An exclusive interview with MetroHealth CEO Dr. Christine Alexander-Rager by 3News’ Monica Robins discussing the hospital’s future.

Dr. Christine Alexander-Rager, an experienced family medicine and obstetrics doctor, has become a CEO who is dedicated to improving healthcare access and developing the workforce. She also has the ability to bring stability during turbulent times.

For three decades, Alexander-Rager has lived and breathed the MetroHealth mission, serving in various leadership roles. Surprisingly, becoming CEO was never on her radar, yet here she stands, and as the institution’s significant physical transformation continues around her, she works to prepare the strategic plan for the future. 

One of those issues is financial transparency and efficiency. 

“We’re working closely with our teams to improve processes,” Alexander-Rager explained in an exclusive interview with 3News. Her ultimate goal is to cultivate a “learning organization,” where every employee becomes proficient in process and quality improvement. 

Every hospital across the nation is dealing with the health care workforce shortage after the pandemic lead to a mass exodus of workers. MetroHealth isn’t waiting for solutions; they’re creating them.

The hospital has launched its own medical assistant training program, producing highly skilled professionals ready to provide direct patient care.

“We’re able to train the medical assistants of the future,” Alexander-Rager said proudly. “They come out of our training program with advanced skills and can immediately start caring for patients.” 

An educational model perhaps most groundbreaking is MetroHealth’s long partnership with Cleveland’s Lincoln-West High School — a partnership so unique, it’s currently the only one of its kind in the country.

“We are the only institution in the country that has a high school on campus,” Alexander-Rager emphasized, her excitement palpable. She would like to see programs like this expand, and she’s not alone. 

Last week, Cuyahoga County U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown introduced legislation to help more students pursue careers in health care and address the nation’s health care workforce shortage. The Expanding the Health Care Workforce Act would authorize a new federal demonstration grant program to help hospitals create or expand work-based learning programs for high school students. It would also allow hospitals and schools across the country to follow the blueprint established by MetroHealth and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District through CMSD’s Lincoln-West School of Science and Health. 

At the core of Alexander-Rager’s approach is an unwavering commitment to providing care for the most vulnerable populations. She acknowledges challenges are inevitable, but focuses on how they’re addressed.

“Every hospital in this country will face challenges,” she said. “It’s what you do with the challenge: How do you respond to it?” 

Alexander-Rager has agreed to be Metro’s CEO full-time through at least 2025. Whether or not her tenure is extended will be a decision left up to the MetroHealth Board of Trustees, along with Alexander-Rager herself.