Q&A with Laishy Williams-Carlson, Part 1: “What fills my cup is being integrated with operations.”

With any major project, establishing guiding principles is an absolutely critical step, but it’s one that doesn’t come without a healthy dose of dissidence. In fact, Laishy Williams-Carlson believes “there are some things you should argue about,” especially with a major EHR rollout. For CIOs, what’s most important is being able to establish a consensus, even where there is disagreement, and use those principles “as your north star.”

During a recent interview, Williams-Carlson talked about the Epic project she’s taking on in her new role as CIO at Roper St. Francis, and how she hopes to leverage some of the many lessons learned during the pandemic to ensure a (relatively) smooth implementation. She also talks about how she has navigated the transition from Bon Secours Mercy to Roper St. Francis — a move she made “with eyes wide open,” the difficult balance leaders face in sticking to a proven formula while also remaining “tried and true,” and how her thoughts on work-life balance have evolved.

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Key Takeaways



* Although Laishy Williams-Carlson is new to Roper St. Francis, she’s no stranger to the organization, having done some consulting during her previous role as CIO at Bon Secours Mercy. “I went into it with my eyes wide open.”

* In her first major initiative at Roper, Williams-Carlson is guiding the organization through an implementation of Bon Secours Mercy’s Epic instance, which entails creating a timeline and establishing governance.

* The biggest challenge in being a physician-led organization? “It can feel a little bit like getting pulled in a lot of directions.”

* Rolling out an EHR doesn’t have to feel like reinventing the wheel; in fact, if you’re doing it right, it shouldn’t. “You want to get that right blend of avoiding tinkering just for the sake of tinkering but also making it your own.”

* One of her key goals as CIO at Roper St. Francis is to “elevate the reputation of the team and frankly the performance of the team.”





Q&A with Laishy Williams-Carlson, Part 1

Gamble:  Let’s start with an overview of Roper St. Francis Healthcare — what you have in terms of hospitals, where you’re located, and things like that.

Williams-Carlson:  Absolutely. Roper St. Francis is located in the Charleston, South Carolina area. We have four hospital locations and we have hundreds of partner providers. We’re a very highly regarded provider in the area and have the highest percentage of market share. We’re also very proud of our quality scores. We’ve been ranked by Leapfrog as well as other patient safety initiatives, and we rank as a desired place to work.

 

Gamble:  I’ve heard that before about Roper St. Francis scoring highly as a place to work. Was that something that appealed to you?

Williams-Carlson:  It is.  I don’t know that it’s well known by folks, but back in the day, Bon Secours owned a facility here at St. Francis. Our full name is Roper St. Francis Healthcare, which came about when we merged with Roper Hospital. I’ve been familiar with this market throughout my career with Bon Secours.

After the merger of Bon Secours and Mercy, we actually increased our share of ownership in a joint venture for Roper St. Francis. I had started working with Roper St. Francis in 2019 in my role as the CIO for Bon Secours Mercy Health. And so it wasn’t entirely a leap of faith when I took on this role, because I had been doing some consulting work for the organization. I went into it with my eyes wide open.