New Jersey hospitals were among the earliest landing spots for the COVID-19 outbreak and the experience continues to shape how health care is delivered around the state. The pandemic may be over, but the fallout continues and industry leaders are working to make sure the system thrives.

One of those leaders – Cathy Bennett, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association – recently spoke with NJBIZ about the challenges hospitals and other health care providers are facing and how the industry is evolving.

“One of the things that really surprises me is that folks don’t know that New Jersey – in terms of health care provided by hospitals – we’re about the middle of the pack in terms of affordability,” Bennett said. “Nationally, I had people thinking we’re one of the most unaffordable places, and that’s not the case. So, we’ve got this gigantic system of care that has the government involved as a player. You have insurers, you have medical devices, you have pharmaceuticals, you have primary care, and the specialists. What’s the role of hospitals? What’s the role of all the post-acute providers? And that’s just a piece of it. You know, we’re not talking about technology. We’re not talking about the supply chain. There’s a lot of components and that big conversation needs to take place, because I think one of the things you’ll hear from all industries is that we are committed to making sure that we’ve got this great health care which New Jersey is known for.”

What follows is an abridged version of that discussion. The questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity. A video of the full interview is available at NJBIZ.com/njbizconversations.

NJBIZ: I wanted to start by getting a read on where New Jersey hospitals are in what I think most people now consider the post-COVID era. Do industry leaders like you and your members see themselves as being in post-pandemic mode?

Cathy Bennett: Sure. Great question, because, as you know, New Jersey being one of the hotspots of COVID back in 2020. But we definitely turned the corner. We’re in the post-COVID era. And what that means is that we do a lot of monitoring of what’s taking place. We’re watching the variants, and we make sure that we’re communicating and offering opportunities to residents of our communities to get tested, to get vaccinated. And also to raise awareness of other flu-like illnesses.

Q: I asked that in part because there have been stories recently – one in the New York Times, I believe – about how there has been an uptick in COVID cases and about wearing masks again. So, it’s interesting to hear that you’re still dealing with that. When I talk to hospital executives, I hear a couple of things related to COVID and the aftermath of the pandemic. One is sorting through the kinds of changes that they made – in part with technology – during the pandemic, trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Are you hearing that?

A: Oh, that absolutely is taking place. As you know, with hospitals like with other industries you really had to reinvent. Do it quickly. One of our hospitals said, we’re building the plane while we’re flying it. And it’s true. That’s exactly what was taking place. Now we have this moment to reflect. We’re thinking about what worked really well? What sort of things do we want to accelerate? And so, we saw a really great uptick on telehealth. We saw a lot of creativity that allowed us to surge up and meet the need for hospital beds and hospital care by all residents of New Jersey.

And so those great lessons are built to being what we call a high reliability organization. That’s where all members of a team, not just specific individuals, know what’s happening with patients, understand that they have a role in helping patients get back to a really great state of health. All that is taking place and being baked into what these models of care look like.

Q: And the other issue that I hear over and over again is challenges with staffing. Obviously, as you mentioned at the top, COVID hit very hard in New Jersey. Hospitals suffered a lot of burnout. I heard all sorts of stories about folks leaving in addition to just the sort of normal, everyday staffing challenges that hospitals have. First of all, has that eased up at all? Particularly with nurses. Are hospitals still challenged in trying to attract and retain talented people?

A: I think hospitals, just like all industries, saw that same challenge of staffing, whether it was that term “quiet quitting” that emerged during COVID. And as we moved into this post-COVID era, our people are really rethinking that work-life balance. And so, what we’ve really seen our hospitals do is lean in to address what the needs are of all their team members — the clinicians, the physicians, the nurses,  dietitians. And then also we talk about the environmentalists, the folks that were in there cleaning the facility every day during COVID, those helping prepare and deliver food. So, this is a very significant issue. And they made a lot of investments into the resilience or to the well-being emotionally, mentally of their team members, not just the physical health. And you’ve seen that sort of spread into other areas where our hospitals are now, they’ve learned lessons. And those lessons are, you know, flowing through. And they’re making them available to other businesses.

Q: And related to that — again, this goes back, unfortunately, to the pandemic and some of the changes, particularly with technology. I’m wondering if hospitals are looking for different kinds of skills, different kinds of education, different kinds of backgrounds now that technology has gotten more prevalent, and it’s used more widely in a variety of different contexts. Is there a different mindset?

A: I think it has opened a lot of doors. New Jersey hospitals employee directly and indirectly, about 355,000 individuals — great, well-paying jobs. And what we learned from the pandemic was that virtual technology has a significant role. The wearing of mobile devices, being able to deliver telehealth and meeting people where they’re at — those really changed what we’re going to need. I can’t imagine any major in college, any student coming out of high school not finding a place in a healthcare role for the future.

Of course, you’re going to see the importance of AI and health informatics. But you’re also seeing some really neat things emerge, as we look at, for example, nutrition. You’re hearing more and more of our hospitals looking at what’s the type of food we provide within our hospitals. And you’re seeing changes to the menus. You’re seeing a greater emphasis on being green, and you’re changing the footprint of the facility and what they do and what the output into a community is.

In addition to that, we see things like 3D printing for limbs and for shoulder replacements, hip replacements. So really personalized medicine. A lot of different opportunities are evolving. And so, for any student, I think that there’s a great opportunity to be part of what is going to be probably the largest availability of jobs between now and 2030.

Q: NJBIZ readers may know the contribution of hospitals to the state’s economy. According to your website, hospitals employ 150,000 individuals and provide almost $24 billion in jobs, spending and other economic benefits to the state. So, what’s your assessment of the of the future — of the business side of it? Is consolidation over? Where is growth going to come from? Is it the aging population? What do you see and what do you hear from your members about what they’re thinking the business is going to be like going forward?

A: I think that there are a lot of efficiencies that come from consolidation. And there’s some significant benefit to actually being very tight and embedded with your community. Our hospitals recognize that they are anchor institutions, just like a big university, they provide employment directly. They also provide it indirectly — you know, the linens need to be clean. There’s a job. And there’s another company. And food needs to come in. It doesn’t have to come in from [food services company] Sodexo, and we’re seeing that already. Sometimes it does, but there are other options, particularly to provide for individuals that are inpatient.

But I think, in addition to that, as we start to look at hospitals, we’re really cognizant that the population overall in New Jersey is aging. All boomers are going to be 60 by 2030. So, what that means is that we’re all living a lot longer, all a lot healthier. But we need to make sure our systems of care are set up so that while you’re living, and you have something that’s a chronic condition, it’s manageable and you’re where you want to be — at home, out with your friends, and still hitting the basketball courts for your weekend game.

Q: Well, there’s a reason why economic development folks talk about “eds and meds,” as universities and hospitals are always anchor institutions and always bring economic development to areas that need it.

A: Absolutely. And you know we’re really proud to recently partner with many industries and Rutgers as the lead pulling together a proposal for a grant to set up advanced biopharma manufacturing here in New Jersey, as a regional collaborative. We see the importance, and we see the interconnectivity between the entire health care ecosystem. Eds and meds.