Dignity Health St. Mary’s Chief Exec Honored

Carolyn Caldwell Discuss Challenges and Success Through the Pandemic

The president and chief executive officer of St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, Carolyn Caldwell received recognition for her 30-plus years of dedicated service in healthcare last month at the Aquarium of the Pacific’s African American Heritage gala. Naomi Rainey Pierson, the president of the Long Beach Chapter of the NAACP nominated Caldwell for the recognition for her work with underrepresented and disadvantaged communities.

Caldwell has led St. Mary’s over the past four years, including from the start of the COVID pandemic to the present. The long-time health administrator spoke with RLn on the challenges and successes of leading such an organization through this period.

“When COVID first hit, we didn’t know what we were dealing with,” Caldwell said.  “None of us did. But one of the greatest things about working for a large organization like  Dignity Health is its resources, but another thing is in the middle of a pandemic is that as leaders we made sure were visible.”

With those resources, Caldwell worked with other African American medical professionals including her community members her Chief Nursing Officer, and a trauma surgeon, all of whom are African American to create a video to encourage African American community members who were and continue to be vaccine-hesitant to get vaccinated. Caldwell acknowledges the legacy of racism in health care, both systemic and otherwise, as reasons for the distrust.

Caldwell believes that after the initial onset of COVID, by the first surge in the Pandemic,  St. Mary’s had surmounted the major hurdles confronting the hospital at the start of the pandemic.

“The difference with this surge and when it initially happened, is that we felt we were better prepared. We knew what we were dealing with,” Caldwell said. “We had a lot of resources and supplies that we needed. We were better able to support our staff this time. But I will tell you that it was very challenging.”

Caldwell noted the staff and the physicians at St. Mary’s at times grew tired from just [00:03:00] showing up every day and seeing people who were so sick from COVID.

“It really took a toll on them,” Caldwell said. “At that time, as a leader, I just thought it was more important than ever.”

She said she didn’t go home. She has a husband two grown children.

“I don’t know some people work from home if they weren’t doing direct care,” Caldwell said. “I’d put on my mask and my protective equipment and I went in. I wanted my staff to see me. I wanted them to know that I was there with them, that I cared about them, and that we were going to get through this together.”

Caldwell also spoke on how health systems like Dignity Health are meeting the challenges facing communities of color who are seniors and women, who lose their jobs and health benefits.

“I am so proud of our organization because we know that health care can’t just stop here at our campus and within our facility,” Caldwell said. “We have our mobile clinic that goes out. And we’ve Partnered with Linc Housing.”

Caldwell noted that Linc Housing has opened a housing development for individuals who were previously homeless.

“We put a clinic in that location that will be run by our residency program because we know that access is important,” Caldwell said. “We see it here with people who have been in and out of care because of COVID.”

Caldwell said the one thing St. Mary’s does to mitigate the issue of access is that they turn no one away.

“No matter who they are, what zip code they live in and we have social workers and care coordinators that will try to work with everyone to see if they do qualify [00:06:50] for medical care if they are in between insurances.”

She says staff members ask, “What can we do? Can we connect them with some type of social service in the community?

“That’s the one thing I do love about Long Beach,” Caldwell said. “Long Beach has so many programs and support services, and we all work together. And so when we come across individuals in the hospital that need additional services or outreach services, we’re able to work with our partners in the community.”

Caldwell recalled an experience what participating in a panel discussion about health and wellness recently (not in Long Beach), and a fellow panelist said people should just eat healthier, and get out and exercise.

“So I raised my hand and said [this individual wasn’t trying to be mean] ‘You know, you and I are in a whole different situation,’” Caldwell recounted. “‘We can afford a gym membership; if we want to go to the farmers market or a Whole Foods, we can do that in our neighborhoods because we live in safe neighborhoods,’” Caldwell said. “I feel we’re talking about people in a lot of situations. They don’t live in safety. They don’t have sidewalks, They don’t have grocery stores. They don’t have cars. And the only access to a store is the gas station [00:09:21] on the corner, and they don’t sell fresh food.”

Caldwell said the panelist acknowledge her point.

“That’s why I think it’s so important that we address people where they are. It’s so easy to say, ‘Why don’t they do that better? Why don’t they just exercise?” Caldwell said. “Once we know that and we begin to address it, then we can ask, ‘how do we partner with other community partners and help people where they are.’”