To Care is Human

Rarely is someone able to share their story with the raw honesty and deep reflection that Isabela Castro is able to in this podcast. A mom who lost her baby in the NICU, Isabela has taken those difficult experiences and turned them into both her personal and professional motivation to do and be better. You won't want to miss this beautiful and vulnerable conversation with Isabela, a powerful voice...

In this Special Edition of the To Care is Human podcast series, join both podcasts hosts, Jason Wolf and Tiffany Christensen, as they have a conversation looking back on 2020, a challenging year. Listen as they share their personal experiences during the pandemic as well as hear their reflection on lessons learned from 2020. Join them as they remember 2020 podcast guests who left a lasting impress...

"Racism is a problem with bad policy, not bad people." Dr. Brittani James cares for patients on the South side of Chicago and is a Founding Director of the Institute for Antiracism in Medicine. Join us for this compelling conversation in which this thought leader shares her personal story and concrete steps to becoming an antiracist in healthcare. With all of the energy surrounding dismantling sys...

Rosie Bartel is a powerful voice for patients and families. After an infection changed her life forever, she chose to share her story and help organizations working to improve patient experience across the US. This podcast "unpacks" the faith, hope and desire to survive she attributes to her ability to get through difficult caregiving journeys and great personal medical challenges. Enjoy hearing f...

As we face the COVID-19 crisis, we also face many losses. How might we leverage what we know about grief and loss to help staff, clinicians and community members get the support they need? Isabel Stenzel Bynres is a cystic fibrosis, lung transplant patient who has lived through many losses and is now a grief counselor in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are seeking a sense of comfort and normalc...

How can healthcare organizations harness their core values and find new ways of supporting each other during a COVID-19 surge? At the helm of the award winning health system in Fort Worth Texas, JPS Health Network, Robert Early shares his approach to ensuring his workforce remains focused on the human experience in healthcare while also being acknowledged for the challenges they face. Join us for...

Nikki Montgomery is a certified patient advocate, patient and mother to a son with complex medical challenges. She is also a Black woman who understands the necessity for culturally competent care. How does a patient find a culturally competent provider? Nikki gives us her hard-won strategies on that and pushes us to address systemic racism through measurement.

A true pioneer in medicine and a renowned immunologist, Dr. Hildreth shares the life experiences that have led him to his career and calling as well as his mission to improve equity in healthcare. He eloquently wrestles with the realities of discrimination and whether we truly value all lives in the same way. This question is more important than ever before and highlighted by the disparities in pa...

This community briefing and conversation addresses health disparities in a time of crisis and beyond. Marsha Sinanan-Vasishta shed light on how the COVID-19 crisis has amplified systemic racism and specifically the difficult realities of disparities in healthcare. Listen for a conversation on how we can improve going forward and the action steps that are necessary for everyone to have equal access...

The time has come to be brave and have the painful conversations. Dr. Ron Wyatt is an African American physician who grew up in the Black Belt of Alabama. Today, he is an unapologetic voice in the effort to bring awareness to the reality of systemic racism in healthcare.

Dr. Justin Bright is a an Emergency Room Physician working at Henry Ford in Detroit, one of the areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. He is unapologetically honest about what impact this virus had on his life.

What are the most significant challenges for nurses during this challenging time as we face the current COVID-19 pandemic? Linda Knodel speaks about safegaurding against the lack of PPE and scrubs as well as how to secure adequate access to protective equipment going forward. Her conversation highlights how quickly the team at Kaiser Permanente adapted and reacted in order to care for their staff...

How do healthcare teams at a large University hospital handle daily patient care during the time of a global pandemic and immense stress? Dr. Craig Rackley, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Duke depicts the measures that he and his fellow practitioners are taking to reserve resources such as PPE in order to work as safely and efficiently as possible during this time.

Dr. Agrawal also delves into his thoughts for the future and the new reality we will face collectively after this crisis. Furthermore, he highlights the significant shortcomings that must be addressed in our current healthcare system including a disparity in dependent on socioeconomic status, race, and geographic location. Listen to hear his thoughts on what we can learn and improve on post pandem...

How to balance the human experience in healthcare at a time of crisis? Sven Gierlinger shares his personal story and outlines his leadership plan and thought process during the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). As the virus continues to develop rapidly, critical decisions must be made in order to save lives and support healthcare teams in the best way possible.

Erin Moore knew her children had a 25% chance of having cystic fibrosis and, with the birth of her son 10 years ago, her family saw that statistic come to life. Today, Erin is a leading voice in the space of patient engagement and co-design.

Cathleen Wheatley views her leadership role as knitting, a perfect visual for how she integrates and balances priorities such as increasing acute care needs, financial obligations, and investing back into research to improve the overall human experience in healthcare. Listen until the end, for a preview of her Patient Experience Conference 2020 keynote speech.

In this podcast, Curt shares candid thoughts on some "do's" and "don'ts" for engaging with people without sight. Some of it may surprise you, some of it might make you cringe and all of it will inspire you.

Listen to this jovial conversation and explore employee engagement from a new perspective. Should we all be making deliberate choices to do things outside of work that make us better at work? You decide, after hearing from Catherine Dale.

Dr. Conroy wholeheartedly believes in the generosity of spirit, especially as it applies to a healthcare setting. In this episode, she depicts how empowering patients with the right tools and knowledge is of the utmost importance in order to help guide them to an informed decision. Furthermore, Dr. Conroy provides examples of just how seriously healthcare providers must value the unique needs of t...

Part 2 of our conversation with Laurie Brown Kindred dives deeper into the cancer treatments she went through, her personal reaction to a changing body and reflections about how the looks of pity from strangers on the subway impacted her. These and other insights from a women who lived through cancer with grit and grace.

We learn how Facebook became a powerful tool for Laurie when sharing her cancer diagnosis with friends and family. Laurie also explores how she approached sharing her cancer journey with her 3-year old twin girls.

The Right to Die is a complicated and controversial topic. Kati, a passionate and loving OT, shares her story of a family asking for her guidance when the suffering had become too much. If "patient values guide clinical decisions" what does that mean in the context of euthanasia? Kati opens this conversation up for us because, if we can't talk about end of life, how can we really support those fac...

When we think about Patient and Family Engagement, we usually think of it occuring during the point of care and follow up visits. What happens when patient engagement continues well after recovery? Listen to neurosurgeon, Dr. Erik Hauck, and stroke survivor, Kara Lyven, explore the benefits of becoming "running buddies" following Kara's recovery from brain surgery. How might this relationship impr...

Engage in an in-depth exploration of how New York Presbyterian reinforces its commitment to humanizing healthcare and underlines the strategic role of CXO as an essential element in achieving key outcomes. Dr. Forese and Rick Evans share insights on their efforts at NYP to reinforce the humanity needed at the heart of healthcare in their commitment to best meet the needs of patients and the commun...