2025 Dynamic Dozen No. 11: Mercy Springfield Communities

SBJ: What has been key to your recent growth?
John Myers: It’s the investment in our people. We’ve invested in recruiting more physicians and advanced practice providers and that’s allowed us to open more clinics and expand patient access to really ensure patients get the care they need, when they need it and where they need it. We’ve also invested in leadership development so our teams feel supported. We believe a key to success is developing our leaders at all levels of the organization. That’s helped us with our recruitment and retention of talent.

SBJ: What are your top issues with managing growth?
Myers: Health care runs on incredibly slim margins. We always have to be mindful about growth. We grew rapidly over the last two years and added more clinics and more providers. We did all that because we knew it would benefit patients who want care closer to home. Those things are an investment and it will take time before we see those investments flow through. We have to make sure we optimize those clinics to make sure they’re very efficient, while also planning for more growth. We feel like the growth is sustainable. We haven’t seen it slow down over the past 24 months, but you do have to be careful. You can grow too fast. You’ve got to add new physicians and allow them to build a practice in order for them to really support the system.

SBJ: What has your rapid growth allowed for?
Myers: We can care for more patients and continue to bring the best level of care to the region. This fiscal year to date, we’ve seen 4,000 more patients in our (emergency department) compared to the prior year. We’re seeing about 10% more patients in our clinics over a three-month run rate, and that’s been consistent. We’ve intentionally built capacity to provide same-day, walk-in appointments at all our primary care clinics because we saw that was something patients wanted and needed. We’ve been laser-focused on bringing more care close to home so patients have access where they want it when they need it.

SBJ: How do you keep growth sustainable?
Myers: We have a five-year strategic plan. If we see that patient needs in our region are changing and we need to adapt and modify that plan, or if we see a certain area of the community is suddenly growing more than predicted, we likely need to change that plan. We have to adapt to the community’s needs. When I say managing the growth it’s really managing your cost structure. You need to be very obviously conscious as you’re adding labor expenses to your P&L. That’s whether it’s nurses, front line caregivers, to make sure that patient demand is there. Then you need to give that time to optimize and pay off.

SBJ: What’s the tipping point where growth goes from sustainable to unsustainable?
Myers: There is a tipping point if you don’t manage it appropriately. All our leaders are closely following our performance. We all know what areas are succeeding and which ones need help and then we pull everybody together to brainstorm and think through creative and intentional solutions.