Presentation will focus on the initial three-year journey of a Southern California-based cancer system integrating three out of state cancer-focused healthcare hospitals into the newly developing system, including lessons learned regarding people operations and strategy to address leadership connectivity across multiple sites. In the first two years, the Executive Team purposefully focused on culture, transition execution, and system design while empowering local operations to maintain clinical decision-making and operational autonomy. While this approach was successful, by year three, a need for a deeper infrastructure to enhance cross-site leadership connectivity at the VP, Director and Manager lever became clear to maximize the merger’s impact.

Accordingly, the organization launched an enterprise-wide initiative to evaluate cross-site leadership connectivity using surveys and focus groups. The results revealed gaps in engagement and a sense of disconnection among clinical operations leaders, prompting the establishment of “Collaboration Communities.” These communities were designed to:

• Strengthen inter-site relationships
• Build a cohesive, supported workforce
• Identify technological barriers and system investment opportunities
• Promote engagement, retention, and advancement opportunities
• Advance innovation and resource optimization

The Integration team provided guiding principles and best practices to ensure the success of these groups, equipping the clinical operations leaders with the necessary support, including a toolkit with ideas and guidance to facilitate connection. The initiative effectively enhanced engagement, collaboration, and leadership satisfaction across sites. This work underscores the necessity of adopting a structured, cross-functional approach to address connectivity challenges during major transitions and mergers, ultimately promoting organizational unity and long-term success.