focus becomes one of outcome and result, not process and procedure.
Chambers described a broader mission, one that sets policy but stays out of operations.
“We’ve got to focus on a smaller number of data points.”
In interacting with staff, including CEO Carl Gerlach, Chambers said, “The board should ask questions like, how do we know you are doing a good job? If you’re not, you should do this. That’s the conversation that needs to take place.”
Communication is critical on every level, he stressed. “We need more true, accurate information about the hospital and the health of the community. And not just from the people who talk the loudest.” Chambers sees a need for more citizen input, particularly from the Hispanic community.
Communication is very complex, he said, more so for a small operation like the hospital, where fewer – yet larger – moving parts can easily generate friction. “The place is kind of set up for people running into each other,” he said. “Communication is the trick. If I bring anything to the board, I’m bringing my ears.”
He hasn’t thought about running to keep his seat in the 2010 election. “I don’t yet know if I can make a contribution,” he admitted. As for the politics, “you get elected by picking an issue. The health of the people, that’s my issue. My ultimate concern is the health of the people, not of the hospital.”
