Passing The Baton In Healthcare Supply Chains

We explore how a retiring SVP and a new SVP engineered a seamless leadership handoff at a national health system, turning succession into a strategic advantage. Mentorship, team alignment, and C-suite credibility anchor a playbook any supply chain can adapt.

• three generations compare lessons on leadership and continuity
• Damika’s path from hospital operations to executive leadership
• how outside consulting and GPO experience sharpen decision making
• the mechanics of a measured, months-long handoff
• building clear career ladders and internal pipelines
• aligning a new executive team with a focused retreat
• earning and keeping C-suite confidence through value framing
• leading through disruption with experiments and disciplined follow-through
• using external networks and peers to stay future ready

And don't forget to hit that subscribe button and connect with us online so you'll never miss an episode and can catch up on all the ones you might have missed.
We'd love to hear from you. Just reach out at fcrans@stonge.com 

Transcript

Three Generations, One Conversation

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to a special edition of Taking the Supply Chain Pulse. In this episode, three generations of healthcare supply chain leaders dive into where the industry is headed. Fred is joined by two incredible guests, Ed Hitcock, the now retired Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Trinity Health, and Damika Miller, the new Senior Vice President of Strategic Sourcing at Trinity Health. This is going to be a candid, insightful conversation you won't want to miss. And here's your host, Fred Kranz.

Damika’s Path And Early Lessons

SPEAKER_02 0:33

We want to talk today about several things. Number one is about succession planning. Number one is about creating new leaders. Another one is about the challenges of the future that are different than the challenges that we faced. We have three generations here, really a real old dog, a recent retiree, and a young lion, if you will, that's going to be out there going through the uh challenges of today. So let's get started. Why don't we do this? Um, Domika, I think people probably know a little bit more about Ed than they do about you. This is Ed's third uh time on the uh podcast, and uh this is your first official time on the podcast. So tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

I am a graduate of Western Michigan University. Um I my career includes uh working work for Trinity Health. I have a long history with Trinity, working here four times. Um, when I wasn't working at Trinity, I was at Deloitte Consulting and I worked for Premier Inc., the GPO. Um so I have a uh I would say a well-rounded view of the industry and supply chain and how it all fits together. And I started um supply chain at one of our hospitals at Trinity um back before even EDI was um mature. So my first job in supply chain was taking a stack of printed purchase orders and faxing them to suppliers to place orders. So I I go way back.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Well, you know, that's good because I'm glad you said that. Uh one of the things that I've been uh working on uh is you know the idea of what it takes to lead a supply chain. And I had seven years of uh of of caregiving and non-leadership experience before I had one day of management experience. Excuse me. And I think that really was has been valuable. And I'm I'm sure that you were grounded and pretty pretty well grounded in how hospitals worked before you really moved into leadership. Is that true?

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Yes. Um, so prior to joining supply chain, um, I was interning for a few years in human resources. So having um been a part of both departments that touch everything in the hospital, um, I got to know the different functions, how they work together, um, and really to saw the lay of the land of the organization. I think that has really helped me in my perspective and my point of view as I've moved through the different roles in the industry.

Bringing Outside Experience Into Healthcare

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Yeah, and both of you have brought experiences from other endeavors, either other healthcare organizations, in your case, Damika, the uh specifically the GPO, so you knew how large organizations interacted uh among themselves before you came back into this leadership position. And add your experience in uh data information management uh really gave you you developed uh you developed uh solutions for healthcare. Uh I know that I know because I worked for you for three years. So they were pretty good solutions. Um how how did uh how did you integrate Ed your non-healthcare uh knowledge into healthcare? And how did it how did it help you as you uh uh as you came in?

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Well, yeah, I could take that a number of different directions, Fred, but kind of leaning into you know the uh started and sold a couple of companies. Uh one was, for lack of a better term, consultancy, but that all we did was interim leadership. So we were, myself and the partners in the firm, were leaders for typically around a year, sometimes as short as six months, sometimes as long as 18 months, but we ran supply chain for a number of organizations, had an opportunity to work uh over in uh Germany, and actually did some work in Russia and the Ukraine at the same time on the same trip, which wouldn't happen today. But um but all of those experiences teach you something, right? Every time you get involved with a situation, you get involved with a different organization, you experience a different culture, you see a different end of the supply chain. Um, you know, because I'd spent some time working for a supplier organization as well. So all of that teaches you a perspective and and teaches you how to respect those differences. And and they exist, you know, in a large health system like Trinity, we have multiple cultures, right? Because we've got organizations, ministries in different states, 26 to be exact. And um you learn to respect how people interact in those different cultures. And the other angle I could take on your question just briefly is my first degree is in engineering, electrical engineering, my second degree is in behavioral science. So along the way, I was educated to use technology, data, and how to influence people and behavior um and how to appreciate how people work together. So tell me I didn't use that underpinning every single day, right? There's just so much that we do in our industry and supply chain that involves data to influence people, behavior change outcomes, etc. So um it all comes together uh quite nicely in in my experience.

Stepping Into A Massive Role

SPEAKER_02 6:29

So both of you guys have had um uh experience outside of healthcare, so you're you're uh very well-versed and well-rounded. Uh working for one of the largest uh IDNs in the country. I mean, uh Trinity Health is huge. Uh it's gotta Domika, was it a daunting challenge when you realized you were going to uh be the leader of this organization? How did you feel about it?

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Um I felt no. Uh just short answer now, it wasn't daunting because um Ed had been a mentor to me since the time he became my leader. Um so I worked with Ed for what I think eight years. Um and and I I tapped into him as a mentor. That's what I like to do with I like to choose leaders and I can see mentorship potential there. And um, and I did in our even in our regular touch bases, he'll tell you that I would pick his brain, I would ask for um feedback on my performance regularly and just talk about um my career path, how am I showing up? Um, I was asking for the coaching. Um, I was getting that for eight years. And then as he started thinking about retirement and his succession plan, he knew what my aspirations were. He started preparing me for that. Um, and then once he um once I came into the role officially, we still had time. There was overlap, and we were very, very measured and planned about all of the things that needed to be transitioned to me. And I I don't think there was a step missed. We he literally inventoried all of the things he was involved in internally and externally and made those connections for me. And so I've been in this role now for over 90 days, and there have been no surprises. And I I just feel like I've just smoothly transitioned, picked up the reins, and started um running. So I I do appreciate his intention there.

Mentorship And Intentional Succession

SPEAKER_02 8:44

And that's interesting because um Ed you and I know you and I have uh both been uh consultants across this industry, and most of the times we go into places that uh that if they call us, they've finally realize they needed help. And uh very few places have uh sort of a continuation of leadership. To uh as often or more often than not, if Ed Hiscock were to retire from uh Trinity, uh Joe Schmoe from outside would be the person that came in and had to uh learn the whole operation, and uh and there'd be a c there'd be a lag or a slowdown or a a pause as uh someone came on board. What you've done, I think Ed, uh is uh really remarkable and shows great foresight. Tell us tell us how you went about thinking about uh transitioning leadership in your organization.

SPEAKER_03 9:43

You know, um I want to go back to Damika's comments first, because I think what she said is just critical. It is probably the most important thing. You know, she talked about her being very intentional with her own career path, up to and including, and I'm I'm gonna get the words wrong, but like choosing a leader that can support her in the direction she wants to go, and an organization that can support her in the direction she wants to go. Um, I could have been this bonehead that would have never supported her to her goals, she'd have packed her bags and left, and Trinity would have lost that resource, right? Would have lost that excellent leader. So I think there has to be intentionality on both parties' part, right? Damika was very intentional. She did insist. She'd come with her list of things to talk about in our one-on-one in the last one, and we always made time for it. Was um, how am I showing up? What coaching? And and we always attended to that. And uh sometimes that wasn't easy for me to deliver, it wasn't easy for Domika to hear. Um, more times than not, though, especially over time, it was largely all positive, you know, with uh with a butt at the end, right? So you really did excellent in this particular meeting, but let's get you in another setting with this other leader that hasn't seen you shine like that, right? So so it's not just the two of us, but the two of us working together with intention to move things forward. And and you know, there is a level of selfishness here. I didn't want to retire and leave Trinity to a big do-over and leave these people that I've come to care for over 10 years that have been part of the team to start anew and worry about geez, I wonder if they're gonna want this function that I've been running for years in this new supply chain organization. We were really wed to the strategies that we put in place. I wanted to see them move forward after I retired. I wanted to make sure the team saw them move forward after we retired and just stay that course. That's the best thing for the organization is continuity. And um, and to your point, Fred, bringing Joe Schmo in, I think you said, um, would just take everybody off the rails. Even if Joe decided to do exactly what we were doing, it'd take a minute for him to get up to speed. And Damika hasn't lost a beat. To her point, you know, she's been at it three months now, and things are moving along as if I were still there, because we were able to affect that handoff, and uh um and the organization is further ahead from a supply chain and strategy perspective than they would have been with any other course of action.

Team Alignment And Leadership Style

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Yeah, and Domika, I think you said something too that is uh is interesting. You've had several iterations of experience at Trinity Health, even though you've gone someplace, you've come back, you've gone someplace, you come back. Um so you you are to the people you serve a known quantity, and the organization is to you a known quantity. So when you said, I was sort of surprised that you said you weren't uh intimidated or uh overwhelmed when to when you were gonna take over, but then again I'm not because uh with me when I started out myself at Baptist in Miami, I'd been there for like five years before I uh went and became a director. I knew everyone, they knew me, I was comfortable with them, they were comfortable with me. No one had to learn anything about anybody because you already knew where you were, which is probably uh aside from the technical expertise that you bring from your formal training, uh the the experience and the background you have with the organization is a huge advantage. So you you felt comfortable right from the start. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Yeah, I did. I think um from the leadership transition standpoint, I think that was the easier part um where I may could have um fallen flat is taking leadership of the team because I am different than Ed. Um and he has been the leader. Um and so to make sure that I was also bringing the team along um with the same seamlessness. I spent some very focused time with my what I call my executive leaders. Um and we we spent three days together in a in a retreat style just to really think about who we are as a new team so that we had we can we have the same momentum together moving forward. Um, so I think combining Ed's wonderful transition planning and then the attention to the team and my new role, um, I think has made it a success out of the gate.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

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Credibility And C-Suite Standing

SPEAKER_02 15:18

I've known Ed for a long time, okay, so I'm biased here. Uh there are I I don't know many people that have as much empathy and care for the people they work with as Ed brings, along with the technical expertise required to run a complex organization. And make no mistake about it, Trinity Health is a complex organization. And I could name other not nearly as big but similarly complex organizations in the Detroit market that uh have not had the seamless leadership over the last 20 years that uh Trinity has had from from uh before from as Ed came in and Ed transitioned into his role to now. And uh a lot of that is because you know you were you were lucky to have uh have uh have chosen have been working with Ed. Ed is uh Ed is probably the best of the best. Uh and I would never tell him that to his face, but but he really is.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

Uh that's how you wrote me into three of these podcasts, Fred.

Building Ladders And Talent Pipelines

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Hey, I hey. Uh you gotta go to what you know, you gotta go to what remember what John Candy said. You gotta go to what works for you. You know, if it works, stick with it. Uh so so now that now that you're there, Domeka, um I guess it gets down to the one gap that many people have, many organizations have, is not thinking holistically forward about the future of the organization and the function. Uh, will you be putting together sort of a career ladder uh for for people in supply chain? And also, I know that you're a young person now and you're gonna be around forever, but guess what? I was a young person uh once and I was gonna be around forever, and uh forever has been knocking on my door for quite a while here. So um have you given any thought to uh creating opportunities for play for folks in your operation to shine and have a path forward uh to keep them employed and and producing and and uh delivering good work for Trinity Health?

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Yes. So uh the good news is that Ed also pioneered that. Um I would say probably in the first year that I reported to Ed, um he had structured a part of the team with that intention. So there was a very clear step one, step two, step three. And um, and that is something that we're that that thought process and that intention is we're carrying that over to the rest of the team. How do we um promote from within? So keep that momentum going, um, and then fill the entry level um pipeline with different talents. So then we start to have um different diversity in thought and experiences. So that is where we're focused right now. So keeping that framework of step one, step two, step three, and those levels, um, focus on that succession planning at all levels. And then I ideally we're filling at that entry level and developing colleagues that way.

Leading Through Disruption

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Yep. Uh and Ed uh as uh as as you transition into the beautiful life of retirement and and going uh scuba diving every week and sitting there with your uh with your Jose Cuervos and uh uh having a wonderful life. What uh what advice would you give uh Domika about the possible challenges that uh she comes into this function at probably the singularly most disruptive time that we've ever been in in healthcare? Uh and uh and uh she's gonna have to deal with that. So if you were to leave some advice in a little envelope in her in the top drawer of her desk, what would you say?

SPEAKER_03 19:20

Actually, I did leave an envelope.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

And you know, I framed it, I have it in a nice frame.

SPEAKER_03 19:28

Did you? Um no, but it just uh and and the advice is uh to lead through those difficult times. And she's got the tools that she needs, she's got the team that she needs, and it's important too, I think, that that people appreciate uh that succession planning isn't step stamping out a mini-me, right? Damika and I are very different leaders, we have different styles, we approach things differently, we actually complemented each other really well. Um because I'm easily distracted. It it came to me when Damika was talking about that um the program that we put in place with intention to set out career pathing. We put that, and then I get distracted with something else, and then those programs can wane. The good news is Domika saw me experiment with a lot of different things over the years. Um, she's got more stick toativeness, she's got more rigor and discipline to stay the course with those programs and projects. So I experimented with a bunch of stuff. Some things worked, some things didn't. The things that work, Damika will now take that to the next level. And so she'll lean into her skill set and where we have experimented with different ways to try and getting back to your question, mitigate some of these um disruptions that we're having to face in this moment. We experimented with a lot of different things. Some of those things are successful, other things not so much. So Damika will now naturally, with her own skills, take that to the next level and get the team focused on those things that we learned through those experiments, worked really well. So, you know, there's there's all of this that has to be considered when you think about a succession plan. The individuals, their competencies and capabilities, um how the environment is, what the requirements of the environment are at that point in time, and is into the foreseeable future. And just preparing so that uh you can choreograph continuity in the strategies and the actions that you've set up for the organization. So I said a lot there, and it sounds more complex than it probably is, but it is a full time job, just staying attentive to those things that. Those nuances that are our leadership styles, that are the environment that we have to operate within, including the political environment that you have in every organization and culture you deal with, like we talked about earlier. So there's a lot of nuance to it, but it isn't about just creating someone to act in your stead, if that makes sense.

Maintaining Executive Confidence

SPEAKER_02 22:24

You know what's interesting is you talked about the cultural and political environment. Um there are many supply chains out there who like to say that we are uh part of the C-suite and we are a strategic uh uh uh part of the operation, but there are very few that really are. And and you folks over the years, with your predecessor and yourself, have built credibility to the point now where for at Trinity Health the supply chain is really considered considered to be a full C-suite function and has full C-suite credibility. Um I I don't know, Damika, if if you realize how few places there are that really are like that and how fortunate you are to be stepping into a role where you haven't had to fight to get there like uh like the your predecessors really have. Um I'm sure you're gonna take it forward. But what do you think your challenges are as you pick up this baton from uh Mr. Hiscock, who when he as he trades it for his uh flippers and mask? Uh what what uh what do you think your challenges are gonna be to uh to keep things going forward?

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Um it's it's keeping the confidence of our executive leaders. I think we were able to execute on our succession plan because Ed had won over the confidence in his leadership and our supply chain. So there was a trust that he was developing people that could continue um an operation in which they found valuable. And so that is my job is to continue earning that trust and that confidence. Um and and I I think that is where I'm being stretched more in this new role. And that's the difference I'm feeling in this elevation, is how um I am really showcasing the work that we do and demonstrating our value. I think um I'm I'm recognizing that Ed did a lot of that um in behind the scenes. And um I could see that in some of the meetings where we were in together, and I would and I would say to him, I would never would have thought to put to frame things the way in that you said it. Um, but now I'm understanding that more um as I'm engaging at at elevated levels. Um and it's really um being very mindful and positioning our our organization as a supply chain organization in the value that it brings to the system.

Networks, Peers, And Industry Community

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Yeah, that's that's a key challenge. And one of the things that I would uh I would suggest, and I'm I'm sure you're already doing this, is that there are other peers in your um, what shall I say, your age cohort. Uh I like that word, cohort. That's a new word for me, uh, that are senior leaders, senior leaders in similar organizations. I would say uh probably uh Regime Vyon at uh at Oshner is a person that's uh that is uh that has gone through similar uh similar uh succession uh uh opportunities and has made it into a very large and very important uh operation. There are folks that you can network with that will be sharing your problems. And I know Ed, we've all done that. We've all we've all found folks that we can you have to have someone you can talk to that's a peer. And one of the things about supply chain is in many organizations, the only peer you have at your level is the person that you're looking at the mirror in every morning. So it's uh important to build uh relationships outside that. And I hope you're doing that.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Well, I will say that was a part of of Ed's mentorship of me was getting me connected um out into the industry. And so um it does feel like there's a community of us there. Even he was doing that while um we were working together, but even as a part of his transition plan, he was like, Oh, do you know these people? Oh no, let me make that introduction. You need to know them as well. Um, and these are all external relationships and external peers. So I do I feel um well connected, thank thanks to him. And I I think that was a key part of his mentoring was um just giving me visibility and access to his network.

Gratitude, Reflections, And Closing

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Yeah, and I really have appreciated this conversation because I think there are probably probably several uh scores of supply chain leaders out there uh that could could use the insights that you folks have provided about continuity of uh continuity of operations and and continuity of philosophy. Uh Ed, as you're passing off into the sunset, first off, I'd like to personally thank you for being uh a friend and a mentor, and I'm certain that of all the people you've ever worked with, I am the best at the best person for having you actually apply your behavioral science uh degree to, because I gotta believe I probably was the most difficult guy you've had to work with. Uh so thanks thanks for tolerating me.

SPEAKER_03 27:37

Not difficult, you're just unique, Fred. And I know you and I know you appreciate that. That's a compliment for you, isn't it? Yeah, I really love that.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

Uh but anyway, uh thanks, Ed. And uh and and uh Domika, I look forward to uh to uh meeting meeting you and seeing you more often. Uh and um and I know you're gonna do a great job. I know you're gonna do a great job. I thank you folks for taking time out to talk to to me and share your uh process with us. And uh hopefully other people can get some ideas from this and sort of build uh successful transitions themselves. Thanks so much, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

Well, that's all for today. Thanks so much for joining us. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button and connect with us online so you'll never miss an episode and can catch up on all the ones you might have missed. Got a topic you're fired up about, or maybe you want to be a guest on the show? Fred would love to hear from you. Just reach out at F C R A N S at S T O N G E.com. We'll see you next time.