Latest / Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast / Dr. James "Trey" Eubanks, President and Surgeon-in-Chief of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

Transcript

Dr. James "Trey" Eubanks, President and Surgeon-in-Chief of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital · Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  This is Chris Sosa with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:02
  podcast.
• 0:03
  I'm thrilled to be joined by doctor Trey
• 0:04
  Eubanks,
• 0:05
  president and surgeon in chief of Le Bonheur
• 0:07
  Children's Hospital in Memphis and professor of surgery
• 0:09
  and pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health
• 0:12
  Sciences Center. Doctor Eubanks, thank you for joining
• 0:14
  us today. Thank you. Thanks for having me
• 0:16
  on the program. Doctor Eubanks, for those who
• 0:18
  are not familiar with you and or your
• 0:20
  work, could you please introduce yourself and tell
• 0:21
  us a bit about your background?
• 0:24
  Sure. My name is Trey Eubanks. I'm a
• 0:26
  pediatric surgeon, by training
• 0:29
  from
• 0:30
  a little town in North Mississippi called Tunica,
• 0:33
  only about an hour from here. I went
• 0:35
  to medical school at the University of Mississippi.
• 0:38
  I did general surgery training at the University
• 0:40
  of Tennessee and then pediatric surgery training at,
• 0:43
  University of Texas Southwestern
• 0:45
  at, Dallas Children's Hospital.
• 0:47
  And so, I've been in practice here, in
• 0:50
  Memphis my entire career.
• 0:52
  I came back here in 2002,
• 0:55
  really
• 0:56
  because I wanted to work at this children's
• 0:58
  hospital because of really what I saw as
• 1:00
  a resident
• 1:01
  working here
• 1:03
  when I was, in my training for general
• 1:05
  surgery.
• 1:06
  There was something special about the people here,
• 1:08
  something special about the mission that they did.
• 1:11
  And,
• 1:12
  so I was very excited to be joining
• 1:14
  a couple of people that were my mentors,
• 1:17
  when I was a general surgery resident. So
• 1:18
  I came back to Memphis
• 1:20
  and, started practice here in 2002, and I've
• 1:23
  been in practice here
• 1:24
  ever since. You know, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
• 1:28
  is, in Memphis, Tennessee, but we have outreach
• 1:31
  clinics,
• 1:32
  in 3 locations,
• 1:33
  within about 90 miles
• 1:35
  of our downtown primary location.
• 1:38
  And we have 45 pediatric specialties
• 1:42
  and about 250,
• 1:44
  pediatric providers. We have got a very
• 1:46
  robust
• 1:47
  community outreach,
• 1:48
  group. We do,
• 1:51
  very
• 1:52
  deep dive into pediatric research, and we have
• 1:55
  our own pediatric research institute that's growing,
• 1:59
  leaps and bounds. Our downtown hospital is is
• 2:02
  290
• 2:03
  beds now, and then we have a 21
• 2:05
  bed
• 2:07
  unit, which is in,
• 2:09
  one of our,
• 2:10
  communities,
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  nearby Jackson,
• 2:13
  Tennessee,
• 2:14
  Jackson Madison County General Hospital.
• 2:17
  We're also the primary teaching,
• 2:19
  facility for all pediatric
• 2:21
  trainees in the state of Tennessee,
• 2:24
  for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center,
• 2:26
  and we, train more than 350 pediatricians,
• 2:29
  specialists every year.
• 2:31
  And, for the 14th year in a row
• 2:33
  this year, we were ranked as one of
• 2:34
  the top children's hospital by US News and
• 2:36
  World Report.
• 2:38
  Also, we're a magnet,
• 2:41
  designated facility.
• 2:42
  All those great accolades are nice and gives
• 2:45
  you some,
• 2:46
  information about kind of the character, what
• 2:49
  type of quality we provide. But the thing
• 2:51
  that makes
• 2:52
  Le Bonheur special to me is is the
• 2:54
  mission to take care of every kid,
• 2:56
  despite their stage in life and their ability,
• 2:59
  to to seek care. We try to provide
• 3:01
  access for all.
• 3:03
  And,
• 3:04
  when you meet the associates that work here,
• 3:06
  we're all pulling together for the same thing.
• 3:08
  We just do what's right for kids, and
• 3:09
  that's,
• 3:10
  that's kind of our anchor statement, so to
• 3:12
  speak. So it's the kind of place I
• 3:14
  want to work, in my whole life, and
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  I'm just
• 3:17
  honored to be able to be here and
• 3:19
  lead it as the president
• 3:21
  now.
• 3:22
  Thank you, doctor Eubanks. It's definitely wonderful to
• 3:24
  familiarize our audience with all the things that
• 3:27
  you and LaVona have been able to accomplish,
• 3:29
  including
• 3:30
  the ranking from US News and World Report.
• 3:33
  Congratulations on that, certainly, and everything you guys
• 3:36
  are working toward. And how great is that
• 3:37
  that you're able to actually work at the
• 3:40
  place that you focused on returning to. So
• 3:43
  with that, doctor Eubanks,
• 3:45
  just wanna ask you, what are your top
• 3:46
  priorities today at La Bonnet?
• 3:49
  Well, we just wanna provide the absolute best
• 3:51
  care to the children that we are charged
• 3:54
  to take care of and and to support
• 3:56
  the families in that. You know, serving,
• 3:59
  Memphis in the mid south,
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  we're 200 miles from the nearest,
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  similarly,
• 4:05
  supported children's hospital.
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  And so, we've got a responsibility
• 4:09
  to the patients we take care of to
• 4:11
  provide the absolute best in in health care.
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  And and, you know, families don't like to
• 4:16
  travel
• 4:16
  as much for for care, as maybe they
• 4:19
  used to. They wanna stay close to home,
• 4:20
  and so we had to make sure that
• 4:22
  we have got everything that they could get
• 4:24
  just about anywhere else.
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  And so, that's that's really our biggest,
• 4:29
  goal is to always provide the absolute best
• 4:32
  care for kids,
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  when they cross our doors,
• 4:35
  which means we've got to have ax
• 4:37
  excellent, clinicians.
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  We've got a a well trained
• 4:42
  associate staff of nurses and therapists, and we've
• 4:45
  got to be open and ready to take
• 4:47
  care of them at any time of the
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  day,
• 4:51
  or night. So that that is our biggest
• 4:53
  goal.
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  We continue
• 4:55
  to educate
• 4:56
  the caregivers of tomorrow,
• 4:58
  today in our hospital,
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  and,
• 5:01
  we always are seeking ways to
• 5:04
  improve
• 5:05
  on, cures and therapies and even devices that
• 5:08
  can make
• 5:10
  the care of of children,
• 5:11
  even,
• 5:13
  better with less,
• 5:15
  side effects. And so we're trying to improve
• 5:18
  health,
• 5:20
  on the acute care side. And then and
• 5:22
  then in the community,
• 5:24
  we we try to get in the community
• 5:27
  to address kids that are living in areas
• 5:30
  or in situations in their life that may
• 5:32
  put them at risk for diseases,
• 5:34
  or for illnesses later in life, and we
• 5:36
  try to intervene there as well, through our
• 5:39
  community outreach,
• 5:40
  efforts.
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  So it's it's a big task, but I
• 5:43
  think it's, it's an honorable one, and we're
• 5:45
  we're glad to have it.
• 5:47
  That's certainly. And thankfully, you have
• 5:50
  great people working with you as well, doctor
• 5:52
  Eubanks.
• 5:53
  I'm glad you mentioned
• 5:55
  the evolving nature of medicines and treatments. I
• 5:58
  mean, certainly health care is anything but static.
• 6:00
  So looking ahead a little bit, how do
• 6:02
  you anticipate your role is going to evolve
• 6:04
  as well as the role of your teams
• 6:06
  over the next 18 months or so?
• 6:08
  Well, we fortunately have just,
• 6:11
  moved into
• 6:13
  our our newest expansion of over nearly a
• 6:16
  130,000
• 6:17
  square feet,
• 6:18
  which expanded
• 6:19
  primarily our cardiac care unit,
• 6:22
  but also our neonatal intensive care unit
• 6:25
  and, our recovery room area.
• 6:28
  We also added,
• 6:30
  Tennessee's first,
• 6:32
  hybrid MRI cath lab space,
• 6:34
  to be able to do more
• 6:36
  cardiac catheterizations
• 6:38
  in a hybrid fashion with MRI directing the
• 6:40
  care.
• 6:42
  And in that same area, we added virtual
• 6:44
  reality lab to help our cardiac subspecialists,
• 6:49
  be able to explore
• 6:50
  through 3 d modeling
• 6:52
  the best way to take care of some
• 6:53
  of the patients with congenital heart disease. So
• 6:56
  our biggest focus,
• 6:58
  right now over the next 18 months
• 7:00
  is,
• 7:01
  is continuing to grow our staff in those
• 7:03
  areas
• 7:04
  and expand into those spaces and adding even
• 7:07
  higher,
• 7:08
  better technology,
• 7:11
  in those areas to continue to help our
• 7:13
  heart patients grow.
• 7:15
  Really excited about our NICU expansion as well
• 7:17
  because we had been
• 7:19
  we have a 60 bed NICU, but, because
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  we're a children's hospital, we don't have a
• 7:23
  birthing center. And so all of our babies
• 7:25
  come in from outlying neonatal intensive care units,
• 7:29
  and they're often pretty sick, very premature, or
• 7:32
  have other, significant illnesses.
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  And,
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  we have been full, for the last several
• 7:38
  years
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  at at nearly 60 patients,
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  on an average daily census of, you know,
• 7:43
  58 to 60 every every day. So we
• 7:46
  needed more space there. So we expanded that
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  space
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  up to 70,
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  4 beds. And then we have some other
• 7:53
  space that if we needed to in the
• 7:54
  future,
• 7:55
  we could expand up to close to 90
• 7:57
  90 beds.
• 7:59
  So
• 8:00
  staffing those areas and continue to grow into
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  those areas is kind of our biggest,
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  primary,
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  goal for the next,
• 8:09
  6 to 12 months.
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  In addition,
• 8:12
  MRI technology continues to improve, and we're adding
• 8:16
  newer,
• 8:17
  more innovative MRI
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  capabilities to our hospitals so that we can
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  do MRIs,
• 8:22
  even quicker,
• 8:24
  on our patients. In some cases, in less
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  than half the time that we're currently doing
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  MRIs. And as you know, probably,
• 8:29
  children don't tolerate MRIs without sedation. And in
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  fact, a lot of adults don't tolerate MRIs
• 8:35
  without sedation. But because of the because of
• 8:37
  the sedation required for many of our children,
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  that requires a lot of anesthesia assets.
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  And so we're trying to actually recruit more
• 8:45
  anesthesia providers that will help us
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  help us to do that
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  and and to support that space.
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  We're we're looking for ways to kinda grow
• 8:54
  not just our kinda regional footprint,
• 8:58
  but also our scholarly activity,
• 9:00
  and grow our research,
• 9:02
  capabilities. We we have
• 9:04
  partnered with, in clinical care, St. Jude Children's
• 9:06
  Research Hospital in helping provide the clinical care
• 9:09
  for a lot of their patients. We're also
• 9:10
  partnering with them in some research activities now
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  and really striving to increase,
• 9:16
  some of our research funding,
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  that we've been able to get over the
• 9:19
  last several years and and have already seen
• 9:21
  some successes in that area.
• 9:24
  So, you know, innovation is really the the
• 9:26
  name of the game going forward. And so
• 9:28
  looking for more innovative ways to provide better,
• 9:30
  safer care for children
• 9:32
  faster, more efficiently, but also at the same
• 9:34
  time remembering we're supporting a whole family when
• 9:37
  we do that, which has always been a
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  real centerpiece for what we do is patient
• 9:41
  family centered care.
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  So one one of the one of the
• 9:44
  cool features that we have, we're fortunate to
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  partner,
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  with one of our, local benefactors here, FedEx,
• 9:51
  to build a a FedEx,
• 9:53
  family house, which is a house just for
• 9:55
  our patients and their families
• 9:57
  to stay in, when they're here, and it
• 10:00
  it is, it's a pretty full place. And
• 10:02
  so it's a great place. The the families
• 10:05
  love it when they come,
• 10:06
  and it gives them a totally different feel,
• 10:09
  for when you're in a hospital. We love
• 10:11
  it when we can distract the families
• 10:14
  from from the trauma or the anxiety of
• 10:16
  what they're going through
• 10:17
  with other activities,
• 10:19
  be it a a place to say stay
• 10:21
  like the FedEx Family House or activities
• 10:23
  in the hospital.
• 10:24
  So, finding more unique ways to do that
• 10:27
  is important. Our FedEx Family House, and FedEx
• 10:29
  is our partner, is so important to allowing
• 10:31
  us to do that for our families, get
• 10:33
  them a little bit of an escape,
• 10:34
  from the hospital, so to speak. And and
• 10:37
  it it's almost like being in a really
• 10:38
  nice hotel.
• 10:40
  But,
• 10:40
  there are other children that come with them
• 10:42
  oftentimes,
• 10:44
  get to stay there, and the rest of
• 10:45
  the family gets to stay there together and
• 10:46
  maintain the family unit. So we think that's
• 10:48
  all critically important, and we may be needing
• 10:50
  more space in that area. So,
• 10:53
  another thing that's that's on my mind for
• 10:54
  the future. We have recently
• 10:57
  lastly, we've recently recruited some new leaders,
• 11:00
  physician,
• 11:02
  leaders in our institution. One's our our newest
• 11:04
  cardiac
• 11:05
  surgery chief, who's just joined us and just
• 11:08
  getting started. I have another cardiac surgeon coming
• 11:10
  soon.
• 11:12
  We have made some other leadership changes, which
• 11:15
  I'm really excited about, but,
• 11:17
  that are gonna allow us to grow,
• 11:20
  with with kinda younger leaders,
• 11:22
  and maybe have a little bit different
• 11:24
  viewpoint of of of the direction that pediatric
• 11:27
  care is going in. So all excited stuff,
• 11:30
  all the all while we're training, the next
• 11:32
  generation of leaders. So it's important things that
• 11:35
  we do here.
• 11:37
  Always exciting to be growing, doctor Eubanks. It
• 11:39
  sounds like you and your team have with
• 11:41
  your hands full and not necessarily a bad
• 11:43
  way. It sounds like you've got a pretty
• 11:45
  good handle on how things need to evolve
• 11:47
  in your health system there, which is wonderful
• 11:50
  to hear.
• 11:51
  The next thing I wanna ask you, doctor
• 11:53
  Eubanks, so
• 11:54
  at this point in time, what's making you
• 11:56
  a little bit nervous as far as health
• 11:58
  care is concerned? And the other side of
• 12:00
  that coin is what are you excited about?
• 12:04
  Well, you know, things that have impacted
• 12:07
  health care since since COVID have have really
• 12:09
  been kinda universal. All health health systems have
• 12:12
  dealt with some of the challenges in staffing,
• 12:15
  some of the economics of of inflation that
• 12:18
  impact
• 12:20
  all parts of health care just like they
• 12:21
  impact you when you go to the grocery
• 12:23
  store. They've impacted us as well. And so
• 12:26
  we're adjusting for that, but we you know,
• 12:28
  some of the really exciting things that that
• 12:31
  we have, I've kinda touched on a little
• 12:32
  bit. We got some really cool research projects
• 12:36
  going on in the area
• 12:37
  of of, pediatric,
• 12:39
  genetic epilepsy and some of the treatments that
• 12:42
  we have, not just
• 12:43
  therapeutics,
• 12:44
  but also
• 12:46
  surgical
• 12:47
  innovations that have been
• 12:49
  pioneered,
• 12:50
  and we have adopted those and are starting
• 12:52
  to use those to cure some of the
• 12:55
  most crippling patients
• 12:56
  with epilepsy.
• 12:58
  Really, really proud of the work that that
• 13:00
  team has done
• 13:02
  in tackling what can be a really devastating
• 13:05
  disease.
• 13:06
  We continue to partner with
• 13:08
  with our physicians throughout the region. You know,
• 13:11
  because we're a comprehensive children's
• 13:14
  hospital,
• 13:15
  for the state of Tennessee, we have an
• 13:16
  obligation not just to train our own staff
• 13:20
  how to take care of patients,
• 13:21
  but but we want the community hospitals that
• 13:24
  are out in the more rural areas that
• 13:25
  we serve
• 13:27
  to be able to take care of patients
• 13:28
  well there and get them to us
• 13:30
  as quickly as possible. So we partner with
• 13:33
  our regional,
• 13:34
  hospitals and physician colleagues,
• 13:37
  to educate them on what we would like
• 13:39
  to see, how patients are cared for, how
• 13:42
  to get them here to us quickly. And
• 13:44
  if that partnership includes,
• 13:46
  providing,
• 13:47
  more care in those areas, then we do
• 13:48
  that, like like I mentioned, in West Tennessee.
• 13:51
  And so that's a it's exciting thing that
• 13:54
  we're
• 13:55
  developing those partnerships with those, regional partners of
• 13:59
  ours,
• 13:59
  in a way that we think are gonna
• 14:01
  provide better care for the patients that they
• 14:02
  serve,
• 14:03
  and it's kind of our way of giving
• 14:05
  back to those areas.
• 14:06
  Another thing that is really
• 14:08
  kinda cool that's been going on over the
• 14:10
  last decade
• 14:12
  is we have developed a bowel repository
• 14:15
  of pediatric
• 14:16
  of our pediatric population,
• 14:19
  and one of the most diverse bowel repositories
• 14:22
  in the country,
• 14:23
  that allows for people to look at patients
• 14:27
  from a more diverse population
• 14:29
  and see what genetic,
• 14:31
  conditions may be identified. And so some research
• 14:34
  projects are going on,
• 14:35
  with some of those, with with that bio
• 14:37
  repository and partnering with not just, our local
• 14:41
  physicians, but many,
• 14:43
  children's hospital across the country to try trying
• 14:46
  to get at some of those more unique
• 14:47
  illnesses
• 14:48
  that may tend to, impact,
• 14:51
  populations that we see more of here in
• 14:53
  in in this area, in particularly the African
• 14:55
  American population.
• 14:57
  And so, really excited about, some of the
• 15:00
  impact we can make there. And then and
• 15:02
  then lastly, our our community outreach, I just
• 15:04
  can't say enough about the great work that
• 15:06
  they do,
• 15:07
  the many projects they have going on trying
• 15:09
  to reach out to our communities that are
• 15:11
  less
• 15:12
  advantaged
• 15:13
  and have,
• 15:14
  restricted
• 15:15
  access to care. We're just trying to open
• 15:17
  up doors so we can get those patients
• 15:19
  in
• 15:20
  and and maybe curb some of the illnesses
• 15:22
  that they're seeing
• 15:23
  by by early intervention. So, you know, a
• 15:26
  lot of great work and and more to
• 15:27
  come, I hope.
• 15:28
  Indeed. And best of luck with all those
• 15:30
  worthwhile efforts, doctor Eubanks. And lastly, what I
• 15:32
  wanna ask you is what issue in health
• 15:34
  care do you think merits a brighter spotlight
• 15:36
  than it's getting at the moment?
• 15:38
  Well, I I probably would have to start
• 15:40
  with with mental health.
• 15:42
  It's it's
• 15:44
  mental health has always been an issue. It's
• 15:46
  not one that children's hospitals have dealt with
• 15:48
  very,
• 15:49
  efficiently.
• 15:51
  And,
• 15:52
  in fact,
• 15:54
  we have been poorly staffed and prepared for
• 15:57
  those patients. But with
• 16:00
  some of the,
• 16:02
  cultural changes with COVID
• 16:04
  that we saw and and and the impact
• 16:07
  that had on children,
• 16:09
  and their and their mental well-being,
• 16:11
  those patients,
• 16:12
  all of a sudden kind of spring on
• 16:14
  us. And so, here in the state of
• 16:16
  Tennessee,
• 16:17
  our children's hospitals across the state,
• 16:20
  have partnered together,
• 16:22
  to work with the,
• 16:24
  state legislature
• 16:26
  to try and drive at at some areas
• 16:29
  that we can make an early impact because
• 16:32
  despite the fact that these children sometimes wind
• 16:34
  up in long care
• 16:36
  inpatient facilities,
• 16:37
  they often show up in our emergency departments.
• 16:40
  And in the past, we really didn't
• 16:44
  handle that as well as we could have.
• 16:47
  And so now we have concerted effort,
• 16:50
  backed up by the state of Tennessee, with
• 16:52
  funding support to help initiate
• 16:55
  some of the diagnosing
• 16:57
  and therapeutic
• 16:58
  interventions that we can do in these children,
• 17:01
  when they come up to when they show
• 17:02
  up in our emergency room to take better
• 17:04
  care of them and also providing them safe
• 17:05
  spaces
• 17:07
  so that when they're here, they're in they're
• 17:09
  in an area where they're they can't do
• 17:10
  them harm harm to themselves or others, which
• 17:13
  is another thing that that really really we
• 17:15
  were not pull we were fully designed to
• 17:17
  do. But now with the state support, we're
• 17:19
  able to do that.
• 17:20
  But not not only that, also to to
• 17:23
  screen these kids
• 17:25
  when they're not maybe showing up an extremist
• 17:28
  or or in kind of a crisis situation
• 17:31
  so that we can pick up some trends
• 17:33
  that may actually
• 17:35
  be identified and and get them to treatment
• 17:37
  earlier before they even get to the emergency
• 17:39
  department.
• 17:40
  So what I'm talking about is is screenings
• 17:42
  that are going on in all of our
• 17:44
  clinics that we've just initiated
• 17:46
  that'll help pick up,
• 17:48
  some trends that may cue us to to
• 17:50
  what really is going on with the patient,
• 17:52
  which may actually be an anxiety issue or
• 17:54
  some other mental health issue
• 17:56
  that is presenting itself as actually a physical
• 18:00
  ailment.
• 18:01
  And,
• 18:02
  you can probably imagine how,
• 18:04
  it would it would benefit a a clinician
• 18:07
  who may not be very equipped, at like,
• 18:10
  for for example, a pediatrician
• 18:12
  who may not be very equipped or the
• 18:13
  most equipped to identify
• 18:15
  issues of mental health, if we could screen
• 18:17
  them using a psychologist before they get in
• 18:20
  that
• 18:20
  examination room
• 18:22
  and identify issues that may that, you know,
• 18:24
  the stomach pain may actually be something totally
• 18:26
  unrelated
• 18:27
  to the intestinal tract. It may actually be
• 18:29
  more,
• 18:31
  a neuropathic,
• 18:33
  problem, a mental health issue that,
• 18:36
  that other treatments are gonna benefit,
• 18:39
  that some of the more traditional treatments that
• 18:41
  pediatrician would prescribe would would have no impact
• 18:43
  on. So, a lot of, I think, a
• 18:46
  lot of areas of opportunity,
• 18:48
  to address mental health in children,
• 18:51
  but not just not just after they have
• 18:53
  problems, but also before they get to be
• 18:55
  problems. And and maybe even looking at ways
• 18:56
  to prevent some of these mental health issues,
• 18:59
  some things that we environmentally,
• 19:01
  could do differently. And so hopefully hopefully, some
• 19:04
  research will come out,
• 19:06
  of these efforts to to
• 19:08
  curb this, increase in mental health in children
• 19:11
  that we're seeing.
• 19:13
  I think I think secondly,
• 19:15
  as children's hospitals, we need to continue to
• 19:17
  partner,
• 19:18
  with with each other,
• 19:20
  as as I've mentioned across the state,
• 19:23
  as the Children's Hospital
• 19:24
  Alliance of Tennessee, also known as CHAT, c
• 19:27
  h a t, has done,
• 19:28
  in areas of mental health and other areas
• 19:30
  to improve,
• 19:32
  the health and wellness of children in our
• 19:33
  state, but also locally,
• 19:36
  with local county officials,
• 19:38
  with local schools.
• 19:40
  Not not as as someone coming in and
• 19:42
  saying this is how you do it, but
• 19:44
  as a partner,
• 19:46
  to help improve,
• 19:47
  the lives of children
• 19:49
  in areas where they commonly are are seen
• 19:52
  in our communities
• 19:53
  and like in schools in particular.
• 19:55
  We've had some,
• 19:56
  success here, in Memphis partnering with our local,
• 20:00
  municipality
• 20:01
  and and some schools as well. And so
• 20:04
  I think that's that's something that all children's
• 20:06
  hospitals are gonna have to look to do,
• 20:08
  kinda pull more into their community. And and
• 20:10
  I guess
• 20:11
  I guess lastly, I would say that,
• 20:14
  continue to focus on the on the importance
• 20:17
  of being family and, patient family centered in
• 20:20
  the care that we provide.
• 20:21
  You know, if I get sick today and
• 20:23
  have to go to the hospital,
• 20:25
  you know, my sisters,
• 20:27
  may get there eventually, but they're not gonna
• 20:29
  come with with my parents. My parents will
• 20:31
  not be there.
• 20:32
  My sisters may get there eventually. But when
• 20:35
  I take care of a kid in my
• 20:36
  hospital,
• 20:37
  I'm gonna have,
• 20:39
  their siblings. I'm gonna have their parents. I
• 20:41
  may have their grandparents. I may have aunts
• 20:42
  and uncles. I may have 20 people in
• 20:44
  my hospital
• 20:45
  over 1, sick child, which is which is
• 20:47
  not which is not something,
• 20:50
  I I I turn away from. I have
• 20:52
  to embrace that,
• 20:53
  because I know that the kid's gonna get
• 20:55
  better,
• 20:56
  quicker,
• 20:57
  if we have the entire family engaged in
• 20:59
  the care. And at the same time, there
• 21:00
  may be issues with the family that I
• 21:02
  need to address to help that kid,
• 21:04
  have a have a safe and happy life.
• 21:05
  So,
• 21:07
  partnering with the family and and how the
• 21:09
  care is provided
• 21:10
  is is
• 21:12
  is such an important part of what we
• 21:13
  do, and it needs to continue to be
• 21:15
  a focus
• 21:17
  of what our children's hospitals do. So I
• 21:19
  I think those are the areas that I
• 21:20
  think are are are so important that we
• 21:23
  need to focus on. Innovation is
• 21:25
  is obviously kind of an evolving tool that
• 21:28
  we're gonna be able to use.
• 21:29
  And if you think about
• 21:32
  any type of the computer models that are
• 21:35
  allowing people to see better into what's going
• 21:37
  on in the patient's care while they're in
• 21:39
  the hospital.
• 21:40
  And I can think of some, but I
• 21:41
  won't necessarily name them,
• 21:43
  that allow us to see a sick child
• 21:45
  before they're actually
• 21:47
  recognized as sick. For example, by maybe a
• 21:49
  nurse that's not as as seasoned as mature,
• 21:53
  as some nurses would be,
• 21:55
  to allow us to identify sick patients earlier
• 21:58
  and and intervene on those patients
• 22:00
  using AI and those types of
• 22:03
  innovative
• 22:04
  software programs
• 22:06
  going forward.
• 22:07
  I think we have to have our eyes
• 22:08
  wide open
• 22:10
  in how that is used in our hospitals
• 22:12
  and embracing it where we can and then
• 22:15
  being curious,
• 22:16
  always remaining a little cautious
• 22:18
  as well about, how we apply those in
• 22:21
  in health care, making sure we're protecting our
• 22:23
  patients. So those are the things I think
• 22:25
  that that need the the most spotlight going
• 22:27
  forward.
• 22:29
  Doctor Umang, thank you so much for being
• 22:31
  so generous with your time or insights and
• 22:32
  highlighting all the aspects of children's health care
• 22:35
  that need a spotlight and, you know, things
• 22:37
  that all of
• 22:39
  you and your colleagues are dealing with on
• 22:40
  a daily basis. We absolutely cannot wait to
• 22:43
  share all of what you said with our
• 22:44
  audience, and we look forward to connecting with
• 22:46
  you again soon.
• 22:48
  Thank you so much, and thank you for
• 22:49
  having me. I appreciate it.