In this episode of the Vurge, host Wendy Hoffman sits down with Lainie Dean, Interim President of UpVia Health, to discuss a new and evolving model designed to strengthen and sustain rural healthcare organizations. Lainie shares her professional background in healthcare strategy and operations and explains how she was brought in by Parkview Health to help launch UpVia Health as a management services organization (MSO) focused on keeping rural hospitals independent, financially stable, and clinically strong.

The conversation explores the challenges facing rural and community hospitals, including financial instability, fragmented IT environments, workforce shortages, limited access to specialists, and operational inefficiencies. Lainie explains that extensive market research shaped UpVia’s initial service offerings, prioritizing areas that directly impact hospital sustainability, such as Epic Connect (shared EHR infrastructure), revenue cycle optimization, virtual care, supply chain leverage, and pharmacy services, including 340B and retail pharmacy support.

A key theme throughout the discussion is the importance of scale without acquisition. Rather than pushing affiliation or consolidation, UpVia offers an a la carte, flexible services model that allows hospitals to adopt only what they need, when they need it. This approach helps organizations stabilize while remaining locally governed and community‑focused.

Wendy and Lainie also discuss how technology, AI, and automation - particularly within the Epic ecosystem -can reduce burden on staff, improve workflows, and expand patient access to care, especially through telehealth and specialist connectivity. By leveraging Parkview’s advanced Epic environment and clinical expertise, smaller hospitals gain access to tools and capabilities that would otherwise be cost‑prohibitive.

The episode closes with reflections on culture, leadership, and mindset, emphasizing humility, openness to outside perspectives, and the need to “think differently” in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape. Lainie positions UpVia Health as a proactive solution—one that intervenes before hospitals reach a crisis point—helping rural communities preserve access to high‑quality care while adapting to the future of healthcare delivery.

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In this episode of The Vurge, host and Divurgent COO and President Wendy Hoffman sits down with Eric Bloom, Executive Director of the IT Management and Leadership Institute (ITML Institute) and a former CTO—to unpack what it really takes for technologists to move into management and leadership roles. Bloom explains why many IT professionals are promoted simply for being the “best techie,” then find themselves in a job they were never trained to do—one that requires letting go of hands-on work, delegating effectively, and finding fulfillment through the success of the team.

Bloom lays out key growth areas for new and aspiring IT leaders: interpersonal communication and emotional intelligence; “interprofessional” skills like conflict resolution, negotiation, and difficult conversations; business understanding of the industry and stakeholders; the business of IT (budgeting, vendor management, service catalogs, user experience, and customer service); and executive presence that helps IT earn a seat at the strategy table. A recurring theme is mentorship. Bloom argues it’s the single most important accelerator for leadership growth, because management is learned faster with guidance than through trial-and-error alone.

Looking forward, the conversation highlights how leaders must adapt to multi-generational teams, shifting expectations about purpose and work-life balance, and the realities of leading hybrid workforces. Bloom also emphasizes designing healthcare technology with the full patient population in mind, sharing an example of a well-built prescription app that failed users because it wasn’t accessible to many older patients. Finally, the pair discuss AI as a fast-moving set of distinct capabilities (not “one thing”) and the challenge of choosing tools wisely amid hype, consolidation, and long-term platform risk—reinforcing the need for strong governance, change management, and leadership fundamentals as IT modernizes.

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In this episode of The Vurge, Mike Kritzman, founder and CEO of Skillnet, talks about the role of competencies and operational excellence in healthcare IT with Divurgent President & Chief Operating Officer Wendy Hoffman. Mike shares his journey from managing teams at Oracle to founding Skillnet, a platform designed to help organizations inventory workforce skills, build competency models, and create targeted training plans. The conversation explores how clear competency frameworks provide both managers and employees with a roadmap for success, enabling transparent performance reviews and personalized development.

The discussion highlights Divurgent’s experience using Skillnet to support performance management and track one-on-one conversations, emphasizing the importance of clarity, consistency, and data-driven assessments. Mike explains how individualized training plans—based on skill gaps identified through assessments—help organizations foster growth and operational excellence. The episode concludes with advice for leaders: prioritize clarity in competency models to empower teams and drive continuous improvement.

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This episode of The Vurge features Chuck Christian, VP of Technology and CTO at Franciscan Health, in conversation with Divurgent Principal Pete Wiley. The discussion centers on the rapid pace of technological change in healthcare, comparing it to other industries and exploring whether healthcare is keeping up or lagging behind. Chuck shares insights from his extensive career, highlighting the challenges of balancing innovation with patient safety and the need for cautious adoption of new technologies. He uses vivid analogies, such as the "mule and buggy" metaphor, to illustrate how healthcare often plays catch-up with technological advances, emphasizing the importance of securing patient records and the complexities of integrating new systems across a large hospital network. The conversation also delves into the evolution of IT leadership roles, the creation of a technical innovation lab at Franciscan Health, and the critical role of clinical expertise in technology adoption. Chuck discusses the impact of AI agents, the ongoing struggle for interoperability in healthcare, and the importance of accurate patient identification. The episode concludes with reflections on change management, strategies to reduce clinician fatigue, and advice for emerging IT leaders: never stop learning, seek diverse perspectives, and look beyond healthcare for technological inspiration. Throughout, Chuck underscores the mission-driven nature of his organization and the need to ensure technology serves both clinicians and patients effectively.

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This episode of the Vurge podcast features Nasim Eftekhari, Chief AI and Analytics Officer at City of Hope, discussing her journey from computer science into healthcare and her leadership in AI-driven innovation within oncology. Eftekhari shares how her team developed predictive models for clinical decision support, including sepsis prediction for bone marrow transplant patients and models for surgical complications and mortality, all fully integrated with their EHR. She details the evolution of these models from traditional machine learning to generative AI, highlighting the development and impact of HOPE LLM—a domain-specific large language model trained on oncology and biomedical data. 

Eftekhari’s insights into AI governance are especially relevant. She describes City of Hope’s robust, multidisciplinary governance framework that balances innovation with risk management, ensuring ethical and responsible AI deployment. She also emphasizes the importance of fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration with other leading cancer centers, and the need for IT teams to proactively adapt to AI’s impact on roles and workflows. She concludes with optimism about AI’s future in drug discovery, multimodal disease understanding, and the transformation of healthcare operations, while urging a balanced approach to both the excitement and limitations of AI.

Learn more about Nasim on LinkedIn. 

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Join host Wendy Hoffman, President & COO at Divurgent, as she sits down with Colin Konschak, the company's Founder and CEO, to celebrate Divurgent's 18th anniversary. 

In this episode, they discuss Divurgent’s journey, the evolving challenges in healthcare IT, and how innovation and culture drive lasting impact. Discover how Divurgent supports clients through digital transformation, talent solutions, and managed services, all while staying true to their core values. 

Learn more about Colin Konschak on LinkedIn.

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In this episode, we're joined by Rick Schooler, the CIO of Florida-based Lee Health. Rick shares his journey from aspiring college athlete to healthcare IT leader, highlighting his extensive career in the industry. He discusses the significant transformations in healthcare IT, emphasizing the importance of governance and executive sponsorship for successful IT projects. Rick also addresses leadership challenges, such as maintaining team culture amidst constant changes and the shift in performance evaluations for remote workers. He stresses the need for leaders to immerse themselves in on-site operations to understand the realities of the work and build personal relationships with their teams. The episode concludes with Rick's reflections on his career and the lessons learned from his experiences.

Learn more about Rick Schooler. 

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We talk with Oliver Galicki of Memorial Hermann Health System, who transformed a football injury into a thriving career in healthcare IT. Listen as Oliver reveals how the leadership skills he developed on the field are now essential in guiding Memorial Hermann's Epic implementation. He shares the importance of teamwork, communication, and maintaining focus as Memorial Hermann approaches a critical Go Live milestone. 

Oliver shares the strategies that helped overcome resistance and manage employee concerns, and we delve into the unique dynamics of managing a remote IT team, maintaining employee satisfaction, and the benefits of structured in-person collaboration weeks. Tune in for a compelling blend of leadership, sports, and healthcare IT wisdom.

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Venture with us into the heart of Renown Health's IT transformation, where CIO Chuck Podesta's financial savvy led to slashing IT overhead while safeguarding jobs and boosting staff morale. Discover the ingenious strategies that not only reduced spending from 7% to a lean 4%, but also enhanced operational efficiency and fostered employee engagement. Chuck's commitment to maintaining a human-centric approach amid fiscal challenges is a roadmap for any leader looking to navigate the rough waters of organizational restructuring without losing their team's trust and enthusiasm.

Chuck's personal story is a masterclass in career agility and personal reinvention. Here he shares his inspiring journey from an unhealthy lifestyle to crossing finish lines at marathons worldwide. His metamorphosis into a passionate runner symbolizes his philosophy of perseverance and growth, which echoes through his professional mentorship. Chuck's mantra, 'aspire to inspire,' and his candid insights into overcoming setbacks will leave you motivated to set audacious goals and chase them down, one stride at a time.

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On this episode of The Vurge, we welcome Debi Smith and Lily Farris to the show to unravel the tapestry of organizational change management (OCM). The duo tap into their rich experience in healthcare OCM to share how understanding the human side of transitions can lead to a successful transformation, especially when integrating intricate systems like Epic. Their stories reveal the delicate dance between developing strategic communication and nurturing leadership to guide teams through the ebbs and flows of change.

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