What does it take to rebuild trust, improve retention, and create a hospital culture where people want to stay?

In this episode of The Hospital Playbook, host Dane Nardi is joined by Matt Timmons, Chief Operating Officer of Manning Family Children’s in New Orleans. Matt shares how he and his team approached a Heart Center turnaround involving low employee engagement, physician turnover, and significant reliance on temporary staffing.

Starting with a three-month listening tour, Matt explains how candid employee feedback shaped a plan to strengthen leadership, rebuild trust, and create a more stable team.

In this conversation, you’ll learn how to:

• Turn employee feedback into meaningful action—and communicate progress along the way.
• Address leadership behaviors that undermine culture and recognize when a change is needed.
• Improve retention through education, stronger relationships, and consistent follow-through.
• Select meaningful performance metrics and establish regular accountability.
• Build processes that sustain improvement beyond any one leader.

Matt also shares an unconventional approach to hospital outreach inspired by political campaigns and the story behind Walker’s Imaginarium, an interactive space designed to bring joy, play, and therapeutic experiences to hospitalized children.

His guiding principle throughout: Listen first, act second.

Subscribe to The Hospital Playbook: Leadership Lessons from Healthcare Executives for practical perspectives on strengthening teams, improving operations, and leading change.

Why do so many well intentioned hospital improvement initiatives fail to deliver lasting results?

Identifying the right solution is only half the battle. The real challenge is getting employees to adopt the change, overcoming resistance, and ensuring improvements become part of everyday operations.

In this special solo episode of The Hospital Playbook, host Dane Nardi, founder of Glacier Point Advisory, shares a practical approach to change management in hospitals, drawing on his experience in operational improvement and organizational transformation.

Using a common hospital challenge, delayed patient discharges, Dane walks through the process of identifying root causes, developing effective solutions, engaging frontline employees, and successfully implementing change.

In this episode, you'll learn how to:

• Identify root causes rather than simply addressing symptoms.

• Engage frontline employees and key stakeholders in developing practical solutions.

• Build employee buy-in and address resistance to change.

• Evaluate potential solutions and define clear expectations for new processes.

• Pilot improvements, gather feedback, and refine solutions before broader implementation.

• Reinforce new processes to ensure improvements are sustained over time.

Whether you're a hospital executive, department director, or frontline manager, this episode offers actionable strategies for turning good ideas into lasting operational improvements.

Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to The Hospital Playbook for more practical leadership insights and strategies to strengthen hospital operations.

How can healthcare organizations build a reliable CNA workforce and retain the people they invest in training?

In this episode of The Hospital Playbook, host Dane Nardi speaks with David Pettijohn, whose 25-year career in post-acute care has taken him from certified nursing assistant to CEO.

David shares how a free CNA training program helped his organization develop local talent and reduce reliance on agency staffing. He explains how mentorship, upfront tuition support, and clear career pathways can encourage employees to stay and grow, from housekeeping and dietary roles to CNA positions, and eventually into nursing.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Starting your own CNA training program versus partnering with local schools.
• Planning for instructors, training space, regulatory requirements, and staff support.
• Evaluating program costs, agency savings, retention, and care quality.
• Connecting training with mentorship and opportunities for advancement.
• Strengthening hospital and post-acute partnerships to address discharge barriers.
• Where leaders can begin in the first 90 days, including assessing local needs and piloting a small cohort.

For hospital and post-acute leaders, this episode offers practical considerations for building a workforce pipeline that supports both organizational needs and career opportunities within the community.

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