A bio box for Justin Precourt
Updated: November 25, 2024
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2024 Champions of Health Care
Champions of Health Care: Precourt tackles systematic healthcare challenges
Photo | Courtesy of UMass Memorial Health
Justin Precourt, president of UMass Memorial Medical Center
“What truthfully drives me more than anything is when I see the impact we can have on the communities that we serve and on the patients and families we serve,” said Justin Precourt, president of UMass Memorial Medical Center.
And Precourt has had an impact.
In October, he officially shed the interim title he held for more than a year, assuming his permanent role as the president of Central Massachusetts’ largest hospital, with its 749 beds, $2.1 billion in annual revenue, 3,200 registered nurses, and 1,200 physicians in Worcester.
During his time in the provisional role, Precourt led initiatives centered around improving patient experiences and outcomes at parent organization UMass Memorial Health in Worcester, with tangible impacts in the community.
In an effort to address the region’s hospital capacity crisis, UMMH has been in the process of turning the former Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Worcester into a 72-bed acute care facility, a project heavily managed by Precourt. He is one of three executives overseeing the more than 70,000-square-foot conversion, playing an integral role in the facility’s design and planning.
“He doesn't shy away from the toughest of conflicts or challenges,” said Therese Hudson-Jinks, chief nursing officer, senior vice president of patient care services at Tufts Medical Center, headquartered in Boston.
Precourt has helped lead the redesign of UMMMC’s emergency rooms to ensure more patients are seen and fewer are leaving without receiving care. The redesign features changes to how staff manage and triage patients, resulting in the emergency rooms being able to process about 20% more patients per month.
Precourt helped develop key metrics to evaluate the success of the new emergency room department patient care program and worked to secure funding for the initiative. The program, mostly made up of those who have retired from bedside care, facilitates check-ins on patients who have been in the emergency room for more than 24 hours to make sure their care needs are being met.
In all his work to tackle the systemic challenges facing Worcester County patients, he has done so with unwavering humility, said Hudson-Jinks.
“Working with him, it's not about Justin; it's about why we're all here. It's about improving the process for the sake of patients,” she said.
Being motivated by purpose, Precourt creates a safe space for his employees because he doesn’t feel he has to be the authority figure on everything, she said. Moreover, he believes that diversity in thought and opinion is healthy.
Precourt leverages his clinical experience from his education and his time as a bedside nurse to help him understand what the medical center is trying to accomplish when caring for patients, he said. At the same time, his experience gives him insight into what it takes to deliver care in certain environments and what is being asked of his employees.
He is attentive to the values, needs, and knowledge of the people he’s working with, said Hudson-Jinks. The first thing nurses do when they step into their patient’s room is assess their patient to decipher how to best communicate.
“It's all about studying the patient and modifying your approach for effectiveness,” she said. “That's what he does at board meetings, at any meeting he's in. He's always assessing people so that he can have the most strategic approach.”
The goal Precourt has with his patients, one rooted in caring and compassion, is the same goal he has when working with his peers and employees.
“We have the ability to kind of help build relationships and build bridges to make sure that we bring all parties together to find solutions,” he said.
On any given day, Precourt can be seen checking in on caregivers and patients throughout the medical center. He does so in part to stay close to the work and create a familiar atmosphere. Being there on the floor is when he’s able to see and hear what is most important to his patients and employees.
“Getting to know the staff and having the staff know you, to see that you understand their work and you are attempting to understand what their work experience is like is incredibly important,” he said. “There's nothing really more valuable.”
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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