Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Purpose Driven Leadership and the Future of Rehabilitation Care with Jandel Allen-Davis

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Purpose Driven Leadership and the Future of Rehabilitation Care with Jandel Allen-Davis · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
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• 1:00
  - Welcome to this episode of Leadership Unscripted, a
• 1:02
  - Becker's healthcare podcast. I'm Christosa, your host. I'm
• 1:05
  - thrilled today to be joined by doctor Jendel
• 1:07
  - Allen Davis. She, of course, is president and
• 1:09
  - CEO of Craig Hospital in Inglewood, Colorado.
• 1:12
  - Jendel, thank you for joining us today. I'm
• 1:14
  - so excited to be here. Thank you. Thanks
• 1:16
  - for the opportunity.
• 1:17
  - Fantastic. Chandelle, for those in our audience who
• 1:20
  - may not be familiar
• 1:21
  - with you and or Craig Hospital, could you
• 1:24
  - please tell us a little bit about both?
• 1:26
  - Sure. Well, so I am a physician. I'm
• 1:29
  - actually an OB GYN and practiced,
• 1:32
  - 25 of the last forty two years. Hard
• 1:35
  - to believe how fast time goes as a
• 1:38
  - practicing OB GYN. And then about eighteen years
• 1:40
  - ago went into full time administration,
• 1:43
  - when I was with Kaiser Permanente here in
• 1:45
  - Colorado.
• 1:46
  - I had the privilege and the honor of
• 1:48
  - being asked to consider
• 1:50
  - taking the helm at Craig Hospital. And
• 1:53
  - sometimes you say things that you can't believe
• 1:54
  - came out of your mouth, but I said,
• 1:56
  - let's talk and see what happens. And seven
• 1:58
  - and a half years later, I find myself
• 2:00
  - in this amazing institution.
• 2:02
  - And for those who don't know, Craig Hospital
• 2:04
  - is a nationally and internationally
• 2:06
  - renowned
• 2:07
  - hospital that specializes in the neuro rehabilitation
• 2:10
  - of persons who sustained
• 2:12
  - either a traumatic or an acquired
• 2:14
  - spinal cord injury, brain injury, and in some
• 2:17
  - cases unfortunately both.
• 2:19
  - And, you know, that sounds like a whole
• 2:20
  - bunch of words, but it's really,
• 2:23
  - as I said, being in health care as
• 2:25
  - long as I have, I've never seen health
• 2:27
  - care practice more beautifully than here. It's a
• 2:29
  - very much a team based model,
• 2:32
  - but there's something about the heart and the
• 2:34
  - the soul of the persons, the people who
• 2:36
  - support this mission, the over a thousand employees
• 2:38
  - that we have will support the mission, that
• 2:40
  - we are focused on patients and families in
• 2:42
  - a way that I've never seen health care,
• 2:45
  - delivered so beautifully.
• 2:46
  - And in the and, as a result of
• 2:48
  - that,
• 2:49
  - we've got the,
• 2:51
  - we've got the data. We've got the impact
• 2:53
  - data to show that from an outcomes perspective,
• 2:55
  - those who,
• 2:56
  - do their rehabilitation here
• 2:59
  - actually enjoy more independence
• 3:01
  - than some of our fellow neuro rehab hospitals
• 3:04
  - or rehab hospitals that do,
• 3:06
  - inpatient rehab for these two injuries.
• 3:08
  - And,
• 3:09
  - we've got the the numbers to show that,
• 3:12
  - patients and families really appreciate,
• 3:14
  - what it is to get care here. And
• 3:16
  - our team members are able to do it
• 3:18
  - in a really super joyful way, which,
• 3:21
  - just warms my heart, gives me a a
• 3:23
  - great deal of satisfaction and joy, and makes
• 3:26
  - work fun as a CEO and president.
• 3:28
  - Well, that's a a huge deal, and it
• 3:30
  - sounds like you're exactly where you need to
• 3:31
  - be to end up. I think I am.
• 3:34
  - Yeah. Yeah.
• 3:36
  - Well, our today's podcast, Leadership Unscripted, is we're
• 3:39
  - less about the x's and o's of health
• 3:41
  - care. Right. Instead, we wanna talk about
• 3:44
  - your health care journey
• 3:46
  - and how that applies
• 3:47
  - to your mission at Craig Hospital and just
• 3:49
  - health care in general. So where I wanna
• 3:52
  - start today, Jandell, is simply
• 3:54
  - what do you consider, so far anyway, the
• 3:57
  - most memorable day or period from your career?
• 4:00
  - Oh, boy. Well, you know, there's there there's
• 4:03
  - too many mosts to really answer the question.
• 4:05
  - I'd say both in terms of some of
• 4:07
  - the harder times or periods as well as
• 4:09
  - the the the ones that just,
• 4:12
  - I hope are things that I remember in
• 4:14
  - those waning days of this thing called my
• 4:16
  - life.
• 4:17
  - In terms of my professional career, the the
• 4:20
  - most memorable
• 4:21
  - were
• 4:21
  - any and all over the twenty five years
• 4:24
  - that I practiced clinical medicine, where I had
• 4:26
  - the opportunity working alongside and and standing alongside
• 4:30
  - and with my patients to really make a
• 4:32
  - difference, whether it it was in delivery rooms,
• 4:34
  - delivering babies. I remember one. That's probably one
• 4:36
  - of the more fun ones, a baby who
• 4:38
  - I mean, all this woman had had,
• 4:41
  - four, I think. Yeah. So it was four
• 4:43
  - little boys.
• 4:44
  - And, she was so hoping for a girl,
• 4:46
  - and I'd scammed her that has done an
• 4:48
  - ultrasound about twenty eight weeks just to look.
• 4:51
  - I can't remember why we were looking at
• 4:53
  - this stage of the game. But, and I
• 4:55
  - swore that I saw that it was another
• 4:57
  - boy. And so I was so bummed, couldn't
• 4:59
  - say anything because she wanted it to be
• 5:01
  - secret. But as fate would have it, I
• 5:03
  - had the chance to deliver her, which in
• 5:05
  - the big Kaiser Permanente system wasn't always the
• 5:08
  - case. And I'll never forget when that that
• 5:11
  - baby came out and it was a girl.
• 5:13
  - And she's crying. I literally was crying. And
• 5:17
  - and then when I told her later, I've
• 5:18
  - been carrying for twelve weeks that this was
• 5:21
  - a boy. I better get better at scanning,
• 5:23
  - I guess.
• 5:24
  - And then it was so sweet going in
• 5:26
  - her room early in the, wee hours of
• 5:28
  - the morning, and there she was. She had
• 5:30
  - the diaper down, and she's, like, looking at
• 5:32
  - this little girl's parts because she can't believe
• 5:34
  - she had a baby girl. So, you know,
• 5:35
  - those sorts of moments. There are countless ones
• 5:37
  - of those, really sweet moments. Harder ones, of
• 5:40
  - course, but also important to be present for
• 5:42
  - were when,
• 5:43
  - you know, there was bad news in the
• 5:45
  - obstetrical suite. You know, in particular with,
• 5:48
  - intrauterine
• 5:49
  - fetal demises where babies died, and that was
• 5:51
  - that was one of the other periods and
• 5:53
  - points where it's really important to be present
• 5:56
  - with my patients.
• 5:57
  - And I had many opportunities or experiences in
• 6:00
  - GYN two. From a leadership perspective, because it
• 6:03
  - wasn't as if, you know, eighteen years ago,
• 6:06
  - I went from a 100% full time clinical
• 6:09
  - medicine
• 6:10
  - into
• 6:11
  - full time, administrative care. But, you know, I'd
• 6:14
  - had opportunities along the way where doors opened
• 6:16
  - or people tapped me on the shoulder, and
• 6:18
  - I was able to sit at tables and
• 6:19
  - where people are trying to make things better.
• 6:22
  - And then
• 6:23
  - the the big ask or invitation to join
• 6:25
  - the leadership team of the health plan at
• 6:27
  - Kaiser came in 2009,
• 6:29
  - and and I I took the big step
• 6:32
  - away. I think the memorable thing about that
• 6:34
  - particular period is I didn't run away from
• 6:37
  - clinical care. I loved I loved every bit
• 6:40
  - of obstetrics and gynecology. The operating room,
• 6:44
  - the labor delivery suites,
• 6:46
  - the outpatient place where I built relationships over
• 6:49
  - time and a continuity practice with with women
• 6:52
  - and their kids and watch kids grow and
• 6:54
  - all that sort of thing.
• 6:56
  - I didn't run away from that. I loved
• 6:58
  - it.
• 6:59
  - I was drawn,
• 7:01
  - too of the possibility of the potential of
• 7:04
  - thinking about as a clinician.
• 7:06
  - You know, how might we make systems better?
• 7:09
  - And the way I think about it through
• 7:10
  - what I'd learned at the feet of my
• 7:12
  - patients over twenty five years that I could
• 7:14
  - bring into leadership
• 7:16
  - and serving organizations
• 7:18
  - to to get health care where we need
• 7:20
  - it to be because it isn't where we
• 7:22
  - need it to be from the perspective of
• 7:24
  - not just the science of medicine, but I'd
• 7:26
  - say the heart and the art of medicine.
• 7:28
  - And so I like to say everything I
• 7:31
  - learned about leadership, I learned in the care
• 7:33
  - of patients over twenty five years. And so
• 7:34
  - there have been multiple memorable
• 7:37
  - things over that time. But probably that period
• 7:40
  - was kinda hard because I did walk away
• 7:42
  - from something I love, to do something that
• 7:44
  - was kind of the wasn't the totally the
• 7:46
  - great unknown, but it was new for me.
• 7:48
  - That's for sure.
• 7:49
  - And,
• 7:50
  - you know, the lots to to learn. I
• 7:52
  - was the vice president for government external relations
• 7:55
  - and research and had
• 7:56
  - communications
• 7:57
  - and marketing and
• 7:59
  - community benefit and community relations,
• 8:02
  - research
• 8:03
  - responsibilities,
• 8:04
  - as well as all the advocacy work and
• 8:06
  - the government governing space at the time of
• 8:09
  - the passage of the ACA, if you remember,
• 8:11
  - because I took that job in 09/2010
• 8:14
  - is when the ACA passed. So it was
• 8:16
  - exciting time because it was a ton to
• 8:17
  - learn.
• 8:19
  - And, it was it was a fun period
• 8:20
  - at the same time that, you know, certainly
• 8:22
  - had plenty of, roller coaster downhill moments in
• 8:25
  - terms of, what are we doing now? So,
• 8:28
  - and then this seven and a half years
• 8:30
  - has just been remarkable
• 8:32
  - to serve this institution.
• 8:34
  - And probably the most memorable, but I've also
• 8:36
  - forgotten, I think, most of it in some
• 8:39
  - ways was,
• 8:40
  - making our way through COVID
• 8:42
  - as a hospital that we really did need
• 8:44
  - to make ensure that we didn't get COVID
• 8:47
  - in our patient population because they stay you
• 8:49
  - know, average length of stay here is sixty
• 8:51
  - five days.
• 8:52
  - So we there was the potential for a
• 8:55
  - widespread
• 8:56
  - epidemic within our own hospital had it in
• 8:59
  - here, and we managed to not get the
• 9:01
  - first case of COVID in the hospital till
• 9:03
  - January
• 9:04
  - '22.
• 9:05
  - And that was after we'd had vaccines that
• 9:08
  - were working. So it was a it was
• 9:10
  - a firefight in a really interesting way,
• 9:14
  - and, it it was memorable. It's a time
• 9:17
  - from the perspective of leading, serving, supporting, inspiring,
• 9:21
  - staying in it with our, team members and
• 9:24
  - patients and families that I'll never forget.
• 9:26
  - That was a very long answer too.
• 9:29
  - Yes. But a very memorable one, I would
• 9:30
  - say.
• 9:31
  - Jendel, you mentioned I love how you mentioned
• 9:34
  - how you're taking what you learned at serving
• 9:36
  - at the feet of your patients
• 9:38
  - into administration.
• 9:40
  - I wanna back up just ever so slightly
• 9:42
  - because you talked about the ups and downs
• 9:44
  - of,
• 9:45
  - being a physician and being able to deliver
• 9:47
  - that girl for that family. And then at
• 9:50
  - the same time,
• 9:52
  - you've had rough moments. Right? So
• 9:54
  - as a a leader now, when you look
• 9:56
  - back at that and someone
• 9:59
  - is experiencing those same roller coaster that same
• 10:02
  - roller coaster of emotions,
• 10:04
  - how do you where do you start to
• 10:05
  - help someone through that sort of experience?
• 10:08
  - Well, you know, I'll I'll start by answering
• 10:10
  - the question by saying that, you know, I
• 10:12
  - did ask myself
• 10:13
  - in the early days of making this transition
• 10:15
  - into more leadership more full time leadership. Well,
• 10:18
  - what do you think are the transferable skills
• 10:20
  - that you learn in caring for patients for
• 10:22
  - twenty five years that are gonna help you
• 10:24
  - in this work. And so I answered the
• 10:25
  - question by asking myself, well, what did your
• 10:27
  - patients want? And I came up with five
• 10:29
  - things. The first was, they assumed you knew
• 10:31
  - your stuff. So it's really important that we
• 10:34
  - commit to lifelong learning. There's not a day
• 10:36
  - that goes by and that is not hyperbole,
• 10:39
  - where there's not something new either to learn
• 10:41
  - or something new I learned about this place
• 10:44
  - that I've worked in for seven and a
• 10:45
  - half years. So let alone the external environment.
• 10:49
  - So knowing your stuff, that's an assumption people
• 10:51
  - make.
• 10:52
  - The second is that you have to have
• 10:54
  - the ability to form instant and trusting relationships.
• 10:57
  - In in health care, we're meeting strangers every
• 10:59
  - day at some of the most vulnerable times
• 11:01
  - in their lives. And so that whole idea
• 11:03
  - of instant trusting relationships, there's 1,100
• 11:07
  - people,
• 11:08
  - in our organization as as,
• 11:10
  - employees, and our average length of our, average
• 11:13
  - daily census runs around 81, 82,
• 11:17
  - beds out of a an organization that can
• 11:19
  - support 88 right now. And so I'm also
• 11:21
  - meeting families and, you know, folks in the
• 11:24
  - hall. So that whole idea of instant trusting
• 11:26
  - relationships.
• 11:27
  - The third is that you had to, you
• 11:29
  - had to do what you said you were
• 11:31
  - gonna do. That's all about integrity and follow
• 11:33
  - through.
• 11:34
  - The fourth one, it was, that for our
• 11:37
  - patients, my patients that was important
• 11:39
  - is, they had I had to treat them
• 11:41
  - as if they were my only one. And
• 11:43
  - that was about being wholly present in that
• 11:45
  - moment,
• 11:47
  - focused on that patient and their needs, that
• 11:49
  - family and their needs. And then the last
• 11:50
  - one was that even if the news was
• 11:53
  - bad, what our patients wanted more than anything
• 11:55
  - else was that you weren't going to abandon,
• 11:57
  - that you were going to be there with
• 11:59
  - them through a cancer diagnosis or that that
• 12:02
  - baby who who who died, or the patient
• 12:05
  - who's struggling with something behaviorally, or you name
• 12:07
  - it, whatever may be going on, they wanted
• 12:09
  - to know you weren't going to abandon them.
• 12:10
  - And I said, well, if you think about
• 12:12
  - community members, you think about the teams you
• 12:14
  - have to support and serve,
• 12:16
  - you think about business partners, the the legislators
• 12:19
  - that you're gonna have to interact with. Don't
• 12:21
  - you think that's the five things I want
• 12:22
  - to? And I said, yeah. I said, so
• 12:24
  - you'll you'll be fine. I mean, you're not
• 12:26
  - here to get a thirty year year or
• 12:28
  - government relations or, and certainly as an obstetrician
• 12:32
  - gynecologist,
• 12:33
  - I was not a physiatrist. I don't I
• 12:35
  - didn't study
• 12:37
  - or know,
• 12:38
  - spinal cord and brain injury, and that's not
• 12:40
  - what I'm here to do. I'm here to
• 12:41
  - really make sure that those five things are
• 12:43
  - coming together in service to,
• 12:45
  - those we serve, which includes our teams, our
• 12:48
  - patients, and our community in a way that
• 12:50
  - works. So,
• 12:51
  - that's all that's how I think I'd answer
• 12:53
  - that question of how you make the how
• 12:55
  - you make the transition.
• 12:56
  - It's the heart and the art of medicine.
• 12:58
  - The science is the stuff that's so cool,
• 13:00
  - and I loved it. And it has to
• 13:02
  - be alchemy of when those three things come
• 13:04
  - together is is where the that's where the
• 13:07
  - real sweetness
• 13:08
  - is.
• 13:09
  - For sure.
• 13:11
  - Jendel, when you do look back on other
• 13:13
  - parts of your career,
• 13:15
  - what would you say is the accomplishment you're
• 13:17
  - most proud of? And that could be yours,
• 13:19
  - it could be your team's, you know, whatever
• 13:21
  - lens, is most appropriate.
• 13:23
  - Gosh. You know, there's so many, but I'm
• 13:25
  - gonna say one, and it's a and it's
• 13:27
  - a it's a here and now one. Because
• 13:29
  - when I think about the arc of my
• 13:31
  - life as an African American woman who didn't
• 13:34
  - come from money and and absolutely
• 13:37
  - a beneficiary
• 13:38
  - of the modern women's
• 13:40
  - rights and civil rights movement,
• 13:43
  - This role as the CEO and president of
• 13:45
  - this amazing
• 13:47
  - organization is something I could not have seen
• 13:49
  - coming.
• 13:50
  - That's not what makes me proudest. What makes
• 13:53
  - me proudest is how
• 13:55
  - working alongside an incredibly talented team, what we've
• 13:58
  - been able to do and what we're accomplishing
• 14:00
  - for people who don't even know where where
• 14:02
  - they're gonna need us. And that is that
• 14:03
  - right outside my window here, I'm looking at
• 14:05
  - scaffolding
• 14:07
  - because we are, in the first year of
• 14:09
  - a three ish
• 14:11
  - year, $250,000,000
• 14:13
  - expansion
• 14:14
  - of our hospital and our campus.
• 14:17
  - And I walk out and we started in
• 14:19
  - earnest at the first the first part of
• 14:21
  - the year, ground broke in the fall.
• 14:23
  - And there's not a moment that goes by
• 14:25
  - when I'm walking between the two buildings here
• 14:28
  - or looking out the window at the scaffolding
• 14:29
  - that I go, wow.
• 14:31
  - You get to do that.
• 14:34
  - Well, not literally, obviously.
• 14:36
  - But, Yeah. Well, a huge role, though.
• 14:39
  - But you as the leader who said, when
• 14:42
  - I when I came here, I was told
• 14:43
  - we're out of space and we need to
• 14:45
  - build, has shepherded and stewarded and supported
• 14:48
  - and guided in the ways that we do
• 14:51
  - from this chair,
• 14:52
  - architects,
• 14:53
  - construction,
• 14:55
  - general contractors, the team to to dream big,
• 14:58
  - created the space for us to dream big
• 15:01
  - and think about where is Craig Hospital going
• 15:04
  - and what's next for Craig.
• 15:07
  - And we know that there's a wait list.
• 15:09
  - We have a wait list at any given
• 15:10
  - time that can be 40 to 60 deep
• 15:12
  - of people who need our help,
• 15:15
  - and we wanted to be able to serve
• 15:17
  - more of those patients more quickly. We also
• 15:20
  - know that there are people who no longer
• 15:22
  - need the ICU level, that intensive level of
• 15:24
  - care, but they're not ready to do
• 15:27
  - four to six hours of rehab because that's
• 15:29
  - what we do here compared to other centers.
• 15:34
  - But and they go to places where, the
• 15:36
  - care of these patients is incredibly complex. They're
• 15:38
  - medically, they're surgically, they're neurologically
• 15:41
  - complicated and complex patients,
• 15:43
  - and they may develop complications. And that that,
• 15:47
  - you know, that's an issue that, we we
• 15:49
  - need to address as a nation, I think,
• 15:51
  - and as a as a field.
• 15:53
  - But then when they get here, they're not
• 15:54
  - able to actively participate because we've got to
• 15:57
  - deal with the complications. So we're putting in
• 15:59
  - a new service line, which is so cool.
• 16:01
  - We're putting in a neuromedical unit that we
• 16:04
  - can bring those patients here who aren't quite
• 16:06
  - ready to do rehab, but that we know
• 16:08
  - we can either manage the complications that may
• 16:11
  - have already developed or prevent them, we hope.
• 16:14
  - Our researchers, Craig's been involved in research for
• 16:16
  - fifty two years, and we're going to have
• 16:19
  - a,
• 16:20
  - we're building a a gait lab or a
• 16:22
  - human movement lab as we're calling it. And
• 16:24
  - we're gonna deepen translational research
• 16:27
  - because we've got, you know, we've got the
• 16:29
  - clinical right here on on on-site and the
• 16:32
  - research that we can, actively and continue to
• 16:35
  - actively engage in advancing the field. So I
• 16:37
  - think this this, you know, this is my,
• 16:40
  - this is my swan song gig. I know
• 16:42
  - that.
• 16:43
  - Right. After 40 and actually, I think I
• 16:45
  - said the the the math wrong. No. Forty
• 16:48
  - two years. After forty two years
• 16:50
  - in in, health care, this will be the
• 16:52
  - last, one of the things that I have
• 16:54
  - the opportunity to do.
• 16:56
  - And,
• 16:58
  - to know that I'll be able to drive
• 16:59
  - by
• 17:00
  - oh, let me not get
• 17:02
  - choked up here. Gerard and Clarkson and look
• 17:05
  - up and say you had a hand in
• 17:07
  - that
• 17:08
  - for years to come is,
• 17:10
  - it it it does give me a real
• 17:11
  - sense of both pride and accomplishment and just
• 17:13
  - gratitude,
• 17:15
  - for the great people I get to work
• 17:16
  - alongside who
• 17:18
  - have, we we've taken each other for this
• 17:20
  - great ride and journey.
• 17:22
  - Well, let me offer congratulations to you and
• 17:24
  - Craig Hospital for, you know, just all the
• 17:26
  - success that you had. And not only Thank
• 17:28
  - you. Recently, but, you know, over the course
• 17:31
  - of the organization's 50
• 17:34
  - existence.
• 17:35
  - Right? Well, in terms of spinal cord injury,
• 17:37
  - fifty or some odd years. They're sick actually
• 17:39
  - closer to 70 now. But Craig Hospital was
• 17:42
  - a 119
• 17:43
  - years old. So Got it. Even better. Independent
• 17:47
  - and not for profit. And that's the other
• 17:48
  - thing that, you know, we we we will
• 17:51
  - we we pay a lot of attention to
• 17:53
  - because
• 17:54
  - it's why we get to do what we
• 17:56
  - get to do and how we get to
• 17:57
  - do it. So
• 17:59
  - Ajendel, when you look at expansion projects, which
• 18:02
  - are always very exciting,
• 18:04
  - how do you know exactly when it's time
• 18:07
  - to
• 18:08
  - expand?
• 18:09
  - Well, first of all, I think it's really
• 18:11
  - important to look at your data, and that
• 18:13
  - was one of the things that,
• 18:15
  - you know, if there are other little things
• 18:17
  - that are notable about my seven and a
• 18:18
  - half years here, I was really beginning to
• 18:21
  - think about the lens through something that a
• 18:23
  - former surgeon general said, no stories without data,
• 18:25
  - no data without stories, and really start to
• 18:28
  - bring a more,
• 18:30
  - sort of data informed and analytic mindset to
• 18:33
  - how we look at what's going on at
• 18:35
  - Craig. So we weren't we weren't counting
• 18:38
  - waiting lists and even thinking about the wait
• 18:41
  - list between,
• 18:42
  - between,
• 18:43
  - from the perspective of who's ready now, who's
• 18:46
  - not ready, so we can begin to figure
• 18:48
  - out what really made sense around how many
• 18:50
  - beds to even put in or consider.
• 18:53
  - We also needed to talk to our staff
• 18:55
  - and patients and get a real good sense
• 18:57
  - of what they thought was important.
• 18:59
  - So I think, in terms of then letting
• 19:01
  - that inform strategy going forward, getting more intentional
• 19:05
  - around how we set strategy and do strategic
• 19:08
  - planning as an organization.
• 19:10
  - And then another one I think that was
• 19:11
  - important is that,
• 19:13
  - I I sometimes
• 19:14
  - Chris, I ask myself,
• 19:16
  - what's a nice guy to call just like
• 19:17
  - you doing in a place like this? Like,
• 19:19
  - how did this happen? And what what what
• 19:21
  - do you think sort of at that existential,
• 19:24
  - or, you know, meta level is why you're
• 19:26
  - here? And I think it was the seven
• 19:29
  - I mean, the nine years where I was
• 19:30
  - the government external relations
• 19:32
  - and research lead at KP in this region
• 19:35
  - in Colorado.
• 19:36
  - I lived in my car, I say. So
• 19:38
  - I think what I, ultimately was, called to
• 19:41
  - do was to bring the outside in and
• 19:43
  - make sure that we also turned our sights
• 19:45
  - outside and really understood what was happening
• 19:48
  - in the economy, in health care, with health
• 19:50
  - care economics, health care finances,
• 19:53
  - community needs,
• 19:55
  - and let that inform,
• 19:57
  - what we think about in terms of how
• 19:58
  - we better serve our patients and our our
• 20:00
  - teams.
• 20:01
  - So so I think that's that's some of
• 20:03
  - the important work that sort of informed how
• 20:06
  - we think about
• 20:07
  - what we do and when we do it.
• 20:09
  - And the time felt right once of after
• 20:12
  - three or four years of watching the wait
• 20:14
  - list at the same time that we were
• 20:15
  - building strategy, like, really thinking long term, the
• 20:18
  - long range plan for Craig.
• 20:20
  - Let's make sure that we're building smart. Let's
• 20:22
  - make sure that we're building what's
• 20:25
  - needed. Let's make sure we're building,
• 20:27
  - with a lens towards our patients and what's
• 20:30
  - gonna provide the best patient and family care
• 20:32
  - here,
• 20:33
  - and make sure that we do it in
• 20:34
  - an environment that allows our teams to flourish
• 20:36
  - too and make these great careers.
• 20:39
  - It makes a whole lot of sense to
• 20:40
  - me, certainly, Jandell. And I also wanted to
• 20:42
  - ask you along those lines.
• 20:45
  - When you think about the outside,
• 20:47
  - and and there's a lot going on there
• 20:49
  - to be sure.
• 20:51
  - But
• 20:52
  - what would you say is
• 20:54
  - something in health care that deserves
• 20:57
  - a much there are a lot. We can
• 20:58
  - agree on that certainly. But what what deserves
• 21:00
  - a brighter spotlight at this moment in time,
• 21:03
  - and who should be shining that spotlight?
• 21:05
  - Yeah.
• 21:06
  - So I think what, deserves a greater spotlight,
• 21:10
  - has no sizzle. None at all. I just
• 21:12
  - wanna say that.
• 21:14
  - We have lost
• 21:16
  - if you if you were to ask people
• 21:18
  - who go into health care, what health care
• 21:20
  - careers, whether they're literally at the bedside delivering
• 21:24
  - any one of the number of services that
• 21:25
  - that we do in health care, not just
• 21:27
  - nursing and and,
• 21:30
  - physicians,
• 21:31
  - but also the administrators who choose to focus
• 21:34
  - in this on this particular sector when a
• 21:36
  - lot of them could have focused almost anywhere.
• 21:39
  - What we have lost is sort of a
• 21:41
  - sense of our why
• 21:43
  - and our purpose. And I believe
• 21:45
  - in my fiber
• 21:46
  - that we are here to relieve suffering.
• 21:49
  - Pure and simple. That's what we're here for.
• 21:51
  - And I don't get to define what suffering
• 21:53
  - is.
• 21:54
  - Suffering is a is very much a a
• 21:56
  - it's a personal thing. It's a it's an
• 21:58
  - individual thing.
• 22:00
  - And what we've lost
• 22:02
  - because,
• 22:04
  - of regulation,
• 22:05
  - because of how reimbursements
• 22:07
  - happen, because of the messiness
• 22:10
  - of this non system that we call health
• 22:12
  - care, how it's sort of
• 22:14
  - been stuck bolted on in attempts to make
• 22:16
  - it better. In a lot of ways, we've
• 22:17
  - made it not only,
• 22:19
  - you know, from a system performance where we're
• 22:22
  - worse. We're one of the dead we are
• 22:23
  - dead last in terms of, OED
• 22:26
  - countries, in terms of system performances,
• 22:29
  - has been studied.
• 22:31
  - What we've lost, we put all that in
• 22:33
  - between
• 22:34
  - us and the patients and the families. And
• 22:37
  - so I think what we need to focus
• 22:39
  - on is how do we get this better
• 22:40
  - and differently organized or more importantly, get it
• 22:42
  - out of the way
• 22:43
  - so that those who are in, direct care
• 22:46
  - of patients are able to do it. And
• 22:48
  - and it's it's another one of the things
• 22:50
  - that makes Craig so special. I hadn't thought
• 22:52
  - about it till just now Is that,
• 22:55
  - there is nothing but daylight between
• 22:58
  - the teams that care for our patients, including
• 23:00
  - administrators
• 23:02
  - and, the patients. And and it shows on
• 23:05
  - the faces of patients.
• 23:06
  - And if hospital leaders can remember
• 23:10
  - that
• 23:11
  - and make sure that they're present and they're
• 23:13
  - aware and they're out walking the halls and
• 23:15
  - they're interacting with patients and families and the
• 23:17
  - teams because it's way more fun than sitting
• 23:19
  - around on these in meetings or sitting on
• 23:21
  - these doing email. Let's face it.
• 23:23
  - That's important. You know, obviously, we gotta keep
• 23:25
  - the lights on and and be, you know,
• 23:27
  - sort of future thinking as well as present
• 23:29
  - thinking.
• 23:30
  - But,
• 23:32
  - we we've lost the heart of medicine. We
• 23:34
  - went into this to relieve suffering because we
• 23:36
  - wanted to do good work. And many,
• 23:40
  - many, many, countless too many folks in our
• 23:43
  - profession, our field,
• 23:44
  - leave at night exhausted or leave in the
• 23:47
  - morning exhausted and beleaguered and not feeling as
• 23:49
  - if I did much of anything good.
• 23:51
  - And so I think there's work as individuals
• 23:54
  - that we can do to figure out how
• 23:55
  - is it that we get that spark back.
• 23:58
  - And then as leaders of systems, we gotta
• 24:00
  - figure out how we can invest and and,
• 24:03
  - build institutions, build cultures that allow that to
• 24:07
  - flourish.
• 24:08
  - That all sounds as I said, there's nothing
• 24:10
  - sizzly about it, and it also I made
• 24:11
  - it sound very simple. In many ways, it
• 24:14
  - is incredibly simple. It is about caring. It's
• 24:17
  - about using being comfortable using the love word
• 24:19
  - that we love our patients. It's about being
• 24:22
  - comfortable thinking about us through the lens of
• 24:24
  - family
• 24:25
  - with all its functional ways and its dysfunctional
• 24:27
  - ways of how families play out.
• 24:30
  - And and I, as a as a physician,
• 24:33
  - consider my patient
• 24:35
  - the organization.
• 24:37
  - And so through that lens,
• 24:39
  - I need to have, eyes on
• 24:41
  - the organization's health
• 24:43
  - and well-being,
• 24:44
  - much as I did with my patients.
• 24:47
  - Dendell,
• 24:49
  - I love the stories you told. I love
• 24:50
  - how
• 24:51
  - you are working to connect with patients
• 24:54
  - and help your organization to do so.
• 24:57
  - Personally, for you, what is your favorite way
• 25:01
  - to reconnect with the why of health care?
• 25:04
  - Well, I do a few things. First of
• 25:06
  - all, I do make rounds with one of
• 25:08
  - our brain injury physicians about every six weeks
• 25:11
  - or so just to really learn the science
• 25:13
  - and stay connected that way. And I don't
• 25:15
  - think that you have to be a doc
• 25:17
  - or a nurse leader in order to do
• 25:19
  - that. But to really get the opportunity to
• 25:21
  - see the work in action,
• 25:23
  - is one of them. One of the things
• 25:25
  - I did about well, it was after as
• 25:27
  - we emerge from COVID, but I was still
• 25:29
  - wearing a mask, so we were still in
• 25:31
  - it. As I decided that I really wanted
• 25:33
  - to understand what was the life of a
• 25:35
  - a nurse or a rehab tech like. You
• 25:38
  - know, they're the twenty four seven along with
• 25:41
  - imaging and lab and pharmacy. They're the ones
• 25:44
  - who are they they keep the lights on.
• 25:46
  - They keep the you know, they are they
• 25:48
  - are a 247365
• 25:50
  - part of the the system.
• 25:52
  - And I also knew just based on the
• 25:54
  - the, severity and the nature of these injure
• 25:57
  - injure these injuries is that our staff, you
• 26:00
  - know, the wear and tear potentially if we're
• 26:02
  - not careful,
• 26:04
  - on their bodies, but also on their hearts
• 26:06
  - and souls is something that's real different than
• 26:08
  - when I deliver a baby even if the
• 26:10
  - news is bad frankly or we take care
• 26:12
  - of an appendicitis
• 26:13
  - or do, you know, the other things that
• 26:15
  - we do medicine.
• 26:16
  - And I wanted to really have a sense
• 26:18
  - of of what was it like. I mean,
• 26:20
  - what the heart the heart, really, and soul
• 26:23
  - of of these nurses
• 26:24
  - and techs. And so I decided to do
• 26:27
  - 16 shifts. Now how do I get to
• 26:29
  - 16?
• 26:30
  - Because we have four floors.
• 26:31
  - Okay. We have days and nights,
• 26:34
  - and we have nurses and techs who take
• 26:36
  - care of our patients. So I said, I
• 26:37
  - wanna do and I wanna do the hardest
• 26:39
  - hours. I didn't do full shifts. I did
• 26:41
  - four hour shifts during the toughest and hardest
• 26:44
  - hours, the ones where you're trying to get
• 26:46
  - folks up and ready for rehab and where
• 26:48
  - you're getting folks ready for bed. Because unlike
• 26:51
  - the way that you and I live where
• 26:53
  - we can get up and get ourselves showered
• 26:55
  - and find food and do the things, There's
• 26:57
  - a lot of help that's needed and a
• 26:59
  - lot of very intimate,
• 27:01
  - health needs too because folks,
• 27:03
  - need help with moving their bowels, frankly, or
• 27:05
  - or those sorts of things. So I suited
• 27:07
  - up, and
• 27:09
  - I worked from six to 10AM
• 27:12
  - and six to 10PM,
• 27:14
  - and worked with a nurse and a tech
• 27:15
  - on each one of the shifts on each
• 27:17
  - one of the floors.
• 27:18
  - I did bowel programs. I learned how to
• 27:21
  - transfer patients. I showered people.
• 27:24
  - I bed people who had no use of
• 27:26
  - their, upper extremities.
• 27:29
  - I I cleaned beds. I emptied trash. I
• 27:32
  - cleaned up bathrooms. I stocked rooms. I passed
• 27:35
  - meds,
• 27:36
  - working with the nurses. I did all the
• 27:38
  - things as I like to say, and I
• 27:40
  - walked away with an even deeper appreciation
• 27:43
  - for
• 27:44
  - our wonderful
• 27:45
  - nurses and our techs and what they do.
• 27:48
  - And double down on my intentionality
• 27:51
  - around making sure that these are great careers
• 27:53
  - for them because we know that the nursing
• 27:55
  - professions are, you know, they they they run
• 27:57
  - short in terms of, the workforce
• 28:00
  - and they work hard. And so that's that's
• 28:03
  - another way that I really got out and
• 28:05
  - did, you know, was really in it. And
• 28:08
  - then on the day to day, it's that
• 28:09
  - I get out. I mean, I get to
• 28:10
  - know patients.
• 28:11
  - I'm one of those people who likes to
• 28:13
  - give hugs and people need hugs in in
• 28:16
  - health care
• 28:17
  - And and to interact with our staff and
• 28:19
  - teams and,
• 28:20
  - you know, and it it gives me a
• 28:22
  - great deal of personal
• 28:24
  - satisfaction and joy. I I most nights can
• 28:26
  - walk out of here feeling like well done.
• 28:28
  - Not every day, especially and and not because
• 28:30
  - of patients necessarily,
• 28:32
  - but just, you know, health care ain't easy.
• 28:34
  - That's what I'd say. No. No. You can
• 28:36
  - say that. I can't, Jendel, but I'm I'm
• 28:38
  - glad that you're able to connect with with
• 28:41
  - patients and and your team in so many
• 28:43
  - different ways and meaningful ways at that. As
• 28:45
  - you've gained all this experience, whether it's as
• 28:48
  - a physician
• 28:49
  - or as a leader or just as someone
• 28:51
  - who has walked the halls and filled the
• 28:53
  - shoes of of techs and everyone else in
• 28:56
  - in your organization,
• 28:58
  - what have you found to be an underrated
• 29:00
  - leadership trait?
• 29:03
  - And who have you seen embody it? Whether
• 29:05
  - it's an individual
• 29:06
  - person, a group of people, a a certain
• 29:09
  - team,
• 29:10
  - what would you say is is underrated?
• 29:12
  - So you know those five things that I
• 29:14
  - pointed out earlier?
• 29:16
  - The one that I think is most underrated
• 29:18
  - is the one about
• 29:21
  - treating people as if they're your only one.
• 29:23
  - Treat patients as if they're your only one.
• 29:26
  - It's that the undervalued
• 29:28
  - and I've had people say it to me.
• 29:29
  - So I'm gonna put my
• 29:31
  - be some way that I'll probably feel weird
• 29:33
  - about at 02:30 in the morning, but I'm
• 29:34
  - gonna say I've seen it in myself is
• 29:36
  - the
• 29:37
  - slowing down,
• 29:38
  - looking in the eyes of the people that
• 29:40
  - you are actually encountering,
• 29:42
  - saying hello, saying good morning, getting to really
• 29:45
  - know your team members, and, you know, some
• 29:47
  - of those stories that they wanna share about
• 29:49
  - themselves.
• 29:50
  - You know, people
• 29:52
  - in organizations,
• 29:53
  - and I'm I'm I'm sure this is true
• 29:55
  - for you. It's amazing what we will do
• 29:58
  - for each other when we know that it
• 30:00
  - mattered that we showed up.
• 30:02
  - You know, people I think,
• 30:04
  - her name just went out of my head,
• 30:06
  - but she says people,
• 30:08
  - don't care about how much you know until
• 30:11
  - they know how much you care.
• 30:13
  - And so that is the underrated leadership thing.
• 30:15
  - We think we're supposed to be all buttoned
• 30:17
  - up and not bring our whole selves to
• 30:19
  - work and, you know, sit in whatever
• 30:22
  - the
• 30:23
  - ivory tower may look like literally or figuratively.
• 30:27
  - But our teams want nothing more than to
• 30:29
  - see us and be seen by us. And
• 30:31
  - I think that's the under that is one
• 30:33
  - of the most undervalued and underutilized
• 30:35
  - strengths
• 30:36
  - that,
• 30:37
  - we should figure out how to
• 30:40
  - shed whatever makes us feel like we can't
• 30:43
  - be our whole selves
• 30:45
  - and bring that into work. People will work
• 30:47
  - for you. People will work hard for you
• 30:49
  - and on on behalf of the organization
• 30:52
  - if they see you working that hard and
• 30:54
  - caring that much about them.
• 30:56
  - Well, Jendel, here's hoping that everyone who hears
• 30:58
  - this podcast and and what you just shared
• 31:01
  - carries that into their daily lives because it
• 31:03
  - can only be a good thing.
• 31:05
  - Jendel, thank you so much for being on
• 31:07
  - the podcast. I know we're gonna see you,
• 31:09
  - in the fall, correct, down in Chicago? Yes.
• 31:12
  - Yeah. Thank you for the invitation
• 31:14
  - or to do this as well as to,
• 31:16
  - participate in November. So thanks.
• 31:18
  - It's been our pleasure certainly, and I cannot
• 31:20
  - wait until our paths cross again. Okay, Chris.
• 31:23
  - Well, you'll be well until then.