Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Jill Wiedemann-West, CEO of People Incorporated Mental Health Services

Transcript

Jill Wiedemann-West, CEO of People Incorporated Mental Health Services · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  The most important health care decisions don't happen
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  in isolation.
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  They happen when leaders come together.
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  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings together more than
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  3,500
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  hospital and health system executives this April in
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  Chicago.
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  With 800 speakers from Ascension,
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  Cleveland Clinic, CommonSpirit and more, the conversations get
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  real. Leaders will share how their scenario planning
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  for policy shifts, breaking through value based care
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  barriers, and building clinical teams that translate new
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  ideas into real world care.
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  Join top decision makers in the room April
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  13 through the sixteenth.
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  For the agenda and event details, visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  and click on the events tab in the
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  upper right.
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  Welcome everyone to the Becca's Healthcare podcast series.
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  I'm Mariah Muhammad, writer and moderator with Becca's
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  Healthcare. I'm thrilled to have with me today,
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  Jill Wiedemann West, CEO of People Inc.
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  Mental Health Services. Jill, welcome to the podcast.
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  We're very excited to have you join us
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  today. To get us started, would you mind
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  please introducing yourself, tell us about your system,
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  and, your organization?
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  Sure. Thank you for having me, Mara. I
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  appreciate being here.
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  I am with People Incorporated Mental Health Services.
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  We are a
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  mental health services provider to adults,
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  children and families
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  in Minnesota.
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  We are, practice at the community level, which
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  means we're working with individuals
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  who have a lot of barriers to getting,
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  help
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  and are in some cases partially or fully
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  disabled
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  by mental health conditions.
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  We have
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  basically about, you know, 40 different programs all
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  over Minnesota
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  that range from
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  outpatient kinds of services
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  to support services,
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  mental health clinics,
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  as well as treatment and crisis environments
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  and long term supports.
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  Our organization is the largest community mental health
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  provider
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  in Minnesota
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  and,
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  we serve
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  discreetly somewhere between,
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  13,014
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  individuals a year
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  and about,
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  a third of those individuals get more than
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  one service.
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  So,
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  we really do, think of ourselves
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  as a system of care
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  and we seek to have our clients see
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  us as a community of care
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  where they can come and go as their
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  needs, indicate,
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  but also
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  always feel comfortable,
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  coming back to us with any issues, problems,
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  concerns that they have so so that we
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  can,
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  jump on it as quickly as possible.
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  Perfect. Thank you so much for giving us
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  that background. So
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  for just into the new year,
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  what trends are you,
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  watching currently?
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  Oh, gosh. I'm watching almost everything.
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  I feel a bit like, and this is
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  kind of a weird thing to say because
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  it's not all good stuff, but a bit
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  like a kid in a candy store. There
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  is
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  so much changing right now in health care,
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  the way we provide care, the way that
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  consumers
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  expect care,
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  workforce
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  challenges,
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  compression,
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  you know, the,
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  challenges
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  of,
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  just an aging population
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  as well as really some of the trends
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  related
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  to, you know, public
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  health and,
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  the way that we're starting to really connect
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  the dots
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  around disparity
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  and equity
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  in a more direct way with our health
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  care systems.
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  So right now, I'm I'm watching literally
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  everything because
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  two reasons. One,
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  it's it's fascinating,
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  to watch the evolving and the changes
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  on a daily basis
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  and and try to imagine
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  where we're gonna end up tomorrow, next week,
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  a year from now.
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  And,
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  and secondarily, as the CEO of People Incorporated,
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  it's really my job and that of my
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  team to try to get in front of
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  what we think is coming
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  so that we are prepared to pivot
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  if necessary,
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  to better meet the needs of our community,
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  but also,
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  just to to manage to what is, I
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  think, a tremendously,
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  evolving system right now at so many levels.
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  Yeah. Yeah. That definitely makes sense. I think
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  2026
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  is definitely,
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  still on the path of transformation
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  as you were kinda talking about, and there
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  is a lot of
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  information going back and forth and a lot
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  of change so that, I think a lot
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  of health care executives
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  are are, you know, sensing.
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  For you, what are you most focused on
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  and excited about,
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  for your organization
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  this year, for the next few years? And
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  also, what are you most proud of from
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  the last six to eighteen months?
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  Well, I'll tell you,
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  one of the things that I'm really proud
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  of that
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  our organization
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  finally got around to this year. We had
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  plans to do it when we started our
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  strategic cycle that started in 2020, but we
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  all know what happened in 2020.
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  So
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  we didn't get to it for a few
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  more years than we intended, but this year
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  we were successful in finally connecting
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  all the different pieces of our organization,
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  together in our new strategic plan.
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  So our strategic plan and our strategy and
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  tactics
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  are directly connected,
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  to our growth plan. They are directly connected
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  to our budget. They are directed directly connected
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  to our enterprise
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  projects
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  and our capital plan.
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  And everything is basically informing
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  our metrics and our scorecard.
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  It sounds like, gosh, it took you that
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  long to get there, but
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  it is not,
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  easy at the community level when you're often
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  trying to establish
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  that bigger enterprise thinking, but you're solving at
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  very tactical
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  and transactional levels. And,
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  it really it really takes a lot of
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  discipline
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  to finally get everything connected. So we know
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  what we're doing. We know how it informs
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  growth, we know what we're measuring, we know
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  what it's supposed to look like at the
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  end of this year, at the end of
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  next year, and then at the end of
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  this three year strategic cycle.
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  It's,
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  really informs,
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  technology
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  build,
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  you know, innovations. And,
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  it was a big lift.
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  And I am super proud that our organization,
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  got this done this year,
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  because it it really was quite a lift.
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  And I think, you know, really what I'm
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  most proud of in the next, you know,
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  say year to year and a half is
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  really utilizing that and,
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  pulling,
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  data from it that tells us
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  how to build better and best practices for
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  our population
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  that informs,
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  a little bit more
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  about how we can more fully and,
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  effectively engage our community,
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  in a more healthy and well state.
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  I think it also informs
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  a little bit more about what are those
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  social determinants
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  that get in the way of care. So
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  I'm really quite proud of,
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  just using the data that we get from
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  this and the new structure that we've put
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  in place in our organization
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  to really stand this up and support it
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  and make it all that it can be,
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  and really watch that grow and,
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  bear fruit over the next,
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  several months to really help us even make
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  it better and stronger.
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  Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you so much for
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  sharing that, Ansel.
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  And then, Jill, before I let you go,
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  the last thing I wanted to ask you
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  is what advice would you give to other
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  evolving leaders,
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  in this space
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  and, you know, with the changes that you
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  and other leaders know are coming?
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  Well, you know, I think,
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  the the advice that I give my emerging
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  leaders
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  at People Incorporated is is don't dig into
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  always assuming
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  things have to go the the same way
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  or be approached or solved for in the
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  same way. I think evolving leaders
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  need to practice agility. They need
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  to practice quieting themselves enough to kind of
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  see the forest through the trees.
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  They need to get really comfortable with that
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  sort of quick approach to,
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  you know, thinking about resolving for things or
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  thinking about kind of what next steps are.
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  The same agility that I really talked to
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  in, you know, one of your earlier questions,
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  Mariah, which, you know, really speaks a little
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  bit more to
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  watching everything and trying to figure out where
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  you prioritize
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  your responses
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  and what you think it's going to look
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  like in a day, a month, a year,
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  and how you, you know, get in front
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  of that. I think leaders,
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  you know, a lot of times are thought
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  of as tacticians, you know. We tactically approach
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  problems. We tactically approach growth
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  and issues,
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  in a way that keeps the organization strong
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  and and moving forward. And that is 100%
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  true. But I think the future
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  starting now
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  really requires,
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  leaders
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  to develop
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  a strong, strong,
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  strong sense of agility
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  and a comfort with that agility
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  to make sure that they are truly,
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  you know, not digging themselves into a corner
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  because this is the way we've always approached
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  it, but rather,
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  you know, looking at solutioning in a very
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  broad way and more importantly,
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  looking at
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  everything that's out in front of you and
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  trying to figure out what of that is
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  relevant, what of that is important and what
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  of that is critical
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  and not being afraid
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  to make some of those judgments
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  and pull in things that
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  maybe other people don't think are as important,
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  but for whatever reason, you really think they
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  are. Evolving leaders
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  need to practice and develop agility.
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  Perfect. Perfect. Perfect answer. Thank you so much
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  for giving, that advice and for those final
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  thoughts. This has definitely been a very informative
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  discussion. I wanna thank you so much for
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  coming, back on Becker's HealthCare
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  and on our podcast. I look forward to
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  connecting with you again soon,
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  and I hope you have a wonderful rest
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  of your year.
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  Well, thank you so much, and thank you
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  for inviting me. I really appreciate it.