#31: Medical Leaders in Crisis (COVID-19) with Dr. Tom Hustead & Dr. Scott Steele

Today, I’m excited to bring you an interview I did with Dr. Kevin Kniery, Dr. Tom Hustead, and Dr. Scott Steele.  This is a rapid-release bonus episode for medical leaders during a time of crisis as the world combats the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Kevin Kniery is a vascular surgery fellow in New York City and he is the co-host of two podcasts—Behind the Knife and Audible Bleeding. Dr. Kniery is one of my best friends and a West Point classmate.  Dr. Kniery got his MD and MPH from Tulane University. 

Dr. Tom Hustead graduated from West Point in the top 3% of his class and received his medical degree from Case Western University School of Medicine. As a retired Army Colonel, highlights from his distinguished career include deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, being awarded Flight Surgeon of the Year for his service in combat, Outstanding Faculty of the Year for his medical teaching, and board selection as Department Chair for a family medicine residency department. As a result of his appointment by the Army Surgeon General to be the “face of military medicine” to recruit and share the Army Medicine story, Dr. Hustead recognized a need and developed a passion for teaching physicians across the country to be effectively engaged leaders. In his final appointment in the military, Dr. Hustead was the commander/CEO of a NATO military medical facility at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium. Dr. Hustead currently practices as a family physician at Hardin Memorial Health and serves as Medical Director for their employed medical group. Dr. Hustead also co-founded The Referent Group, which provides leadership training, coaching, and resources for healthcare leaders.  With an emphasis on servant leadership, Dr. Hustead’s core conviction is that effective leadership is never about the leader but should be focused on creating a culture where those being led can flourish. 

Dr. Scott Steele is the Chair of Colorectal Surgery at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH. As a graduate of West Point, he was an active duty Army officer, serving as the Chief of Colorectal Surgery at Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, WA. He has served 4 combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, being awarded the Combat Medical Badge amongst others. His contributions to the medical literature include over 140 peer-reviewed articles, 60 invited reviews and book chapters, 12 national practice parameters, guest editor for 5 volumes dedicated to colorectal disease, and currently is an editor on 4 textbooks in colorectal surgery.

We recorded this interview on March 28, 2020, a time when our nation’s entire medical ecosystem is mobilizing for war against the COVID-19 pandemic. While many Americans are working from home to blunt the spread of the virus, healthcare clinicians and administrators are working around the clock to prepare for the coming tsunami of patients. The scope and the scale of the coming fight is unprecedented in the healthcare community.

Whether the US can successfully “flatten the curve” or not, this pandemic will stretch US healthcare capabilities—and its workers—to the limit. Strong leadership will be needed at every level to address the physical and psychological stresses our healthcare professionals will experience in the coming weeks. I hope that the insights and proven leadership principles offered by Dr. Hustead and Dr. Steele can provide healthcare leaders clarity in this prolonged and all-consuming fight to beat COVID-19.