Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Michael Hassell on Rural Hospital Sustainability, Specialty Care and Revenue Cycle Strategy
Transcript
- 0:02- There's a small circle of people who truly
- 0:04- understand what it takes to lead a health
- 0:05- system right now. The decisions are enormous.
- 0:08- The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
- 0:11- of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
- 0:14- That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
- 0:17- And it's why the most effective c suite
- 0:19- leaders are deliberate about where they go to
- 0:21- pressure test their thinking.
- 0:22- Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
- 0:26- brings together more than 1,500
- 0:28- executive level attendees
- 0:30- and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
- 0:32- around growth, financial sustainability,
- 0:35- workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
- 0:38- have easy answers.
- 0:39- Join us November second through the fifth in
- 0:41- Chicago.
- 0:42- For the agenda and event details,
- 0:45- visit beckershospitalreview.com
- 0:47- and click on the events tab in the
- 0:49- upper right.
- 0:50- This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
- 0:53- podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
- 0:55- Michael Hassell, chief executive officer at Melissa Memorial
- 0:58- Hospital. Michael, it's a pleasure to have you
- 0:59- on the podcast today. Hey, Laura. It's great
- 1:02- to be here. Thanks for having me. Absolutely.
- 1:04- Now I'm excited for our conversation. I know
- 1:06- we're gonna talk a lot about,
- 1:08- the work that you're doing at the hospital,
- 1:09- how you're thinking about the future, and your
- 1:11- perspective on leadership. But before we dive in,
- 1:13- can you introduce yourself and just tell us
- 1:15- a little bit more about Melissa Memorial Hospital?
- 1:18- Sure. So I'm Michael Hassell, as you mentioned,
- 1:21- CEO here at Melissa Memorial.
- 1:23- We're a 15 bed critical access hospital on
- 1:25- the beautiful plains of Colorado.
- 1:27- Looks a lot more like Nebraska than than
- 1:29- what you probably think of as Colorado. You
- 1:30- can't you can't necessarily see the mountains from
- 1:32- here. You gotta drive a little bit for
- 1:34- that. So we're really very much a hospital
- 1:36- of the plains.
- 1:37- You know, I've been here, before years next
- 1:39- month. Actually, I've been the CEO here, my
- 1:42- first CEO role.
- 1:43- Spent some time in, rural Alabama,
- 1:46- for a couple of years just before coming
- 1:48- out here. And other than that, most of
- 1:50- my experience was, in Florida at, Orlando Health
- 1:53- and Florida Hospital, now AdventHealth.
- 1:56- So the I'm I'm kinda going backwards, I
- 1:58- guess, in some ways. Started out a pretty
- 2:00- big system, and I've worked my way to
- 2:02- a a critical access hospital.
- 2:04- Oh, it's fascinating to hear. And, you know,
- 2:06- when you think about your career or your
- 2:07- experiences in different types of systems and,
- 2:10- places, you know, what really stands out about
- 2:13- being the CEO of a rural hospital? How
- 2:15- is your career built to that, and how
- 2:17- is it different from being in a larger
- 2:18- organization?
- 2:20- You know, I joke a lot that,
- 2:23- grew up in a big system, so I
- 2:24- don't know how to run a a hospital
- 2:25- like a small hospital. I kinda run like
- 2:27- a bigger hospital.
- 2:29- You know, to that end, I think we
- 2:30- we try very hard. We we're always very
- 2:32- focused on sustainability,
- 2:34- but for us, sustainability is really about, you
- 2:36- know, what services can we bring that will
- 2:38- be,
- 2:40- some type sort of positive contribution margin to
- 2:42- the organization,
- 2:43- and we'll bring the right kind of care,
- 2:45- additional care out here, you know, to our
- 2:47- hospital.
- 2:48- You know, additionally and this has been kinda
- 2:50- kind of interesting for me. Many times, you'll
- 2:53- see a critical access hospital.
- 2:55- We'll have assisted living or a skilled nursing
- 2:57- facility with it with all the problems that
- 2:59- come along with the different pay structure that,
- 3:01- you know, for example, swing beds are paid
- 3:03- a lot less, in that in that setting
- 3:05- than they are in a hospital setting. Swing
- 3:07- beds are really important to us here. I
- 3:09- don't have one of those.
- 3:11- We have a nursing home here in town,
- 3:13- that we work as closely with as we
- 3:15- possibly can, but it's not something we've gotta
- 3:17- worry about the billing and the structure of
- 3:19- or the management of. But what we do
- 3:21- have is a little bit different and, you
- 3:22- know, maybe maybe a little bit unique,
- 3:25- for this position,
- 3:26- because we we run a a pretty busy
- 3:28- ambulance service, through our hospital
- 3:31- that fits pretty well with my background as
- 3:33- a paramedic. I got started in health care
- 3:34- as a paramedic way back. Most of my
- 3:36- work for Orlando Health and and the Adventist
- 3:39- work,
- 3:40- were on on a on an ambulance
- 3:42- prior to going into administration.
- 3:44- So I've done all that. But what we
- 3:46- find out here and this is kind of
- 3:47- a hidden kind of a hidden thing for
- 3:49- critical access hospital. Just like the hospital's
- 3:52- cost based reimbursement,
- 3:54- you can get your ambulance service aligned as
- 3:56- a cost based reimbursement model as well. And
- 3:58- so we did that.
- 4:00- We worked really hard to build that business
- 4:02- up, and we're actually expanding that service line
- 4:04- right now and even some of the larger
- 4:06- nearby cities.
- 4:07- We we we have kind of become the
- 4:09- the tag you're at, for transport, inter facility
- 4:12- transport,
- 4:13- in all of Northeast Colorado and even stretching
- 4:15- up into Nebraska and and sometimes into Kansas.
- 4:18- That makes a lot of sense, you know,
- 4:20- and it's really cool to hear about how,
- 4:22- the hospital
- 4:24- is able to provide services to the community
- 4:26- and continues to be obviously a very important
- 4:29- institution,
- 4:30- you know, in in how you're working around
- 4:32- some of the challenges as well. And to
- 4:34- that
- 4:34- point, what are the big trends that you're
- 4:36- watching currently? What's top of mind for you
- 4:38- today?
- 4:39- Well, I think everybody's watching the, you know,
- 4:41- the one big beautiful bill and then the
- 4:43- consolation prize of the RHTP funding for a
- 4:46- hospital transformation program.
- 4:48- We certainly have our eyes on that.
- 4:50- I think it's a mess.
- 4:52- I I hear a lot of dissatisfaction
- 4:54- out there with both the way the federal
- 4:56- government released that without a whole lot of
- 4:58- structure, without very many guardrails, it feels like
- 5:01- at times.
- 5:02- And then, you know, they gave it to
- 5:03- the states to to administer
- 5:06- and,
- 5:07- we have our own unique problems in Colorado.
- 5:09- Colorado is,
- 5:11- has had a very difficult as a state,
- 5:13- it's been a very difficult financial,
- 5:15- couple of years.
- 5:16- And so, you know, every every every dollar,
- 5:19- especially federal dollars that roll in, you know,
- 5:21- everybody looks at that like, what how can
- 5:23- that advantage me? Right? And so we've had
- 5:26- quite a bit of struggle.
- 5:28- HPCF,
- 5:29- is the the,
- 5:31- state Medicaid
- 5:32- director.
- 5:33- And, it's been a challenge to try to
- 5:35- keep them on on task. It feels like,
- 5:38- they certainly have different ideas for how the
- 5:40- money could be spent than than the hospital
- 5:42- sometimes do. And we felt like we've been
- 5:44- kinda behind the eight ball a lot. We
- 5:46- see other states kinda progressing and getting things
- 5:48- done. Some states have already distributed those checks
- 5:51- to the hospitals. We're still kinda waiting to
- 5:53- see what we're going to, to be approved
- 5:55- for.
- 5:56- Our applications were in several weeks ago now,
- 5:58- and we're waiting to hear back.
- 6:01- But we already know that the ask was
- 6:02- about twice what the possibilities are as far
- 6:05- as the the pool of money goes.
- 6:07- And, we don't know if it's gonna be
- 6:08- kind of a hunger game to see who
- 6:10- can who can, outlast the other hospitals.
- 6:13- We feel like we're pitted against the state
- 6:15- itself in some areas
- 6:16- now because they want some of those monies
- 6:18- for for their own projects.
- 6:20- So it's just been a constant, political struggle,
- 6:22- I guess, in trying to trying to make
- 6:24- sure that that we feel like this has
- 6:26- been moderated in a way that's gonna be
- 6:28- truly beneficial to the people it's meant to
- 6:30- serve and it's meant to take care of.
- 6:32- And, you know, you can disagree on what
- 6:34- those those monies are for. You can both
- 6:36- be right.
- 6:37- But we think back to what was the
- 6:38- original intent for the money and what can
- 6:41- be best for, you know, for the end
- 6:42- user, for the patient.
- 6:45- Those are huge and significant questions, especially when
- 6:47- you're thinking about, using funds from the program
- 6:50- and and then to,
- 6:52- how it's gonna be able to impact its
- 6:54- true intent of patients and and people in
- 6:56- rural communities. And to that point, I know
- 6:59- a lot of leaders of rural hospitals and
- 7:01- and systems are looking at it and trying
- 7:03- to figure out how to make the most
- 7:05- of those dollars as they come in for
- 7:07- a sustainable future versus,
- 7:09- you know, one off things or or purchases
- 7:11- that might be,
- 7:13- you know, challenging to sustain overall in the
- 7:16- future. So how are you thinking about that?
- 7:17- Is there any insight you can shed on,
- 7:20- the what you've put into your applications?
- 7:23- Well, let me start with this. It's it
- 7:26- can be frustrating for a lot of my
- 7:28- colleagues and for me,
- 7:30- to say, hey. We want you to be
- 7:32- you know, to deliver transformational
- 7:33- care.
- 7:34- You know, what what does that what does
- 7:36- that really mean? There's not really a definition,
- 7:39- you know, put forward by the the providers
- 7:41- of the funds.
- 7:42- And so what what's what's the word mean?
- 7:44- That's, you know, kinda kinda step one.
- 7:47- But you have to,
- 7:49- you have to understand that's shaded by the
- 7:51- fact that a lot of rural hospitals are
- 7:54- in dire need of just, you know, good
- 7:56- facility upgrades,
- 7:58- just the sustainable stuff. How do you think
- 8:00- about transformational care when you're worried about keeping
- 8:02- the lights on and you're worried about keeping
- 8:04- the building up? So that's been you know,
- 8:06- that was kinda number one back, you know,
- 8:08- almost a year ago, I guess, whenever this
- 8:10- whole thing was kinda dreamed up.
- 8:12- Put a they put a lot of rules
- 8:13- in there about what you couldn't use the
- 8:15- money for, and they tried to push you
- 8:17- towards, you know, this idea that robots are
- 8:19- gonna take care of us all or whatever
- 8:20- the world doctor Oz was talking about. I'm
- 8:22- just said a couple of things. It just
- 8:23- made me scratch my head. But, you know,
- 8:26- when you think through those,
- 8:27- you know, how what does that look like?
- 8:29- So, you know, for us in our application,
- 8:31- we still care what what service lines are
- 8:33- out there
- 8:34- that, would be transformational for the people here.
- 8:37- So you haven't got to travel as far
- 8:38- to get that great care,
- 8:40- but always with an eye towards not trying
- 8:42- to do anything that isn't sustainable.
- 8:44- So I think
- 8:45- if our application is approved, you know, we'll
- 8:47- have some advanced cardiac care that, I don't
- 8:50- I'm not aware of anybody else in our
- 8:51- rural space,
- 8:53- you know, local to to to Colorado and
- 8:55- and Nebraska.
- 8:56- I'm not aware of anybody that's doing the
- 8:57- kind of work we're hoping to get into
- 8:59- from a cardiac perspective.
- 9:01- You know, we think about our ambulance service
- 9:03- and how do we expand that.
- 9:05- You know, again, there there weren't a lot
- 9:07- of capital opportunities within the RHTP funding,
- 9:10- so we try to be creative in how
- 9:11- we we message these things, to to make
- 9:14- it make sense. So we're, you know, we're
- 9:16- looking at putting an ambulance,
- 9:18- almost three hours away to the south of
- 9:20- us in order to support the operations of
- 9:22- hospitals down there and make sure their patients
- 9:24- are supported and taken care of in the
- 9:25- best way possible. We're looking at creative ways
- 9:28- to, to share that labor, you know, for
- 9:29- the people that are gonna be on that
- 9:31- truck.
- 9:32- And then there were just various things, they
- 9:33- were kinda thrown into, into the mix. Not
- 9:36- not haphazardly at all, but but we thought
- 9:38- that, okay, well, how can we how can
- 9:40- we make these these things that we need
- 9:41- fit into the into the parameters of this,
- 9:44- you know, this funding opportunity. So those are
- 9:46- the kind of things we went after. It's
- 9:47- got a lot of, you know, advanced,
- 9:50- specialty care. And then, of course, you know,
- 9:52- we've we've we've kinda like I say, we're
- 9:54- we're tag, you're it. And as far as
- 9:56- the inter facility transfers go,
- 9:59- you think about in the rural space,
- 10:01- really easy to have an ambulance in the
- 10:03- town.
- 10:04- Really difficult to staff that ambulance.
- 10:06- Now everybody wants to jump off of the
- 10:08- tractor or, or get out behind the, you
- 10:10- know, the, sales counter and run out and
- 10:12- do a 911 call. They're all happy to
- 10:14- run down the fire station, around down the
- 10:16- EMS house, jump in the ambulance, and go
- 10:19- out and take care of an accident victim,
- 10:20- go out and take care of chest pain.
- 10:22- They're really good at that.
- 10:24- But
- 10:25- they're back at work in about two hours
- 10:27- from a call like that. They can go
- 10:28- out, take care of the patient, deliver the
- 10:29- patient to local hospital,
- 10:31- do their report, and go back to work.
- 10:33- So easy to have a volunteer service or
- 10:35- a fire a volunteer fire department that does
- 10:37- that work. It's a whole different equation whenever
- 10:39- you ask that same person, hey, We got
- 10:41- this BLS patient or this ALS patient,
- 10:44- that needs to go to Denver, and that's
- 10:46- a three hour trip one way. And so
- 10:48- you're gonna go to the hospital, spend an
- 10:49- hour getting the patient ready and, getting them
- 10:52- on the truck. You got a three hour
- 10:54- transport time. You got the trans, transition of
- 10:56- care so that you drop that patient off
- 10:58- and hand them off to the receiving hospital,
- 11:00- give report, all those things. Hopefully, you use
- 11:02- the time on the way back to, to
- 11:04- write your report up. You're talking about a
- 11:06- six or eight hour trip transport.
- 11:08- So if if I'm a farmer that works,
- 11:10- has to work the, you know, the field
- 11:11- or if I have a a a day
- 11:13- job,
- 11:14- it's very difficult to convince,
- 11:16- that person to to just take off and
- 11:18- go do that interslate transfer. But that's some
- 11:20- of the most important care. And so that's
- 11:22- where we are, have kinda stepped into the
- 11:25- into the, the breach and try to fill
- 11:26- that void.
- 11:28- Well, that makes a lot of sense. And,
- 11:29- you know, a great example to illustrate what
- 11:32- is so critical about,
- 11:34- being able to have these funds and supporting
- 11:36- rural health care, you know, in a variety
- 11:38- of different ways. So
- 11:40- that makes a lot of sense, and thank
- 11:42- you so much for digging a little bit
- 11:43- deeper into how you're thinking about these funds
- 11:45- and what really is going to make the
- 11:47- difference in the future. Now I wanted to
- 11:50- ask you as well what you're most focused
- 11:52- on and excited about looking forward.
- 11:54- What what what are you thinking about today,
- 11:56- and and what are you most proud of
- 11:57- from the last six to eighteen months or
- 11:59- so?
- 12:00- You know, it's been so much fun to
- 12:01- come out here, over the course of the
- 12:03- last four years,
- 12:05- add to our specialty clinic. You know, so
- 12:06- we think about our RHC, our rural health
- 12:08- clinic as, you know, used to your everyday,
- 12:10- you know, doctors visit. We certainly have the
- 12:12- ER and we have the inpatient side,
- 12:15- to service our population.
- 12:17- But where we really feel like we can
- 12:18- expand that market coverage and really do a
- 12:21- great job for the people of, this Northeast
- 12:23- corner of the state,
- 12:24- is in our specialty clinic. You know, so
- 12:26- we talked about the advanced cardiology we're trying
- 12:28- to bring out. That's kind of a future
- 12:30- look. Some things we've already done though, we
- 12:32- have an inpatient detox that's run through the
- 12:34- specialty clinic,
- 12:36- that has has a a hospitalist component to
- 12:38- it as well. So we do that three
- 12:40- day. Remember, we're we're bound by that, you
- 12:42- know, those rules about how many days you
- 12:44- can stay as an inpatient. So it's a
- 12:46- short duration,
- 12:47- but that was a place where we felt
- 12:48- like we really could could meet some of
- 12:50- the community health needs assessment,
- 12:53- questions.
- 12:54- We work on alcohol abuse, drug abuse, things
- 12:56- like that. We've added some advanced mental health
- 12:58- in the in the last couple of years.
- 13:00- We've added ear, nose, and throat.
- 13:03- We've worked to expand our surgery coverage here
- 13:05- at the hospital.
- 13:06- We have full orthopedics. We have big joints
- 13:09- and sports medicine here. So it's been working
- 13:11- on that specialty clinic, side where we can
- 13:13- really do enhancements
- 13:14- and bring out pieces
- 13:16- of that, that advanced care. So people haven't
- 13:18- got travel as far. They can feel like
- 13:20- they're being taken care of absolutely as well
- 13:22- as they as well here as they are
- 13:24- in Denver or one of the big cities.
- 13:27- I love that. And I I think to
- 13:28- look at the specialty services and what you're
- 13:31- able to do close to home really makes
- 13:33- a big difference for the community.
- 13:35- And, you know, I think particular when you
- 13:37- look at the mental health side of it
- 13:39- too, I know that's something that so many
- 13:41- communities are dealing with and trying to develop
- 13:44- programs around. Can you tell us a little
- 13:45- bit more about what's made a difference for
- 13:47- you there?
- 13:48- Sure. Well, it's finding the right people. Right?
- 13:51- And that's always the case for everything we
- 13:52- try to bring out is is trying to
- 13:54- find someone who's,
- 13:55- very confident and capable of doing that, well
- 13:58- to work live in a small town. You
- 13:59- know, we're we're a town of 2,000. We're
- 14:01- a county of 5,000.
- 14:03- And you could argue that the, the the
- 14:05- true coverage area is a you know, it
- 14:07- depends how big you draw the circle around
- 14:08- us. Right? We are able to go back,
- 14:10- about a year ago
- 14:12- and with one of our our partners, we
- 14:14- did a deep dive on where our patients
- 14:17- really come from. And we were surprised to
- 14:19- find that if you look at the continuous
- 14:21- ZIP codes, we threw out, you know, my
- 14:22- ZIP code from Florida when I first got
- 14:24- here. We threw out people that are just
- 14:25- traveling through,
- 14:27- acts as if, you know, far away. We'll
- 14:28- never regularly seek care here probably.
- 14:31- But we found, about 34,000 people in the
- 14:34- contiguous ZIP codes that seek care here for
- 14:36- one reason or another. So we're always trying
- 14:38- to think about, you know, what do we
- 14:40- bring or what do we add that can
- 14:41- better serve that serve that population.
- 14:45- That's fascinating. Wow. It's really interesting to to
- 14:48- dig into the numbers there and and see
- 14:50- all the different patients and types of people
- 14:52- that seek services at the hospital. Now before
- 14:55- we wrap up here, I wanted to talk
- 14:57- about leadership a bit as well.
- 14:59- Obviously, a lot happening right now in health
- 15:01- care and is is such a critical time.
- 15:02- So what advice would you have for leaders
- 15:05- who are growing into the space or who
- 15:07- have ambitions to really, be leaders like yourself
- 15:10- of a hospital or a system?
- 15:13- You know, we we do a lot of
- 15:14- that. I I have a a good strong
- 15:16- mentor
- 15:17- from Alabama.
- 15:18- We actually work together in Florida as well.
- 15:21- He would just tell you every every chance
- 15:22- he gets, he says, this is about the
- 15:24- relationships. So health care is about building relationships.
- 15:27- You know, having this phone of friends you
- 15:29- can call when things go bump in the
- 15:30- night,
- 15:32- build a relationship with your providers,
- 15:34- with your nursing staff, with with your staff
- 15:36- throughout the hospital. You know, whenever you, are
- 15:39- able to to contribute, you know, to their
- 15:41- lives and then then to yours, and you
- 15:43- come together, you know, for the betterment of
- 15:45- the organization of the hospital, really important. So
- 15:47- I think finding a great mentor and then,
- 15:49- try and turn those mentors into good champions,
- 15:52- is a really important thing for,
- 15:54- you know, a rising,
- 15:55- a rising executive.
- 15:57- And I think once you get here, you've
- 15:58- got to, certainly, we look towards clinical excellence
- 16:01- and how do we how do we be
- 16:03- responsible,
- 16:04- and responsive,
- 16:05- you know, to the people that we serve.
- 16:07- But I think the most important thing that
- 16:09- you can do in this rural space
- 16:11- is mind your mind your store. And and
- 16:13- by that, I mean, you have to look
- 16:15- at that revenue cycle and you have to
- 16:16- really get that that ironed out and make
- 16:18- sure that that all the money that is
- 16:19- available to you for the work that we
- 16:21- do, that all that money comes back to
- 16:23- us, in a in a correct way.
- 16:25- We certainly have all the the the struggles
- 16:27- of trying to get, you know, the payers
- 16:29- to pay and
- 16:30- and, to make sure we're not leaving money
- 16:32- on the table. So a a a full
- 16:34- and deep understanding of that revenue cycle is
- 16:36- absolutely essential to be,
- 16:38- to be successful. We have a a hospital
- 16:40- not that far away, probably within an hour
- 16:42- and a half hour, hour and a half
- 16:44- drive of where I'm sitting right now.
- 16:46- They just filed bankruptcy.
- 16:48- These are this is an area that's not
- 16:50- unlike where we live. It's not unlike the
- 16:52- the town that we serve. And so for
- 16:55- for that organization
- 16:57- to have,
- 16:59- to have lost its position or lost its
- 17:01- way and not be able to, to make
- 17:04- to make things work,
- 17:05- it's, it's concerning.
- 17:07- I think we're gonna I fear that we're
- 17:08- going to see a lot more of that
- 17:10- in the in the in the in the
- 17:11- future.
- 17:12- I think it comes down to make sure
- 17:13- we, we're very vocal,
- 17:15- politically,
- 17:16- and we I I go every year up
- 17:18- to DC. I spent a lot of time
- 17:20- in Denver
- 17:21- just lobbying building those relationships with these lawmakers.
- 17:25- It's an election year for our us here,
- 17:27- so I've had both of our congress
- 17:29- congress delegates,
- 17:31- been in my office in my hospital.
- 17:33- We look closely after the the state delegates
- 17:36- as well.
- 17:37- Hopefully, I'll be having a a an opportunity
- 17:39- to meet again with the,
- 17:41- what we we kinda consider the governor elect
- 17:43- the election's not over,
- 17:44- but it's an an awfully blue state, so
- 17:46- we kinda have a pretty good idea of
- 17:47- who the the next governor is gonna be.
- 17:49- That that primary is already over. So plan
- 17:51- to spend some time with them, and make
- 17:53- sure they hear the, you know, the message
- 17:54- that
- 17:55- everything isn't easy out here and that we
- 17:57- do need some help. So mind your store,
- 17:59- make sure that you're looking after the revenue
- 18:00- cycle, build those relationships that are important and
- 18:03- critical for,
- 18:04- you know, for all the various rulemaking and
- 18:07- lawmaking that might come down, and the people
- 18:08- that can help you affect those, state agencies.
- 18:11- So, you know, you wanna make sure that
- 18:13- you have somebody who can can help figure
- 18:14- out the Medicaid problem in Colorado,
- 18:17- for us. We can figure out how how
- 18:19- we can utilize we're a border state, so
- 18:21- we've gotta be mindful of what's going on
- 18:23- in Nebraska and Kansas as well.
- 18:25- We see their patients too, but their Medicaid
- 18:26- is a is a bit different,
- 18:28- than Colorado's for sure. So lot lot going
- 18:31- on there, but those are the things that
- 18:32- come to mind when you ask that question.
- 18:34- That's fantastic advice, especially thinking about how quickly
- 18:38- things are changing and how much,
- 18:40- health care needs right now in order to
- 18:43- continue to exist and be sustainable
- 18:45- moving forward. What a great example of how
- 18:47- you can really be impacted strongly by some
- 18:50- of the different decisions being made across the
- 18:52- board and then looking at, you know, how
- 18:54- you can impact those decisions on the legislative
- 18:56- side in the future.
- 18:58- Michael, thank you so much for joining us
- 18:59- on the podcast today. This has been such
- 19:01- a great conversation, really inspiring to hear all
- 19:03- the different things you're working on and and
- 19:05- how you're thinking about the next couple of
- 19:07- years. And I look forward to seeing you
- 19:09- as well at our CTO CFO roundtable. I
- 19:10- know you'll be speaking on a panel, and
- 19:12- we'll explore
- 19:13- more of the things we talked about here.
- 19:16- I'm looking forward to it. Looking forward to
- 19:17- some great deep dish, and I thank you
- 19:19- so much, Laura, for your time today.