This segment is a unique and cool talk show that showcases individuals and companies in the community and is focused on leadership and giving back. Our goal is to interview guests that are doing great things in their business and in their community. Today our hosts, Bailey Sisk and Morgan Allen, spoke with Rob Deininger.
Erica Humbert
CEO of AdventHealth East Florida Division
Website Address: https://www.adventhealth.com/
Short company description:
At AdventHealth, our mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ reaches well beyond our facilities. As one of the largest faith-based health care systems in the United States, we’re deeply rooted in the communities we call home, and we never stop striving to make them healthier places to live.
With more than 50 hospitals, thousands of facilities and 100,000 team members, we’re a nationwide connected network of whole-person health care.
From the mountains of Northwest Georgia to Chicago’s western suburbs to the front range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains to Florida’s coasts and many places in between, we’re committed to caring for the unique needs of every community we serve.
About the CEO:
Rob Deininger oversees the strategic direction, development and execution of key strategies that support the total network of care and help build influential relationships with key constituents, community partners and consumers. He also serves as the primary executive for the East Florida Division’s partnership with HealthFirst in Brevard County.
After 13 years as a commercial airline pilot, Deininger joined AdventHealth in 2008. Throughout his time with the organization, he has served in progressive leadership roles, including president and CEO of AdventHealth Fish Memorial. During his time there, Deininger helped to grow and expand services through a new hospital-based, offsite emergency room and a 140,000-square-foot expansion of the hospital campus, which opened in April 2021.
He has also previously served as vice president of operations for AdventHealth Orlando and vice president of research operations. Notably, Deininger served as system incident commander for AdventHealth’s pandemic response team. Most recently, he served as market CEO for the AdventHealth Central Florida Division’s quaternary hub, comprised of AdventHealth Orlando, AdventHealth Winter Park, AdventHealth for Women and AdventHealth for Children.
Episode Transcript:
Morgan Allen:
Welcome back to another episode of Ask the Expert, where we are asking experts for things that we want to know.
I’m Morgan Allen, joined by my co-host, Bailey Sisk. Thank you for being here.
Bailey Sisk:
Of course.
Morgan Allen:
We have a wonderful guest today. We have Rob Deininger here with AdventHealth. Rob, thank you for being here.
Rob Deininger:
Thank you for having me on. It’s nice to be here.
Bailey Sisk:
Nice to meet you.
Rob Deininger:
Nice to meet you.
Morgan Allen:
You are the expert in the healthcare industry, especially when it comes to the nonprofit healthcare space. First, give us a rundown of AdventHealth.
Rob Deininger:
I’d be happy to.
AdventHealth is a large, faith-based, not-for-profit healthcare system. We have over 30 hospitals in the state of Florida, 55 hospitals across the country, and about 112,000 team members nationwide. About 13,000 of those work in what we call the East Florida Division that we’re sitting in today.
Morgan Allen:
That’s a very, very big company. Really incredible that you’re doing this.
What are some of the biggest challenges that consumers are facing when it comes to healthcare these days?
Rob Deininger:
I think one of the biggest challenges that consumers face when it comes to healthcare is understanding the system.
Most people, other than maybe going to a primary care doctor from time to time, don’t interact with the healthcare system until there’s something wrong. Then it becomes, “I’ve got to have it now, or yesterday.”
It’s not the easiest system to use. Unless you work in healthcare, most people don’t understand it very well. I think that’s probably the biggest challenge: the unknown for most people.
Bailey Sisk:
Yeah, absolutely.
As someone who is entering the age where I’m leaving my parents’ healthcare, I’ve been fortunate enough not to have to worry about it yet. What would be your biggest recommendation for someone like me, who kind of feels like they’re going in blind and learning more about this industry?
Rob Deininger:
I think you should educate yourself, which it sounds like you’re already starting to do.
Sometimes you’re lucky enough to have an employer that can help educate you in that process and help you understand what insurance options are available. Sometimes you’re not.
There are great resources out there on the internet. Certainly, you can look at AdventHealth as you look at options, but there’s other information out there as well.
As someone who’s starting out, you need to evaluate things like: Are you someone who takes proactive care of yourself? If you are, then you probably want to find a doctor that you can begin to see on an annual basis at least.
If you’re someone who doesn’t care that you see the same doctor every time, there are different types of products out there where you can just go and see a nurse practitioner or a doctor a couple of times a year when you get sick.
I think one of the most important things when you’re starting out is to get on the front side of your health. Don’t forget to go to a doctor for so long because you’re busy, and then you end up in the hospital or in a doctor’s office because you’ve developed something that, had you been committed to your health like you were committed to your fitness, would have kept you from getting to that point.
Bailey Sisk:
That is so true.
Morgan Allen:
Yeah, because we all do try to look our best and feel our best day to day, but maybe we’re not going to primary care or getting those routine checkups done.
Let’s talk a little bit about the nonprofit side of things. What does that realm look like? How does that run?
Rob Deininger:
Not-for-profit healthcare is basically just a tax designation.
In organizations like AdventHealth, every dollar that comes into our organization stays in our organization. It either goes back into taking care of the patients of today, meaning we’re taking that dollar and spending it right back into our hospitals, on our team members, making sure our equipment is up to date, and all of those things.
Or it’s going into taking care of the patients of tomorrow by investing in expansion for the future and dollars that help keep the company stable going forward.
None of the money that comes into AdventHealth goes to a shareholder or any entity like that. That’s probably the major difference.
I think the other thing you see with not-for-profit healthcare is that, as a result, at AdventHealth we care very deeply about our communities. We want to offer the services our communities need, whether or not they’re the ones that always make the most money.
When you think about programs that are necessary, we will run, in all of our markets, things that are indexed to what’s actually a community need. We poll the community. We look at what’s new with mental health, women’s services, wound care programs, and you name it.
We look at what the community needs, and then our goal is to offer that in someone’s community.
Morgan Allen:
I think one of the things that’s most overwhelming about healthcare for people who are starting to look at options is how much the industry changes on a daily basis.
How would you say AdventHealth has kept up with the constant changes that have come your way?
Rob Deininger:
I think we do a great job of keeping up with change.
One of the things we’ve really tried to do over the last number of years is become a company that’s easier to use.
We have an amazing app. You can do almost everything you want to do with AdventHealth through a single app. You can talk to a virtual provider, have a telehealth visit, chat with one of our team members, or even have an AI chat if that’s your thing.
You can look up your conditions, enter your symptoms and get recommendations. You can find providers and make appointments online.
We’ve tried to make that experience as easy as possible.
Anybody who joins our app and receives care from us ends up with either a real or virtual care navigator. You’ll have somebody who’s going to prompt you for your next annual appointment or a follow-up visit.
Maybe a doctor asked you to follow up with an endocrinologist. Through that app, we’ll remind you, “Hey, you still haven’t made that endocrinologist appointment. We’d really like to help you with that.”
We’re both helping guide your care and helping make it easy for you to follow that healthcare journey.
Bailey Sisk:
That’s really beneficial. That’s exactly what our generation needs, with constant reminders.
Rob Deininger:
Yes. This is a busy world.
Morgan Allen:
One last question for you.
Where do you want the vision of AdventHealth to go? What are your goals for the company?
Rob Deininger:
Our goals for the organization are to grow with each of our communities.
One of the things we see in Florida is tremendous growth. The Jacksonville community is a great example of that.
How do we continue to grow so the communities get the healthcare they need and don’t have to wait for it or drive an hour for it?
A lot of the time and energy we spend is deciding where we should be so we can take services and put them into a community, making them part of your community.
Honestly, our vision is to extend the healing ministry of Christ. That word “extend” is really what drives us to continue looking for communities that need healthcare.
We believe we deliver a uniquely different healthcare proposition, so we look for places where we can take that.
Morgan Allen:
That’s fantastic.
It’s great that you’re doing the Lord’s work and being of service to our communities and beyond.
Rob Deininger:
I’m excited to be in the business. It really is a blessing to get to care for people and have a difference in people’s lives every day.
Morgan Allen:
Well, I can tell that you’re very compassionate, and your intentions are so good for our community as a whole.
Thank you, Rob.
Rob Deininger:
Thank you for having me on. It was great to chat with you guys.
Bailey Sisk:
Thank you.
Morgan Allen:
And viewers, thank you for tuning in to another episode of Ask the Expert. If you want more information, head over to DailyNewsNetwork.com. We have Rob’s profile and so many others right there.
We’ll see you in the next episode of Ask the Expert.
