DOVER — After handling major policy changes that will heavily impact the Delaware’s top hospital systems in 2024, Delaware Healthcare Association (DHA) CEO Brian Frazee says the state’s current inflection point has given his organization reason to grow.
The DHA recently hired three new staff members to ensure its stability as it works to advocate for those health care systems. Frazee was tapped to lead the DHA in late 2023 and doubling the staff of the association will help the group serve health care systems as Gov.-elect Matt Meyer prepares to take his oath of office and the General Assembly continues to welcome new lawmakers in its ranks.
“We are entering a new chapter for the Delaware Healthcare Association and I am thrilled to welcome our new team members on this journey,” Frazee said in a prepared statement. “Their experiences in government and operations management are true assets to our work. We are excited to build on our efforts to enhance healthcare quality, access, affordability, and equity in the new year and beyond.”
The DHA has hired Carling Ryan as its director of strategic affairs and operations, Jules Villecco as the director of policy and Jen Rini as the director of communications.
Ryan will be responsible for overseeing internal operations as well as new political action strategies. Villecco will be tasked with researching health policies as well as providing policy analysis for the DHA’s health care members. Rini, a seasoned communications professional, will be tasked with leading media relations throughout the state.
The DHA’s expansion comes at a time when Delaware continues to be challenged in how to treat residents of all economic backgrounds, as the state continues to attract retirees from all corners of the tri-state region. State health officials and population projections predict Delaware’s population to grow by 9% by 2040 — with the 65 and up population increasing by more than 41%.
As Meyer has campaigned on improving the overall quality of life as a path to improve Delaware’s economy, and in turn keeping the workforce here, Frazee said that there was a lot of overlap in issues the next governor had discussed and how it impacts the health care workforce.
For the health care workforce, that also means finding an affordable place for young doctors to live while they’re working at Bayhealth or TidalHealth without having to drive 45 minutes one way for work.
It’s also about finding affordable day care and senior care so that a working professional can afford to work instead of having to stay at home to care for the family.
“Affordability is a major issue, and we certainly can agree with that. So, what are the creative solutions that we can come up with to make sure we maintain our high hospital quality status, but to enhance our infrastructure moving forward, given our aging population?” Frazee said.
In the past months, the DHA has already been having conversations with the incoming Meyer administration and has participated in the care and community actions committee meetings. In those transition talks, Delawareans have discussed the need for greater collaboration across state agencies and stakeholders, as well as having the leadership to bring people together.
“There’s been that concentrated effort to understand that we have these big challenges that can’t be tackled overnight,” he said. “We need a governor and a team that can bring people together to work on these issues so we don’t operate in silos. And this governor has really signaled a willingness to do that.”