Spotlight On: Jonathan Watkins, Regional President & CEO, Cancer Treatment Centers of America part of City of Hope

Spotlight On: Jonathan Watkins, Regional President & CEO, Cancer Treatment Centers of America part of City of Hope

2022-12-12T12:46:01-05:00December 12th, 2022|Atlanta, Healthcare, Spotlight On|

2 min read December 2022 — Jonathan Watkins, regional president and CEO of Cancer Treatment of America, Atlanta, spoke with Focus: about their acquisition by City of Hope, attracting and retaining healthcare workers to their organizations, and the plans they have to make their care more accessible. Watkins also talked about the outlook of the Atlanta healthcare sector in the upcoming years. 

What are the most recent milestones and successes for CTCA Atlanta? 

On Aug. 15 we celebrated our 10-year anniversary. 10 years of providing high quality, patient focused care to patients and caregivers that entered our doors in search of hope and healing during arguably the toughest fight of their life. In that time we have grown and expanded in size and have positively impacted thousands of lives. In February 2022 we became a part of City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute – designated comprehensive cancer research  Locally, we expanded our women’s health service line, adding additional GYN oncologists to the core group and expanded our GI, Head and Neck, and surgical service capabilities. Most recently we were recognized by Press Ganey with a 5-star Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services patient satisfaction rating. The highest level of recognition awarded in the patient satisfaction area by CMS.  We also received the Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award for outstanding patient satisfaction, along with the highly regarded Magnet designation for excellence in nursing. 

How has the acquisition by City of Hope affected CTCA Atlanta’s operations? 

It has expanded our network and access to experts in several areas, namely blood and marrow transplants as they perform more than any other health system in the country. We will be developing our own program locally, leveraging the expertise they have. We will also integrate their Epic platform, which we’re calling “Connect Hope.” We are currently using Allscripts, but the shift to Epic will allow us to better support clinical communication across the country.

What would you say is the importance of CTCA to the Atlanta region and the national healthcare landscape? 

For the Atlanta region, CTCA offers a high-quality, comprehensive cancer care site for patients closer to their home. When fighting a disease like cancer, you want to have confidence in the treatment options available to you and know that they are being delivered by a team of experts.  CTCA offers an integrated, “care across the continuum” approach that combines surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and advancements in precision medicine with supportive therapies to manage side effects and enhance quality of life during treatment and into survivorship. From a national perspective, our mission as a part of City of Hope is to create a national cancer research and care system. Wherever you are, we want you to have access to cancer care, the latest in research, clinical trials, and so much more. We firmly believe that a patient’s zip code or the proximity in which they live to an academic medical center should not determine the outcome of their cancer diagnosis. 

How have labor shortages impacted your services? 

Healthcare is no stranger to ongoing workforce shortages and competition for human capital across the country. This isn’t a new phenomenon for us, but it has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Many healthcare workers who were planning to retire in 2022 moved their dates to 2020 out of fear of contracting the virus. The inability to offer practical training experience to nurses due to the need to keep only members of the workforce deemed essential onsite slowed down the development of their skills. Our focus has been on retaining the extremely talented and compassionate members of our team because it’s not just about a “warm body” for us. It’s about the right people with the right capabilities and culture fit.  

Has CTCA created any workforce pipelines to help mitigate the labor shortage?

We are partnering with several of the region’s educational institutions to aid in developing the next generation of healthcare workers and leaders. We’re attempting to collaborate on the development of the curriculums being used to educate students in an effort to ensure the skills and knowledge they’re acquiring meet the demands and challenges we’re facing in the real world.  

What would you say is the fastest area of care in oncology right now? 

At CTCA Atlanta it’s our rapidly growing theranostic program. Theranostics, a portmanteau of “therapeutics” and “diagnostics,” is a targeted therapy option that diagnoses and treats cancer at the same time. They use a radioactive agent in the imaging process to light up cancer cells, then immediately deploy a second agent to attack those cells. Another rapidly growing area is in home infusion therapy and greater use of telehealth to connect with patients virtually for routine follow-up appointments.  

Are there trends that are making it difficult to control cancer treatment costs? 

The cost of healthcare across the board is difficult to “control”. Increases in drug costs (development and procurement), shifts in payor plans and coverage options, along with the expansive opportunities and areas competing for a limited talent pool are all factors that make managing the costs of cancer treatment a challenge. 

Are there any other key partnerships that you have created or hope to create? 

In 2021 we created our rural hospital affiliation program via cancer care collaborative agreements with several hospitals in rural Georgia. We are also working on furthering our partnership with the Morehouse School of Medicine to assist in the education and training of future oncologists. Our partnership with Clark Atlanta University directly aligns with their research efforts and work in reducing the incidence and deaths associated with prostate cancer.  In fact, in September we hosted a prostate cancer screening event on Clark Atlanta University’s campus.  

What is your outlook for Atlanta’s healthcare industry and CTCA Atlanta for the next two to three years? 

I’m optimistic about both. The healthcare institutions in the Atlanta market are very collaborative and I’d even say appropriately competitive. I’ve had the opportunity to work with and connect with executives from each of our top health systems and all are focused on solidifying their position as a top provider of high quality healthcare. That strive to be the best sets the residents of the metro Atlanta area up perfectly for having their choice of top institutions to select for their healthcare needs.  

What are your top priorities for 2023? 

My biggest priority for 2023 is the recruitment and retention of top talent. As we discussed earlier, the labor market has been upended and is causing tremendous disruption across the entire healthcare industry. At CTCA our most valuable asset is our people so in order to win the fight against cancer we need to retain and attract the right people to aid us in combating this horrific disease. My second is the identification of markets and opportunities that allow us to strategically expand our services to patient populations in need of the world class care we provide.  

For more information, visit: 

https://www.cancercenter.com/ 

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