Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Karen Bowling on Strengthening Rural Healthcare Through Access, Technology and Advocacy

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Karen Bowling on Strengthening Rural Healthcare Through Access, Technology and Advocacy · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
• 1:00
  - podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 1:02
  - Karen Bowling, president and chief executive officer of
• 1:05
  - WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital and executive vice
• 1:09
  - president of government affairs for West Virginia University
• 1:11
  - Health System. Karen, it's a pleasure to have
• 1:13
  - you on the podcast today.
• 1:15
  - Well, thank you. I'm glad to be on
• 1:16
  - here.
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  - Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation. I
• 1:19
  - know we're gonna catch up on some of
• 1:21
  - the great things you're doing in West Virginia
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  - as well as look ahead into how how
• 1:25
  - you're thinking about the future. But before we
• 1:27
  - do, can you tell us a little bit
• 1:28
  - more about yourself and your background?
• 1:30
  - Oh, I'll be glad to. I I sort
• 1:32
  - of have an interesting background. I I tell
• 1:34
  - people when I introduce myself because
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  - I started in health care as a nurse.
• 1:39
  - I'm a registered nurse.
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  - And for me, it was
• 1:43
  - a a pathway that actually led me into
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  - the health care administration
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  - field.
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  - I advanced my education and and training,
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  - but I really always wanted to know, you
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  - know, how can I be a a good
• 1:57
  - leader in health care to make a difference
• 1:59
  - in the lives of patients?
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  - And so when I was given an opportunity
• 2:04
  - to move into
• 2:06
  - a supervisory
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  - position, first in the nursing world,
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  - it was really a great opportunity
• 2:11
  - for me to take my clinical knowledge,
• 2:14
  - things that I had learned over the many
• 2:15
  - years in that environment and bring it into
• 2:18
  - an administrative
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  - perspective. And I've I've actually think over my
• 2:22
  - entire career,
• 2:23
  - that's helped me as I I've as I've
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  - done different roles and different things in in
• 2:28
  - the health care world. I even
• 2:30
  - moved into,
• 2:31
  - really the the government sector,
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  - because I worked as the cabinet secretary
• 2:36
  - for the Department of Health and Human Resources
• 2:39
  - for a former governor here in West Virginia.
• 2:42
  - And I was able to,
• 2:45
  - get a different insight into health care
• 2:48
  - more from the policy perspective
• 2:51
  - as well as how,
• 2:53
  - legislators and governor's office and even federal officials
• 2:56
  - view health care and
• 2:58
  - how important it is to be able to,
• 3:02
  - take that information
• 3:03
  - as a CEO now.
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  - And, I think in some ways, decipher it
• 3:08
  - in a way that, you know, those individuals
• 3:11
  - really understand what we do every day. And
• 3:13
  - so it's been a lot of fun throughout
• 3:15
  - my career. I've loved every moment of it,
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  - but I think what's been most beneficial to
• 3:21
  - me is to know that, you know, I'm
• 3:22
  - able to influence and help,
• 3:24
  - people in Southern West Virginia in particular,
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  - and and do things to improve their health
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  - and well-being.
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  - Love that. And then what a fascinating background
• 3:34
  - you have in a role. And so, you
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  - know, obviously,
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  - having that connection with the political side and
• 3:39
  - policy side
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  - is more important now than perhaps it's ever
• 3:43
  - been.
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  - So what do you, you know,
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  - think that health care executives and leaders should
• 3:48
  - know about being connected with the representatives and
• 3:51
  - and policies and that side of things? Because
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  - I I think a lot of, the leaders
• 3:56
  - that we talk to in in reach every
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  - single day are trying to figure out how,
• 4:00
  - they can most effectively,
• 4:03
  - make those connections and and keep the finger
• 4:05
  - on the pulse of policies so, you know,
• 4:07
  - their voices are heard in the right spaces,
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  - to make sure that their organizations are in
• 4:12
  - a good spot moving forward as policies are
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  - being made.
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  - I'd
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  - say to everyone,
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  - politics is local.
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  - And you you really do need to understand
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  - the political environment that you're in, and you
• 4:26
  - need to really be able to connect with
• 4:28
  - individuals so that they feel comfortable reaching out
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  - to you when there are policy decisions that
• 4:34
  - have to be made.
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  - Because if they don't reach out to you,
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  - they're looking, in for other sources of information,
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  - some of which are not very accurate about
• 4:43
  - what we do in in the health care
• 4:45
  - sector today. And so I I think even
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  - more so today than in any year that
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  - I've been in the administrative
• 4:54
  - world,
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  - we have to really understand their perspective,
• 4:59
  - and we have to have a relationship
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  - with them. And I don't mean just on
• 5:03
  - a local level, your senators and your your
• 5:05
  - representatives,
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  - but I also mean on the federal level.
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  - You need to, to know that your senators
• 5:11
  - and your congressmen,
• 5:13
  - that they understand what's happening in your local
• 5:15
  - area and that you will be able to,
• 5:18
  - you know, bring them on-site.
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  - Spend time with them.
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  - Really educate them about what you do at
• 5:25
  - your hospital or your facility.
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  - And that way, when they're faced with decisions,
• 5:31
  - not only will they reach out to you,
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  - but they'll also have the perspective of seeing
• 5:36
  - your hospital or seeing your facility.
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  - And, really, I think it it gives them
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  - enough information,
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  - to to make a better decision about, when
• 5:45
  - they vote or when they make decisions,
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  - or appropriate funds as an example.
• 5:51
  - You know, we know that, you know, health
• 5:52
  - care is under attack a little bit. You
• 5:55
  - know, that's on a state or a federal
• 5:57
  - level.
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  - And I think part of that is that
• 5:59
  - sort of lack of knowledge about how important
• 6:02
  - it is to have certain types of funding
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  - coming into our hospital, especially in a rural
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  - state like West Virginia. And Princeton is in
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  - a very rural area,
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  - of West Virginia. So, yeah, I think that,
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  - you know, my big advice out there to
• 6:16
  - everyone in the administrative
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  - world is, you know, bring your your representatives
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  - on-site.
• 6:22
  - You know, have a constant connection or communication
• 6:25
  - with them about issues going on at your
• 6:27
  - hospital or policies that you've read about or
• 6:30
  - you see that you think need to be
• 6:32
  - changed.
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  - But, you know, more importantly, don't rely on
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  - your associations
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  - to do everything. I think it's good. We
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  - have, you know, the
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  - We're American Essential Hospitals. We have, you know,
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  - associations that advocate,
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  - for,
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  - three forty b. Those are all great, and
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  - we need to be connected to those associations.
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  - But remember, your representative,
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  - when you come in and have a conversation
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  - with them,
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  - they're they're gonna know you, and they're gonna
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  - find it more meaningful than talking to only
• 7:02
  - a representative from an association. We need them.
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  - Their advocacy is important, but we have to
• 7:07
  - be an integral part of it.
• 7:10
  - That's such great advice and really, really important
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  - for leaders right now and and to think
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  - about as they're planning for the future.
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  - Now could you give us a quick state
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  - of the union
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  - of everything that is going on with WVU
• 7:22
  - and then the hospital in Princeton?
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  - What's going well this year, and what are
• 7:26
  - you focused on for the rest of 2026?
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  - Well, first, let me say, you know,
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  - as far as our health system, it's it's
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  - just been
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  - truly a wonderful experience to be,
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  - integrated in as, at one point, a sole
• 7:41
  - community hospital. You know, this hospital was somewhat
• 7:44
  - isolated here in Princeton
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  - and didn't really have a partner. But when
• 7:48
  - they reached out to WVU,
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  - Medicine and when they were able to connect
• 7:52
  - with Albert Wright, who's our president and CEO,
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  - you know, there was a meaningful connection where
• 7:57
  - they understood the value of a system.
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  - And I truly think that the progress that
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  - we've made
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  - at Prince Community Hospital is, you know, a
• 8:07
  - direct result of the affiliation that we've had
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  - with WVU Medicine over the last, several years,
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  - we've been able to integrate and be part
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  - of the system.
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  - And I think the successes
• 8:18
  - are really what you're saying in terms of
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  - our ability to keep people close to home.
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  - You know, it is important
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  - that especially in a rural community, I think,
• 8:27
  - you know, to know
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  - that, you know, your
• 8:31
  - your your
• 8:32
  - friends, your parents, your pastor, the, you know,
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  - the people that you come in contact can
• 8:37
  - come and see you and support you when
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  - you're in a crisis, which, you know, many
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  - times happens when there's a health care emergency
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  - or you have to be hospitalized.
• 8:47
  - And so our focus really from the very
• 8:49
  - beginning is on how do we enhance services
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  - in this local community,
• 8:55
  - to be able to build things that are
• 8:57
  - necessary to care for people,
• 8:59
  - here at Princeton.
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  - And a couple of our service lines, I
• 9:02
  - think are the are the ones I'd like
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  - to highlight.
• 9:05
  - One would be any,
• 9:07
  - cardiac type association
• 9:10
  - that we had with the Heart and Vascular
• 9:12
  - Institute as enhanced services here. We've been able
• 9:15
  - to create a STEMI program,
• 9:17
  - and so we do a lot of cardiac
• 9:19
  - procedures here that weren't done in the past.
• 9:22
  - And so it was important, again, for us
• 9:23
  - to be able to provide those cardiac services
• 9:25
  - to keep people from being transferred.
• 9:28
  - And the second one, which I think, you
• 9:30
  - know, our entire country is obviously plagued by,
• 9:33
  - but which you see a high proportion of
• 9:34
  - people with cancer,
• 9:36
  - in our part of the of the world.
• 9:39
  - And so we had to figure out how
• 9:41
  - to enhance cancer services.
• 9:43
  - And so we affiliated with, WVU Cancer Institute.
• 9:47
  - And what that did, that allowed us to
• 9:50
  - really be able to provide,
• 9:52
  - more services here, more types of infusions.
• 9:56
  - We have really advanced in our radiation therapy
• 9:59
  - programs,
• 10:00
  - and we're currently in the process of building
• 10:03
  - a cancer center.
• 10:04
  - We couldn't have done that without the support,
• 10:06
  - you know, of the of the health system,
• 10:09
  - as well as enhancing services in our other
• 10:12
  - campus in Bluefield
• 10:14
  - because we knew that was needed as well.
• 10:16
  - And so I think the affiliation has brought
• 10:18
  - home this sort of concept that we affiliate
• 10:21
  - with the institutes.
• 10:22
  - They bring services to us, and whether that's,
• 10:25
  - you know, us recruiting people here
• 10:28
  - or using telemedicine,
• 10:30
  - to enhance services, which be has been very
• 10:33
  - critical,
• 10:34
  - and I think in particular in a rural
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  - area.
• 10:37
  - That's amazing to hear and and such a
• 10:39
  - huge accomplishment.
• 10:40
  - So I think especially when you're looking at
• 10:42
  - the services you need and specialty services, I
• 10:45
  - know oftentimes
• 10:46
  - building out those programs, especially in a rural
• 10:48
  - setting, takes resources, time, energy, but isn't always
• 10:52
  - easy even just bringing specialists in. And so,
• 10:55
  - how have you are you tackling that, or
• 10:57
  - have you been able to be successful,
• 10:59
  - in terms of making sure that you've got
• 11:02
  - the right talent pipeline and specialists,
• 11:05
  - there in the community and then, you know,
• 11:07
  - having the right access to care, as you're
• 11:09
  - building out more of these specialty programs close
• 11:11
  - to home.
• 11:13
  - It's been very important to us to have
• 11:15
  - that access to specialty services.
• 11:18
  - It's very difficult to recruit to a rural
• 11:20
  - area because there's a shortage of specialists across
• 11:23
  - the country.
• 11:24
  - But what we have found
• 11:26
  - is that, you know, our university physicians really
• 11:29
  - want to help us down here in rural
• 11:32
  - Southern West Virginia.
• 11:33
  - And so they we have partnered with them
• 11:35
  - on a couple of services that I think
• 11:37
  - is really important to mention. I think the
• 11:39
  - first one we tackled is access to children's
• 11:43
  - services. So we are affiliated with the children's
• 11:45
  - hospital in Morgantown.
• 11:47
  - And what we've been able to do first
• 11:49
  - is we set up a telemedicine
• 11:51
  - clinic
• 11:52
  - with the university
• 11:54
  - specialist
• 11:55
  - so that we could see children that had
• 11:57
  - sometimes been seen one time and needed follow-up
• 12:00
  - or otherwise had been not seen been seen
• 12:03
  - at all by a specialist. We see them
• 12:05
  - in our telemedicine clinic,
• 12:07
  - and we have access to the university
• 12:09
  - physicians
• 12:11
  - that are actually seeing,
• 12:12
  - the patients. And so, for example, for pediatrics.
• 12:16
  - So if you have a child, I'm gonna
• 12:18
  - use neurology as an example. We have a
• 12:20
  - child with a neurological
• 12:22
  - disorder,
• 12:22
  - You know, traveling to a location that had
• 12:25
  - a pediatric
• 12:27
  - neurologist would be very challenging for people in
• 12:29
  - our geographic area, whether it's transportation,
• 12:33
  - funding, just generally getting off work because people
• 12:36
  - need to work to to get up to
• 12:38
  - your appointment.
• 12:39
  - And so what we've done with our pediatric
• 12:42
  - telemedicine
• 12:43
  - clinic, which has 16
• 12:44
  - subspecialists.
• 12:46
  - It's pretty amazing when you say it. It's
• 12:48
  - 16 subspecialists
• 12:50
  - that they can be seen by telemedicine and
• 12:52
  - sometimes never have to go to Morgantown for
• 12:55
  - an appointment because they're already managed through telemedicine
• 12:58
  - and working with local providers,
• 13:01
  - and they can even have most of their
• 13:03
  - testing done here at Prince Community Hospital.
• 13:06
  - So, you know, this connection to the children's
• 13:08
  - hospital
• 13:09
  - is is critical because
• 13:12
  - we see a lot of children that have
• 13:15
  - problems in in the different specialty areas,
• 13:19
  - And their specialists are thrilled because they're getting
• 13:22
  - to see their the kids here locally as
• 13:25
  - well and know that they don't have to
• 13:27
  - be transported. And then with our affiliation,
• 13:31
  - with Galsanos Children's Hospital now, if a patient,
• 13:34
  - a pediatric patient, is admitted to our hospital,
• 13:37
  - we can access specialists by telemedicine in the
• 13:40
  - hospital.
• 13:41
  - And it isn't just our pediatric hospitalist, but
• 13:43
  - if they wanted as an example,
• 13:46
  - they wanted to, contact the endocrinologist
• 13:49
  - in Morgantown, they can do that through the
• 13:51
  - telemedicine hub. So maybe they can manage the
• 13:53
  - child here instead of sending them all the
• 13:55
  - way up, to the children's hospital.
• 13:58
  - And for adults, we've done something very similar.
• 14:01
  - Endocrinology
• 14:03
  - or,
• 14:04
  - patients in particular with diabetes,
• 14:07
  - there's a significant number of those patients,
• 14:10
  - no access to an endocrinologist.
• 14:12
  - We've been trying to recruit an endocrinologist
• 14:15
  - for five years. We couldn't get one to
• 14:17
  - physically move here to Morgantown.
• 14:19
  - But guess what? Our folks in Morgantown
• 14:22
  - actually see patients here with an, advanced,
• 14:26
  - provider, like a nurse practitioner or PA,
• 14:29
  - and every every patient is seen. They're also
• 14:32
  - by telemedicine
• 14:33
  - seen by a Morgantown endocrinologist,
• 14:36
  - and that is adults.
• 14:38
  - So and that's two. I can name several
• 14:41
  - others where we use that telemedicine
• 14:43
  - either on inpatient or outpatient
• 14:46
  - basis to ensure we're meeting the needs of
• 14:48
  - the people in this local community. And it's
• 14:51
  - for me, it's very heartwarming to know that
• 14:54
  - we can serve people
• 14:56
  - close to home, and we can also meet
• 14:58
  - the needs of our primary care providers who
• 15:01
  - are trying to get specialists
• 15:03
  - to give advice on some of the more
• 15:05
  - complicated patients.
• 15:07
  - Oh, that's incredible and and really cool to
• 15:09
  - see the way that technology has been able
• 15:11
  - to bridge some of that gap and and,
• 15:13
  - help, you know, support the different rural areas
• 15:16
  - and continue to grow and develop
• 15:18
  - the areas, and types of care you're able
• 15:21
  - to provide. Now looking into the future, what
• 15:24
  - are some of the big headwinds that you're
• 15:25
  - keeping your eye on and preparing for right
• 15:27
  - now?
• 15:28
  - I think for, you know, rural areas in
• 15:31
  - particular, we're we're certainly keeping our eye on
• 15:34
  - the, you know, the federal government and, you
• 15:37
  - know, looking at what kind of impact
• 15:39
  - that we might see in 2027,
• 15:41
  - 2028,
• 15:42
  - and 2029
• 15:44
  - on, you know, the financial health of of
• 15:46
  - our hospital.
• 15:47
  - You know, I think we do a great
• 15:49
  - job of managing within the the budget that
• 15:52
  - we have and and taking care of our
• 15:54
  - people locally. But you have to keep in
• 15:56
  - mind, West Virginia in particular,
• 15:59
  - we have a high population
• 16:00
  - of Medicaid and Medicare
• 16:02
  - patients,
• 16:03
  - lot of governmental payers.
• 16:06
  - And so, you know, any cuts that you
• 16:08
  - might say see on either the federal or
• 16:10
  - the state level will have a greater impact
• 16:13
  - on a hospital like Princeton or other critical
• 16:16
  - access hospitals, really, throughout the state or throughout
• 16:18
  - the country
• 16:19
  - because we are very dependent
• 16:22
  - on that that federal funding. So I think,
• 16:24
  - you know, everyone is keeping a very close
• 16:26
  - eye on that to try to understand what
• 16:28
  - the changes mean and how do you manage
• 16:31
  - through, you know, the many changes that will
• 16:33
  - occur, and then how to advocate,
• 16:36
  - you know, that if some of those changes
• 16:38
  - are drastic to the point of actually causing
• 16:42
  - facilities to either close services or reduce services,
• 16:45
  - how do we go advocate to get some
• 16:47
  - of that funding returned? I think I think
• 16:49
  - that's an important component of what we do.
• 16:52
  - I think the other thing that, at least
• 16:54
  - for me, that I look at, and I
• 16:55
  - I would say our system does this as
• 16:57
  - well,
• 16:58
  - is, you know, we we always have a
• 17:00
  - need for people to take care of our
• 17:03
  - patients. So whether that's an RN or a
• 17:06
  - respiratory therapist or a a radiology technician,
• 17:10
  - any of those
• 17:11
  - folks, and,
• 17:13
  - as well as primary care providers and specialists.
• 17:16
  - So we do have to keep our eye
• 17:17
  - on,
• 17:18
  - the shortages that are out there and people
• 17:21
  - who are providing,
• 17:23
  - you know, health care to our patients.
• 17:25
  - How do we ensure that we are recruiting?
• 17:29
  - But how are we retaining our existing employees?
• 17:31
  - What kinds of things are we doing? And
• 17:33
  - our system
• 17:35
  - is really focused on that. I mean, we
• 17:36
  - have done a lot of activities that we
• 17:38
  - think will help retain
• 17:40
  - our, you know, existing employee base, but we're
• 17:43
  - doing things to recruit,
• 17:45
  - new employees to our organization. We've set up
• 17:47
  - a lot of education programs,
• 17:50
  - nursing in particular. We're expanding
• 17:53
  - our diploma school that's associated
• 17:55
  - with,
• 17:57
  - WVU health system
• 17:58
  - to two other areas to be able to
• 18:01
  - bring in,
• 18:02
  - nurses.
• 18:03
  - We have an aspiring
• 18:04
  - nurse program
• 18:05
  - where we provide financial support to students while
• 18:08
  - they're in school. We do this with several
• 18:10
  - other professions.
• 18:11
  - So, I mean, I I think those are
• 18:13
  - those are the two things you always have
• 18:15
  - to keep your eye on as well as,
• 18:17
  - again,
• 18:18
  - the importance of recruiting,
• 18:19
  - you know, physicians and specialists whether it's through
• 18:22
  - telemedicine or in person to to make sure
• 18:24
  - you have an adequate supply of providers to
• 18:26
  - take care of your population.
• 18:28
  - That makes a ton of sense. And, you
• 18:30
  - know, I I really appreciate you going through
• 18:32
  - those different challenges. I think it'll resonate a
• 18:34
  - ton with other leaders across the country because
• 18:37
  - looking at workforce and and looking at how
• 18:39
  - you're able to manage your teams and and
• 18:42
  - grow and develop and and striking that right
• 18:44
  - culture to care for patients
• 18:46
  - is so critical. And so I appreciate you
• 18:48
  - talking through how you're thinking about it and
• 18:50
  - then, you know, what you found as being
• 18:52
  - some of the solutions around those challenges, especially
• 18:54
  - in the rural space.
• 18:56
  - Now how are you thinking about growth and
• 18:57
  - development in the next two to three years
• 18:59
  - as well? What are some of the opportunities
• 19:00
  - that are coming across and down the line
• 19:02
  - for you?
• 19:04
  - So I think several things that you know?
• 19:06
  - And we see this really across, you know,
• 19:08
  - all of our, I think, health systems hospital
• 19:11
  - to some degree. And, you know, the service
• 19:13
  - lines that are continuing to grow and we
• 19:14
  - think will will expand over time, in particular,
• 19:18
  - the oncology service line, making sure we have
• 19:21
  - enough,
• 19:22
  - infusion base to not only give, you know,
• 19:24
  - chemotherapy to cancer patients, but look at the
• 19:27
  - other infusions that are coming out that are
• 19:30
  - supporting,
• 19:31
  - patients in the community such as the infusions
• 19:34
  - you get for the Alzheimer's, the infusions you
• 19:36
  - get for rheumatoid arthritis.
• 19:38
  - You know, every day you're seeing new,
• 19:41
  - types of medications that are given IV that
• 19:44
  - need to be given in an infusion center.
• 19:45
  - So a lot of focus as we build
• 19:47
  - our cancer center is to make sure we
• 19:49
  - have capacity
• 19:51
  - for our infusion patients.
• 19:53
  - In addition, we have really focused a lot.
• 19:55
  - We use, one,
• 19:58
  - electronic medical record throughout our entire system.
• 20:01
  - And that electronic
• 20:03
  - medical record system really helps us
• 20:06
  - to, you know, think through how do we
• 20:08
  - communicate with patients
• 20:10
  - and making sure that we're using it to
• 20:12
  - the max ability. And so I think another
• 20:14
  - thing that, you know, we're thinking about is,
• 20:16
  - you know, how do you use that system
• 20:18
  - to make sure you're reaching all the patients
• 20:20
  - that you need to? How are you educating
• 20:23
  - them? For example, we have modules,
• 20:25
  - in our electronic medical record that, you know,
• 20:28
  - if a physician wants to assign an education
• 20:30
  - module,
• 20:31
  - to one of his patients,
• 20:33
  - they can do that. And so I think
• 20:35
  - we're thinking about
• 20:36
  - expanding
• 20:38
  - electronically in a way. You know, how do
• 20:40
  - you use that to to meet the needs
• 20:42
  - of your community?
• 20:44
  - And and then I think to a large
• 20:46
  - degree for us here at Princeton,
• 20:48
  - you know, we're evaluating,
• 20:49
  - do we have an adequate number of beds
• 20:51
  - to meet the needs of the people in
• 20:53
  - our community
• 20:54
  - as our population
• 20:55
  - ages?
• 20:56
  - You know, we are in a, you know,
• 20:58
  - an area where there is, more growth in
• 21:01
  - the senior population
• 21:03
  - than any other population. And so we have
• 21:05
  - to factor that in to our decision making
• 21:08
  - about what is the next project or the
• 21:10
  - next project
• 21:12
  - that, you know, we wanna support.
• 21:15
  - That, you know, is exciting here and definitely
• 21:17
  - a lot of, opportunities available, I think, especially
• 21:20
  - to your point in thinking about how you
• 21:22
  - can grow and develop and what the community
• 21:24
  - actually needs and then bringing that into play,
• 21:28
  - really, really is a critical time. Now before
• 21:30
  - we wrap up here, I wanted to ask
• 21:31
  - you about leadership too. Who do you admire
• 21:33
  - as a leader really from any industry and
• 21:35
  - why?
• 21:37
  - I admire
• 21:39
  - and it might sound a little cliche, but
• 21:41
  - I do admire my boss, Albert Wright. I
• 21:43
  - mean, he had the vision for our system.
• 21:45
  - If you go back and look where where
• 21:48
  - our system
• 21:50
  - eleven years ago when I first started working
• 21:52
  - for the w
• 21:53
  - health medicine health system
• 21:55
  - and then where we are today, you know,
• 21:57
  - how we've grown,
• 21:59
  - what we've done to serve communities,
• 22:02
  - that that takes vision. And I'm a big
• 22:05
  - believer in vision. I mean, I I've read
• 22:07
  - some things,
• 22:09
  - multiple leaders, you know, in in my career.
• 22:12
  - And I think the one thing that always
• 22:13
  - hits home with me is vision. And then
• 22:16
  - I'll also say it's interesting to say that
• 22:18
  - but I admire my father was a coal
• 22:20
  - miner,
• 22:21
  - and,
• 22:22
  - he worked very hard. But, you know, he
• 22:25
  - it's surprising. But he he really did have
• 22:27
  - a lot of vision. He had a vision
• 22:29
  - for me. He had good advice about how
• 22:32
  - how do I,
• 22:33
  - you know, as an individual,
• 22:35
  - make sure that I'm I am growing and
• 22:37
  - developing and giving a 110%
• 22:40
  - to everything I do. And so,
• 22:43
  - he may not have been a leader from
• 22:45
  - the official term leader, but for me, he
• 22:48
  - was because, you know, he's he was my
• 22:50
  - inspiration for
• 22:52
  - a lot of what I've done in in
• 22:54
  - my career,
• 22:55
  - and I am grateful that I had that,
• 22:58
  - you know, family background that that helped me,
• 23:00
  - you know, get where I am today.
• 23:03
  - What an amazing story. And and, certainly, you
• 23:06
  - know, thinking through everything that, your father must
• 23:09
  - have had to lead in order to do,
• 23:11
  - what do you need to do, is just
• 23:13
  - incredible. So to have that instilled within you,
• 23:16
  - that hard work ethic, and that growth mindset,
• 23:19
  - makes a big difference.
• 23:20
  - Thank you so much for joining us on
• 23:22
  - the podcast today, Karen. This has been such
• 23:23
  - a fun conversation. I I've learned a ton
• 23:26
  - and really inspired by everything you're doing in
• 23:28
  - West Virginia, and then I'll be excited to
• 23:30
  - see you as well in person at our
• 23:31
  - CEO, CFO roundtable. I know you'll be speaking
• 23:33
  - on a panel and really continuing a lot
• 23:36
  - of these themes that we talked about today.
• 23:37
  - So excited to dig in and and see
• 23:39
  - you in person.
• 23:40
  - Absolutely. I look forward to it. Thank you
• 23:42
  - for allowing me to to talk about
• 23:44
  - W Medicine Princeton Community Hospital. I'm really proud.