WellSpan COVID-19 Testimonials
WellSpan COVID-19 Testimonials
I feel honored to have served as Interim Senior Vice President WellSpan Health and President of York Hospital from January-July, 2020, during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. The following is a collective account of my work there from the mouths of my superiors and peers. Together, we truly are stronger. — Rodney D. Reider
Official Resolution York Hospital Board of Directors, WellSpan Health System
Be it RESOLVED, the WellSpan York Hospital Board of Directors would like to recognize Rodney D Reider, Interim President of WellSpan York Hospital for his leadership over the past six months during an unprecedented time in the hospital’s history. His professionalism, competency, and advocacy for both employees and patients during his limited tenure has made a positive impact in WellSpan York Hospital’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and in advancing the hospital’s long-term interests in building a high performing organization and culture to serve our mission.
A small token of my appreciation for the leadership and assistance you provided my team and me during the COVID-19 Incident Command for York Hospital in 2020. The guidance and leadership you showed have provided me with a wonderful framework that I use to lead. Stay calm, reassure, promote to those around you the ability to find solutions and support the actions. Mostly how to be the one on the front line, being present and supporting and encouraging everyone.
— Chuck Stevens, Manager, Safety & Emergency Management at WellSpan Health
WELLSPAN — COMMENTS FROM COLLEAGUES
I had the pleasure to meet and work with Rodney during his time at WellSpan York Hospital. Rodney came to WellSpan as the interim CEO and VP during a time of great uncertainty and unprecedented change. His leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic was remarkable.
His clear, concise but above all calming leadership style guided the hospital and its staff to adjust quickly and take an early proactive approach to prepare for this global crisis. Rodney’s experience in leadership upheld the hospitals mission, vision, and values not only ensuing that our patients and their families were taken care of, but also the hospital staff and their families were supported.
Rodney has a rare skill set that not only demonstrates what an effective leader is, but how as a leader you must never lose touch of the compassion and caring towards others that is required to be successful. Rodney spent the initial part of his time at WellSpan York Hospital getting to know our patients and front-line staff. Taking time to learn the history of the hospital and the population it serves including the culture of the work environment.
This created meaningful conversations and trust that was reflected in the staff’s ability to prepare and weather the oncoming pandemic.
The staff resilience during this time was strong and supported by Rodney’s leadership. His calming support and strength gave staff a sense of support and confidence that we would be in this together as a team, truly working as one. I would not hesitate to work with Rodney again if given the chance.
— Layla San Martin MSN, MHA, RN, HACP, CJCP, Director of Accreditation & Licensure, Wellspan York Hospital
Rodney did a great job coming into a new market without any connections. He provided excellent governance and medical staff relational skills. He also assisted in stabilizing a volatile Emergency Department setting and assisted in obtaining very fine interim and permanent leaders.
What separated Rodney from many interim executives was his openness, desire to listen before taking action, focus on quality/patient safety, and collaborative nature. Even though very experienced, he offered suggestions and recommendations, but always done after assessing the situation.
I also found Rodney to be very responsive. Very quick to respond to physicians, staff members, as well as leaders. What was also very impressive is that he rounded continuously and became known to many of the 5,000 employees quite quickly.
In addition to the above, this was all accomplished during the outbreak of COVID-19 with Incident Command responsibilities for three months and significant impact to the system. WellSpan York Hospital performed very well through Rodney’s leadership during this period.
— John M. Porter, Jr., Executive Vice President & COO, WellSpan Health
Leslie and I want to let both of you know how thankful we were to have Rodney as our interim hospital president. His leadership and calmness through not only the last few COVID weeks, but also prior to that were exactly what we needed. He was a wonderful advocate for all of our staff, listening to issues and following through, and wasn’t afraid to tell people that he will get back to them if he didn’t immediately have an answer to their question. Our ED physician, nursing and other ancillary staff kept asking for more of his time because he was perceived as such a strong leader in our hospital. He made our jobs infinitely easier in some pretty stressful times.
— Tom Kehrl, MD, Chair
Leslie Mahoney, Emergency Director
WellSpan, York Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine
I just wanted to add my personal congratulations to those already expressed by the York Hospital Medical Executive Committee at its June meeting where a resolution was unanimously passed acknowledging all Rodney’s many positive contributions to York Hospital and its medical staff in his tenure as our Interim President.
I have worked with many healthcare executives over my 35-year career, 15 years as a Vice President of Medical Affairs and over 20 years as a Chair of Anesthesiology. I can honestly share that Rodney has impressed all of us with his uncompromising commitment to quality, safety, patient experience, and especially staff engagement. His ability to motivate and connect on a real level with our medical, nursing, and hospital staff, to inspire
their performance at the highest level was broadly recognized as both impressive and well appreciated.
I, along with our YH medical staff leadership team, especially valued his wisdom, sincerity, accessibility, and ability to listen and provide us with his guidance. His leadership during our Covid pandemic response and reactivation was most critical to our collective success.
— Allan M. Birenberg, D, MBA, Vice President of Medical Affairs, York Hospital, WellSpan Health System.
I am grateful not only for the leadership I both experienced from Rodney, but also the leadership I witnessed and learned from him throughout the past six months. Getting to know Rodney through incident command was a privilege, and it was also an honor for me to learn and grow my leadership skills. While I certainly hope that I do not have to respond to another pandemic in my career, the skills and leadership I witnessed (and gained feedback on) from Rodney through this experience will carry on through the remainder of my career. I truly value Rodney's ability to listen, care, and lead by example with a calm approach. I'm thankful for Rodney's leadership and hope our paths will cross in the future.
— Stephanie L Bream, MSPT, Manager – Inpatient Rehab Services, WellSpan Rehab Services – York Hospital
I just want to express my appreciation for Mr. Reider's efforts here at York Hospital. Never have I seen a President take the time to meet and learn about the staff with such caring. I believe that he was the perfect person to be York Hospital President through the COVID start up in such unpredictable and troubling times. The staff was happy to see the President of the Hospital roaming the halls to check on them and enjoyed the treats he brought with him. More importantly, he was not only visible, but took the time to speak to them, learn and listen to what they had to say. I will ALWAYS remember how he came to speak to the staff on 4 Main after the loss of our dear friend. He visited, asked sincere questions about her and our relationship with her. That made us all feel seen and heard during such a dark time. The dinner he ordered was above and beyond, a 5-star touch. I am sad to see him leave York Hospital but I hope that whomever is lucky enough to have him lead them, knows how special he is.
— Jeannette Stambaugh, BSN, RN-BC, House Supervisor, Clinical Nurse III, WellSpan York Hospital
Rodney came to York Hospital and was a breath of fresh air. He took the time to speak with the staff, to hear them, and to appreciate their concerns, feedback, and opinions. He made everyone feel as though their jobs, no matter how big or small were an important part of the team. That their participation made a difference-what I don’t think Rodney knew was that he was the difference. He made the staff want to be the very best that we could be. He wanted to see us succeed and in that, we wanted to see him succeed. He took the extra time and steps in the midst of a global pandemic, to make us feel, on this huge campus, that we were making a difference and that he appreciated us. That was an amazing feeling and one that I know he will take where ever his next path may lead.
— Sarah Laughlin, Case Management Social Work, York Hospital, WellSpan Health System
I wanted to express deep gratitude for Rodney’s guidance and leadership through these unprecedented times. His thoughtful and direct approach to the task of governance has been a lesson to us all. I hope our paths cross in the future, and wish him much success in his future endeavors.
.— Heidi Beilis, M.D., WellSpan Health System
It had only been a couple of weeks since Rodney had assumed the interim position of President of York Hospital when I had the opportunity to first meet and talk with him. We met not in his office or a conference room, but in the Gemba where I do my work. That day it was a system level sponsored Lean training class of about 30 people. What struck me most was his knowledge and application of key Lean guiding principles. After we had talked a few minutes he asked if he could speak to the group. This was not a typical request that I have experienced in healthcare. From the beginning he demonstrated leading with humility and engaging people on how to improve patient care in the hospital. He also made it clear that if people were having a problem making improvement to please call him directly. All principles followed by a Lean Leader. I think what makes him most unique compared to many is how he clearly communicated expectations, but in a way that was so positive that it gave people and teams the confidence to be innovative and want to take ownership in making process improvement.
-- Bryan Taylor, Manager Performance Improvement, WellSpan Health System
Rodney Reider came to lead our WellSpan York Hospital during a time of transition in January 2020. As he assumed this leadership role for our 600-bed Level 1 Trauma Center, his prior experience and aptitude positioned him well for success. Then came COVID-19. Such trying times test even the strongest leaders. He rose to this challenge with poise and grace. His cheerful demeanor and calm countenance reassured our clinical and medical staff during a very uncertain time. His unfailing optimism and appreciation for a job well done helped our staff weather this storm with similar positivity. As he moves to his next role post-COVID we wish him well and will miss him here in York, Pennsylvania. Our organization is better for his time here.
— Alyssa Moyer, MD, Chair, Department of Medicine, WellSpan York
Rodney really engages with our staff and makes everyone feel heard. He visited our Pediatric Unit one evening during the COVID-19 nationwide shutdown, actively listening to our employees, which not only inspired them, but helped to increase employee engagement across the board. Rodney always went the extra mile to meet and greet people within our organization.
—Christine Miller, Pediatrics RN, WellSpan Health
In January, 2020 we hired Rodney Reider to be the interim SVP, President of York Hospital...We were very impressed with Rodney’s extensive experience and since his arrival he has proven to be a HUGE asset! In his 6 months with us he oriented quickly and worked very hard on building relationships with multiple stakeholders, including his executive team, hospital leadership, physicians and hospital employees.
Rodney has been highly visible in the organization via frequent rounding which he amped up during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has set an open and transparent tone. He listens to folks which has been widely acknowledged by staff and physicians. It has been interesting to observe how he has brought his extensive and deep experiences to bear in a wonderfully humble way.
Rodney has produced organizational confidence in his leadership, not an easy outcome in 6 months. He was exactly what we needed and if we were doing it again, we would hire him in an instant.
—Thomas R. McGann, M.D., Executive Vice President, Clinical Practice, WellSpan Health
Rodney showed positive leadership for the Emergency Department during his time at York Hospital. Our team was extremely encouraged by Rodney's timely responses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Rodney is a major reason our staff was able to remain positive and excited to do their jobs during this very difficult time. Rodney allayed staff fears through all of this, and it was crucial!
He frequently visited the ER department delivering constant positivity and support to all. This was crucial during challenging times.
—Steven Schirk, 30+ year ER physician for York Hospital
We have been through many challenges as a community and I am glad Rodney was with us through this one - COVID-19. He has a wonderful way of connecting with team members and listening. Rodney's leadership style has been appreciated by many he will be missed.
— Marlene Crouse, MSN, RN, NE-BC, Regional Director of Case Management Operations for York County
I really enjoyed working with Rodney. To my recollection, I have never seen a leader who is out with the "people" more than Rodney. I saw him interacting with everyone from physician leaders to housekeepers and showed all the same courtesy and respect. Rodney was always out there, friendly, knew people's names, etc. Huge respect for that! A big thank you goes to Rodney for his leadership during the unanticipated COVID crisis. Not what he signed up for, but very well done.
— Lee Maddox, Medical Director, Pulmonary Services and WellSpan Lung, Sleep and Critical Care Site Director, WellSpan Health
I so enjoyed working with you and I appreciated your calm and kind leadership during a very troubled time. I hope you are doing well and have moved onto another interesting opportunity!
-- Amy Nelson, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at WellSpan Health
It was an absolute pleasure to have Rodney on the Senior Leadership Team as the interim President for York Hospital. Rodney was able to step into a 639-bed facility and create a sense of direction through unprecedented times. His leadership during COVID was clear, concise, and calming. Thank you.
— Kimberly Wakefield, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Director Human Resources, WellSpan Health
Mindset, Skillset, Peopleset Leadership