Northwest Arkansas (NWA) native Eric Pianalto, president of Mercy Hospital NWA, never dreamed when he graduated from the University of Arkansas (UofA), Fayetteville, in 1985 how NWA would more than double in population to 500,000 today. Nor that he would be at the helm of Mercy Hospital NWA overseeing a $247-million expansion that will create 1,000 new jobs in order to meet the healthcare needs of the booming population.
Pianalto, who was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rogers and grew up in the area, has worked in a variety of executive positions for Mercy since 1994. When he returned from Fort Smith to NWA in 1997, employment at Mercy NWA’s hospitals and clinics totaled 600. That has grown to 2,000.
“We live in a place that has tremendous growth and opportunities to impact lives,” Pianalto said. “I’ve held just about every management role in Mercy you could have. I’ve been here 22 years now and never thought I would be president. But it is great to be in my home community and have the opportunity to impact healthcare for one of the fastest-growing areas of the country.”
Pianalto said their biggest challenge today is a good one to have: Their clinics and hospitals are full, and they are out of space. The expansion offers the ability to bring new and needed services to the community.
“We have people from all over the world who have moved here to work for the three Fortune 500 companies located here, Pianalto said. “Doing this expansion allows us to have the space and time to be able to create the services this community needs.”
The expansion includes a new patient tower at Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas that will add 100 beds to the current 200-bed hospital, with future growth for another 60 inpatient beds. Four new primary care and specialty clinics will be constructed in Benton County and north Washington County. The expansion will allow enhancements to the heart and vascular center, women’s and children’s services.
Mercy is also establishing of a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences community internal medicine residency program in partnership with the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville that will provide training to eight doctors the first year, growing to 24 doctors in three years.
It used to be more difficult to attract physicians to NWA. But Pianalto said with the population growth, the highly regarded Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and outdoor amenities such as 37 miles of trail system, recruiting physicians is now easier.
“Culture in our area is alive and well,” Pianalto said.
The culture of Mercy is one that attracts and retains talented healthcare professionals. Forbes has ranked Mercy as one of “America’s Best Employers.” And Mercy was named one of the top five health systems in the nation by 2016 Truven Health 15 Top Health Systems.
Pianalto is proud that Mercy NWA is part of that tradition.
“We have been recognized for our culture and co-workers’ satisfaction,” he said. “Turnover for nursing and other healthcare workers employed here is less than national averages. They all know they play a role in the outcome for patients. When we support that as an organization, it makes people want to work here. We are passionate about making sure everything we do is tied to the quality of care for patients.”
Another attraction for healthcare workers is the faith-based mission of Mercy based on providing care to those who are economically challenged and underserved.
Regular forums with co-workers keep people informed and engaged in management.
Pianalto said people can ask any questions they want and get honest answers. The entire administrative teams do rounds of hospitals and clinics and, following lean principles, there are 15-minute daily huddles in different areas of service that empower employees to fix things on the spot.
“Those have been a powerful tool in our organization,” Pianalto said. “Let people fix the problem where it is happening in 15 minutes of time. There is immediate feedback and the opportunity to solve problems. It is amazing how when we turned our employees loose to solve problems how fast it improved things. We keep a log of problems solved without administrative interference. There is a place on huddle board for issues that haven’t been solved to come to the administrative huddles every Monday.”
Huddles have cut down significantly on the need for administrative team meetings. The team used to meet once a week for three to four hours. Now they meet every two weeks for 50 minutes.
“We only deal with strategic topics,” Pianalto said. “Problems are solved much faster. It is a safer environment for patients and a better work environment. All quality markers improve as a result of faster and better communication. You have to let people be free to do the job and do it really well.”
Mercy is proactive working with the community on problems such as obesity.
“We want to evaluate people and help them find the best way to get control of their weight and, ultimately, have a much healthier lifestyle,” he said. “Certainly bariatric surgery has taken off and is doing well. But we are proud to have several different ways to place people in a weight management program that is going to help them.”
Mercy uses modern technology to meet the need to provide healthcare to people speaking different languages. Tyson Foods, for example, has employees who speak nine different languages. Wal-Mart recruits from all over the world. iPad technology is used to provide translations.
Pianalto has spent most of his healthcare career doing three different things: growth opportunities, turnaround situations and providing stability. For example, if there has been a lot of turnover in a region, he has gone in to address those challenges.
“Managing growth is the most fun of those three,” Pianalto said. “So this is right up my alley.”
Pianalto and his wife of 26 years, Dawn, have three daughters. Nichole is in speech pathology grad school. Brooke is a marketing major at UofA, Fayetteville. Mikayla, who is starting her junior year of high school, wants to be a physical therapist who uses dance to help handicapped children. They have all taught swim lessons over the years and worked with children with physical and mental challenges.
Pianalto is an avid golfer. The family loves to camp, and to travel both domestically and abroad.