Rebuilding Hospital Culture: Trust, Retention, and Leadership—with COO Matt Timmons

What does it take to rebuild trust, improve retention, and create a hospital culture where people want to stay? In this episode of The Hospital Playbook, host Dane Nardi is joined by Matt Timmons, Chief Operating Officer of Manning Family Children’s in New Orleans. Matt shares how he and his team approached a Heart Center turnaround involving low employee engagement, physician turnover, and significant reliance on temporary staffing. Starting with a three-month listening tour, Matt explains how candid employee feedback shaped a plan to strengthen leadership, rebuild trust, and create a more stable team. In this conversation, you’ll learn how to: • Turn employee feedback into meaningful action—and communicate progress along the way. • Address leadership behaviors that undermine culture and recognize when a change is needed. • Improve retention through education, stronger relationships, and consistent follow-through. • Select meaningful performance metrics and establish regular accountability. • Build processes that sustain improvement beyond any one leader. Matt also shares an unconventional approach to hospital outreach inspired by political campaigns and the story behind Walker’s Imaginarium, an interactive space designed to bring joy, play, and therapeutic experiences to hospitalized children. His guiding principle throughout: Listen first, act second. Subscribe to The Hospital Playbook: Leadership Lessons from Healthcare Executives for practical perspectives on strengthening teams, improving operations, and leading change.