In this episode of the Healthcare Plus Podcast, host Dan Collard speaks with Don Taylor and Kurt Scott, co-creators of From Healer to Leader: The Path to Physician Leadership, a unique new leadership development program designed specifically for physicians.

Together, they explore why physician leadership is more essential than ever—and why so many physicians find themselves in leadership roles without the preparation or support they need. Drawing from years of experience in academic programs, military leadership, and physician career development, Don and Kurt talk about the serious gap in physician leadership training and what they’re doing to close it.

Listeners will hear:

• Why a certificate isn’t enough—and why the real outcome should be a personalized leadership plan for each physician
• What makes physicians different from other emerging leaders—and how to support them with the right level of challenge and psychological safety
• How their rolling cohort model and flexible structure honors physicians’ time while still building powerful peer connections
• Why organizations that invest in physician growth see stronger retention and better outcomes
• How leadership development is also a strategy for physician well-being and renewal

Whether you’re a physician, a hospital executive, or someone passionate about building strong clinical leaders, this episode offers smart, strategic insights into what physician leadership training should look like today—and how we can do it better.

For more information about the physician leader development course, please visit: https://www.plc-network.com/the-path-to-physician-leadership/

Don Taylor, Director of the Alliance for Physician Leadership and Professor of Practice at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, UT Dallas

At the Alliance for Physician Leadership, Don’s focus is on cultivating physician leaders who can navigate the complex dynamics of organizational change and healthcare management. Through their programs, they empower physicians with the knowledge to lead cultural shifts and respond to financial challenges in the medical field. As a professor of practice at UT Dallas, Don is dedicated to fostering innovation in healthcare. The team’s work centers on providing executive physicians with a deep understanding of themselves and the healthcare landscape, ensuring that learning is at the heart of health.

Kurt Scott, Founder & CEO, The Physician Leadership Career Network

With over 35 years of experience building and leading successful physician and physician executive recruitment programs, Kurt has dedicated his career to fostering meaningful connections between healthcare organizations and the leaders who drive them forward. In 2019, he recognized a gap in the field—a lack of a dedicated space for physician leaders to connect, grow, and advance their careers. To address this, Kurt founded the Physician Leadership Career Network, creating a platform that bridges this gap and empowers physician leaders to thrive.

In this episode of the Healthcare Plus Podcast, Quint Studer is joined by Dr. Roger Kapoor, physician leader and author of Working Happy!: How to Survive Burnout and Find Your Work/Life Synergy in the Healthcare Industry.

 Quint and Dr. Kapoor dive deep into one of healthcare’s most urgent challenges: burnout. Drawing from personal experience, clinical insight, and extensive research, Dr. Kapoor explores why so many healthcare professionals are feeling overwhelmed—and what we can do about it. He explains that burnout isn’t just a workplace issue; it often starts within ourselves, and recognizing this can be the first step toward healing.

Listeners will hear why “work/life balance” may be a flawed concept and how “work/life synergy” can offer a more sustainable, fulfilling way forward. They’ll learn about the powerful concept of ikigai (a Japanese term for “reason for being”) and how finding purpose in even the smallest moments can bring resilience and joy back to a healthcare career. Dr. Kapoor also explores fundamentals like diet, exercise, and sleep in a way that’s fresh and compelling. (You’ll love his insights on the “night shift janitors” that clear out the waste in our brains.)

This episode is a must-listen for anyone in healthcare who’s grappling with stress, seeking practical ways to recharge, or simply wanting to reconnect with the meaning behind their work.

About Dr. Roger Kapoor

Roger Kapoor, MD, MBA, is the senior vice president of Beloit Health System in Beloit, Wisconsin, a community-based nonprofit hospital with approximately 23 service locations. He is a Harvard-trained dermatologist who also holds an MBA from the University of Oxford in England and has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles published in professional journals including the New England Journal of Medicine. He was the recipient of the Wisconsin Medical Society’s Kenneth M. Viste, Jr., MD, Young Physician Leadership Award and named one of the Top 25 Emerging Leaders in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare.  

Kapoor has been credited with re-engineering the delivery of healthcare to his community, resulting in a dramatic rise in patient satisfaction at his institution from a stagnant 16th percentile to an astonishing 88th percentile in less than a year. He concurrently ushered in transformative results in quality, leading teams to achieve three consecutive “A” ratings from the national watchdog group Leapfrog, a four-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Five-Star Quality Rating System, and numerous quality-of-care pathway accolades. 

As a practicing board-certified dermatologist, he has built a successful medical and cosmetic dermatology practice using advanced techniques to help patients live happier, healthier lives. 

His book Working Happy! How to Survive Burnout and Find Your Work/Life Synergy in the Healthcare Industry was published in 2024.

In this episode of the Healthcare Plus Podcast, Dan Collard welcomes Céu Cirne-Neves, MPA, FACHE.  With over 25 years’ experience as a healthcare executive, she now serves as a faculty member in the undergraduate and graduate health administration programs at Rutgers University.

They discuss insights Céu has gained from her unusual path, which led her from her first job in healthcare marketing to chief administrative officer and finally to academia. At Rutgers she’s observed major differences in today’s students vs. those of years past (for instance: they’re far more focused and specific on what they want, and very intentional about gaining the competencies and resources needed to achieve it).

Céu shares her recent idea for drawing undecided students into the Healthcare Administration major by building an exploratory course based on Quint Studer’s book The Calling: Why Healthcare is So Special. (“I feel healthcare is more than a job,” she says. “I’m trying to make it enticing for them to see the difference they can make through healthcare administration.”) 

Filled with practical takeaways, this episode will appeal to anyone seeking more understanding on what drives the next generation of Health Administration students, how to help them connect to their calling early, and how to develop and mentor them.

About Céu Cirne-Neves, MPA, FACHE

Céu Cirne-Neves, MPA, FACHE, is a healthcare executive with more than 25 years of experience in senior level positions and has made a successful leadership transition as full-time faculty at the Rutgers University EJ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. At Bloustein, she teaches in the Master of Health Administration Program and serves as the coordinator for the undergraduate Health Administration Program. Furthermore, she is the faculty advisor for the undergraduate student organization, Future Healthcare Administrators, which signature event is the annual healthcare administration case competition. 

Cirne-Neves brings to the classroom a wealth of practical health administration experience resulting from years leading culture change, operational effectiveness, and patient safety and experience. She served as the CEO of Saint James Hospital, Cathedral Healthcare System, Newark, for 10 years, and most recently, in a variety of senior level roles including as Vice President of Ambulatory Services at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (CBMC), RWJBarnabas Health, Livingston.  

Throughout her career, Cirne-Neves has demonstrated how to convert an organization’s Mission, Vision, and Values into a leadership model that improves workforce engagement, organizational performance and results. She excels at strategic planning and implementation, operations management, and community benefit; and most of all, she shares the resolve that health administrators must nurture and contribute to the next generation of healthcare leaders.

Cirne-Neves is board certified in hospital administration and as a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE); she is a past president of ACHE’s New Jersey chapter and serves as the ACHE Regent for New Jersey – Northern; as part of her annual Regent Awards Program, she has now introduced the Student Associate and Mid Careerist Regent Awards, elevating the significance of both levels of health administration. She has served on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners and under her leadership CBMC received the regional Baldrige Gold Award for Performance Excellence. 

She has enjoyed serving in the most senior roles at healthcare organizations and now promotes bridging healthcare organizations with healthcare education.

In this episode of the Healthcare Plus Podcast, Dan Collard talks to Annamarí Dietrichson, BSc, MHA, an executive health coach and keynote speaker renowned for her expertise in avoiding burnout, creating a thriving culture, and cultivating leadership essentials. She also oversees patient experience for the Continental Division of HCA Healthcare. 

While leadership can be an exhilarating path, it can also wear people down when they don’t know how to manage it. Still, Annamarí says it’s possible for leaders (and everyone) to thrive in healthcare, regardless of its pressures. It’s about being the boss of our brain: Thoughts that might not even be true create an emotion in our body that ends up driving stress or success. That emotion drives us to act in ways that can either get us the results we want…or not. 

After deeply researching burnout, she formulated a methodology to tackle it. Called THRIVE—an acronym for Targeted Thoughts, Healthy Habits, Rest and Resilience, Intentionality, Vigilance, and Empowered Energy—it’s a framework for creating the mindset and skillset to be solution-oriented, keep your thoughts from hijacking you, and build a thriving career. 

Annamarí says fighting burnout is both personal and a corporate responsibility. She wants every leader and every individual in healthcare to work on their personal well-being as if nobody else is going to help. At the same time, she wants corporations to fight burnout as if no individual is going to do it themselves. If both groups put in 100 percent, that 200 percent effort might help us finally win this thing—for ourselves and, ultimately, for our patients. 

About Annamarí Dietrichson

Annamarí Dietrichson, BSc, MHA, is a seasoned healthcare executive, executive health coach, and keynote speaker renowned for her expertise in avoiding burnout, creating a thriving culture, and cultivating leadership essentials. As the founder of Annamari Health & Leadership Coach, LLC, she empowers healthcare leaders and organizations to unlock their full potential and THRIVE. 

Annamarí serves as the division vice president of care experience for the Continental Division of HCA Healthcare. She completed her graduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, where she graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 2001. In 2018 she received her master’s in health administration from Louisiana State University. Annamarí is a South Africa native who is proud to be a naturalized U.S. citizen since November 2022. When she is not at work or coaching her clients, you can find her somewhere in the mountains adventuring with her husband and their two cattle dogs. 

In this episode of the Healthcare Plus Podcast, Quint Studer welcomes Regina Shupe, DNP, RN, and Jennifer Carron Passon, MSOM, CPXP, for a conversation focused on patient experience. 

Quint, Regina, and Jennifer explore the “patient experience” concept, which has evolved tremendously over the past few decades. Now it encompasses the sum of all interactions from the initial touchpoint when a patient even considers selecting a healthcare organization until the time that they are back home caring for themselves and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. (It’s interesting to hear Quint, who has been described as putting patient experience “on the map,” open the discussion with his own history lesson on the field.) 

They also discuss a 2021 JAMA article—“Criterion-Based Measurements of Patient Experience in Health Care: Eliminating Winners and Losers to Create a New Moral Ethos” by Thom Mayer, Arjun Venkatesh, and Donald M. Berwick—debating the pros and cons of moving away from traditional percentile-based evaluations.

Finally, they offer a wealth of takeaways. Listeners will learn from the thoughtful discussion of common barriers people face when working to improve the patient experience and some practical (and doable) tips for overcoming them. 

About Jennifer Carron Passon, MSOM, CPXP

With 30 years of leadership experience and a Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP) credential, Jennifer is a patient experience officer at BJC Health System, a $6B integrated academic health system that serves millions of patients and families across the Midwest. 
 
 Her mission is to ignite a passion for human centricity and to transform the healthcare experience for all. She uses her Disney Institute training and contemporary thinking to design and deploy innovative interventions and digitally enhanced programs that elevate service excellence, hospitality, ownership, and regulatory results. She also contributes to various state-level and global initiatives that aim to advance patient and family engagement, equity and inclusion, and quality and safety in healthcare delivery. 

About Regina Shupe, DNP, RN

Regina works for the Healthcare Plus Solutions Group® team as an advisor, bringing her expertise in emergency services to help our partners assess and improve upon their patient experience and throughput to better serve patients and communities. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and also holds a certification in LEAN for Healthcare. 

For the past 35 years, she has dedicated her life to caring for patients, families, team members, and physicians. As a nurse, she enjoyed the intersection between the heart and science, healing patients from the inside out. As a leader, she is able to see the positive correlation between the experience of team members and the experience of patients. She believes when we intentionally design meaningful and memorable experiences for team members, physicians, and patients, we are able to heal as well as truly transform healthcare.

On this final episode of our Emotional Onboarding Series for The Healthcare Plus Podcast, Dan Collard is joined by Bart Kaericher, President, CEO, and Chief Cultural Officer of Aramark Healthcare+. 

Highlighting his commitment to Aramark’s 25,000+ teammates and the hospitals and patients they serve, Bart shares the importance of a human-centric approach to employee engagement and collaboration to enhance patient experiences. 

Along Aramark’s journey to becoming a Modern Healthcare Best Place to Work (which they achieved for the first time in 2024), Bart shares several key learnings and adjustments his team made, including:

• Implementing Early Connect, a program aimed at supporting new employees, and Team Member Connect, a new system of rounding that encourages coworker connections.
• Offering a daily pay system to support the team’s financial flexibility and address social determinants of health (SDOH).
• Reducing early turnover by connecting with new hires before they step onsite and regularly through the first 120 days. 
• Advocating for a focus on purpose, culture, and effective communication.

Missed an episode in our Emotional Onboarding series? Listen back now with Dr. Katherine Meese, Patti Frank, Natasha Lee, and Abby Spence. 

About Bart Kaericher

Bart Kaericher is the President & CEO of Aramark Healthcare+. Since his arrival to Aramark he’s been focused on building an organization that is delivering a vision of having engaged employees, positive patient experiences, operational excellence, caregiver support, and being problem-solvers within the healthcare arena.  Having a unified Culture of Caring has become a strong differentiator for Aramark Healthcare+. 

Before joining Aramark in May 2021, Bart served as Chief Growth Officer & Senior Vice President of Compass One Healthcare. While at Compass Group, he played an instrumental role in building revenues, profits, and valuable strategic partnerships. Prior to his tenure with Compass One Healthcare, Bart worked for more than a decade in the medical device industry at American Hospital Supply, now B. Braun Medical.  

Bart holds an MBA in Healthcare Marketing from Saint Joseph University in Philadelphia, PA, and a BS in Business from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He has also completed Cornell University’s Executive Healthcare Leadership program.

Welcome back to Part 4 of our Emotional Onboarding Series on The Healthcare Plus Podcast. On this episode, Dan Collard takes an in-depth look at the post-acute care industry with special guest Abby Spence, the nursing home administrator of Signature HealthCare of Cleveland. Dan and Abby discuss the unique staffing challenges faced by long-term care organizations and highlight early wins in retention and engagement from the implementation of Emotional Onboarding tactics. 

After attending the inaugural Post-Acute Leadership Institute (PALI) summit in July 2024, Abby brought a number of the selection, hiring, and onboarding solutions she learned back to her team in Cleveland, TN. 

In an effort to retain top talent, attract new team members, and improve residence care, Abby has implemented and seen success with several key Emotional Onboarding tactics, including:

• Creating a welcome video for new hires to reduce anxiety
• Implementing the “battery charge” exercise and creating a gratitude board to foster appreciation and open communication
• Completing a Personal Retention Plan with all new hires

Abby and Dan also discuss the need to attract Gen Z healthcare workers to solve the staffing shortage in post-acute care. Abby highlights how she’s adjusted her leadership style to cultivate a more supportive and development-focused workplace culture and how she’s leveraging new ideas brought forward by Gen-Z employees. 

Tune in next time for the final episode of the Emotional Onboarding series or listen back for more ideas from Katherine Meese, Patti Frank, and Natasha Lee today. 

About Abby Spence

Abby Spence is the CEO of Signature HealthCARE of Cleveland and has been a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator for 11 years. With a background in mental health and social services, she is committed to enhancing the quality of life for seniors and creating a positive work environment for healthcare professionals. Under her leadership, Signature HealthCARE of Cleveland recently received the Bronze Award from the AHCA National Quality Award program. Abby is also part of the inaugural cohort of the Post-Acute Leadership Institute, using her experience to further the success of her facility and its mission.

Welcome back to Part 3 of our Emotional Onboarding series on The Healthcare Plus Podcast. On this episode, Dan Collard is joined by special guest Natasha Lee to explore what Emotional Onboarding looks like in a virtual-first organization and see the impact it’s made on the culture of Floyd Lee Locums. Natasha Lee serves as CEO of Floyd Lee Locums, whose primary focus is to revolutionize the healthcare staffing industry by connecting clinicians to purposeful work.  

Natasha and Dan discuss Floyd Lee Locums’ innovative onboarding and leadership development programs, designed to support a strong corporate culture that prioritizes trust, engagement, and personal well-being. 

Natasha shares key insights and solutions for healthcare executives, including:

• The importance of being involved in selection, hiring, and onboarding at the C-suite level to convey clear expectations, maintain high standards, and enhance your company culture. 
• How getting to know employees on a personal level ensures understanding that they are cared for even beyond the work they do for your organization. 
• Why Floyd Lee is focused on continuous improvement, despite recognition as #1 on Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work list for two consecutive years.  

Tune in next time for the final episode of the Emotional Onboarding series or listen back for more ideas from Katherine Meese and Patti Frank today. 

About Natasha Lee

As CEO, Natasha Lee passionately upholds the core values of Floyd Lee Locums, whose primary focus is to revolutionize the healthcare staffing industry by connecting clinicians to purposeful work. A staffing industry veteran since 2001, she has extensive experience starting and growing new businesses, penetrating new markets, and recognizing and developing talent. Her authentic commitment to the industry informs the organization’s key promise of serving those who serve others.

Natasha is passionate about creating a company culture where all employees, partners, and clients feel valued and heard. Her impact and that commitment extends to our organization’s DEI&B efforts, corporate volunteerism program (We Serve), and our internal employee benefits program (We Sustain).

Welcome back to Part 2 of our Emotional Onboarding Series on The Healthcare Plus Podcast with your host Dan Collard. Today, Dan is joined by Patti Frank, Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer of CCM Health, a community hospital in Montevideo, Minnesota. 

Patti discusses her journey since joining CCM Health in 2018, highlighting the challenges they faced with high turnover, a reliance on travel nurses, and instability in senior leadership, which prompted a new focus on staff engagement and leadership development. Under Patti’s leadership, CCM Health first debuted on Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work list at #66 and this year, they reached #9. 

Patti and Dan discuss the intentional efforts CCM has made in Emotional Onboarding that have increased first-year retention by 15% and have contributed to their award-winning culture. A key initiative is helping new employees understand the phases of change and recognize that anxiety and doubt are normal with a new position or new organization. By creating this open dialogue, CCM has been able to provide resources and solutions to help team members navigate that anxiety and move more quickly towards feeling a sense of belonging in the organization. 

Patti also serves as an advisor at Healthcare Plus Solutions Group. Through this lens, she offers practical and doable tips for leaders to improve their onboarding processes and drive improved retention and engagement. 

Tune in next time for another episode of the Emotional Onboarding series that will dive into the post-acute care industry or listen back for more ideas from Katherine Meese today.

About Patti Frank
Patricia Frank, RN, MSN, FACHE is a distinguished healthcare executive and Advisor with Healthcare Plus Solutions Group, celebrated for her contributions to rural healthcare and her expertise in operational management, strategic planning, and patient care optimization. Recognized in 2020 among Becker’s Hospital Review’s “50+ Hospital and Health Systems CNOs to Know,” Patricia has a longstanding commitment to transforming healthcare in rural communities, where she has consistently improved patient outcomes, enhanced staff engagement, and elevated service delivery.

Patricia’s background includes extensive experience in clinical oversight, conflict resolution, and process improvement within rural settings, where she has reshaped organizational culture and built high-performing teams. Known for her integrity and strategic vision, Patricia has been honored with multiple “Best Place to Work” awards from different organizations by Modern Healthcare magazine, reflecting her dedication to making quality healthcare accessible in underserved regions. As an advisor, she now partners with healthcare organizations across the country to develop leadership capacity and optimize performance, all with a deep commitment to strengthening rural healthcare.

Welcome to Part 1 of our Emotional Onboarding series on The Healthcare Plus Podcast. Hosted by Dan Collard, we’re kicking off this 5-part series with special guest Dr. Katherine Meese, a researcher and expert in the space of organizational behavior and leadership. 

Dan and Katherine’s conversation explores several key facets of Emotional Onboarding™, a solution that improves early retention by reducing new hire anxiety and accelerating their feeling that they belong and are part of a team. 

Dr. Meese shares the latest research and industry insights on key areas of focus, including:

• The importance of building trust in the first 30-90 days and demonstrating flexibility and understanding through the hiring process
• Myth-busting what “belonging” really means and strategies for developing high-performing teams
• The significance of co-worker relationships in early onboarding and retention and how to best include peers in the interview and hiring process
• Challenges facing the multi-generational workforce and lessons learned from other industries 

Stay tuned over the next month as Dan Collard explores what Emotional Onboarding looks like in practice with leaders from four organizations across the continuum of healthcare. 

About Dr. Katherine Meese

With fifteen years of experience in healthcare management, leadership and research, Dr. Meese is an award-winning scholar and author in the field of organizational behavior, well-being, and leadership. She is the Founder and CEO of HuMargin Group which takes a data-driven, scientific  approach to help organizations solve their complex human challenges. Dr. Meese has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and has served as an evaluator on multi-million dollar grants.  She has co-authored two textbooks on organizational behavior in healthcare that are used in over 160 schools across the country. Her most recent book is The Human Margin: Building the Foundations of Trust with Quint Studer.

Dr. Meese also teaches and mentors graduate, doctoral and executive students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Health Services Administration, home to the #1 ranked MSHA program (U.S. News and World Report).

She is an internationally recognized keynote speaker, delivering over 100 presentations, workshops and keynotes across the globe. Her passion is to translate data and research into meaningful knowledge to help leaders and organizations support their humans.

Dr. Meese has a B.B.A from Texas A&M, an MPH from the University of Texas Health Science Center, and a PhD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She lives in the Nashville, TN area with her husband and two children.