Arkansas Children’s Hospital CEO Marcy Doderer Up To The Challenges

Arkansas Children’s Hospital CEO Marcy Doderer must like a challenge.

She’s tackling several as she follows in the footsteps of a CEO legend, wrestles with health care reform, and pushes the state’s only pediatric hospital to higher national standards.

Doderer, who graduated from Little Rock Central High School in the mid-80’s, has returned to the capitol city from her most recent stint in hospital administration in San Antonio.

On the job since July, Doderer is the first new CEO at the helm of Children’s in 20 years, succeeding long-time leader Dr. Jonathan Bates.

“Dr. Bates set a great stage for me. I don’t have to fully follow in his footsteps. I’ve got a strong organization that can help take it to the next level,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to be in a place that’s not in crisis mode, it’s not a turnaround, we can build on what’s already there.”

Doderer has been on a 100-day listening tour and wants to help ACH meet its internal goal of becoming one of the Top 50 pediatric hospitals in the country.

“U.S. News and World Report ranks children’s hospitals every year – the 50 top hospitals – we are not in the rankings today, but our team wants to be,” she said.

Improving the health rankings of the state’s children’s is another top priority. Doderer cited national statistics that show children’s health in Arkansas ranks 40th out of the 50 states.

Doderer said that, like other hospital organizations, ACH is “learning” how to navigate the new world of health care brought by the tumultuous Affordable Care Act. She said there have been positive changes for kids in the new law, such as allowing children to stay on parents’ policies until age 26, eliminating pre-existing conditions, and removing lifetime caps.

Arkansas’ private option has raised high hopes for children’s health, says Doderer, because it provides adults who have never been previously covered with health insurance.

“We think if parents are on a health insurance product, they’re much more likely to take care of the health of their kids,” said Doderer.

She’s on the cutting edge of pushing for more transparency and consumer input in the health care system – outcomes promoted by the ACA and pushed for by supporters and opponents of the law – but Doderer acknowledges that the upheaval from the federal law has created major challenges.

“It certainly is making it more complex. It’s becoming a much more highly-regulated industry, which adds a level of complexity, but I think it is forcing us to think about how we do health care differently,” said Doderer. “The dollar is not going to grow, but the number of kids is. So we’ve got to figure out how to take care of more kids with less money, and do it much more effectively.”

You can watch Doderer’s full interview below.