Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Paul Hiltz on Health System Growth, Specialty Care and Community Partnerships

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Paul Hiltz on Health System Growth, Specialty Care and Community Partnerships · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - understand what it takes to lead a health
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  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
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  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
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  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
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  - 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.
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  - 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 Diredell with the Becker's Healthcare
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  - podcast.
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  - I'm thrilled today to be joined by Paul
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  - Hiltz, president and chief executive officer at Naples
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  - Comprehensive Health. Paul, it's a pleasure to have
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  - you on the podcast today.
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  - Laura, thank you. Good morning.
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  - Good morning. Well, I'm looking forward to our
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  - conversation. I know we're gonna talk a little
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  - bit about, you know, some of the great
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  - things that you've been doing at Naples Comprehensive
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  - Health and how you're thinking about the future.
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  - But before we dive in, can you tell
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  - us just a little bit more about yourself
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  - and the organization?
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  - Well, Naples Comprehensive Health is an independent
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  - nonprofit health system located here in Southwest Florida,
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  - and we're in a growing market, and we
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  - are a growing organization.
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  - So we've just passed the $1,000,000,000
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  - mark in net revenue.
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  - Oh, wow. That's amazing to hear. What a
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  - great accomplishment. I think always exciting to have
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  - that type of growth and development. So,
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  - amazing to hear.
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  - Now I'm curious. Could you give us a
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  - little state of the union?
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  - What's going well this year, and what are
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  - you focused on for the rest of 2026?
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  - Well, 2026
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  - has been a great year so far. We've
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  - continued to, elevate the quality here, and we
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  - are continuing to grow our service lines.
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  - We,
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  - are focused on that continued growth, especially in
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  - the cardiology and cardiac surgery area and in
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  - the orthopedic
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  - service line. Those are two that we've
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  - invested in, recruited some top flight talent,
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  - and the community is responding
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  - by,
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  - increasing their utilization
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  - here
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  - in Southwest Florida.
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  - Well, that's very exciting to hear,
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  - and and really cool to know that, you
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  - know, more folks are coming in. And and,
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  - when you think about that increase looking at
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  - volume as well as, you know, how you're,
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  - finding capacity for your patients,
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  - can you tell us a little bit more
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  - about what that's looking like this year? How
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  - have you,
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  - been thinking about and strategizing around that,
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  - change in in in more people coming in
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  - the doors?
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  - Well, you know, a couple of years ago,
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  - we actually changed our name and rebranded ourselves
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  - into what we now call Naples Comprehensive
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  - Health because we have become a more comprehensive
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  - health system.
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  - We've expanded
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  - our residency and fellowship programs, now have 80
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  - residents and fellows that we're training here. We're
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  - doing clinical trials and research
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  - and really changing how we look
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  - at the clinical excellence here at, NCH. And,
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  - and that's the physician community has responded so
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  - well. We've recruited in some fantastic talent,
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  - and it's a it's a very exciting time
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  - to be here at NCH.
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  - I love it. I love it. Well, you
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  - know, I think, obviously,
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  - a lot of great things are happening too,
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  - but I know in the health care space,
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  - there are are some challenges. So what are
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  - the big headwinds that you're keeping an eye
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  - on and preparing for right now?
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  - The headwinds that we're looking at this year
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  - and and for this coming year
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  - would would really,
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  - solve a couple of areas. But one is
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  - our supply chain. You know, there's been a
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  - lot of, inflation around,
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  - health care supply, so we're looking closely at
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  - the supply chain, how we can be more
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  - efficient.
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  - Number two, labor,
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  - as
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  - you know, in health care across the country,
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  - labor costs have been increasing
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  - and labor talented labor is in short supply,
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  - so we're really trying to improve our our
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  - labor,
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  - approach. And then the third piece here is
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  - the uncompensated
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  - care piece. As people move off of the
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  - exchange
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  - and look for other health insurance,
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  - options,
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  - our uncompensated
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  - care has jumped here. So we're trying to
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  - figure out what's gonna be the best way
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  - to take care of our community
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  - in a way that, is gonna be affordable
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  - and and responsive to those who need care.
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  - I think that makes a lot of sense
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  - and really align with what I'm hearing from
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  - a lot of CEOs and leaders across the
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  - country and especially to your last point in
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  - preparing for more uncompensated
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  - care. I know that, you know, it's always
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  - a a challenge because you wanna be able
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  - to provide all the care that the community
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  - needs, but also knowing, you know, where those
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  - resources are gonna come from,
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  - you know, can make a big difference. And
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  - so how are you thinking about that? I
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  - I know some are trying to look at
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  - alternative revenue streams or fundraising.
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  - What does that look like for you when
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  - you're preparing for,
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  - potentially more uncompensated care while still trying to,
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  - keep a financially stable organization and grow?
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  - Well, as we think about uncompensated
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  - care, we're really trying to develop partnerships with
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  - other
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  - health care providers in the area. There's a
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  - federally qualified health care center here.
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  - There's an organization called the Neighborhood Health Clinic.
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  - I believe that the community wants health providers
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  - to partner and not so much compete, but
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  - can we work collaboratively
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  - to deliver
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  - the right kind of care in the right
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  - setting? And that's gonna be a focus for
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  - us going forward.
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  - Got it. Absolutely. That makes a ton of
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  - sense and, you know, really seems like a
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  - productive way,
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  - to partner and collaborate across the community.
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  - Now what do you see as being some
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  - of the big opportunities for growth as well
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  - in the next two to three years or
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  - so?
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  - Well, the net the big opportunities for growth
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  - here, we're gonna continue to emphasize heart care.
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  - We've just recruited
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  - a world class minimally invasive
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  - heart surgeon. Doctor Joe Lomelis has joined our
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  - team of of great heart surgeons. So that
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  - is a service line. It structural heart disease
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  - and preventive cardiology
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  - are foremost in our mind. And then, you
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  - know, we last year opened up what we
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  - think is one of the premier orthopedic hospitals
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  - in The US in partnership with HSS out
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  - of New York, and we believe that is
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  - a big opportunity for growth here in orthopedic
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  - and spine care. And then finally, we're gonna
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  - turn some attention now to oncology. We just,
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  - developed a partnership with Northwestern out of Chicago
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  - to develop an oncology program here that we're
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  - very excited about, and you'll hear more about
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  - that from us over the coming months.
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  - Wow. That's amazing to hear. You know, really
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  - cool not only to have those partnerships that
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  - you mentioned in the community, but also being
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  - able to connect with top institutions from across
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  - the country in forming those relationships and in
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  - building out the specialty care departments. And when
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  - you're doing that, whether it's with HHS
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  - or
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  - with,
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  - Northwestern,
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  - what is the what does it take to
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  - create that type of collaboration and,
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  - set up something that is gonna be valuable
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  - across many state lines?
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  - Well, I I Northwestern is just a world
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  - class organization, and I think what it takes
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  - is an ability,
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  - to align our interests and our cultures. And,
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  - you know, Northwestern always goes for excellence.
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  - They've helped us with recruitment of of some
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  - of the physician specialties we're gonna need, And
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  - they've also helped us as we think through
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  - our research and clinical trials and,
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  - and really striving to raise the bar for
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  - oncology cancer care here in, Southwest Florida.
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  - Got it. That makes a ton of sense
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  - and, you know, really, really cool to hear.
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  - Now before we wrap up, I wanted to
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  - ask you about leadership too. Who do you
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  - admire as a leader really from any industry
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  - and why?
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  - Well, you know, there's there's so many people
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  - on the world stage right now that have
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  - attention. But one that that I admire and
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  - and really
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  - have been impressed with is pope Leo,
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  - Chicago, the first American pope, and how he
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  - has
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  - taken the reigns of the Catholic church and
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  - and really gotten on the world stage
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  - in a way that's different than many of
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  - his predecessors, but I think he's gonna be
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  - fun to watch
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  - in the coming years.
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  - Oh, absolutely. As you know, as, Becker is
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  - being based in Chicago, really are a product
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  - of Pope Leo and everything that he's been
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  - able to accomplish. And, really, it seems like
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  - such a a great approach to leadership too
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  - and and how he's expanding and growing and
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  - and developing,
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  - everything there. So, Paul, thank you so much
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  - for joining us on the podcast. I I
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  - really appreciate your time, and it was great
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  - to hear more about what you're doing at
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  - Naples Comprehensive Health. I I look forward to
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  - seeing you as well in person as our
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  - CEO, CFO roundtable.
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  - I know you'll be speaking on a panel,
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  - and it'll be great to catch up and
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  - dig deeper into many of the themes we
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  - talked about today.
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  - I look forward to that. Thanks so much.