Taking the Pulse: a Health Care and Life Sciences Podcast

Joining Heather and Darra from We Are Sharing Hope, Dave DeStefano and Kristine Neal dive deep into organ and tissue donation on episode 71. As South Carolina’s federally designated Organ Procurement Organization (OPO), their non-profit facilitates life-saving organic and life-enhancing tissue donation across the State. Dave and Kristine describe specific donor needs, conveying the benefits of donation to the public, and much more. Tune in now!

On this week’s episode, Heather and Matthew welcome Foster Jordan of Charles River Laboratories, which provides products and services to help expedite the discovery, early-stage development and safe manufacture of novel drugs and therapeutics. We have a lively conversation about health care and patient safety – including how horseshoe crabs right here in South Carolina contribute to keeping injectable pharmaceuticals and medical implants safe. Tune in now!

What does a medical practice that operates without the constraints of insurance look like? Dr. Cory Annis, the founder of Unorthodoc, sits down with Heather and Matthew to discuss how her practice provides patients with affordable, relationship-driven health care through the Direct Primary Care model. Dr. Annis explains her improved physician-patient relationships, monthly membership fees, and the future of the DPC model. Tune in now to learn more about this game-changing health care trend!

Bon Secours St. Francis President Matt Caldwell joins Heather and Matthew for episode 68 to discuss how the Upstate of South Carolina is battling the Delta Variant, a low vaccine rate, and burnout in medical professionals. A veteran of hospital leadership, Matt also dives into trending health care issues such as Certificate of Need, value-based care, and hospital provider consolidations. Tune in now!

On episode 67, Heather and Darra are joined by Stuart Barber, the Director of Senior Living at Charleston based architecture firm McMillan Pazdan Smith. Stuart focuses his work on environments for seniors and discusses the relationship between design and the quality of life for adults residing in senior living facilities. We also dive into how COVID has affected senior care, the future of design for senior facilities, and more. Tune in now!

South Carolina criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor Debbie Barbier joins Heather and Matthew to discuss her 25 years of experience in both state and federal courtrooms. She shares her thoughts on cases and legislation impacting the health care industry including COVID relief fraud, her methods when working on health care related cases, and much more. Tune in to episode 66 now!

Joining Heather and Darra from Prisma Health, Dr. Kevin Walker, a pain medicine specialist and anesthesiologist, and Doug Furmanek, Clinical Director of Pharmacy Services, dive deep in to the opioid epidemic gripping the United States. They share first-hand accounts of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the incidence of opioid misuses in South Carolina, ways the medical community can reduce opioid reliance, and much more. Tune in to epsiode 65 now!

On episode 64, Heather and Nexsen Pruet health care attorneys Matthew Roberts and Nikole Mergo sit down with Tod Augsburger, the President and CEO of Lexington Medical Center, a 557 bed nonprofit hospital in West Columbia, South Carolina. As the delta variant surges throughout the nation, Tod shares his insights on how Lexington Medical Center and the Lexington community has battled COVID since 2020, as well as health care trends like consolidation, pricing, and certificate of need. Tune in now for Tod’s first-hand account of leading a health care system during a global pandemic.

Matthew and Heather welcome back Sam Konduros to discuss his new role as President and CEO of KOR Medical. KOR Medical is a recently launched health innovation company that plans to set the standard in the arena of personalized, clinical cannabis to benefit patients suffering from diseases like epilepsy and cancer and to help alleviate the nationwide opioid crisis. Tune in now and learn more about this exciting South Carolina based company!

Dr. Ada Stewart, a physician at Eua Claire Cooperative Health Center, returns a year after first joining Heather and Darra on the podcast to give us an update on how the pandemic has impacted her work and patients. Dr. Stewart shares the details of her experience as President of the American Academy of Family Physicians during a tumultuous time, her service to underserved communities in South Carolina, and the rise of the Delta variant. Tune in now!