Stratis Health Podcast Series

In this podcast episode celebrating National Minority Health Month, we explore what committing to health equity looks like today. Stratis Health President and CEO Jennifer Lundblad is joined by our newest Board members: Gladys Chuy, who is director of population health and clinical quality at Convergence Integrated Care, where she works in community mental health, and Dr. Karon Phillips, a public health gerontologist who serves as the policy development manager at the Trust for America's Health, a non-profit, non-partisan public health policy, research, and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

In this enlightening discussion, Kevin Biese, an expert in emergency and internal medicine from UNC Chapel Hill, and Kristie Foster, a dedicated emergency department nurse manager, share their insights on enhancing care for older adults in rural hospitals. They highlight the unique health challenges faced by seniors and advocate for patient-centered approaches. Key topics include combating isolation, improving emergency care standards, and the critical need for funding and community engagement to elevate health equity in rural settings.

To coincide with National Minority Health Month, this episode focuses on health equity. Stratis Health Program Manager Marleny Garber and UCare’s Health Equity Officer Pleasant Radford Jr. discuss the complex social factors and systemic barriers that cause an inequitable distribution of health care resources to diverse communities. They explore how multiple intersecting identities and understanding factors such as sexual orientation, gender, identity, age, ability, geography, and language are critical to providing the proper care for everyone to live their best life.

To help celebrate National Rural Health Day, this episode focuses on the care and health of older adults in rural communities. Stratis Health CEO Jennifer Lundblad is joined by two other national leaders –  Alan Morgan, CEO, National Rural Health Association, and Rani Snyder, Vice President of Programs, John A. Hartford Foundation. The discussion explores needs, opportunities, strategies, and innovations to improve the health of older adults in rural communities. The session also includes advice for policymakers and a call to action for leaders in rural communities.

In this episode, David Satin, MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School (and Stratis Health Board Member), and Jennifer Lundblad, Stratis Health President and CEO, discuss the current state and future of patient safety.  They examine some of the challenges when it comes to technical fixes needed in health systems, the importance of physicians having more time with patients, and the need to optimize and streamline the way electronic medical record systems function. Moreover, they explore the notion of trust and what that means for health workers and their interactions among teams and with patients. Amid the competing demands facing clinics and hospitals, patient safety must be prioritized at all levels. As a result, Dr. Satin and Jennifer Lundblad make a call to action for patient safety to have greater strategic prominence. This can be achieved by actively engaging leaders, leveraging political will, and ensuring patient safety is integral to medical school education.

In this episode, Brock Slabach, chief operations officer at the National Rural Health Association, and Peggy Wheeler, vice president for Rural Health Care and Governance at the California Hospital Association, share with Stratis Health President and CEO Jennifer Lundblad some of the promising rural health practices that are being used to leverage the many strengths of rural communities.

In this fourth episode, Dr. Alice Bonner, director of strategic partnerships for Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and senior advisor for aging at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Jennifer Lundblad, Stratis Health president and CEO, discuss how we can build capacity for improvements in senior care through innovative initiatives and teamwork and how our work has changed amid the pandemic.

This episode features Dr. Kevin Larsen, currently the Senior Vice President of Clinical Innovation and Translation for Optum Labs and formerly in leadership roles with federal Health and Human Services agencies. Dr. Larsen discusses how new approaches to health information technology can support rapid and continuous change and improve care for all.

In recognition of National Minority Health Month, our second 50th-anniversary podcast features Jennifer Lundblad, Stratis Health president and CEO, and Reuben Moore, president and executive officer of Minnesota Community Care. They discuss how addressing social determinants of health contributes to improving health equity. 

In this first episode, Dale Thompson, former Board member and former President and CEO of Benedictine Health System, and Kelly Fluharty, current Board member, and care transformation manager for Winona Health, join us to share retrospective and prospective views of Stratis Health’s mission and work.