Michael Sheerin, CEO of ASC management company NueHealth and former senior vice president of Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopedics, joined Becker’s to discuss how his time at Rothman prepared him to lead surgery centers.
Editor’s note: This interview was edited lightly for clarity and length.
Question: How has your experience at Rothman informed your leadership at NueHealth, and what has been different than what you expected?
Michael Sheerin: I loved working for Rothman. It gave me real insight into clinical care. When I left Penn Medicine, I felt like I jumped off an aircraft carrier and got on a sport fishing boat — it’s just such a different world. At Rothman, I came to appreciate what physicians’ priorities are, and equally important, what keeps them up at night. What are the things that really resonate with them and impact their ability to be successful?
At NueHealth, I lead my team to focus on removing barriers that keep our surgeons from delivering great care. It’s important that our surgery centers are user-friendly, efficient, well-run businesses — but most important, that they’re safe. Surgeons want to know they can go to an environment that allows them to provide the highest-quality care in the safest setting. I’m constantly reminding my team of what keeps surgeons up at night.
Additionally, in private practice I had to balance conflicting interests — clinical excellence, staff satisfaction, the bottom line, controlling overhead. That experience really taught me how to build consensus among high-performing teams. I bring that same consensus-building approach to NueHealth. I’ve got a lot of high-performing people in various departments, and it’s been a consensus-based leadership style that I’ve developed here.
Dr. Rothman always told me, if you’re feeling equal tension between the surgeons and the staff, you’re probably doing everything just right. If the staff loves you and the physicians hate you, you’re probably out of balance. He talked to me a lot about consensus building and finding that sweet spot.
I’ve also been a client of NueHealth. When I was at Rothman, we developed six or seven surgery centers and two specialty hospitals with NueHealth. One of the most important things for me as a client was access: when I didn’t think things were going well or I needed an ear from the management company, I knew I could reach all levels of the organization. I didn’t get a hand in my face from the regional person — I knew I could call the COO, the CEO or the owner. That open-door policy is something that meant a lot to me as a client, and I want all of our clients to feel the same way. So I’m constantly talking to my team about client relationship management and making sure clients have access to all levels of the company.
