The MaineHealth Podcast

WTKE - Episode 73: Surgical Excellence Delivered Differently: The Orthopedic ASC Journey

As patients increasingly seek high-quality care in lower-cost, more convenient settings, orthopedic ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) have emerged as a cornerstone of value-based care that is transforming how musculoskeletal care is delivered across the country. 

In this new Working Together episode, COO Kelly Elkins explores the development of the MaineHealth Orthopedic Surgery Center and what it takes to design, launch and sustain a successful orthopedic ASC — from selecting the right location and partners, to ensuring clinical excellence, operational efficiency, and a great patient experience. 

Joining Kelly in this conversation are Mike Bianchi, Vice President Emerging Business Lines and Oncology Service Line for MaineHealth and George Babikian, MD, Chief Orthopedic Service Line.

Curbside Consult - Episode 06: Antimicrobial Stewardship with Christina Yen, MD

In this episode, infectious disease physician Dr. Christina Yen discusses the importance of antimicrobial stewardship where antibiotics are prescribed the most: the outpatient setting.  She shares insights on the current state of antibiotic resistance, discusses the current thinking on duration of antibiotic treatments and offers practical tips on managing infectious disease. Other topics include “watchful waiting,” rapid diagnostics, collaboration between primary care and specialists and new guidelines and technologies coming to stewardship in the near future.  

Curbside Consult is the podcast that brings together specialists and primary care physicians to discuss clinical topics, referral management and coordination of care. Each month, family physician hosts Dr. Mike Clark and Dr. Heather Ward welcome a new specialist physician to share their unique insights.  

Listen to Curbside Consult here or on your favorite podcast app or on the MaineHealth Intranet page. To stay in touch with the show, follow the MaineHealth ACO on LinkedIn. 

 

WTKE – Episode 72: Connecting Communities, Strengthening Care Through Regional Governance

For decades, community boards have been at the heart of MaineHealth, ensuring that local voices shaped the care delivered close to home. These boards have been instrumental in aligning MaineHealth’s mission with the unique needs of each community it serves. 

But as healthcare grows more complex and MaineHealth continues to evolve, so too must its governance. That’s why MaineHealth is transitioning from individual community boards to a more integrated regional board structure. This change isn’t about losing local identity—it’s about strengthening the collective voice, streamlining decision-making, and ensuring that resources and strategies are aligned across regions.

In this Working Together podcast, MaineHealth Coastal Region President Andy Patstone joins Chief Operating Officer Kelly Elkins to explore what this transition means for MaineHealth, its care team members, and most importantly, its patients and communities.

AOD 09-17-25 On The Road at MaineHealth Memorial Hospital in North Conway, NH

Andy’s Open Door went “On the Road” to MaineHealth Memorial Hospital in North Conway, NH, where CEO Andy Mueller was joined by Memorial Hospital President Tricia Costigan and Mountain Region Chief Medical Officer Matt Dunn.

Their conversation touched on what makes Memorial so special: its deep roots in the community, its commitment to excellence and innovation, and the way its people step up for each other and for patients every day.

Both Tricia and Matt shared their personal journeys that brought them to Memorial and their work to ensure patients receive outstanding care where and when they need it most. They also explored the unique aspects of serving in a rural community and discussed the ways Memorial is leveraging the resources and expertise of a system to expand access, strengthen coordination, and improve care delivery in meaningful ways.

WTKE - Episode 71: Right Care, Right Now: Innovating Urgent Care Delivery

Convenient, accessible, and increasingly sophisticated retail urgent care centers are bridging the gap between primary care and the emergency room—meeting patients where they are, both physically and in their expectations. But behind the convenience lies a complex and evolving story about care quality, cost, workforce, and integration with the broader healthcare system. 

In this episode, MaineHealth Chief Operating Officer Kelly Elkins discusses MaineHealth’s retail urgent care strategy with Mike Bianchi, Vice President Emerging Business Lines and Oncology Service Line and Alicia Faller, Medical Director Urgent Care. They explore what is driving its growth, how it will reshape the patient experience, and what role it will play in the future of value-based, consumer-centered care.

Listeners will learn how the urgent care model connects to MaineHealth’s broader mission—improving access, experience, and continuity through Epic integration—and how this pilot could scale to additional communities across Maine and New Hampshire.

Curbside Consult - Episode 5: Obesity Medicine with Peter Amann, MD

In the latest podcast episode from the MaineHealth ACO, Dr. Peter Amann shares the latest from obesity medicine, including the GLP-1 revolution, the importance of treating obesity as a chronic disease and the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions. 

Curbside Consult is the podcast that brings together specialists and primary care physicians to discuss clinical topics, referral management and coordination of care. Each month, family physician hosts Dr. Mike Clark and Dr. Heather Ward welcome a new specialist physician to share their unique insights.  

Listen to Curbside Consult here or on your favorite podcast app, or on the MaineHealth intranet home page. To stay in touch with the show, follow the MaineHealth ACO on LinkedIn. 

WTKE - Episode 70: The Brain Trust: Conversations in Neurosciences Service Line

The Brain Trust: Conversations in Neurosciences Service Line 

In this Working Together episode, Chief Operating Officer Kelly Elkins takes you inside MaineHealth’s Neuroscience Service Line to highlight the work of its expert teams—neurologists, neurosurgeons, advanced practitioners, nurses and researchers—who are pushing boundaries in stroke care, epilepsy treatment, spine surgery, neuro-oncology, and more.  Joining Kelly are Shelly Davgun, VP Neuroscience Service Line for MaineHealth and Rob Ecker, MD Chief Neuroscience Service Line.

We learn how the mission of MaineHealth’s Neuroscience Service Line aligns with the system’s broader goals, what distinguishes MaineHealth’s approach to neuroscience care from other systems, and more. This episode highlights how technology (AI, advanced imaging, robotics), telehealth, research collaborations, and new residency programs are improving diagnosis, treatment, and continuity of care, and outlines goals for growth including a dementia program, expanded epilepsy services, and system-wide stroke certification.

Whether you’re a clinician, a healthcare leader, or a curious listener, learn how MaineHealth is integrating innovation, improving outcomes, and delivering compassionate, coordinated care across the communities we serve. 

AOD 08-13-25 with MaineHealth Chief People Officer Scott Ballard

MaineHealth CEO Andy Mueller introduced this episode of Andy's Open Door with a shout-out about the STAR (Stop, Think, Act, Review) tool and the creative ways care team members are sharing how they’re using STAR, inside and outside of work. Andy then welcomed Chief People Officer Scott Ballard for a conversation about the 2025 Care Team Experience Survey on Engagement and Safety Culture results, highlighting a record 78% participation and progress after switching to Press Ganey.

WTKE - Episode 69: How Virtual Nursing Empowers Bedside Teams

As hospitals across the country face growing workforce pressures and evolving patient expectations, virtual nursing has emerged as a powerful tool to improve clinical efficiency, enhance patient experience, and create a more sustainable model of care.

In this new Working Together episode, MaineHealth Chief Operating Officer Kelly Elkins explores the development and implementation of a virtual nursing strategy at MaineHealth—a bold step toward transforming how we support our patients and frontline care teams. 

Joining Kelly are leaders who are helping bring this vision to life at MaineHealth — Sharon Baughman, Chief Nursing Officer at MaineHealth and Linda Mynahan-Greenstein, Director Nursing at Mid Coast Hospital. They share how the strategy was developed, the challenges and insights along the way, and the measurable impact it’s already having across the system. 

They explore MaineHealth’s development and micro‑pilot of a virtual nursing strategy at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, Maine, focusing on admission and discharge support for bedside nurses.

They discuss implementation, early patient and nurse reactions, measurable goals, and plans to scale the model — emphasizing that virtual nursing augments care rather than replaces in‑person nurses.

Curbside Consult - Episode 4: Oncology with Dr. Gary Hochheiser

This month, Mike and Heather sit down with thoracic surgeon and oncologist Dr. Gary Hochheiser to discuss lung cancer screening, early detection and the crucial role primary care can play in reducing lung cancer mortality.  

Curbside Consult brings together specialists and primary care physicians to discuss clinical topics, referral management and coordination of care. Each month, family physician hosts Dr. Mike Clark and Dr. Heather Ward welcome a new specialist physician to share their unique insights.  

Listen to Curbside Consult here or on your favorite podcast app, or on the MaineHealth intranet home page. To stay in touch with the show, follow the MaineHealth ACO on LinkedIn.