By Vanessa Orr
In early February, Lawrence Ward, MD, MPH, MACP, became the chief medical officer for Holy Cross Medical Group, (HCMG), part of Trinity Health. While his time there has been short, he looks forward to making lasting change.
“I see myself as being a steward of the organization—I want to leave it better than I found it,” he explained. “I want to support the mission of Holy Cross, be innovative, and improve access to care for all members of the community without prejudice.
“From a physician standpoint, I want to be partners with the administration to take the best care of patients,” he added. “As a practicing physician, I see myself as their voice in the C-suite, contributing to any decisions being made.”
Originally from Washington, D.C., Dr. Ward most recently served as vice president of Physician Services & Clinical Integration at Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover, DE, where he led a multispecialty medical group of more than 200 clinicians. A board-certified general internist, he has held faculty and leadership appointments at Thomas Jefferson University, Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Ward said that he was attracted to HCMG and the Fort Lauderdale area for a number of reasons.
“My children are grown and flown, and my wife and I were ready to go somewhere that would be new to us from a lifestyle standpoint,” he said. “While I was first attracted to Holy Cross because I loved its mission-driven aspect, I was excited to also find a growing, innovative, financially healthy, patient-centered, team-based institution with strong leadership.”
Dr. Ward plans to spend his first months on the job learning about Holy Cross and those who have contributed to its success.
“Respecting and understanding the organization’s history and how it got to where it is today is key,” he explained. “I also need to ‘learn’ the people, which is why I have an open-door policy and make myself as accessible as possible. I want to hear from physicians, staff and leadership, which will better enable me to see areas where there are opportunities for improvement.”
Over time, Dr. Ward says that he will be working with clinical partner and president of the medical group Maggy Perez-Dickens to build on the great work already done at Holy Cross and further improve it where there are opportunities to innovate and expand clinical options for patients.
“We want to make Holy Cross the go-to spot for people in the Fort Lauderdale area,” he said.
As a general internist, Dr. Ward will continue to see patients as well as deal with administrative issues. “Caring for patients is a constant challenge, and you never know what you’ll see day-to-day,” he said. “That keeps me fresh and interested. I also love the long-term relationships of primary care.
“I got into administration because the state of medicine is constantly in flux and it’s really challenging when decisions are made by nonclincians,” he added. “I feel that it’s vital that physicians be in roles where these decisions are made, and I thought I’d have more impact in improving the lives of patients and physicians in a role of physician leadership.”
He notes that numerous challenges are facing healthcare today including rising costs in a time of decreasing reimbursements; the increasing medical complexity of patients; workforce shortages and an increasingly complex administrative burden.
“A lot of this contributes to physician burnout, which has become acute,” said Dr. Ward. “Access to care is also an issue, leading to delayed care and higher disease burdens. There are also issues of health equity for minority groups, and there’s a patient trust issue; there is so much misinformation and disinformation out there that patients aren’t sure who to listen to, which makes it even more difficult for physicians to do their jobs. Altogether, there is a lot of pressure on health systems to deliver the right care to the right patient at the right time the way that patients want it.”
While it seems early to be talking about a legacy, Dr. Ward said that he hopes he will be be remembered as someone who worked in partnership with administration and physicians to provide better care for patients.
“As a leader, I will be involved in many different initiatives, but not any single one will stand out,” he said. “What I hope will be remembered are the lasting changes I make over time, and the culture I help to develop.”
To learn more about Holy Cross, call (954) 771-8000 or visit holy-cross.com.
