Maintaining The Health Of The Hospital | A Q&A with Dr. Octavio Diaz
Photo/ Christina H. Davis
DR. OCTAVIO DIAZ
Chief Medical Officer,
St. Vincent Hospital
Photo/ Christina H. Davis
DR. OCTAVIO DIAZ
Chief Medical Officer,
St. Vincent Hospital
Dr. Octavio Diaz is no stranger to adversity. He was born in Cuba and came to the United States - Worcester specifically - as a 1-year-old. He grew up in Greenfield, but about four years ago returned to Worcester when he joined St. Vincent Hospital as chief of emergency medicine. Just last month he took over as chief medical officer at the hospital. Here, he talks about the tragedy that led him to medicine, his decision to go into hospital administration and why so many television shows are based in hospitals.
Why did you go into medicine?
At 16 I tragically saw a friend of mine die from a car crash. I sat there for about 15 minutes waiting for the ambulance to arrive, not knowing what to do. I remember promising myself that I would never be in that position again. Shortly after that I took an EMT course and headed in the direction of being an ER doc.
How did you go from being a Cuban refugee to a hospital administrator?
I had a terrific amount of support from my parents. There's four kids in my family and we all had support. My sister's a physician, I have a brother who's a lawyer and I have another brother who's an engineer.
What are your responsibilities as chief medical officer?
My job essentially entails working with and overseeing several departments in the hospital. I also work with our expanding hospitalists program. Within the next couple of months we're going to be almost tripling its size.
Can you explain a little more about the hospitalists program?
The idea behind the hospitalists program is that when primary care doctors send patients to the hospital, they are cared for by physicians who specialize on hospitalized patients. One of the most important things is that they communicate with the primary care doctors on discharge to make sure there's continuity of care.
When did you make the shift from being a doc to an administrator?
I am maintaining a clinical role. I do a couple shifts a month in the emergency department to stay actively involved with medical care, which I think is important. I actually made the change back about 13 years ago when I started working as an associate chief of an emergency department of a community hospital in Southeastern Mass.
What lessons have you had to learn as a manager?
I think one of the lessons I learned many, many years ago was that communication truly is the key to anything you do. I guess it's much like any business.
Why are so many television shows based at hospitals?
Drama. There's drama at the hospital. When you're talking about health care, you're talking about people in situations that they don't want to be in looking for help and assistance, sometimes to strangers.
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