Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Tower Health’s Shift From Turnaround to Sustainable Growth with Michael Stern

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Tower Health’s Shift From Turnaround to Sustainable Growth with Michael Stern · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - 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
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  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
• 0:14
  - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
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  - And it's why the most effective c suite
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  - leaders are deliberate about where they go to
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  - pressure test their thinking.
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  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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  - brings together more than 1,500
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  - executive level attendees
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  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
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  - around growth, financial sustainability,
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  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
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  - have easy answers.
• 0:39
  - Join us November second through the fifth in
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  - Chicago.
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  - For the agenda and event details,
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  - visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  - and click on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
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  - This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  - podcast.
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  - I'm thrilled today to be joined by Michael
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  - Stern, president and chief executive officer of Tower
• 0:58
  - Health. Michael, it's a pleasure to have you
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  - on the podcast today. Thank you, Laura. It's
• 1:01
  - great to be here.
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  - Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation. I
• 1:05
  - know we've got a lot to talk about
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  - and, you know, really excited to highlight some
• 1:09
  - of the cool things you're doing at Tower
• 1:10
  - Health. But before we do, can you tell
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  - us just a little bit more about yourself
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  - and your background?
• 1:15
  - Sure.
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  - I am originally from, Long Island, New York.
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  - Probably spent the first, twenty years of my
• 1:20
  - career in between, Long Island and Brooklyn, Queens,
• 1:23
  - Manhattan,
• 1:24
  - and then,
• 1:26
  - worked in Philadelphia for a short time, was
• 1:29
  - out in Ohio for seven years, and then,
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  - returned to the East Coast, four years ago
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  - to, to join Tower Health and and help
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  - them with their, turnaround.
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  - I love that. And, you know, definitely, I
• 1:40
  - can imagine all great things, headed into
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  - your current, role here. So let's start there.
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  - Can you give us a quick state of
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  - the union of Tower Health? What's going well,
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  - and, what are you prioritizing for the rest
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  - of this year and into 2027?
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  - No. I... Thank you, Laura. It's,
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  - you know, to give it a title, I'd
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  - say it's, you know, from turnaround to sustainable
• 2:01
  - growth. That's kind of our our message now.
• 2:04
  - For the first time in, believe it or
• 2:06
  - not, nearly a decade,
• 2:08
  - Tower Health achieved a positive operating income now.
• 2:11
  - You know, I realize that may not sound
• 2:12
  - like the kind of phrase that gets anyone's
• 2:14
  - heart rate up, but when you understand what
• 2:16
  - it took to get here, it means a
• 2:17
  - great deal. Because from the lens I look
• 2:20
  - through, that result isn't just a financial milestone.
• 2:23
  - It's another key step for our health system
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  - in an incredibly challenging,
• 2:27
  - you know, health care environment.
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  - I've been here
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  - four years and the last year and a
• 2:32
  - half as CEO,
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  - and we've really built a stronger foundation,
• 2:37
  - which is allowing the organization to shift from
• 2:39
  - stabilization
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  - towards sustainable growth and strategic investment. And we
• 2:44
  - just started actually our first... Finished our first
• 2:47
  - quarter of f y twenty seven, and we're
• 2:49
  - seeing really strong patient volumes.
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  - We still have to maintain the fiscal discipline
• 2:53
  - that got us here, but we're able to
• 2:54
  - begin shifting the conversation from stabilization to thoughtful
• 2:58
  - strategic growth.
• 3:00
  - You know, what we're really focused on on
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  - this year is is
• 3:04
  - threefold. Focus on access. You know, every three
• 3:06
  - years, we do a community health needs assessment,
• 3:09
  - which was completed,
• 3:10
  - in the spring of twenty five.
• 3:12
  - And it... It's something that allows us to
• 3:15
  - to get real health care data input from
• 3:17
  - the community
• 3:18
  - to see where the greatest needs are and
• 3:20
  - and where there's still barriers.
• 3:23
  - You know, so what we're focused on in
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  - in this year is really women's health services,
• 3:28
  - behavioral health services,
• 3:30
  - and having a greater presence in the community
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  - where Tower historically has had a less of
• 3:36
  - one. We want to ensure we're reaching deep
• 3:38
  - into the,
• 3:39
  - City Of Reading community and growing our press...
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  - Our presence as a trusted anchor,
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  - as we are in all of the communities
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  - that that we serve. And I'll give you
• 3:48
  - a great example, and this is something that
• 3:50
  - we launched in July.
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  - We opened a twenty four seven retail pharmacy
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  - at Redding Hospital.
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  - Believe it or not, it's the only pharmacy
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  - in the region, over 30 miles, that's available
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  - twenty four seven. And I I thought it
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  - was gonna be meaningful,
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  - but the impact over the last few months
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  - has been way stronger than I anticipated.
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  - It's just a a reminder of how important
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  - access
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  - is to patients. And, you know, when I
• 4:15
  - heard from several patients as I was asking
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  - why they were transitioning their
• 4:20
  - their prescriptions over to Tower Health, they didn't
• 4:22
  - necessarily need something twenty four seven today.
• 4:25
  - They were just thinking about the times that
• 4:27
  - are on a holiday or on a Sunday
• 4:29
  - night, or they leave an urgent care at
• 4:31
  - 09:00 at night and there's no way to
• 4:33
  - fill their script, and they they have to
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  - wait one day, two days, three days to
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  - get there. And, you know, these are the
• 4:38
  - things that we're trying to hit meaningful,
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  - opportunities
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  - to to improve care and and grow the
• 4:44
  - confidence in in our patients.
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  - So, you know, that's that's kind of part
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  - one.
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  - The second real focus area is building
• 4:52
  - just the best culture and patient experience
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  - in health care. When people speak about the
• 4:57
  - final turn... Financial turnaround, the cultural turnaround has
• 5:00
  - been equally important.
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  - Financial strength and culture are not competing priorities.
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  - Actually, they're fully connected.
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  - We cannot fulfill our mission without financial stability,
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  - but we cannot create lasting financial stability without
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  - a strong culture, engaged employees,
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  - and, honestly, fantastic patient care. Our physicians, ADPs,
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  - nurses, and team members
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  - are the reason we're in the position we
• 5:22
  - are today.
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  - Especially proud of is what we've been working
• 5:26
  - on through the financial recovery. The quality of
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  - care, of course, Tower Health has remained exceptional.
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  - We launched a three year strategic plan,
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  - towards the end of twenty five, and and
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  - the core priority, believe it or not, is
• 5:39
  - the Tower experience.
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  - That's being relentlessly focused on creating an exceptional
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  - experience for both employees
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  - and patients because, again, they're also fundamentally connected,
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  - and
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  - the... That
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  - connection
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  - ultimately will lead to greater financial performance.
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  - You know, the last several years required really
• 5:59
  - difficult decisions to get us back into positive
• 6:02
  - operating income. We never took them lightly because
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  - they impacted people, but we made
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  - them because we believe Tower Health had a
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  - future worth fighting for and because our communities
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  - need us to be strong for generations
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  - to come.
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  - I love that. And I think, you know,
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  - having that focus on access, being able to
• 6:19
  - think about all those different points that
• 6:22
  - really people enter the health system or or
• 6:24
  - need additional support and how you can make
• 6:26
  - that work. I think, you know, it it
• 6:28
  - takes a lot of foresight and energy and
• 6:31
  - planning and and resources to think through what's
• 6:34
  - gonna be the most, beneficial for patients and
• 6:36
  - actually put that into action. And,
• 6:39
  - really, it seems like you've done a great
• 6:41
  - job of putting the teams in place that
• 6:43
  - know what they need to do and to
• 6:44
  - your point, having a strong culture,
• 6:46
  - in order to keep that running as well
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  - as have the financial stability as well. So,
• 6:51
  - that... That's really helpful to understand how you've
• 6:53
  - been doing all that and, where you see
• 6:55
  - some of the big,
• 6:56
  - big levers that you've been able to pull
• 6:58
  - over the last couple years or so.
• 7:00
  - No. I I agree. I mean, we do
• 7:02
  - a lot of listening.
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  - We we do a lot of listening. And,
• 7:05
  - you know,
• 7:06
  - and one of the things about our health
• 7:08
  - care systems, we do a great job, but
• 7:09
  - there are certain things that, you know, you
• 7:11
  - know, high quaternary stuffs that we don't do
• 7:14
  - and and other things that that,
• 7:16
  - other services that we that we don't do
• 7:18
  - just because of the size of the population
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  - or what have you. And that's why, actually,
• 7:21
  - about, three months ago, we announced an affiliation
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  - with the Jefferson Health System.
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  - It's not it's not a takeover. It's it's
• 7:29
  - not an acquisition,
• 7:30
  - but it was something that we were hearing
• 7:32
  - from our communities.
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  - So so we were looking at a bigger
• 7:37
  - partner, somebody who could provide anything that we
• 7:39
  - didn't or will bring in things that we
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  - just don't do today, and that we're not
• 7:44
  - planning on doing tomorrow. We did, I mean,
• 7:46
  - a comprehensive
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  - process.
• 7:49
  - And Jefferson helped distinguish itself because of its
• 7:51
  - shared mission and values and community based care.
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  - Okay? And they had the strong technology infrastructure
• 7:59
  - and scale and the academic enterprise.
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  - But we spent a year
• 8:03
  - working side by side with two senior executive
• 8:05
  - teams to make sure that we got to
• 8:08
  - know each other and really understand how working
• 8:10
  - together felt, and it's been a really a
• 8:13
  - good fit. You know, they bring resources and
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  - capabilities into our communities
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  - like clinical trials and innovation,
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  - that could strengthen the care that we provide,
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  - you know, locally.
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  - And it's really, it's only a few months
• 8:27
  - old,
• 8:28
  - but we can already see some of the
• 8:31
  - enhancements already happening, not replacements,
• 8:33
  - but enhancing the great care we deliver with
• 8:37
  - even stronger,
• 8:38
  - care.
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  - Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. And,
• 8:42
  - you know, it kind of follows the theme
• 8:43
  - I've been hearing about in terms of more
• 8:45
  - creative partnerships and ways to work with others,
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  - within the broader community
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  - to, you know, improve care and access and
• 8:53
  - all those kinds of things in in these
• 8:55
  - types of,
• 8:56
  - creative partnerships,
• 8:57
  - and alignments or whatnot,
• 8:59
  - you know, might not have been possible five,
• 9:01
  - ten years ago, but really seeing where we're
• 9:03
  - at today and,
• 9:04
  - understanding where health care needs to go, it
• 9:06
  - seems that there are a lot of possibilities
• 9:08
  - and potential out there.
• 9:10
  - I I couldn't agree more. And,
• 9:12
  - you know, it's important to to not only
• 9:15
  - work with with other folks, but work with
• 9:17
  - other folks with with the shared vision and
• 9:19
  - kinda have that same cultural
• 9:21
  - thought process. Like I said, the numbers were
• 9:23
  - easy. The services were easy. It was really
• 9:26
  - spending close to a year together to just
• 9:28
  - make sure
• 9:30
  - we
• 9:31
  - believe the same things and that we were
• 9:33
  - heading in the same direction. And I have
• 9:35
  - to tell you,
• 9:36
  - you know, we think we found that right
• 9:38
  - partner.
• 9:39
  - I love that. Well, I I think looking
• 9:41
  - into the future too, I I know there's
• 9:43
  - a lot of,
• 9:44
  - things to sit... Think about and consideration. So
• 9:47
  - what are some of the big headwinds that
• 9:48
  - you're keeping your eye on and preparing for?
• 9:51
  - Well, I I I mean, it's something we
• 9:52
  - deal with every day, and and it... And
• 9:54
  - it's heading in the wrong direction.
• 9:57
  - And that's the growing disconnect between the cost
• 9:59
  - of providing care and the reimbursement we ultimately
• 10:02
  - receive.
• 10:03
  - I think everybody can see that labor costs
• 10:05
  - have risen dramatically over the last several years
• 10:08
  - as, you know, hospitals compete for a limited
• 10:10
  - health care workforce.
• 10:12
  - Supply costs, pharmaceuticals,
• 10:14
  - medical technology expenses, They've also increased at rates
• 10:17
  - that far outpace historical norms. But at the
• 10:20
  - same time, we're seeing commercial payers become increasingly
• 10:23
  - aggressive with denials, retrospective
• 10:26
  - reviews, prior authorization requirements, and honestly, service level
• 10:30
  - down road... Downgrades that are made unilaterally.
• 10:33
  - What makes this particularly challenging is that many
• 10:36
  - of these claims involve care that was medically
• 10:38
  - necessary and, you know, physician directed and often
• 10:41
  - that were preapproved, believe or not. Yet hospitals
• 10:43
  - are still forced to spend significant resources
• 10:46
  - appealing denials and defending the care that was
• 10:49
  - already delivered. So when people ask why health
• 10:51
  - organizations are under financial pressures, it's not one
• 10:54
  - issue. It's a combination of rising labor costs,
• 10:57
  - rising supply costs,
• 10:59
  - increased reimbursement
• 11:00
  - friction,
• 11:01
  - and... Which which basically has hospitals being squeezed
• 11:04
  - in both directions. The cost of caring for
• 11:06
  - patients continues to climb while the effort required
• 11:09
  - to secure payment for that care continues to
• 11:12
  - grow. That's a difficult equation for any industry,
• 11:15
  - and it's particularly concerning in health care because
• 11:17
  - it impacts dollars that could otherwise be reinvested
• 11:19
  - in caregivers and technology,
• 11:21
  - access, you know, or or experience.
• 11:24
  - And I understand that insurers have a responsibility
• 11:26
  - to manage cost and ensure appropriate utilization. I
• 11:29
  - get that.
• 11:30
  - We all share that goal of affordable high
• 11:33
  - quality care, but I think most health system
• 11:35
  - leaders would tell you that the relationship has
• 11:37
  - become increasingly
• 11:39
  - adversarial when it really should be more of
• 11:41
  - a partnership.
• 11:42
  - You know, at the end of the day,
• 11:43
  - both providers and payers serve the same patient.
• 11:46
  - The more time we spend fighting over claims
• 11:48
  - and technicalities,
• 11:49
  - the less time we're spending focused on improving
• 11:51
  - health outcomes and strengthening the communities that we
• 11:54
  - both serve.
• 11:56
  - Oh, yeah. I mean, I think you just
• 11:58
  - made an excellent point in terms of the
• 12:00
  - capabilities from both the health care provider and
• 12:03
  - payer side, you know, having the same goal
• 12:05
  - at the end of the day, wanting to
• 12:07
  - make healthier communities and,
• 12:09
  - you know, ensure care resources are delivered,
• 12:13
  - to the right people in most efficient and
• 12:14
  - effective way possible. But,
• 12:17
  - as you're pointed, it definitely seems like in
• 12:18
  - many ways, there has been growing friction in
• 12:21
  - in the different kind of
• 12:23
  - challenges with payers. And so is there anything
• 12:25
  - that you're doing now as you kind of
• 12:28
  - look at your relationships with different insurance companies
• 12:31
  - going forward, to try to become more collaborative
• 12:34
  - versus adversarial?
• 12:36
  - Well, I think we're in an interesting time
• 12:37
  - right now. If you go back even as
• 12:39
  - far as five years,
• 12:41
  - the idea of having
• 12:43
  - litigious events between insurers and health system didn't
• 12:46
  - exist. And it it just seems every day
• 12:49
  - we're in another legal battle with with an
• 12:51
  - insurance company over the midnight rule
• 12:54
  - or or or over, you know,
• 12:56
  - unilateral changes to how they pay or what
• 12:58
  - they pay. I think, you know, the best
• 13:01
  - thing that we can do and we're trying
• 13:02
  - to do with some of the local payers
• 13:04
  - is develop that relationship... A more personal relationship,
• 13:07
  - but also be very careful as we negotiate
• 13:09
  - contracts to
• 13:11
  - to make sure that they're tight, to make
• 13:12
  - sure that, you know, it's it's clear cut,
• 13:16
  - what the what the reimbursement,
• 13:18
  - structure would be for that service and what
• 13:20
  - the rules are inside of that. But I
• 13:22
  - think we're in a tough time right now.
• 13:23
  - I I... It's gonna take a little while
• 13:26
  - to get back to collaboration. I think it's
• 13:28
  - much more adversarial today.
• 13:30
  - And, you know, you could see it in
• 13:32
  - Pennsylvania.
• 13:33
  - I mean,
• 13:34
  - it doesn't matter which insurer, but almost every
• 13:36
  - insurer is in some sort of legal battle
• 13:39
  - over something with with the health system, and
• 13:41
  - you could see it across the country. It's
• 13:42
  - not a Pennsylvania trend. It's a national trend.
• 13:45
  - So that's something that is... You know, think
• 13:47
  - about that. That's adding more cost. Right? Because
• 13:49
  - that also then involves having lawyers and having,
• 13:52
  - you know, data requests and and doing, you
• 13:55
  - know, clinical studies into appropriateness of care, and
• 13:58
  - that's just adding to the cost of care.
• 14:00
  - I'm hoping we can get back to where
• 14:02
  - we were, but I think it's gonna be
• 14:05
  - a bit of a process. And, you know,
• 14:07
  - the health systems are at the point financially,
• 14:09
  - but we have no choice than to to
• 14:11
  - push back and say no. They... We kept
• 14:14
  - them that extra day for the right reasons,
• 14:15
  - medically necessary care. And I think it took
• 14:18
  - us pushing back, and and and again, you
• 14:20
  - see that,
• 14:21
  - nationally,
• 14:22
  - that will hopefully change the conversation and get
• 14:25
  - people's attention.
• 14:27
  - Absolutely. I I love that. And and super,
• 14:29
  - super helpful to think through, you know, how
• 14:32
  - you're looking at those relationships and the evolution
• 14:35
  - going forward. Now, what other headwinds do you
• 14:37
  - have in your mind?
• 14:39
  - You know,
• 14:40
  - it's always, you know, competition for talent. Right?
• 14:43
  - The workforce.
• 14:44
  - I mean,
• 14:45
  - what we've learned over the last several years
• 14:47
  - that people have choices. You know, health care
• 14:49
  - workers went through an incredibly difficult period,
• 14:52
  - and while compensation will always matter, it's not
• 14:55
  - the only thing that matters. And what's important
• 14:58
  - to people is is different than it was
• 15:00
  - even five years ago. They wanna work in
• 15:01
  - an environment where they feel respected and supported
• 15:04
  - and connected to a purpose larger than themselves.
• 15:07
  - They
• 15:08
  - want leaders like myself and the team to
• 15:10
  - be more visible,
• 15:12
  - and I... You know, I'm not sure I
• 15:14
  - love this word, more authentic.
• 15:16
  - And they wanna know their voice matters. I
• 15:18
  - was talking about listening before. You know, that
• 15:20
  - that that really does matter. We spend a
• 15:22
  - lot of time focusing on culture
• 15:24
  - because I've come to believe that culture isn't
• 15:26
  - a soft thing, it's a strategy.
• 15:28
  - Again, that's why the tower experience is core
• 15:30
  - to our strategic plan. And it's a work
• 15:32
  - in progress. Right? Because we've... This organization has
• 15:35
  - gone through a lot. We've had to do
• 15:37
  - several restructurings to get back to where we
• 15:39
  - were. So, you know, building back that trust
• 15:41
  - and the confidence,
• 15:43
  - you know, has been going well. It's heading
• 15:45
  - in the right direction, but it's something you
• 15:47
  - can never lose sight of because
• 15:50
  - nothing works without the doctors, the nurses, the
• 15:52
  - caregivers, the housekeepers, security personnel, the phlebotomist,
• 15:56
  - you know, the radiology techs. Nothing works without
• 15:59
  - them,
• 16:00
  - and,
• 16:01
  - you know, they can work anywhere.
• 16:03
  - We we need to create an environment where
• 16:05
  - they want to work and stay here.
• 16:08
  - That makes a ton of sense and, you
• 16:10
  - know, that's really where the... And the real
• 16:12
  - work comes comes in when you think about
• 16:14
  - culture and,
• 16:15
  - the intangibles. I I guess that means so
• 16:18
  - much to retaining staff
• 16:20
  - and, building
• 16:21
  - an organization for the future. Now I wanted
• 16:24
  - to ask you about some of that growth
• 16:26
  - and how you're thinking about it too. What's
• 16:27
  - the best opportunities that you're finding to grow
• 16:29
  - in the next two to three years?
• 16:31
  - You know, when I arrived arrived at Tower,
• 16:33
  - the focus was pure survival and stabilization. Right?
• 16:36
  - It was all about financial performance and and
• 16:38
  - such. But thanks to the incredible work of
• 16:40
  - our team and our 10,000 caregivers,
• 16:42
  - we've made tremendous progress. Now, the conversation has
• 16:45
  - shifted from turnaround to transformation.
• 16:49
  - For us, it's not about necessarily getting bigger,
• 16:51
  - it's about getting better.
• 16:53
  - It's creating an experience that makes Tower Health
• 16:56
  - the provider of choice for our patients and
• 16:58
  - the employer of choice for health care professionals
• 17:00
  - that are out there.
• 17:02
  - I I actually believe that culture is one
• 17:04
  - of the true competitive advantages left in health
• 17:07
  - care. If we can create an environment where
• 17:09
  - people feel valued and supported,
• 17:11
  - we'll attract and retain that great talent.
• 17:14
  - And when you have engaged
• 17:16
  - caregivers, our patients feel the difference. There is
• 17:18
  - no question that when employee engagement scores go
• 17:21
  - up, that patient
• 17:23
  - experience scores go up, and, obviously, the opposite
• 17:26
  - is also true. You know, we need to
• 17:28
  - build on what already makes us strong. Reading
• 17:30
  - Hospital is obviously one of the premier hospitals
• 17:33
  - in the country with deep roots and and
• 17:36
  - trust in the communities we serve. We don't
• 17:38
  - have to become something that we're not. We
• 17:40
  - need to continue expanding access and strengthening our
• 17:43
  - our clinical programs, and most importantly, making it
• 17:45
  - easier for patients to get the care they
• 17:48
  - need
• 17:49
  - when and and and where they need it.
• 17:51
  - Patients today have expectations like we've never seen
• 17:54
  - before and you know what? They should. You
• 17:56
  - know, they're comparing their health care experience not
• 17:58
  - just to another hospital, but to experiences they
• 18:01
  - have anywhere. You know, they can order groceries
• 18:03
  - from their phone, track a package in real
• 18:05
  - time, right, schedule almost anything in a few
• 18:07
  - clicks, and
• 18:09
  - they they expect health care to be accessible
• 18:11
  - and convenient and easy to navigate, which is
• 18:13
  - not easy
• 18:15
  - in an incredibly,
• 18:17
  - inherently complex,
• 18:19
  - health care environment. But it's also an opportunity,
• 18:22
  - you know.
• 18:23
  - A great health care isn't just what happens
• 18:24
  - in the clinical counter, it's about all the
• 18:26
  - interactions,
• 18:27
  - you know, that happen every day. And that
• 18:29
  - twenty four seven pharmacy is really really a
• 18:31
  - key example. I knew it would be meaningful.
• 18:34
  - I did.
• 18:35
  - But I I greatly underestimated
• 18:38
  - how much it truly meant to our own
• 18:40
  - employees
• 18:41
  - and and the communities in, not only our
• 18:43
  - primary service area, but our secondary service area.
• 18:46
  - It gives them comfort
• 18:48
  - that they can get a medicine for their
• 18:49
  - child anytime they want on Thanksgiving,
• 18:52
  - you know, Christmas, New Year's, or on a
• 18:55
  - Sunday at 09:00 at night because, you know,
• 18:58
  - at the end of the day, we're a
• 18:59
  - people business. Right? The organizations that succeed are
• 19:02
  - ones that create that best experience for for
• 19:05
  - patients and the best environments for employees
• 19:08
  - and bring exceptional care close to home.
• 19:12
  - I truly believe if we can keep doing
• 19:14
  - those things, I think the future,
• 19:16
  - of Tower Health is really bright.
• 19:19
  - Well, that's really great to hear. And, you
• 19:21
  - know, a cool example with a retail pharmacy
• 19:24
  - is just, you know, how you,
• 19:26
  - are able to make that care accessible and,
• 19:30
  - making sure that, you know, patients
• 19:33
  - are excited about what they're doing and and
• 19:35
  - really can feel like you've made an organization
• 19:38
  - built for them or around them versus the
• 19:40
  - other way around.
• 19:41
  - That's right. That's exactly the way we we
• 19:44
  - look at things.
• 19:45
  - Excellent. Well, before we wrap up here, I
• 19:47
  - wanted to ask you about leadership too. Who
• 19:49
  - do you admire as a leader really from
• 19:51
  - any industry and why?
• 19:53
  - I think, while it may have surprised you
• 19:55
  - at at the beginning of the conversation having
• 19:57
  - just met me, I think after what you
• 19:59
  - heard me say, this is not gonna surprise
• 20:01
  - you. But believe it or not, it's Walt
• 20:02
  - Disney. And not because he built theme parks,
• 20:05
  - but because he understood something that most organizations
• 20:07
  - struggle with today, people remember how you make
• 20:10
  - them feel.
• 20:12
  - I have the, book that Friendly
• 20:14
  - wrote in, oh, God, twenty years ago called
• 20:16
  - If Disney Ran Your Hospital.
• 20:18
  - I give it to every leader as they
• 20:20
  - come in at whatever level,
• 20:21
  - any senior leader, because it's had a a
• 20:24
  - profound impact on how I think about leadership
• 20:26
  - in health care. And I I share this
• 20:28
  - book with anybody that asks for career advice
• 20:31
  - because the... One of the central ideas is
• 20:34
  - that patients may not remember
• 20:36
  - all the details,
• 20:37
  - but they remember how they were treated and
• 20:39
  - how they were communicating with and how they
• 20:41
  - felt during some of the most honestly vulnerable
• 20:44
  - moments of their lives.
• 20:45
  - It... What I admire about him is that
• 20:48
  - he wasn't just building attractions, he was designing
• 20:51
  - experiences.
• 20:52
  - Every detail mattered because every interact... Interaction, you
• 20:55
  - know, really mattered.
• 20:57
  - I've always believed health care can learn from
• 20:59
  - that mindset.
• 21:00
  - And even though it was written in the
• 21:02
  - eighties, it's... Everything still holds true today.
• 21:05
  - You know, we run a a contest
• 21:07
  - every year with all of our employees about,
• 21:10
  - you know, what they want next year's kind
• 21:11
  - of mantra to be. You know? And, you
• 21:14
  - know, this year,
• 21:16
  - the employees... And it was overwhelming because every
• 21:18
  - patient is someone's everything.
• 21:20
  - That was submitted by one of the employees.
• 21:22
  - We ran a contest to get ideas.
• 21:24
  - We narrowed it down to, you know, 10
• 21:26
  - choices, sent it back out to the employees,
• 21:28
  - and by, I think, almost 60% of 10,000
• 21:31
  - people chose because every patient is someone's everything.
• 21:34
  - How much better could that align
• 21:36
  - with
• 21:37
  - Walt Disney? You know, patients deserve great clinical
• 21:40
  - care, but they also deserve compassion, respect,
• 21:43
  - and and communication.
• 21:46
  - And and the last thing is with Walt
• 21:48
  - Disney is he had a relentless focus on
• 21:50
  - the future, never seemed satisfied.
• 21:52
  - You know, he was always asked about what
• 21:54
  - was possible and how to make things better.
• 21:56
  - Great leaders need to address those challenges and
• 21:59
  - create a vision
• 22:01
  - for what's gonna come next.
• 22:03
  - So, you know, it it... He's someone that
• 22:05
  - I truly have followed my entire career.
• 22:09
  - The philosophy of Andre. You're getting me a
• 22:11
  - little bit choked up here. I mean, this
• 22:13
  - is really cool.
• 22:14
  - I... I'm I'm looking at the book right
• 22:16
  - now. It's it's it's it's right on the
• 22:18
  - bookshelf next to me, and I... And there's
• 22:19
  - a lot of copies of it, obviously, because
• 22:21
  - I always have one ready to give out.
• 22:22
  - But, you know, it may sound like just
• 22:24
  - words, but, honestly, I've read the book so
• 22:26
  - many times because,
• 22:27
  - you know, everybody has bad days. We all
• 22:29
  - have difficult financial moments,
• 22:32
  - but we have to remember that dollars are
• 22:34
  - one thing, but
• 22:36
  - people are everything.
• 22:37
  - Absolutely.
• 22:38
  - At the end of the day, that's what
• 22:40
  - matters the most. So,
• 22:42
  - very much point well taken in in the
• 22:44
  - analogy between Disney and health care. You know,
• 22:47
  - it is so so strong and something to
• 22:49
  - aspire to.
• 22:50
  - Michael, thank you so much for joining us
• 22:52
  - on the podcast today. This has been such
• 22:54
  - a a really fun conversation,
• 22:56
  - and I'm excited to see you as well
• 22:57
  - at our CEO, CFO roundtable. I know you'll
• 22:59
  - be speaking on a panel, and it'll be
• 23:01
  - great to catch up there and continue this
• 23:03
  - conversation.
• 23:04
  - I am so looking forward to it, Laura.
• 23:06
  - Can't wait to see you in Chicago.