Renee Jensen

Featured: Leaders Listen to What Isn’t Being Said

Featured: Leaders Listen to What Isn’t Being Said

By Renee Jensen

Active listening is an essential skill for anyone who leads others. Ensuring others feel heard and understood is part of what builds strong teams, but I have found that when you’re having a conversation as a team or with an individual, listening to what they aren’t saying is just as important as listening to what they are saying. I’m not just talking about body language (though that speaks volumes), but rather the omission of information or opinions or what isn’t laid out on the table.

Featured: Come With Me: Finding the Source of Your Motivation

Featured: Come With Me: Finding the Source of Your Motivation

By Renee Jensen

In past articles, I have shared about my (fairly new) love for running. Truth be told, though, I am not sure I actually love running itself as much as the escape that running offers me. I love the pure physical exhaustion that lets my mind be free of everything and present in the moment. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I reach a new milestone, but not necessarily running. For these reasons, I often say that I don’t consider myself a “real” runner. (Although, once a friend scolded me for saying that, reminding me: “You run; therefore, you are a real runner.”)

Featured: Disruption or Disrupter?

Featured: Disruption or Disrupter?

By Renee Jensen

Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this:

You’re in a meeting where everything is going along smoothly. You are feeling optimistic—you may get done early so you can get back to your office and have a few minutes back in your day! All of the sudden, someone in the room derails the conversation and direction of the meeting causing a flurry of discussion, debate and disagreement.

Featured: Build Trust to Develop High-Performing Teams

Featured: Build Trust to Develop High-Performing Teams

By Renee Jensen

At one of the hospitals I served as CEO, I brought in an executive coach to work with our senior leadership team. At the end of our time together, the coach complimented my team, saying it was one of the most high-performing groups he had ever worked with. I was shocked.

In retrospect, I truly believe the reason for our ability to perform at a high level was our deep trust in one another, established through a genuine desire to know and care for each other.

Featured: Want Your Employees to Do Their Best Work? Make it Safe to Fail.

Featured: Want Your Employees to Do Their Best Work? Make it Safe to Fail.

By Renee Jensen

As healthcare leaders, we want to inspire and empower our employees to do creative, high-quality work that serves our patients and our communities. There is seemingly no end to the methods executives can use to accomplish this goal, but I have found that no strategic plan, incentive, or leadership development program can foster this kind of work like an organizational culture where it’s safe to fail. When employees aren’t afraid to take a risk on an innovative idea, they are free to do their very best work.

Renee Jensen takes position in Monroe

Renee Jensen takes position in Monroe

Summit Pacific Medical Center CEO Renee K. Jensen is leaving to a position within EvergreenHealth as Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for EvergreenHealth Monroe, the community in which she was raised.

“Renee was a gift to the district,” said Drew Hooper, board chairman of Grays Harbor Hospital District 1, which operates Summit Pacific. “It’s been a privilege to watch her lead this organization from the brink of closure into the nationally recognized medical center it is today.”

Summit Pacific Medical Center Set to Launch New Electronic Health Record System

Summit Pacific Medical Center Set to Launch New Electronic Health Record System

CEO Renee Jensen cannot praise the staff enough for the work they have been doing this past year. “It’s been amazing to watch our staff come together and work toward this common goal,” she shares. “I know they have all been pushed to their limits, but they continue to deliver top-notch patient care while spending a lot of extra time meeting with peers to re-design workflows, meeting with software staff to share information and spending countless hours learning the new system.”

When Failure Isn’t An Option

When Failure Isn’t An Option

Shortly after assuming the role of CEO of Mark Reed Hospital (MRH) in Grays Harbor County, Washington, in 2007, Renee Jensen was faced with the realization that the hospital could barely meet payroll. The finance manager told her that if collections that day were sufficient, and if the checks—which had already been cut—weren’t all cashed immediately, the hospital might be able to cover salaries.

WSHA presents husband-wife pair Renee and Tom Jensen with annual Joe Hopkins Award

WSHA presents husband-wife pair Renee and Tom Jensen with annual Joe Hopkins Award

For the first time in its history, the Washington State Hospital Association awarded the prestigious Joe Hopkins Memorial Award for outstanding leadership to two CEOs: Renee Jensen, CEO of Summit Pacific Medical Center, and Tom Jensen, CEO of Grays Harbor Community Hospital.

The two leaders were identified by the committee of past recipients for their excellence in serving their communities.“Through their tireless commitment, their creativity, and their sheer determination, Renee and Tom have ensured that their communities will have health care,” said WSHA board chair Gregg Davidson. “The awards committee was unanimous in their desire to see both of them honored. It’s always risky to make an exception, but exceptional people deserve to be recognized.”

CEO Renee Jensen: Ensuring Financial Success at Summit Pacific Medical Center

CEO Renee Jensen: Ensuring Financial Success at Summit Pacific Medical Center

Renee K. Jensen is CEO of Summit Pacific Medical Center in Elma, Wash. She has served as CEO since 2007, beginning her term at the Mark Reed Hospital in McCleary, Wash., which was shuttered in 2013 after the opening of the new $23 million Summit Pacific Medical Center.

Summit Pacific Medical Center is a level V critical access hospital with 24-hour emergency services.

Ms. Jensen has previously worked for the Columbia County Health System in Dayton, Wash., where she held numerous leadership positions, including associate administrator, director of quality improvement and laboratory manager.