David Atkinson Reflects on One Year of More, Better, and Faster at TriHealth

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In one year, David Atkinson has made his presence felt at TriHealth. With roughly 13,500 team members and physicians, Cincinnati-area TriHealth has a big brand on the national scene, ranked recently by Monigle Group as the number one health system brand in their market, and eighteenth most recognized health system brand across the US out of 3,000-plus health systems.

Atkinson was initially brought to TriHealth in late 2023 as an independent consultant to manage the HR organization through a leadership transition. One month in, TriHealth CEO Mark Clement asked Atkinson to stay long-term to elevate HR’s performance and the Systems overall people and culture strategy. HR has been challenged to more proactively support the health system’s commitment to getting healthcare right. This means transforming care and financing models to more directly focus on the Triple Aim Plus One—better care, better health, better value and an enhanced work and practice environment. Elevating HR’s contribution required the same high reliability standards that have defined TriHealth on a national stage.

The name of the game is taking HR from good to great with a commitment to:

• More of the right work that produces the right value,
• Better a commitment to continuous improvement and high reliability, and
• Faster with a sense of urgency.

The SVP has a history of building and driving HR model design, high-performing teams, and business model integration. Atkinson initially served at a renowned research institute where he founded, grew and led as the operating executive for a 200-plus employee business unit, as a senior leader in a global professional services firm’s HR advisory practice, and most recently for the third largest nonprofit health system where he oversaw post-merger organization design from 40,000 to 150,000 employees in just five years. In coming to TriHealth, Atkinson says it was about knowing the front line and patient impact of his daily decisions and making a difference to help HR and a talented team reach their full potential.

The first thirty days of Atkinson’s tenure at TriHealth were crucial and focused on building relationships, intently listening, and understanding the system’s intricacies that make each transformation a little bit different.

“It’s very important to understand the culture, norms and DNA of the organization as quickly as possible,” Atkinson explains. “I needed to know where the organization was coming from and the expectations from the CEO, COO, board, executive leadership team and broader stakeholders. It was also important to spend time in our hospitals, attending clinical team huddles and business unit leader meetings. Those are the folks that inform every day whether or not changes are meaningful. I didn’t want the organization to simply buy into the necessary changes,” Atkinson says. “We needed them to believe in where we’re going, and that we would get there together.”

In January 2024, just two months into the role, Atkinson worked with senior leadership and launched ten distinct imperatives to address immediate workforce pain points and accelerate the one of a kind TriHealth Way culture. Example initiatives included TriHealth’s first ever employer brand, an HR dashboard, career marketing strategy with an internal career success center, “always on engagement,” rapidly filling essential clinical roles, and improving leadership development. Ten imperatives may seem like too many to effectively focus on, however, Atkinson believes in an “aim small, miss small” approach that emphasizes targeted wins within big rock objectives that drive quick success at scale.

It’s through years of transformation work that Atkinson learned how small changes with specific results allow multiple initiatives to be attacked at the same time to maximize impact. At the time of speaking with Atkinson in mid-September, eight of the ten initiatives had been initially completed with the remaining going live by the end of 2024.

There are already positive outcomes from HR’s commitment to More. Better. Faster. Over the first few months of launching the imperatives, more than 1,100 open positions were reduced to under 750—and dropping. Vacant nursing roles in critical departments dropped 50 percent, time to fill a vacant position improved by almost 60 percent and new hire start times dropped 71 percent. These quick wins have had a dramatic impact on front line team moral, confidence that their needs are being met, higher engagement, eight-month trend of 24 percent decline in system-wide turnover, and stronger patient service scores (known as HCAHPS) as a result of higher staffing ratios.

“Our mission is focused on getting healthcare right,” Clement reflects. “For the first time in many years, HR is taking more of a lead role in getting workforce right, which means attracting, engaging, developing and retaining more than our fair share of talent. One of my hot button priorities was an HR dashboard to better inform our now and future talent needs in a tumultuous healthcare environment. HR partnered with IS and stood up a dynamic tool within a couple months. We’re moving from reactive to proactive and our operations leaders are making more informed decisions that support organization goals.”

What Atkinson is most excited about is elevating the workforce experience including TriHealth’s first ever employer brand. “The team member experience with a focus on Seeing and Hearing our people throughout their journey at TriHealth is how we continue to set this great organization apart as the employer of choice,” comments Atkinson. “We created a bold commitment of a ‘supportive work and practice environment full of inclusion, purpose and belonging —through authentically lived, everyday experiences.’Our leaders are committed to a uniquely supportive culture that is ‘as advertised’; otherwise, we’re like everyone else.”

It is easy to see why focusing on authenticity is so exciting. Inside TriHealth’s employer brand is a strong total rewards and recognition strategy with a unique career success center that provides essential programs, coaching, and resources to front line team members. At times this means supporting social determinant barriers like food insecurity, transportation and family support that often stand in the way of sustaining employment and a life changing career.

Behind this HR evolution at TriHealth is a committed and passionate leader. What makes Atkinson stand apart is the authentic, caring and visionary person who shines through. The SVP is a change agent and careful disrupter; but most importantly he keenly understands the value of building relationships and broad networks of trust. Belief is building across stakeholders at TriHealth precisely because Atkinson is a committed believer and is willing to himself evolve with the organization.

“I’ve led several turnarounds and large-scale change efforts, and I learn something new and become a better leader each time,” Atkinson says. “I couldn’t come in and tell the business how it needed to be; I had to meet the organization where they are today. If I didn’t do that with patience and compassion, no amount of experience and expertise would matter.”

Throughout the interview, Atkinson highlighted the incredible partnerships, collaborative senior leaders and resilient HR team members who are making the changes at TriHealth successful every day. The joy and passion are clear to see when he talks about the people and culture at TriHealth. When asked if he’s enjoying the new role, Atkinson’s response was simply, “it’s the most purpose-filled work of my career. And I’m honored to be a part of such an authentically human organization.”

It’s only been a year, but Atkinson already knows where the organization is heading. Good to Great by doing More. Better. Faster.

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