Latest / Community D.C. / Community DC Andrew Molosky Chapters Health System

Transcript

Community DC Andrew Molosky Chapters Health System · Community D.C.

0:09
Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
0:12
Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Clasico. This morning, we welcome Andrew Maulawsky.
0:16
Speaker 1: He is the president and CEO for Chapters Health System,
0:20
Speaker 1: a not for profit community based organization specializing in comprehensive
0:24
Speaker 1: care for advanced illnesses, primarily in the Southeast and mid
0:28
Speaker 1: Atlantic US. They provide hospice, home health, grief support, aiming
0:32
Speaker 1: to improved pation family experiences through holistic home based services.
0:36
Speaker 1: And for more information about Chapters Health System, you can
0:39
Speaker 1: go to chaptershealth dot org. We'll cover a lot over
0:43
Speaker 1: the next thirty minutes, so get comfortable and here's my
0:46
Speaker 1: conversation with Andrew. I hope you enjoy it as much
0:48
Speaker 1: as I did.
0:49
Speaker 2: Good morning, Andrew, Good morning Dennis. Thank you for having
0:51
Speaker 2: me today.
0:52
Speaker 1: Well, it's a pleasure to have you on to talk
0:54
Speaker 1: about Chapters Health System. This is the first time we've
0:56
Speaker 1: had you on the program, so we're going to get
0:57
Speaker 1: an education myself, the listeners and all the amazing things
1:00
Speaker 1: that you and your team do. I'd like to do this.
1:02
Speaker 1: I did a quick intro about CHS and I did
1:06
Speaker 1: not do a justice And I know with you almost
1:08
Speaker 1: being with the organization for a full decade, which is
1:10
Speaker 1: so cool. I'd love to hear about the origin story
1:13
Speaker 1: before we talk about all you and what your team
1:15
Speaker 1: done and all the programs, and we're going to talk
1:17
Speaker 1: about donations and events and lots of different things over
1:20
Speaker 1: the next thirty minutes. But the origin story, the history
1:22
Speaker 1: of Chapters Health System, what is it?
1:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, and thank you for that opportunity, because you know
1:27
Speaker 2: so much of understanding any mission, any ambition, is to
1:30
Speaker 2: know the history. Right. We're bound to repeat it if
1:33
Speaker 2: you don't know it, I think is the old adage,
1:35
Speaker 2: you know. So to understand a little bit about the
1:37
Speaker 2: history of Chapter's Health is to understand first it's geographic origin.
1:40
Speaker 3: Right.
1:40
Speaker 2: Found that in nineteen eighty out of the Tampa, Florida area,
1:43
Speaker 2: Chapter's Health was initially an aggregate of three very well run,
1:48
Speaker 2: very larger respected nonprofit hospice programs, and over time, as
1:52
Speaker 2: it became more of an assimilated organization, you know, the
1:55
Speaker 2: realization that it needed to continue to advance, continue to innovate,
1:58
Speaker 2: to continue to bring its message to their areas and
2:01
Speaker 2: other services really became profound and pronounced.
2:04
Speaker 3: And now, as you've been kind enough to allude to.
2:06
Speaker 2: In the last decade that I've been given the privilege
2:08
Speaker 2: of leading this organization, we really set forth that ambition
2:11
Speaker 2: from growing from that of a greater Tampa Bay, Florida
2:14
Speaker 2: organization to that of a national organization. And today, you know,
2:17
Speaker 2: we have a good fortune to say that we're now
2:19
Speaker 2: a collective of over thirty different companies representing numerous service
2:23
Speaker 2: lines and numerous states, but all focused on one common
2:27
Speaker 2: core that is redefining how end of life and chronic
2:30
Speaker 2: illness is handled in our country through the eyes of
2:32
Speaker 2: what we believe is, you know, a formative nonprofit mission.
2:36
Speaker 1: I think what you're leading into also to and is
2:39
Speaker 1: mission and vision. And I'd like to talk about that
2:41
Speaker 1: because I know, especially in your business with so many
2:43
Speaker 1: moving parts in it, the mission and vision is awfully
2:46
Speaker 1: important as you get your message out there. What is
2:48
Speaker 1: that for our listeners?
2:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you'll hear me reference things like this from
2:53
Speaker 3: time to time.
2:53
Speaker 2: I'm a big, big believer in anecdotes, right, and one
2:56
Speaker 2: of my favorite ones is everything I really need to
2:58
Speaker 2: know I learned in kindergarten, so I can very certainly
3:01
Speaker 2: provide kind of high falutin you know, subject matter expert
3:05
Speaker 2: type of vision and mission. But the reality is this, right,
3:09
Speaker 2: this is one of the rare and sort of unifying
3:12
Speaker 2: positions in a very divided world.
3:13
Speaker 3: Every one of.
3:14
Speaker 2: Us listening to this is going to experience end of
3:18
Speaker 2: life in some form of fashion, either as a caregiver
3:20
Speaker 2: ultimately we'll all go through it personally. And that idea
3:23
Speaker 2: of educating, supporting, and really reinventing what we're all going
3:27
Speaker 2: to experience is what it comes down to, you know,
3:29
Speaker 2: and at a little bit more of a simplistic level,
3:32
Speaker 2: you know, we've come to realize that this is something
3:35
Speaker 2: that is best done with the right motivations, and our motivations,
3:40
Speaker 2: we like to think are pretty pure.
3:41
Speaker 3: It is to be taking care of patients or taking
3:43
Speaker 3: care of those who do right. Very simple.
3:45
Speaker 2: We have a workforce that we adore, and we have
3:47
Speaker 2: a mission that we support, and when all those are
3:49
Speaker 2: firing and all cylinders, you can do the things that
3:51
Speaker 2: have historically been challenging in the American medical environment, of
3:55
Speaker 2: the American health care environment. And so our mission is simple,
3:57
Speaker 2: is to change how that's done with best practices and
4:00
Speaker 2: the best workforce you're going to find anywhere.
4:01
Speaker 1: I know you've alluded to this, but I'd like to
4:03
Speaker 1: get a little bit more into it, and we will
4:05
Speaker 1: get into the weeds about the programs and all the
4:06
Speaker 1: different things you do. But for our listeners that are
4:09
Speaker 1: being introduced to Chapters Health System for the very first time,
4:12
Speaker 1: and if you were to give a thirty thousand foot
4:14
Speaker 1: view and tell people exactly what you do, what would
4:17
Speaker 1: you tell them?
4:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so thirty thousand foot is a great place
4:20
Speaker 2: to start, right. So if you imagine your loved one
4:23
Speaker 2: or your own personal scenario or someone that you've come across,
4:26
Speaker 2: and you think to yourself, you know, it wouldn't surprise
4:28
Speaker 2: me if in the next five to ten years we're
4:30
Speaker 2: having conversations about end of life and advanced care wishes
4:34
Speaker 2: and what's going to happen for my future and my family.
4:36
Speaker 2: Now you're talking about the space that Chapters Health has
4:40
Speaker 2: dedicated itself to.
4:42
Speaker 3: Right.
4:42
Speaker 2: It's not as simple as saying that we're a hospice
4:44
Speaker 2: organization or or a pace provider, or we're a primary
4:47
Speaker 2: care group.
4:48
Speaker 3: We have all those components, but those are tactical.
4:50
Speaker 2: What we're really here to do is say, when you
4:52
Speaker 2: start to think about the last five or ten years
4:55
Speaker 2: of someone's life. This is where chapters health can make
4:58
Speaker 2: an impact. And then going back to your previous ques
5:00
Speaker 2: uestion on mission and vision, you know, we believe strongly
5:03
Speaker 2: that these are people, these are life stories, these are legacies.
5:07
Speaker 2: These are not sums of medical parts. These are not
5:10
Speaker 2: diagnostic codes. And too many parts of the traditional medical
5:13
Speaker 2: system see patients that way, see families that way. And
5:17
Speaker 2: so when we say five to ten years of life,
5:19
Speaker 2: we mean life of living, of experiencing, of leaving a legacy,
5:23
Speaker 2: and that's what we're built to change.
5:25
Speaker 1: Andrew, I know a lot of our listeners have been
5:27
Speaker 1: through hospice, but there's a lot of people that haven't,
5:30
Speaker 1: and when they hear the word, I think they think
5:32
Speaker 1: they know what it means, but it really is a
5:34
Speaker 1: much bigger thing, and it's a lot cooler too. You know,
5:39
Speaker 1: I've experienced it, and I've had some family members have
5:42
Speaker 1: had But if someone says the word hospice and you
5:45
Speaker 1: were to explain it to our listening audience, what would
5:47
Speaker 1: you tell them?
5:47
Speaker 2: It is absolutely And I can't thank you directly enough
5:52
Speaker 2: for creating this window of clarity, because you're right, it's
5:55
Speaker 2: a scary word to the uninitiated and.
5:57
Speaker 3: Sadly once you've been on the other side of it.
5:59
Speaker 2: It is a word that conjures up images of worth
6:02
Speaker 2: and meaning, life and preservation, and it's really hard to
6:06
Speaker 2: convince someone, which is very much the genesis of why
6:08
Speaker 2: we're having this dialogue today. We think it's incumbent upon us,
6:12
Speaker 2: as the nation's largest to really spread that word. But
6:15
Speaker 2: to answer your question direct, what does hospice ultimately mean.
6:18
Speaker 2: Hospice means taking what someone wants to see as making
6:22
Speaker 2: the most of their time that remains and making sure
6:25
Speaker 2: that's their story.
6:27
Speaker 3: Right. That looks very different to every individual. What it
6:31
Speaker 3: is not. It is not a medication regime. What it
6:34
Speaker 3: is not as a purely medical model.
6:36
Speaker 2: What it is not is something that is hastening the
6:39
Speaker 2: end of life and bringing upon termination or death.
6:42
Speaker 3: It is none of those things.
6:44
Speaker 2: This is about seeing that your father is, you know,
6:48
Speaker 2: making this part up, a retired engineer who only wants
6:51
Speaker 2: to make sure that he gets to see his granddaughter's wedding.
6:53
Speaker 3: Guess what, that's our care plan.
6:55
Speaker 2: We're going to do everything in our power to make
6:57
Speaker 2: sure these are the most meaningful days and the best
6:59
Speaker 2: story can possibly be given. The circumstance, and so our
7:02
Speaker 2: talented and wonderful caregivers are artists in their own right.
7:05
Speaker 2: They get a blank canvas with a mission from a
7:09
Speaker 2: patient to say, help me paint this in a.
7:11
Speaker 3: Way that's going to be meaningful for my family.
7:13
Speaker 2: So I'm not describing it with a medical model, and
7:15
Speaker 2: I'm doing that on purpose because so many people get
7:17
Speaker 2: fearful and they think about the medical components. That's not
7:21
Speaker 2: the real magic, right, The real magic is taking a
7:23
Speaker 2: family on a journey, a patient on a journey to say,
7:26
Speaker 2: with what time remains for me, how do I make
7:28
Speaker 2: the most of that? And of course it includes comfort measures,
7:31
Speaker 2: and of course it includes you know, a medicine, and
7:33
Speaker 2: of course it includes nursing and physician providers. But what
7:36
Speaker 2: it more is about is really that caliber of life,
7:38
Speaker 2: that quantity of life, and what you do with it.
7:41
Speaker 1: So if somebody is interested in working with you, tell
7:44
Speaker 1: us about the criteria, about how it all works, because
7:47
Speaker 1: I think we've got people's attention about it now, but
7:48
Speaker 1: they're probably saying, well, what do I do? You know,
7:51
Speaker 1: if I'm interested in working with chapters, you know what's
7:53
Speaker 1: my next step?
7:55
Speaker 3: Yeah?
7:56
Speaker 2: And so you know we've worked really hard as an organization,
7:59
Speaker 2: and I'm not going to be labored a point about
8:01
Speaker 2: growth numbers and statistics. There's all those things are publicly available,
8:04
Speaker 2: but you to look at how fast the organization has
8:06
Speaker 2: grown vertically, horizontally, new geographies, new services.
8:10
Speaker 3: Our mission or our goal was to make that question
8:13
Speaker 3: you just asked as simple as possible.
8:15
Speaker 2: If you or your loved one want to learn more
8:17
Speaker 2: experience this, just figure out which way is up.
8:20
Speaker 3: Call us, reach out to us on the website.
8:23
Speaker 2: Chaptershealth dot org will provide it throughout the course of
8:25
Speaker 2: the morning, so don't feel like you have to scribble, but.
8:28
Speaker 3: There are a myriad of ways to reach us.
8:29
Speaker 2: All of what you're meant to be as simple as possible,
8:31
Speaker 2: and we take everything from I have no idea. I
8:34
Speaker 2: was just told to call you two very specific referrals
8:38
Speaker 2: on what your loved one needs and how fast you
8:39
Speaker 2: need it, and we're ready and verse to handle everything
8:42
Speaker 2: in between.
8:42
Speaker 3: But the goal is very simple, is to take the stigma, is.
8:45
Speaker 2: Take the fear out, to take the confusion out, and
8:48
Speaker 2: know that there are organizations like Chapters ready and willing
8:51
Speaker 2: to say. All you have to have is a suspicion
8:53
Speaker 2: that you're entering this phase of life and somebody is
8:56
Speaker 2: going to be on that journey with you. So we've
8:58
Speaker 2: built thirty different companies, built lots of services, We've built
9:02
Speaker 2: lots of answers. All you need is just the willingness
9:05
Speaker 2: to reach out once and we're going to take your hand.
9:07
Speaker 1: I know there's a plentiful bunch of different services. I
9:10
Speaker 1: know we can't talk about all of them, but maybe
9:12
Speaker 1: ones that people are using the most or the most important,
9:15
Speaker 1: or ones that you're very proud of. I'm sure you're
9:16
Speaker 1: proud of all of them too, Andrew, But can you
9:18
Speaker 1: talk about some of the services that you do offer?
9:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think I'll do this in a way
9:23
Speaker 2: that's not meant to give an organizational resume, because nobody
9:26
Speaker 2: wants to hear that. But you gave me a great
9:28
Speaker 2: window when you said there's a lot of confusion. There's
9:30
Speaker 2: a lot of you know, misnomers out there about the
9:32
Speaker 2: services we provide. I'll speak to some of what's out
9:35
Speaker 2: there because you'll say, wow, I had no idea, or
9:37
Speaker 2: oh I didn't realize I was that close to it.
9:39
Speaker 2: After all, Maybe it's not as scary as it sounds right. So,
9:42
Speaker 2: of course you have hospice, which we've already spoken about
9:44
Speaker 2: a little bit, that is very much driven towards care
9:46
Speaker 2: for the terminally ill, but there's a ton of services
9:49
Speaker 2: that don't require that.
9:50
Speaker 3: Right.
9:51
Speaker 2: We have our PACE, the program for all inclusive care
9:53
Speaker 2: the elderly. If you're not familiar with it, it's a
9:56
Speaker 2: phenomenal service that's really meant to reward those who don't
9:59
Speaker 2: want to be in the nursing home and want to
10:01
Speaker 2: continue to live in their communities and be supported by
10:04
Speaker 2: their communities. We have, you know, pallut of medicine services.
10:08
Speaker 2: We have visiting physician services, so physicians who come to
10:11
Speaker 2: your home and care for you when you can't get
10:13
Speaker 2: to them. Access is a big part of the challenge
10:15
Speaker 2: in the American medical system these days. Right, we have
10:18
Speaker 2: services that aren't even in the medical model. Right. We
10:21
Speaker 2: have thrift stores that are really run by our volunteers
10:23
Speaker 2: that are helped to provide opportunities to support their communities
10:27
Speaker 2: that way.
10:27
Speaker 3: We have grief camps for children.
10:29
Speaker 2: We have bereavements services for those who have lost loved
10:32
Speaker 2: ones and need some support with or without the hospice component.
10:35
Speaker 2: So we have a whole slew of things in terms
10:38
Speaker 2: of our foundations, in terms of our public education, research
10:42
Speaker 2: and development consultancies. So there are a lot of businesses
10:45
Speaker 2: that are out there that aren't directly related to, as
10:47
Speaker 2: we said, terminality or end of life. The goal is
10:50
Speaker 2: to bring education, resource connectedness in a sense of purpose
10:54
Speaker 2: to what a lot of people have really failed to
10:57
Speaker 2: realize it until it's too late. As many of the
10:59
Speaker 2: golden years are some of the best times if you
11:02
Speaker 2: know how to embrace them.
11:03
Speaker 1: Andrew, I'd love for you to do this just for
11:05
Speaker 1: a second, indulge me if we could. We normally don't
11:07
Speaker 1: talk about this, but we're in a very unique position.
11:09
Speaker 1: Is that you're working with so many different buckets out
11:11
Speaker 1: there and so many different people, so many different agencies
11:14
Speaker 1: as president CEO, and you've been doing this for almost
11:17
Speaker 1: a decade now. I imagine that communication is paramount. I
11:20
Speaker 1: imagine also that you rely on your managers a lot.
11:23
Speaker 1: And then also I you know, having that many people
11:26
Speaker 1: to talk to, getting your mission, your vision and doing
11:30
Speaker 1: what you need people to do, but also making sure
11:32
Speaker 1: that people have a good quality of life. How on
11:34
Speaker 1: earth do you with talking with all these different agencies,
11:36
Speaker 1: all these different people making sure that everything is a
11:39
Speaker 1: well old machine. I know it could be its own
11:41
Speaker 1: separate podcast about how that all works, but how does
11:44
Speaker 1: it work for you?
11:45
Speaker 3: Well?
11:46
Speaker 2: And again, you've been very kind to give me credit
11:48
Speaker 2: that I probably don't deserve. And so let me tell
11:50
Speaker 2: you about the approach that we think makes the most sense. Right.
11:53
Speaker 2: And I told you I'm a big fan of you know,
11:55
Speaker 2: adages and old catch lines. You know, it takes a village.
11:59
Speaker 2: You know it's usually makes a village to raise a child.
12:01
Speaker 2: But in this particular instance, I'm gonna pill for that
12:03
Speaker 2: and say it takes a village to really be successful
12:05
Speaker 2: in this regard. And if I've had any luck, it
12:07
Speaker 2: has been because we've surrounded ourselves with, as I said before,
12:10
Speaker 2: a workforce that I would let care for my mother
12:13
Speaker 2: and father. And that is the simplest question I ask
12:15
Speaker 2: for a new employee or someone that we're working with,
12:17
Speaker 2: is would I trust you in my home with my parents?
12:19
Speaker 2: And if I can say yes, then a way we go. Right.
12:22
Speaker 2: We focus on retention, building our leadership from within. The
12:25
Speaker 2: people that I've had the privilege of surrounding myself with
12:27
Speaker 2: could run circles around me. I could walk off the
12:30
Speaker 2: face of the earth tomorrow and nothing would miss a
12:32
Speaker 2: beat because we have built an ecosystem of incredibly talented people.
12:36
Speaker 2: But a lot of companies can say that, and good
12:38
Speaker 2: that they can. Where we go a little further is
12:40
Speaker 2: we want to make sure that our provider partners right,
12:42
Speaker 2: every hospital, every nursing home, every physician and specialists all
12:47
Speaker 2: understand what we're doing. We work closely with other home
12:50
Speaker 2: health agencies and large advocacy and trade organizations. We have
12:54
Speaker 2: five thousand plus volunteers in this organization, every one of
12:57
Speaker 2: whom can articulate our mission and our vision and with
13:00
Speaker 2: probably more measured cadence than.
13:03
Speaker 3: Even I could.
13:04
Speaker 2: But the reality is it takes a village, and our
13:06
Speaker 2: goal and through this conversation specifically, is to make sure
13:10
Speaker 2: people know all are welcome right at this table or
13:13
Speaker 2: out of playbook. Every player on this field brings a
13:16
Speaker 2: unique skill set and it's not just a one person show.
13:19
Speaker 3: It's not all about a quarterback. This is about a team.
13:21
Speaker 2: And to that end, we're very excited to enlist all
13:25
Speaker 2: the supports of employed, volunteered, partnered or simply advocates all
13:29
Speaker 2: the way from legislators, you know policymakers to administrators, to
13:34
Speaker 2: direct caregivers and everything in between.
13:36
Speaker 1: I want to talk to you a little bit about data,
13:38
Speaker 1: and I promise I won't hold you any specific numbers.
13:41
Speaker 1: But with that said, our audience knows that I'm a
13:43
Speaker 1: Generation X. I was this close to being a boomer,
13:46
Speaker 1: even though my twenty three d ye old says, okay,
13:48
Speaker 1: boomer to me a lot. I'm not officially one, folks,
13:51
Speaker 1: but I'm darn close. With that said, I've seen enough
13:53
Speaker 1: data that we're getting into a generation where while we're
13:57
Speaker 1: getting older, there's much more older people on the planet,
14:00
Speaker 1: and that means that eventually, much more older people will
14:03
Speaker 1: be dying soon. And I imagine for you, you know,
14:06
Speaker 1: it can be a little bit overwhelming for you, your
14:08
Speaker 1: team members and all your partners out there. With that said,
14:12
Speaker 1: you have to have the infrastructure there for all that.
14:14
Speaker 1: And you know we've listened, We've done the reading about
14:17
Speaker 1: Alzheimer's and dimension all the things that are happening. And
14:20
Speaker 1: I should also clarify this that hospice is not just
14:23
Speaker 1: for the elderly folks. Okay, because people get sick when
14:26
Speaker 1: they're young. That happens, But I imagine that the data leans
14:29
Speaker 1: more towards people that are probably over fifty. With that said, Andrew,
14:32
Speaker 1: what kind of data are we looking at as you
14:35
Speaker 1: work with other families around the country.
14:37
Speaker 3: Well, and Dennis, thank you.
14:38
Speaker 2: I'm going to answer that question with one little sort
14:40
Speaker 2: of asterisk or footnote, if you will.
14:43
Speaker 3: You raised a great point.
14:44
Speaker 2: We have a tremendous pediatric program for the chronically ill
14:47
Speaker 2: children in our communities, in our organization, and we certainly
14:50
Speaker 2: serve veterans, we serve first responders, we serve you know,
14:53
Speaker 2: lots of those with workforce accidents. And so yet's why
14:55
Speaker 2: you want to paint with the broad brush your career Act.
14:58
Speaker 2: This is generally speaking, you know, those for the elderly,
15:00
Speaker 2: But wherever there's need is where we show up in force.
15:03
Speaker 2: And so I just wanted to make sure anyone in
15:05
Speaker 2: the audience heard that loud and clear. Now, more to
15:07
Speaker 2: your question, however, is you know I want to make
15:11
Speaker 2: sure I attribute this to the right person. I think
15:13
Speaker 2: that's probably internet lore if I get it wrong, forgive me.
15:15
Speaker 2: I think it was Winston Churchill who said, right, never
15:17
Speaker 2: let a good crisis.
15:18
Speaker 3: Go to waste.
15:19
Speaker 2: If you look at the mathematical trajectory of where this
15:22
Speaker 2: country is going. We have an exponentially increasing, you know,
15:26
Speaker 2: aging population. We have an exponentially decreasing workforce. The average
15:30
Speaker 2: age of a nurse at this point in the United
15:32
Speaker 2: States of America is over fifty years old. So you know,
15:34
Speaker 2: you don't have to be a statistician or an actuarial
15:37
Speaker 2: scientist to see this is not the kind of supply
15:39
Speaker 2: and demand curve you want. But in that spirit of
15:42
Speaker 2: not being gloom and doom and what can Chapters do
15:45
Speaker 2: as the largest nonprofit in the country, this is where
15:48
Speaker 2: we think we have a little bit of secret sauce.
15:50
Speaker 2: And most people don't like to share their secret sauce.
15:52
Speaker 2: I have no problem sharing it because I think it
15:54
Speaker 2: needs to be shared. We have grown with an intention
15:57
Speaker 2: to aggregate at scale and organization's strengths. Best practices created
16:01
Speaker 2: on paralleled workforce environment, retain those staff members who otherwise
16:05
Speaker 2: might be fleeting, and in doing so, it allows you
16:08
Speaker 2: to better redirect funds. Not to Wall Street or investors,
16:11
Speaker 2: with whom there's nothing wrong with, but our mission is
16:13
Speaker 2: expressly to reinvent, to innovate, to advance the cause in
16:17
Speaker 2: ways that other people simply can't or won't do.
16:20
Speaker 3: So.
16:20
Speaker 2: Our answer to this crisis is there are better ways.
16:23
Speaker 2: More focus on value instead of quantity. There are better
16:27
Speaker 2: ways focus on treating the patient and family. Again, as
16:29
Speaker 2: I said, as a story, and what's their real motivation?
16:32
Speaker 2: Is it medical procedures or is it quality of life?
16:35
Speaker 2: You know, there are ways to put contracts and business
16:38
Speaker 2: models in place and incentivize quality over throughput. There's a
16:42
Speaker 2: lot of ways to get it. And I don't want
16:43
Speaker 2: to get into the business tactics because that might lose
16:45
Speaker 2: our audience. But when you say, you know, how do
16:47
Speaker 2: you handle something like where this country is going? Our
16:50
Speaker 2: goals are very simple. Be large, be respected, have a voice,
16:55
Speaker 2: put your margins and put your economies of scale to
16:58
Speaker 2: great use, and really change it so that it is
17:00
Speaker 2: scalable and built to survive.
17:02
Speaker 1: We are past the halfway mark, Andrew, and I think
17:05
Speaker 1: it's a great segue to talk about funding, because I
17:07
Speaker 1: know it is a very big deal. Now we are
17:08
Speaker 1: going to talk about the many ways people can get
17:10
Speaker 1: involved in You and your team have done a great job.
17:12
Speaker 1: There are many different levels how people can get involved,
17:15
Speaker 1: including donations, but overall, how are you funded?
17:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you know, as a nonprofit right.
17:21
Speaker 2: Certainly we run efficiently, but we are very much indebted
17:25
Speaker 2: to and supported by philanthropy. Film profit partners be the
17:30
Speaker 2: individuals or organizations we apply and work with many many
17:34
Speaker 2: grant funding institutions and research institutions, you know.
17:37
Speaker 3: So really there's there's no stone.
17:39
Speaker 2: That we're unwilling to turn over in an effort to
17:41
Speaker 2: find funds to help advance this cause. As you might
17:45
Speaker 2: imagine when you have an approach of saying yes to
17:47
Speaker 2: anyone without their regards to their ability to pay, which
17:50
Speaker 2: is a hallmark of our organization. You know, you do
17:53
Speaker 2: rely upon some really kind hearts and you know some
17:55
Speaker 2: pockets out there and doing so. But that isn't to
17:58
Speaker 2: say that we don't run an efficient operation, you know,
18:00
Speaker 2: growing as a size that we do. Our goal is
18:02
Speaker 2: to be highly visible to policymakers, to legislators, to donors
18:06
Speaker 2: and philanthropists to say, wow, not only are they efficient
18:09
Speaker 2: and innovative, but you know, my donated dollar is going
18:12
Speaker 2: to really bring a return that I might not get elsewhere.
18:15
Speaker 2: And so we want to make sure that those who
18:17
Speaker 2: are willing to support us filanthropically also think that it's
18:20
Speaker 2: you know, a really great use of their time and funds,
18:23
Speaker 2: and hence opportunities like this to explain and educate.
18:26
Speaker 1: And I should mention on the website, which we'll give
18:28
Speaker 1: at the end of our interview. There's a nice big
18:29
Speaker 1: blue donate button there. But I think the nice thing
18:32
Speaker 1: about you know, in twenty twenty six, there's not just
18:34
Speaker 1: one way to donate to most nonprofits, but you guys
18:37
Speaker 1: have gone above and beyond is I take a look
18:39
Speaker 1: at the website that different ways you can give is extraordinary,
18:42
Speaker 1: which I think is great for people because when you
18:44
Speaker 1: have choices to give, it makes it easy for them
18:46
Speaker 1: to do it, but also for you to accept it. Correct.
18:49
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, and that mantra applies to as you've been
18:52
Speaker 2: kind enough to highlight donations and monetary support.
18:55
Speaker 3: But the same adage I spoke to a little earlier.
18:57
Speaker 2: We want to make sure there are multiple ways if
18:59
Speaker 2: you have a question that we can help with or
19:01
Speaker 2: resource you need connected with reach us. And I make
19:04
Speaker 2: the same joke all the time. We have the websites,
19:06
Speaker 2: of course, we have social media, we have direct contacts,
19:09
Speaker 2: carrier pigeons, smoke signal, whatever it takes, will and willing
19:12
Speaker 2: and ready as an organization to respond.
19:14
Speaker 1: I love it. You did mention volunteering a little bit earlier, Andrew,
19:17
Speaker 1: and I think we should mention this and talk about
19:19
Speaker 1: it a little bit because it is highlighted very nicely
19:21
Speaker 1: on the website Hospice Volunteers, Life Treasures, thrift stores which
19:25
Speaker 1: I found fascinating, grief camps too, which is really cool
19:28
Speaker 1: that you do that, and veterans and first responders, and
19:30
Speaker 1: of course living here in the DMV, and we worked
19:33
Speaker 1: with so many nonprofit military organizations. There's a lot to
19:36
Speaker 1: do there. Can you talk about volunteering with the organization?
19:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, And again I think they say if you say
19:42
Speaker 2: something three times in a session, people will hear you.
19:44
Speaker 3: Right.
19:45
Speaker 2: We've talked about make it easy, make it easy, and
19:46
Speaker 2: here's a third one. Make it easy if you have
19:49
Speaker 2: time and willingness. If you're passion in some way, be
19:52
Speaker 2: it direct or tangential, fits this whole environment, reach out
19:56
Speaker 2: to us.
19:56
Speaker 3: Right.
19:57
Speaker 2: We have care at the bedside that people can support
20:00
Speaker 2: administrative things of being in the office and learning the
20:02
Speaker 2: environments of passion. We have community and civic channels, like
20:05
Speaker 2: you said, in the and the thrift stores and in
20:08
Speaker 2: the camps and the volunteering. We have everything and then
20:11
Speaker 2: some if there's an ability for your time and your
20:13
Speaker 2: talents to be given. You know, that's what's great about
20:16
Speaker 2: our organization is there's never a shortage of work to do.
20:18
Speaker 2: There's never a shortage of people to reach. And we
20:20
Speaker 2: have had everything from volunteer speakers who are great at
20:23
Speaker 2: promoting the mission to those who wanted to you know,
20:25
Speaker 2: count and sort the sweaters that were donated in the
20:28
Speaker 2: back room. There's always something and if you have the
20:30
Speaker 2: kind heart and the time we have, we have a way.
20:32
Speaker 1: And then Andrew just circling back to about ways to give.
20:35
Speaker 1: They're also upcoming fundraising events and we don't have to
20:38
Speaker 1: talk about all of them. But the nice thing is that,
20:40
Speaker 1: you know, it seems like about a couple every month,
20:44
Speaker 1: and I'm looking at your calendar right now. There's quite
20:46
Speaker 1: a few there and a lot of different there's variety
20:48
Speaker 1: on there, I guess is my point when it comes
20:50
Speaker 1: to all the different things, do you have fundraising events?
20:52
Speaker 1: Which is very cool too.
20:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, our thought process on that.
20:56
Speaker 2: I'm taking credit for our incredible foundation team who are
20:59
Speaker 2: organized this national conversation on end of life and chronic illness.
21:03
Speaker 2: You know, they had the realization, and they've done a
21:04
Speaker 2: great job of saying it's not just enough to want
21:07
Speaker 2: to support, right. We understand that we have limited dollars
21:10
Speaker 2: in our world to give, and if you're kind enough
21:12
Speaker 2: to do it, we want to make sure that you've
21:14
Speaker 2: provided some fun or something rewarding as an individual. So
21:16
Speaker 2: if you know, the fishing tournament is your thing, at
21:18
Speaker 2: the golf tournament's your thing, if it's being at the
21:21
Speaker 2: children's camp in person, we want to make sure we
21:24
Speaker 2: provide as much of a thank you for you know,
21:26
Speaker 2: the experience as as just for the donation itself. And
21:29
Speaker 2: so we try, we try to put together a whole
21:31
Speaker 2: slew of different types of opportunities to cater to every
21:34
Speaker 2: willing participant.
21:36
Speaker 1: Andrew, if you could do me a favor and once
21:37
Speaker 1: again indulge me. I loved my next question, and it's
21:41
Speaker 1: basically presented that this is why we get up every morning. Now,
21:44
Speaker 1: I realize that as president and CEO and you're talking
21:48
Speaker 1: with your managers and your team and maybe the odd family,
21:51
Speaker 1: when when you get that opportunity about how Chapters has
21:55
Speaker 1: changed somebody's life, and you know, once again we're talking
21:59
Speaker 1: about very serious thing when it comes to hospice and
22:01
Speaker 1: all the other things that happen with that. But you know,
22:03
Speaker 1: making it as best as you can during a very
22:05
Speaker 1: difficult situation can be very memorable in a good way.
22:10
Speaker 1: And I'm sure you have tons of experiences in the
22:12
Speaker 1: decade almost that you've been there with Chapters. If you could,
22:16
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear maybe a story or two about
22:19
Speaker 1: something that was very special. And I'm sure you have
22:21
Speaker 1: hundreds of stories that are fantastic, because I know you
22:23
Speaker 1: don't want to nail it down to one or two,
22:25
Speaker 1: But is there one that you could share with our
22:27
Speaker 1: audience It was just so memorable, It was this is
22:29
Speaker 1: why we get up every morning? Kind of story that
22:31
Speaker 1: you could share.
22:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I'll give you a couple of brief samples
22:35
Speaker 2: because every community, and even if Chapters is not there,
22:38
Speaker 2: and there's a lot of those, someone in your community
22:42
Speaker 2: is doing this type of work and they're probably doing
22:44
Speaker 2: it as an unsung hero, and I encourage you to
22:46
Speaker 2: find them and spend some time with them because it
22:48
Speaker 2: will change your view on how medicine can be done properly.
22:51
Speaker 2: You know, we've had and this is struck a lot
22:52
Speaker 2: of people as odd because they think of you know,
22:55
Speaker 2: end of life and chronic illness.
22:56
Speaker 3: As being an age driven thing.
22:58
Speaker 2: Right, We've conducted marriages, you know, when someone was coming
23:02
Speaker 2: up on time that they didn't know how much time
23:04
Speaker 2: they had left and they didn't want to leave that
23:05
Speaker 2: undone for their loved one. We've done countless, you know,
23:09
Speaker 2: trips to here and there to get someone the honor
23:12
Speaker 2: flights that we bring, you know, veterans to the Washington
23:15
Speaker 2: d C and give them the chance to be thanked
23:17
Speaker 2: and shown the gratitude for all their service. Over all
23:19
Speaker 2: the years happened routinely. I can't tell you the number
23:22
Speaker 2: of graduations and the number of births and the number
23:26
Speaker 2: of things that we've allowed people allowed. We've assisted people
23:29
Speaker 2: in getting to see and be part of that. Without
23:31
Speaker 2: this guy, they may not have been. And all that
23:33
Speaker 2: on its face sounds straightforward. But what I'm the part
23:36
Speaker 2: of the story I'm not highlighting that I want you
23:37
Speaker 2: to hear is and in that time, the loved ones
23:41
Speaker 2: got to be part of their own experience as well. Right,
23:44
Speaker 2: if we're there to assist, what is not distracted from
23:48
Speaker 2: that bride, or from that graduate, or from that mother
23:50
Speaker 2: to be is the fact that mom or dad are
23:52
Speaker 2: in good hands, and mom and dad are there, and
23:54
Speaker 2: you can live your day, your way with your family
23:58
Speaker 2: and we run in the background. So a lot of
24:00
Speaker 2: people hear the stories and think that's great, but what
24:02
Speaker 2: they fail to capture is this is a family experience.
24:04
Speaker 2: This is a societal experience, This is a group experience.
24:08
Speaker 2: And very often you'll hear this in our patient populations.
24:11
Speaker 2: They know a lot about what's going on with themselves,
24:13
Speaker 2: they've known what's coming for a long time. They struggle
24:16
Speaker 2: with how their family is going to react, they struggle
24:18
Speaker 2: with how their church is going to react, with how
24:19
Speaker 2: their team is going to react, and our ability to
24:22
Speaker 2: help that whole orbit is really what makes it special. So,
24:25
Speaker 2: I mean, you talk about events or moments, I highlight
24:28
Speaker 2: a couple of them, but I highlight from a different
24:30
Speaker 2: view than most people really think to look at. You know.
24:33
Speaker 1: One of the things I'm thinking about as you talk
24:35
Speaker 1: about that, and I'm sure you have as many experience
24:38
Speaker 1: as I do, that while there are a lot of
24:39
Speaker 1: self help books out there, there's really not a manual
24:41
Speaker 1: for life and death, and we're just kind of winging
24:45
Speaker 1: it as human beings out there. And I imagine the feedback,
24:48
Speaker 1: the incredible feedback and threw the you and your team
24:50
Speaker 1: get when somebody is going into this situation, especially with
24:53
Speaker 1: hospice and not knowing what on earth is going on,
24:56
Speaker 1: and all heck is breaking loose, and it's sad and
24:58
Speaker 1: it's tragic and there's a lot of crazy things happening.
25:01
Speaker 1: That they have professionals that know what they're doing, that
25:03
Speaker 1: can hold their hand during that, that's got to be
25:05
Speaker 1: pretty special for you and your team.
25:08
Speaker 2: We think it is right, and I'm sure everybody feels
25:11
Speaker 2: proud of their chosen profession. And that's why you go
25:13
Speaker 2: right because most of us don't go for the money.
25:15
Speaker 2: Most of us go for what we believe in and
25:17
Speaker 2: what it fills our own bucket. But if you think
25:20
Speaker 2: about the fact that our organization will care for almost
25:22
Speaker 2: forty thousand individuals this year and have another twenty plus
25:25
Speaker 2: thousand go through the various grief camps and programs supporting that,
25:29
Speaker 2: you know that's a very large number of lives touched.
25:32
Speaker 2: But what we would tell our staff is that's sixty thousand,
25:35
Speaker 2: and that is sixty thousand individual unique stories that had
25:39
Speaker 2: to be solved and thought of, and every time differently, right,
25:42
Speaker 2: you know it's not. It's not an assembly line where
25:45
Speaker 2: you kind of, you know, make one and repeat, make
25:48
Speaker 2: one and repeat.
25:48
Speaker 3: Everybody is its own unique story.
25:50
Speaker 2: When you embrace that mindset, you really get to take
25:53
Speaker 2: people on a journey that they only will experience once.
25:55
Speaker 2: And I would be the first to tell family considering
25:58
Speaker 2: looking into these kinds.
25:59
Speaker 3: Of care, you get one shot at this one.
26:01
Speaker 2: There are no do overs. You buy a splitter from
26:04
Speaker 2: the store, you don't like it, put it on the shelf,
26:05
Speaker 2: and buy another one. When you're loved one needs this
26:08
Speaker 2: kind of care and attention. You want it to go well,
26:10
Speaker 2: and you want to go well the first and only
26:12
Speaker 2: time they're going to experience it. So you know, look
26:14
Speaker 2: into the supports that are out there via chapters or
26:16
Speaker 2: someone else. You know.
26:17
Speaker 1: The other thing I'm thinking about about, you know, the
26:18
Speaker 1: grief camps and hospice and it doesn't matter what age
26:22
Speaker 1: you are. I've talked to another enough nonprofits, especially when
26:25
Speaker 1: it comes to military and all the other things. When
26:27
Speaker 1: it comes to death and people being sick is mental
26:30
Speaker 1: health and wellness. And I know that's a dressed because
26:32
Speaker 1: once again, no manual for this, folks. We're just winging
26:35
Speaker 1: them and it has to be addressed. And I imagine
26:37
Speaker 1: your team is really good at that as well.
26:40
Speaker 2: I said it a little earlier, and again you're being
26:42
Speaker 2: so kind to give me these chances to revisit subjects
26:44
Speaker 2: that may have flown under the radar. One of the
26:47
Speaker 2: aspirations with our National Conversation on chronic illness and end
26:50
Speaker 2: of life is to point out that again, yeah, there's
26:52
Speaker 2: the medical model components of this there really are. Of course,
26:54
Speaker 2: there's drugs, and of course there's position care, but the
26:57
Speaker 2: valuable part that people fail to cather is psychosocial and
27:00
Speaker 2: emotional support. It's the behavioral and mental wellness support. It's
27:04
Speaker 2: the community of social determinants. It's transportation, it's meals, it's housing,
27:10
Speaker 2: it's all the security components that ultimately, your heart and
27:14
Speaker 2: your physiology might be in one state, but if your
27:16
Speaker 2: mind and your spirit's in a different you can still
27:19
Speaker 2: have problems that will manifest medically. And that's what we
27:22
Speaker 2: look to solve for. We try to make sure there's
27:23
Speaker 2: a whole mind, body, spirit element to every patient and
27:27
Speaker 2: family that we touch. And to your point, very often
27:29
Speaker 2: it doesn't exist in the chart. It exists in the home.
27:32
Speaker 2: It exists in the church, it exists in the bank account,
27:34
Speaker 2: it exists in the areas that impact one's health, but
27:38
Speaker 2: in a way that most don't necessarily stop and think about.
27:40
Speaker 1: Good. Well, thanks for addressing that, listen. We only have
27:42
Speaker 1: a few minutes left. I like to get some final
27:44
Speaker 1: thoughts about all the things we've talked about, and then
27:46
Speaker 1: we will give the website. I know some of our
27:48
Speaker 1: brilliant listeners have already found your website, but we will
27:50
Speaker 1: give it here so you have that, and it really
27:52
Speaker 1: is beautiful. Your team has put together a beautiful website.
27:55
Speaker 1: It's easy to navigate. There's tons of information on there.
27:58
Speaker 1: But just some final thoughts from you Andrew the floors.
28:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, and again, we can't be grateful enough just for
28:03
Speaker 2: the chance. This is a This is a grassroots movement,
28:06
Speaker 2: you know. It's not one that is ever going to
28:08
Speaker 2: have probably the massive national attention we wish it to be,
28:11
Speaker 2: but that doesn't stop us in trying. And so when
28:13
Speaker 2: we have this opportunity to address via the national conversation
28:16
Speaker 2: on end of life and chronic illness, our goal is
28:18
Speaker 2: not to come off as experts. Our goal is to
28:20
Speaker 2: make believers. Our goal is to help shed some misnomers
28:23
Speaker 2: and myths. Our goal is to say this is a
28:25
Speaker 2: wonderful thing that all of us together as voices and
28:28
Speaker 2: advocates can really advance advance knowledge, advance access, advance passion,
28:34
Speaker 2: and really we believe strongly that we're the voice to
28:37
Speaker 2: change in this American medical model that we want to
28:40
Speaker 2: see people really is being treated as you know, stories
28:43
Speaker 2: and lives and souls and not the s of their
28:45
Speaker 2: medical parts. And everybody can help in their own form
28:47
Speaker 2: and fashion, and our job is simply to be the convenor.
28:50
Speaker 2: So we thank every listener, and we thank every advocate
28:53
Speaker 2: for their consideration now and in the future.
28:54
Speaker 1: And let's give the website for everybody. Absolutely you can.
28:58
Speaker 2: Find this and all all sorts of other informant at
29:00
Speaker 2: chaptershealth dot org. For those of you more inclined to
29:03
Speaker 2: have pneumatic memories, you get to chapters like chapters of
29:06
Speaker 2: the book, and health is pretty self explanatory all one
29:08
Speaker 2: word dot org.
29:10
Speaker 1: Well, Andrew, I can't appreciate your time enough. Thank you
29:13
Speaker 1: so much. Please give my best to all your team
29:15
Speaker 1: members and everybody out there. You know you're making a difference,
29:18
Speaker 1: and you know the thing I like about our conversation
29:20
Speaker 1: over the last thirty minutes that we've talked about and
29:22
Speaker 1: I've talked to a lot of CEOs in this series
29:24
Speaker 1: and a lot of others, is that your passion. Obviously
29:28
Speaker 1: you're very educated about your business and working with your people,
29:32
Speaker 1: but having passion for what you do is ultraport especially
29:35
Speaker 1: in the arena that you're in. And I want to
29:38
Speaker 1: give you that compliment because I think it's important to
29:40
Speaker 1: have those kinds of beside the passion, but there's just
29:43
Speaker 1: also the caring about people, and I think that's a
29:45
Speaker 1: little more acts of kindness, especially how the world's going
29:47
Speaker 1: right now and what you do and how stressful it
29:50
Speaker 1: can be. So thank you so much for your valuable time,
29:52
Speaker 1: continue to access to everybody at Chapters, and thank you
29:55
Speaker 1: so much for joining us on Community DC. We really
29:56
Speaker 1: appreciate it.
29:57
Speaker 3: On behalf of all our staff, we appreciate the opportunity