Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Global Health Leadership, Innovation, and Lessons from Davos

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Global Health Leadership, Innovation, and Lessons from Davos · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

0:01
This is where health care leadership comes together.
0:04
Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
0:07
hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
0:10
speakers to Chicago, April 13 through the sixteenth.
0:14
This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
0:17
Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
0:20
w Bush. For the agenda and event details,
0:22
visit beckershospitalreview.com
0:25
and click on the events tab in the
0:26
upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
0:29
in Chicago.
0:31
This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Health
0:34
Care podcast.
0:36
We're thrilled today to visit with a remarkable
0:38
leader. We're visiting today with doctor Choi Pena.
0:42
And doctor Pena is both the VP of
0:44
global health at Northwell Health. He starts to
0:46
lead that direction.
0:48
He's also somebody with multiple degrees. He's an
0:51
emergency physician by background.
0:53
He's been at Davos, the World Economic Forum
0:56
last couple years, and we'll talk about that
0:57
a little bit. He's also met the queen
0:59
of Belgium, and we're gonna talk about that.
1:02
Eric, thank you so much for joining us.
1:04
Can you take a moment to introduce yourself
1:05
and tell us a bit about your career?
1:08
Yes. My name is Eric Choi Pena. I'm
1:10
a practicing emergency physician
1:12
and the founding director and VP of global
1:15
health at Northwell Health in New York.
1:17
Fantastic. So doctor Choi Pena, thank you so
1:20
much for joining us.
1:21
Talk about the role. We're gonna go back
1:23
in a second and talk about your career
1:26
and and how you ended up as the
1:27
vice president of global health at Northwell Health.
1:29
But but tell us a little bit about
1:31
what does the role of vice president of
1:33
global health?
1:34
What does that look like, and and and
1:36
and what are the core priorities or core
1:38
focus in global health?
1:40
Thanks for having me. It's it's really great
1:42
to be here.
1:43
The the role of vice president of global
1:45
health, I'm actually the first person with that
1:47
title in the health system, and it's it's
1:49
not a very
1:50
common,
1:52
title on on the health system side of
1:53
the street, at least. And the academic medical
1:55
center is often on the medical school side.
1:57
You will see some sort of lead for
1:59
global health. But, you know, we really created
2:02
the the Center for Global Health at Northwell
2:05
as a way of focusing and managing a
2:07
lot of the
2:09
great work that gets done internationally by a
2:11
lot of our team members. We had noticed
2:13
that a lot of this work was really
2:15
being provided in kind,
2:18
often as passion projects of some of our
2:20
faculty, some of our nurses,
2:22
certainly residents, students, fellows are all interested in
2:24
this as well. But we really wanted to
2:26
have it be kind of more relationship focused
2:30
in countries that were
2:32
kind of locally relevant to the health system.
2:34
And that allowed us to really be good
2:36
partners to those countries and to help them
2:39
along in their healthcare journey and strengthening their
2:42
own health systems. So it really, if you
2:43
can imagine taking like a medical mission program
2:46
and turning it into a development program, something
2:49
that actually did some health system strengthening work
2:52
in addition to kind of providing that feel
2:53
good feeling of being able to volunteer,
2:56
that's really kind of the genesis of the
2:57
center for global health at Northwell. I mean,
2:59
I mean, so overall,
3:01
really amazing what you're doing.
3:03
And I think if I saw online correctly
3:05
that you were just at the World Economic
3:07
Forum in Davos. Is that correct?
3:10
Yes. Yeah. I had the fortune actually of
3:12
being named the, corporate social innovator
3:15
of the year last year, at the world
3:17
economic forum by the Schwab Foundation, which is
3:20
a sister foundation
3:21
under the world economic forum,
3:23
umbrella. It was actually founded by Klaus and
3:26
Hilda Schwab, the, the, the co founders of
3:28
the world economic forum.
3:30
So this year, I was invited back to
3:32
speak,
3:33
on some of our our work both as
3:35
a, you know, Northwell wide as a health
3:37
system, but also in kind of our global
3:39
our global footprint as well.
3:41
I mean, that must be a remarkable
3:43
experience. I mean, growing up, did you ever
3:45
think that you'd be doing that being a
3:47
a speaker at Davos?
3:49
No. No. No. Definitely not. No. It's still
3:51
very surreal. I have some pinch me moments.
3:54
No. I I mean, I got into I
3:56
got into medicine, you know, with,
3:58
really thinking that I was gonna be an
4:00
HIV doc and that I was gonna be,
4:02
working kind of global public health on an
4:04
individual basis. I didn't really
4:07
envision
4:08
kind of the system level kind of population
4:11
based role that I have now. And I
4:13
think I I kind of grew into it,
4:15
as my as my career develops. But, certainly,
4:17
it's it's very humbling.
4:19
Get to be in the room with people
4:21
that I I view as are a lot
4:23
smarter than me that are decision makers and
4:25
and kind of making
4:27
decisions either behalf on very, very large companies
4:30
or, or governments. And so it's been a
4:32
really privileged kind of experience for me.
4:34
That's a remarkable thing. And and talk about
4:37
a little bit about you you've you're a
4:39
doctor. You're an emergency medicine physician.
4:43
Do you still practice emergency medicine at all,
4:45
or are you completely on the administrative side
4:47
today?
4:48
No. I'm I'm actually still practicing. So I,
4:51
I like to think that I practice once
4:53
a week. Every Friday is usually usually my
4:55
clinical day.
4:56
It tends to be twice a month. We
4:58
know when once every other Friday, I'll get
5:00
the opportunity to be in the emergency department.
5:02
It's one of my favorite parts of the
5:03
week, though, to be honest with you. I
5:05
I really do love practicing still. And I
5:07
think,
5:08
as a physician leader, it's as much as
5:10
you can, it's important to stay kind of
5:13
close to that. I mean, obviously, there are
5:14
roles where you just you don't have the
5:16
ability to do that. But emergency medicine happens
5:18
to be the kind of medicine that you
5:20
can practice where, you know, I don't have
5:21
to maintain a patient panel or or or
5:24
relationships. It's it's shift work. So I'm able
5:26
to I'm able to pop in and and
5:28
and do some work. And it's it's enough
5:30
time where I still think I'm keeping up
5:32
my skills too. So it's I don't feel
5:34
you know, just when I feel like I'm
5:35
starting to get rusty, I have another shift,
5:37
and that's a kind of a good thing.
5:39
I I I'm gonna do this, and and
5:41
I you can't if you're
5:43
I don't know if your parents are still
5:44
alive or not, but if they're alive, they
5:47
can't blush as I read this. Okay? So
5:49
you have to bear with me. Okay? Right.
5:51
Eric, the the
5:52
NYU
5:53
bachelor of arts, BA in Spanish American literature
5:56
and biology,
5:58
University of Pennsylvania,
5:59
doctor of medicine,
6:01
medicine and global health,
6:03
Columbia University,
6:05
masters of public health,
6:07
and then Hofstra University,
6:09
more recently,
6:11
master in business master of business administration.
6:13
So
6:15
I know if I was your mother and
6:16
I'm not, I would be, of course, blushing
6:18
and so proud of you.
6:20
Talk for a second about the commitment to
6:22
lifelong education and learning
6:25
and where that came from.
6:27
Yeah. I mean, I I was, I'm the
6:29
first doctor in my family,
6:31
but education has always been
6:33
really paramount. My mother is actually,
6:36
a PhD
6:37
in nursing science and and does research and
6:40
is actually the associate dean for the University
6:42
of Rhode Island
6:43
School of Nursing. So I think that's probably
6:45
where I get my my love for for
6:47
education. My mother
6:49
used to joke that if she could be
6:50
in in school,
6:52
you know, for her entire life as a
6:54
student, she would. And she's found a way
6:56
to be in school, maybe not as a
6:57
student, but her entire life. So I think
6:59
she she lived to that. So education's always
7:02
been very important. And then I think, you
7:04
know, one thing kind of led
7:05
to another. You know, I I, obviously, you
7:08
know, bachelor's in medical school were pretty straightforward,
7:11
traditional
7:12
pathways. And then, you know, I I decided
7:13
to get really involved in global health, and
7:15
there was a fellowship opportunity
7:17
that's really not a clinical fellowship, but it
7:19
was global emergency medicine. And it and it
7:22
Columbia had one, and it came with the
7:23
Miles per hour. And the Miles per hour
7:25
really, I think,
7:26
tried to give you the bird's eye view
7:28
of
7:29
of of global health practice. And I was
7:31
really impressed by,
7:34
not just the formal instruction, but the, you
7:36
know, the interactions with colleagues. And I think
7:39
that's similar similar to similar story with the
7:41
MBA. You know, I was in a physician
7:43
leadership program at Northwell, and,
7:46
a bunch of the physician leaders,
7:49
decided to go back and get their MBAs.
7:50
And they felt like it would be a
7:52
value add to their their executive leadership as
7:54
as physician leaders. And and so I was
7:56
kind of caught up in that and and
7:58
decided to do that as well. And and
8:00
I do think that, you know, each each
8:02
moment
8:03
has provided a little bit different perspective than
8:05
I otherwise would have had.
8:08
And I think it's it's made me into
8:10
a better leader. And I think the the
8:13
we're you know, your my view is even
8:15
outside of formal education, I'm constantly trying to
8:18
learn
8:19
new new ways of doing things, new ways
8:21
of of thinking about things. Because I think
8:23
if we get stuck in, well, this is
8:26
what I do,
8:27
then you're not really on the edge of
8:28
innovation or on the edge of change. And
8:30
and I feel like, you know, I've gotten
8:32
from the corporate leadership at Northwell, this feeling
8:35
that, you know, you you've gotta kinda be
8:37
pushing the envelope. If you're standing still, you're
8:40
you're you're probably
8:42
gonna be overtaken. And I think that's kind
8:44
of the general feeling is that we have
8:46
this drive for innovation and learning, and and
8:48
the it comes with the permission
8:51
to fail.
8:52
I think that's a really important part of
8:54
it is that you can't really be innovative
8:56
without having kind of that permission to try
8:58
something and, you know, not get it right
9:00
the first time you do it.
9:02
No. It's really a remarkable career.
9:04
Talk for a second, doctor
9:06
Troy Pena, about
9:07
what are you most excited about and focused
9:09
on this year?
9:11
Yeah. I'm I'm really excited. We we have
9:13
a c suite change at Northwell that's,
9:16
been pretty pretty dramatic. We have a new
9:18
chief operating officer, new chief executive officer.
9:20
I'm really excited in the direction that they're
9:23
taking the health system,
9:25
and I, I'm excited that to have kind
9:29
of our global programs,
9:31
continue to be a value add to that
9:33
direction. And I think, you know, everything about
9:36
both the domestic and global practice of health
9:38
care is is fundamentally changing. I think there's
9:42
technological
9:43
disruptors. There are obviously financial disruptors.
9:46
And I think, you know, this the new
9:48
leadership team is, you know, trying to
9:51
develop the health system of the
9:54
of of the, you know, the late twenty
9:56
twenties and and have that be an adaptive
9:58
and and vibrant system. And I I think
10:01
that global has an important role to play
10:03
in that. And I think that we,
10:05
we help ground a lot of the teams
10:07
back into the mission
10:08
of of health care. And I think, you
10:10
know, it's it's it's just exciting
10:12
to see the evolution of it as we
10:15
go through a pretty pretty seismic leadership change.
10:19
No. Simply remarkable. And and and, of course,
10:22
Mike Dowling was a legendary leader for a
10:24
very long time there, and the system has
10:26
just flourished so much over the last couple
10:29
decades. Really remarkable.
10:32
Eric, you've had this great career. I mean,
10:34
literally, the first in your family to go
10:36
to medical school.
10:37
Talk for a second about,
10:39
you know, what advice would you give to
10:41
emerging leaders? I I mean, I I love
10:44
it. I joke about your mom blushing, but
10:46
I I love the concept of constantly going
10:49
back to improve oneself and learning. What advice
10:52
would you give to emerging leaders?
10:54
Yeah. I mean, it's I think it's the
10:56
same thing I give to residents,
10:57
when when I work with trainee doctors,
11:00
which I guess, you know, in in their
11:01
own way are all emerging leaders as well
11:03
as as they're becoming attending physicians. But, you
11:05
know, I I try to learn something every
11:07
day. And you don't have to read a
11:09
treatise. You don't have to, you know, spend
11:11
hours studying. But I think that every day,
11:14
try to pick something that you thought was
11:16
interesting that you didn't know about and and
11:18
read a little bit about it, and it
11:19
can be five minutes of reading.
11:21
And I think, that will serve you very
11:24
well
11:24
in terms of lifelong learning. I don't remember
11:27
anything that I did
11:28
in terms of when I had to cram
11:30
or study for tests. I really don't. The
11:32
things that I really that have really cemented
11:34
as core memories
11:35
are the experiential learning kind of buttressed with
11:39
the book learning to to satisfy a curiosity
11:42
that that was occurring. That really to me
11:45
is the foundation for
11:47
being a great doctor and great leadership is
11:49
is that, kind of very, very methodical but
11:53
bite sized
11:55
kind of
11:56
interrogations
11:57
of new aspects of life. You know, I'm
11:59
a big podcast person. I know we're we're
12:01
recording for a podcast, but, you know, just
12:04
having the opportunity to think about something in
12:06
a different way,
12:07
I I think really,
12:09
builds strong confident leaders. And
12:12
it also makes you comfortable in saying, I
12:14
don't know. You know, I think that part
12:16
of the thing that we're all plagued with
12:18
as emerging leaders is is imposter syndrome and
12:21
feeling like, you know, we're not kind of
12:23
cut out for the role that we've been
12:24
given.
12:26
And I think that the more that we're
12:29
kind of acknowledging kind of all the different
12:31
aspects of life that we, you know, we're
12:32
not familiar with. I think the more comfortable
12:34
you get with, oh, I don't know that.
12:37
I think the better you are in kind
12:39
of in in your role because being comfortable
12:42
with saying, you know, I don't know that
12:43
the answer to that question, but I'm gonna
12:44
we're gonna figure it out, I think,
12:49
allows you to be a little bit more
12:50
agile because you're less worried about whether people
12:52
are gonna find out whether you know something
12:54
or not. And I think that's, you know,
12:56
overcoming that early imposter syndrome is a really,
13:00
I think, important
13:01
part of leadership development.
13:04
Walk for a second more about imposter syndrome.
13:07
It it it was a term I first
13:08
heard probably five, seven years ago. And I
13:11
think quite frankly, in interviewing somebody,
13:13
it was actually someone who preaches about
13:16
women's leadership.
13:18
Now the reality of imposter syndrome is
13:22
whether short, tall,
13:24
black, white,
13:26
whatever one is, woman, male,
13:29
most of us, except for that one percent
13:31
of the of the population that just is
13:32
crazily confident for whatever reason, the rest of
13:35
us, periodically, have that imposter syndrome.
13:39
And talk about that for a second about
13:41
you know, define it for people,
13:44
maybe talk about an example of when you've
13:46
worked through the feeling of imposter syndrome because
13:49
all of us have.
13:50
I I think most of us have. But
13:52
but talk about that for a moment more.
13:53
I think it's just so interesting because I
13:55
think I think it's there's this the reality
13:57
is most all of us suffer from it
13:59
periodically. It's not just this type of person
14:01
or that person or that type of person,
14:03
but all of us.
14:04
And take a moment on it if you
14:05
don't mind.
14:06
Yeah. I I think, I think the definition
14:09
of imposter syndrome, if I had to define
14:11
it pretty broadly, is
14:14
is anything from the complex
14:16
thought around
14:17
this feeling or just the inkling,
14:20
maybe I don't belong in this room.
14:22
I think that at the at the at
14:24
the core level, it's kind of this feeling
14:26
that, like, I was somebody made a mistake.
14:29
Like, I don't belong here. I shouldn't be
14:31
here representing whatever I'm supposed to be representing,
14:33
and,
14:35
and I don't have the skill or qualification
14:37
to to currently do either the short term
14:40
task or the long term role that I've
14:42
been placed in. And that's you know, I
14:44
think the reason why we call it imposter
14:45
syndrome is because oftentimes,
14:47
we are a lot less able to discern
14:50
that for ourselves. We're a little bit more
14:52
critical. Now there obviously are people that get
14:54
put in in over in roles over their
14:56
head, and I'm not I'm not talking about
14:58
kind of those situations. I I'm really talking
15:00
about a a situation where an objective third
15:02
party would look at whatever credentials you have
15:04
and say, yeah. You I mean, this is
15:05
a role that you,
15:08
you are cut out for. And I think
15:10
that, you know, most in most selection processes
15:12
in health care when we when we put
15:14
people in leadership positions, there's often almost an
15:17
over vetting of people for roles. So it's
15:19
very infrequently that the the the feeling that
15:22
you have that you don't belong in the
15:23
room is actually true.
15:25
You've probably gone through either, you know, a
15:27
national search or a committee or at least
15:30
your peers have decided that you belong in
15:32
that role. And so it's the feeling of
15:34
not being in that role despite kind of
15:36
third party assurances that you're you're in the
15:38
role. And it often will lead people to
15:41
either,
15:42
not speak up and not participate in in
15:44
things where there are multiple leaders kind of
15:46
joining on a team to try and solve
15:48
something or just a feeling of of under
15:51
confidence that causes you to be more guarded
15:54
in your leadership style. And that can actually
15:56
come off as even being, you know, overly
15:59
bossy. You know, a lot of times people
16:01
who don't have
16:03
confidence in their role because they have impostor
16:05
syndrome will will often not allow a lot
16:07
of discussion
16:09
with their subordinates,
16:10
or direct reports as to kind of options
16:13
because they don't wanna appear like they're not
16:15
in control of,
16:17
of the decision making process. When really the,
16:20
you know, the the opposite is couldn't is
16:22
is really kind of the truth there where
16:24
the the more confident you are in your
16:26
leadership role, the more you are likely to
16:28
foster,
16:29
various different,
16:31
opinions because you're confident in your ability to
16:33
hear those opinions, hear the analysis, and then
16:35
make the decision for the team if that's
16:37
if that's the role that you're in. So
16:39
I think,
16:40
I think that to me
16:42
I I know I think almost everyone, like
16:44
you said, 99% except for that 1% do
16:46
feel this.
16:47
I think how we how we are socialized
16:50
to deal with it does vary
16:52
dramatically based on your upbringing
16:55
and your,
16:56
your kind of your phenotype. I think that
16:58
does we are socialized in different ways how
17:01
we respond to imposter syndrome. But I think
17:03
it's a pretty human trait to to have
17:06
it.
17:07
I I love that take on it. I
17:08
couldn't agree more. Fascinating.
17:10
Eric, what else would you like to share
17:12
with the audience today? I'd I'd love to
17:13
hear
17:14
thirty seconds more, a minute more about the
17:17
experience of being at Davos. That's something very
17:19
few people in the world ever get to
17:21
do.
17:22
I know I've never got to do it.
17:24
Talk about that for a moment. What is
17:26
that like?
17:27
Yeah. I mean, it's, I mean, it's it's
17:29
funny because it it,
17:31
I think that when you think of Davos,
17:33
you think of, like, billionaires,
17:35
private jets, and parties.
17:38
And and certainly, there are the share of
17:40
those things.
17:42
What I was most impressed by
17:44
was the fact that whether you're running,
17:47
you know, one of the top companies in
17:49
the world or running a country,
17:51
the humility with which you enter some of
17:54
those spaces and rooms. Like, I was having
17:56
roundtables
17:58
with, you know, the CEO
18:00
of Moderna
18:01
and,
18:02
you know, the queen of the Belgians. Right?
18:05
And we were talking about health care. And,
18:08
you know,
18:09
they're,
18:10
you've almost gotta remind yourself,
18:12
you know, they're just people.
18:14
And and they're people that often are coming
18:17
into these rooms with a genuine desire
18:19
to,
18:20
improve the state of the world. And I
18:22
think that
18:23
some of the discussions
18:25
and potential
18:26
I always get excited by Davos because
18:29
the the amount
18:31
of work that you can get done in
18:33
four days, because really, the conference is basically
18:35
Monday to Thursday. And so the amount of
18:38
work and the amount of meetings and the
18:40
amount of synergies that can happen in those
18:42
four days
18:43
is just tremendous.
18:45
And the level of discussion, because you're not
18:48
allowed to send a surrogate to the World
18:50
Economic Forum. You have to go in person.
18:53
You can't send a delegate. So if the
18:54
president can't come, like the, you know, the
18:56
minister of foreign affairs doesn't get to be
18:58
the delegate.
18:59
It's the decision makers are in the room.
19:01
And so it's it it catalyzes action
19:04
in a way that you don't see often
19:06
because a lot of times, you know, almost
19:08
a defensive strategy to making decisions
19:10
is sending, you know, that second in command.
19:12
And then they you know, anything that gets
19:14
negotiated, you have to say, well, let me
19:16
go check with. I gotta go back and
19:17
check with my boss,
19:19
back in my country. And and that
19:21
you kinda shorts it was intentional to short
19:23
circuit
19:24
that ability to make sure that, you know,
19:27
action was was happening in this meeting, which
19:29
is why I think we see a lot
19:31
of big announcements happen in Davos, a lot
19:33
of initiatives. It's because the principals are in
19:36
the room,
19:37
and they're they're meeting. And it to me,
19:39
I'm not the principal of Northwell Health. I'm
19:42
I was there as an awardee of the
19:43
Schwab Foundation. So it's interesting because I'm I'm
19:46
kind of an observer.
19:47
And, and, you know, speaking of imposter syndrome,
19:50
I I definitely had a little bit of
19:51
imposter syndrome when I was there in 2025
19:54
until you realize that, you know, you you
19:56
you have expertise. And what they're what they're
19:58
asking you for is not necessarily the decision
20:01
of Northwell Health on a matter, but really
20:03
your expertise as a social innovator who's created
20:06
this thing inside of a corporation,
20:09
you know, this this Center for Global Health
20:10
or whatever the innovation was. I think it
20:13
it it really
20:14
allows you to be at the table as
20:16
a subject matter expert and meet with decision
20:18
makers and help them make decisions about how
20:20
2026
20:21
is gonna go. And so to me, it
20:22
was a tremendous privilege. Like I said, I
20:24
had to pinch myself both years several times.
20:27
But certainly,
20:29
amazing to be sitting in the room with,
20:31
you know, the royal family of Belgium or,
20:33
you know, CEOs of major corporations or heads
20:36
of state and and help them make decisions.
20:40
Now now I will tell you, Eric,
20:43
nobody cares about the major heads of corporations.
20:45
Nobody cares about the heads of state. What
20:48
we do care about is the queen of
20:50
Belgium. What is the queen of Belgium like?
20:53
So her her majesty, Matilda,
20:56
and it's funny because I first met her
20:58
in 2025,
20:59
and I it's I was on the conference
21:01
app. You know, we all have Becker's has
21:02
a conference app, and you'll get you'll get,
21:04
like, you'll get, you know,
21:06
requests for, like, meetings. You know, there'll be
21:08
a meeting request. They call them bilaterals at
21:10
the World Economic Forum. And I got this
21:12
bilateral meeting request from
21:14
Matilda,
21:15
and I was like, I think that's her
21:17
majesty. And I had to, like, you know,
21:19
Google it, but, you know, she, she's on
21:21
the board of the Schwab Foundation. She's incredibly
21:24
invested in health care and education topics,
21:26
and she really just wanted to meet to
21:28
hear about the innovation straight from
21:31
the, you know, the the the horse's mouth,
21:33
if you will. And and, and kind of
21:36
talk a little bit more about innovation around
21:38
health care delivery.
21:40
You know, she's she's incredibly passionate about
21:43
last mile delivery in health care in
21:46
in in rural and low income settings
21:48
and wanted to hear about what we were
21:50
doing in Guyana
21:51
and some of the work we were doing
21:52
in Ukraine.
21:54
And and, it was it was amazing because,
21:56
you know, you expect that when someone from
21:59
a, you know, a queen of a country
22:02
reaches out to you and wants to talk
22:03
to you, you assume that they're gonna have
22:05
a lot to say.
22:07
And she really was she was very,
22:09
inquisitive
22:10
and and really gave the floor to me
22:13
and a couple of other Schwab awardees that
22:15
met with her,
22:17
about,
22:18
you know, what what we were doing and
22:20
and and listened very intently, had a her
22:23
assistant next door taking notes. And,
22:25
I was again, it was one of those,
22:27
oh, they're they're they're real people. They're real
22:30
people, and they're they're thinking about how they
22:33
can integrate some of the things that they're
22:34
learning into their practice,
22:36
whether it's, you know, as a as a
22:38
royal member of the royal family or
22:40
as a physician leader. It's all we're all
22:42
doing kind of the same things with just
22:44
different. We're in different
22:46
circles, I guess. But certainly, it was very
22:49
humbling, but also very,
22:51
I think,
22:53
I think it was very important to to
22:55
see and realize that, you know,
22:57
everyone's just trying to make informed decisions and
23:00
learn as much as they can to be
23:02
better leaders.
23:04
You know, I am, Eric. I'm looking online,
23:06
and from what I could tell, the queen
23:08
of Belgium is five foot nine inches tall.
23:11
So I would feel very short with the
23:13
queen of Belgium. But what an amazing experience
23:15
in all reality. What a great, great experience.
23:18
Just fascinating. Right? No. I mean, it was
23:20
amazing. Yeah. And she is she is very
23:21
tall. I'm a little taller than her, and
23:23
I I when I took the photo, though,
23:24
I made sure I was standing kind of,
23:26
in the group. I was at the end
23:27
of the group, so it wasn't like a
23:29
direct comparison because she was wearing heels.
23:31
But, yeah. I mean, she's she's, she's
23:34
she's, very formidable
23:36
in person,
23:37
but but super sweet, super nice, made you
23:39
feel immediately at home, and,
23:42
you know, got to have a really closed
23:44
door, you know,
23:45
meeting. That's another thing. A lot of the
23:47
meetings are under Chatham House rules. So, you
23:49
know, there's no press and it's closed door,
23:51
and and you can kind of speak your
23:53
mind about a lot of the a lot
23:54
of the things that are that are going
23:56
on, you know, problems in health care delivery,
23:59
global health, and and be candid. And that
24:03
that combined with the fact that you can't
24:04
send a delegate, I think, is the magic
24:06
of Davos. That's why they call it the
24:07
magic mountain.
24:09
That is truly remarkable. Congratulations
24:12
on all that you've accomplished and what you're
24:14
doing. Just remarkable.
24:16
Eric, doctor Troy Pena Pena, thank you so
24:19
much for joining us today on the Becker's
24:21
Health Care podcast.
24:22
I know I kept you longer than expected,
24:24
but so interesting. So thank you for taking
24:26
the time. It was my pleasure. Thank you.