Connect Live | February 3, 2022
Story 84

Ian Pollak: The things that give me strength nowadays are the love of my wife and my son, and the support of the team that I have here at Adventist.

Alvaro Thimann: There's three things that come to mind that give me strength. First is faith, second is family, and third is my ability to make a difference every day with food here for everyone, including the patients.

Newton Rader: Looking forward to what comes next, for the next day, the next minute, friends, family plans give me strength to look forward to seeing what's down the road. That's what gives me strength.

Sofia Ghssoub: My source of strength was my family. They supported me so much. They didn't ask me to stop coming to work, even though they were very scared. They were very scared for me, and they were scared for themselves, and still they kept supporting in every aspect they could to make me strong to face the situation, and to keep reporting, and be strong for my team.

Ryan Mackereth: Here, at Glendale Adventist, it's my team that I work with, so my managers, my coworkers, who are just excellent people to work with, make my job easier, and give me support and relief and address any needs that I might have and work with me when times get tough.

Narrator: How do we talk to, and with, each other? How do we maybe do less telling? Because communication isn't just about sharing information. It's a two-way street. How do we ask more questions?

Joyce Newmyer: Welcome to Connect Live at Adventist Health. I'm Joyce Newmyer, the chief culture officer at Adventist Health and your host for Connect Live. Live this week, Mission Summit this April, Adventist Health and Rideout, and the power of perspective. Mission Summit this April – in response to the Omicron variant and the incredible strain on all of our medical professionals on the front lines, we have moved the Mission Summit to April 25 and 26 this year. The health and safety of our patients, our associates, and all of you is always our first priority. Originally scheduled for last month, the theme and the inspiration has not changed. The Office of Mission chose “Home” as the theme for this summit, and have planned for two days of content on how our mission calls us to create belonging in the communities where we live and serve.

Adventist Health is honored to share this summit for free live around the globe. We know that for many taking two days off of work to join us will be limited or even impossible. The good news is that it will be archived for you to watch at your leisure, on your time, at our story site, AdventistHealth.org/Story. Thank you to Alex Bryan, Chief Mission Officer, and his team for creating this moment for our global family. Today, I'm delighted to welcome Chris Champlin, president of Adventist Health and Rideout and fairly new to our system. Welcome, Chris.

Chris Champlin: Thank you, Joyce.

Joyce Newmyer: So Chris, you and I had a conversation about this, and your career in healthcare has taken you down some really interesting pathways. Can you tell us more about that?

Chris Champlin: Sure. It has. I spent the first 13 years or so in public health. I worked for Riverside County and San Joaquin County, and then did a stint with Indian Health Services in Southern California. From there, I went to the payer side, which is now Anthem Blue Cross. Back then it was WellPoint. And then I spent the last 20 years with a faith-based organization, Catholic Healthcare West before coming here.

Joyce Newmyer: So why did you choose us? Why did you choose Adventist Health and Rideout? And what excites you about this new position?

Chris Champlin: Yeah. The simple answer is the people. I had the opportunity to be exposed to the leadership team here, and the rest of the team, here at Rideout a few years ago. People may not know this, but I actually led the team that was from Dignity Health talking about affiliation with Rideout back in 2017. That was really my first exposure to the group. And what I observed was a group of people who were truly dedicated to making this community a better place, and that really spoke to me. I can't think of a higher calling than to leave this world better and these communities better than what we've found them. And so as I spent time observing Rideout, in particular, over the next couple of years, it seemed like a very natural fit. It seemed like a group of people who exposed the same philosophies of life that I had, so it was a fit. It was a good fit.

Joyce Newmyer: Well, we're so glad that it did feel like a good fit and that you've joined our family. Do you have a particular approach, or theory, or maybe even style of leadership that you'd like to share with us?

Chris Champlin: Sure. I do. I'm a big believer in culture. I want a culture where everyone feels like they're empowered or they own their space, and that space is connected to a larger vision, mission, a set of values, and an understanding of how what they're doing is connected to that larger picture. And then structures within the organization to make our activities repeatable. I spend a lot of time in culture, cultural development, leading what we do, by example, hopefully.

Joyce Newmyer: I love that, you talking about repeatable behaviors, being able to take behaviors and words that matter, and replicate them at scale. It's so important to leadership. How does this drive your daily decisions, and operations, and behaviors as you're leading a hospital?

Chris Champlin: Well, it's nice when your personal values are aligned with those of your corporate employer. And I feel like that's what I have here. Again, it's one of the things that drew me to Adventist Health and in Rideout particular. So what that does for me is I'm always asking myself, in every decision I make, and my leadership team here, is this decision leading towards our vision, our mission, our values? So there's that constant question that's out there. And then it's just leading by example. And that means that you spend a lot of time with our associates out and about. I'd love to be in the hallways, talking to people and finding out what they're doing, and hearing what's going on. I think back in the 80s, we used to call it management by wandering, so I do a lot of that. But it really is being out and listening, hearing, and making sure that people know how we're connected.

Joyce Newmyer: Yeah. I remember when they used to call it management by walking around, or wandering around.

Chris Champlin: Right, right.

Joyce Newmyer: Yet, I've talked with you long enough that I know that you know it has to be intentional, and with the purpose of connecting with people. And if we can do that while wandering, it's all the better, right?

Chris Champlin: Right, right.

Joyce Newmyer: So what do you dream about for Adventist Health and Rideout, and it's people, and the community?

Chris Champlin: That's easy, and I alluded to this earlier. My dream is that Adventist Health and Rideout makes the communities that we have the privilege to serve a better place. If we can achieve that, we've achieved everything.

Joyce Newmyer: It is a privilege, isn't it? Chris, what is, maybe, something that people don't know about you that they would love to know? Not just about your work leadership, but, I don't know, maybe in your personal life or your family. What are some things that you want to share to help people know who you are?

Chris Champlin: Well, my personal life, I love the outdoors. I'm an avid golfer, but I'll tell you a quick story. My wife and I were in Hawaii last year, and I lost an entire box of balls on three holes. I love to golf, but that was a tough, tough hole, a couple of holes. I've got two adult children. They're doing well. I've got a wife of almost 40 years now, deeply in love, still, just like we were 39 years ago. And I think that in my personal life, we talked about this again, my goal in life is to just make the world a better place than when I've found it. And so we do a lot of volunteer work. We're part of a group called For El Dorado, where we go around and we just do things for people that makes their lives better. We recently re-roofed a person's home who was having some health challenges, mission kind of work. It just makes us better people. That's who I am in a nutshell.

Joyce Newmyer: Love that. And sometime I'll share with you the golf story that I have. It's not pretty. I won't persecute our viewers with it. Chris, thank you for choosing Adventist Health and Rideout. Thank you for choosing this leadership team, and thank you for being our guest here today.

Chris Champlin: Joyce, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Joyce Newmyer: Our final story today is Tight-Loose-Tight. Michelle Fuentes, president of Adventist Health Sonora, recently shared on the Story and Experience Podcast Episode 30 several of her secrets for developing and supporting leaders. Tight-loose-tight is just one of those models that Michelle has found can create incredible space for healthy movement. Clear vision, flexibility and execution, and open accountability, all come together in tight-loose-tight. You can enjoy the whole podcast as well as many other stories at AdventistHealth.org/Story. Friends, thanks for connecting live and we'll see you here again next week. Until then, let's be a force for good.