New St. Francis Hospital President Powell-Stafford focuses on recruitment, technology investment

Hartford Business Journal – Monday, January 13, 2025
By David Krechevsky

The Governor’s Workforce Council published a report in 2020 stating that Connecticut requires about 3,000 new nurses every year to meet the needs of the state’s aging population.

That figure is particularly disturbing because state nursing schools produce just an estimated 1,900 graduates annually.

That nursing shortage, both in Connecticut and nationwide, is expected to get even worse. According to an April 2023 report by the National Board for Certification of School Nurses, 100,000 nurses left the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By 2027, the report projects, almost 900,000 nurses — or about one-fifth of the 4.5 million registered nurses nationwide — intend to leave the workforce, citing burnout and under-staffing.

Given data like that, hiring and retaining medical staff of all kinds is understandably a point of emphasis for hospitals and health systems everywhere. So, it could be considered a strategic move that Trinity Health Of New England in May named Valerie L. Powell-Stafford as president of St. Francis Hospital in Hartford.

Powell-Stafford, who succeeded Thomas Burke, has more than 25 years of experience in health care. She came to Hartford after serving as president and CEO of HCA Northside Hospital — a 288-bed facility in St. Petersburg, Florida — since 2019.

St. Francis Hospital, which is licensed for 617 beds, is a significantly larger institution.

An Indiana native, Powell-Stafford received her master’s degree in health science administration from the University of Michigan. She began her career in health care in Connecticut, though, serving as an administrative fellow and associate director of ambulatory services at Yale New Haven Hospital.

During her tenure at HC Northside, Powell-Stafford spearheaded implementing a robotic surgical program and developing a nursing school on the hospital’s campus.

But most importantly, she led efforts to recruit new physicians.

Recruiting for ‘key areas’

“I’m actively involved in the American College of Healthcare Executives,” Powell-Stafford said during an interview with Hartford Business Journal. “I used to serve on the national board, and I will tell you that (staffing shortages have) … been a challenge for hospitals across the country.”

A spokesperson declined to provide the number of nurses on St. Francis’ staff or the number of open positions, but Powell-Stafford said the hospital is actively recruiting for some of its “key areas.”

“We actually have a new (chief nursing officer, Dawn LeRoy), who is doing a phenomenal job, and working with our talent-acquisition partners,” Powell-Stafford said. “We’ve done a great job with our academic partnerships as well.”

St. Francis has academic partnerships with local nursing schools, including with the University of St. Joseph and University of Hartford, both in West Hartford.

It also has nursing students doing clinical rotations from other state schools, including UConn, Southern Connecticut State and Central Connecticut State universities, Quinnipiac, Capital Community College, Goodwin and Lincoln Tech, as well as the University of Massachusetts.

Powell-Stafford said St. Francis successfully recruited about 150 graduate nurses in 2024, “and I’m just looking forward to continuing to support them along their professional journey here.”

She added that St. Francis Hospital has professional educators on-site every day to support the new nurses. The hospital has also heard from its nursing students about the kind of place where they want to work.

“Number one, they want a place where quality and patient safety is a priority,” Powell-Stafford said. “Number two, … they want opportunities for professional development. And number three, … they want a place that’s very mission- and community-service oriented, and that’s what we really focus on. I think that’s kind of our differentiator.”

Other priorities

While recruiting is a top priority, there are other issues she hopes to address.

Powell-Stafford said St. Francis is in good shape financially. According to its 990 tax filing for the fiscal year that ended in September 2023, the latest available, St. Francis reported $931 million in revenue and net income of nearly $4 million.

Her additional priorities, however, “are really focused on meeting the needs of the community,” she said.

That includes expanding the hospital’s investment in technology, such as its surgical-robotics program.

“We know that when you have a minimally invasive program, it leads to less complications, and people return to their life a lot quicker,” she said.

As an example, she cited the hospitals’ thoracic oncology program, “which has significantly improved the way we care for lung cancer patients in our community.”

St. Francis was the first hospital in the state to use the Ion surgical system for COVID-19 lung biopsies, she said. The system uses a thin catheter that can be maneuvered more deeply into lung tissue than traditional methods, allowing for more precise biopsies.

“Our physicians have completed over 750 procedures, which is the highest in the country,” Powell-Stafford said, adding that the system is also used for bariatric, gynecological, orthopedic and general surgical procedures.

The hospital also was the state’s first to implant Aveir pacemakers, which are dual-chamber, leadless pacemakers that treat patients with abnormally low heart rate rhythms in a minimally invasive way.

St. Francis Hospital is also known for its Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute and Spine Institute of Connecticut programs. Healthgrades named the hospital one of the 50 best for joint placement and orthopedic surgeries nationwide.

“St. Francis was chosen to be a surgeon observation site for spine surgeries, the only one of its kind in New England,” Powell-Stafford said.

Patient experience

Another priority she cited is improving the experience for patients.

“That’s a huge focus for us as well,” she said. “We just opened up our new patient and visitor parking garage (in 2024), and have gotten a lot of great feedback from our patients and visitors. Again, it’s that first impression of our hospital.”

St. Francis also wants to improve its directional signage to help visitors navigate its campus.

“We have nine buildings here, … and so how can we further enhance our patients in a visual experience here? Or they’re coming for an appointment or procedure or visiting a loved one,” Powell-Stafford said. “We know that when you come to a hospital, you’re usually anxious, right? You’re scared, there’s anxiety. How can we make that experience better for our folks? That’s really what we’re focused on.”

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