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This is Scott Becker with the Beckers HealthCare

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podcast.

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We're thrilled today to be joined by a

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leader from the University of Virginia Medical Center.

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We've got the brilliant hospital leader at the

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at the UVA Medical Center, Novella Thompson. Novella's

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gonna talk about trends she's watching, things she's

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excited about, and and a lot more. Novella,

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you've been at UVA now for, I think,

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fifteen plus years or so. Tell us a

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little bit about your career in in UVA

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Health,

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and and yourself.

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Well, thank you. First, thank you for having

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me today. I I'm looking forward to the

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conversation.

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So, yeah, I've been with UVA for over

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fifteen years, and UVA Health is a a

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four hospital system anchored by our academic medical

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center.

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We have a level one trauma,

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our first Virginia's first NCI designated comprehensive cancer

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center, the only

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comprehensive transplant center for adults and peds in

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the state, and the number one pediatric hospital

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in the state,

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as well as two provider groups in the

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School of Medicine and School of Nursing.

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I lead the Department of Population Health,

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which has been in place since,

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January

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2016,

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and it encompasses adult and pediatric

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population health programming,

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post acute, and transitions of care,

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adult and pediatric palliative and hospice care, home

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health,

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community based care integration.

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And, the focus for us has has been

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extending beyond hospital walls,

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to deliver coordinated

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patient centered care across the continuum throughout the

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Commonwealth.

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It's been an extraordinary

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ten years, and,

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we

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have had many opportunities

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to really

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encompass the work that

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enables patients beyond hospital ED

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clinic walls to receive the care they need,

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tap into resources,

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ensure continuity,

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and close gaps,

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across the care continuum.

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Thank you. And and talk for a second

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about you talked about sort of, I I

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think, at least, remote hospital or hospital at

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home and so forth.

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Long term, I know right now with the

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government shutdown, there's been some challenges on

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that. What do you see there longer term

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in terms of hospital at home?

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Yeah. So so remote patient monitoring for us

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has been around since,

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October 2017.

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And so

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we,

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find ourselves

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in a position where we continue to provide

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that care, those services,

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and,

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manage what's happening at the federal level

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through systemic

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impetuses,

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and and working with rev cycle for our

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patients so that there's been no pause in

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the care that we're providing

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while we manage or mitigate what's happening on

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the federal level.

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Thank you. When you look at population

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health, how is that changing currently?

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What are people thinking about in terms of

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population health?

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It it it seems like it's a it's

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an area

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that is undergoing lots of change, particularly

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with lots of shortages of physicians and nurses

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and so forth. What what are you seeing

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in population health? What are the big trends

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you're watching? Yeah. I I I am currently

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very focused on on four different areas. And

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and and, yes, there there there are shortages

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and and access has been an issue for

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years,

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not just the last several years post,

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COVID pandemic. But I'm looking at behavioral health

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integration,

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care beyond hospital walls, digital

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transformation,

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and

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advanced data and predictive analytics.

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All of those areas are integral to not

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only what's happening at the federal and state

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level, but what is best for the communities

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we serve

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to address the needs that we are continuously

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learning about that in some ways stay the

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same and in other ways

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through resolution

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are constantly changing.

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Thank you. And when you look at the

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rest of this year moving into next year,

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Novella,

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what are you most excited about? What are

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you most focused on?

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Yeah. What I'm most excited about is that

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nearly after nearly a decade,

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founding this department, I'm so excited to see

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the vision of integrated,

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accessible

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population health care fully realized at UVA Health.

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You know, today,

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care beyond hospital walls isn't an aspiration at

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UVA Health. It's operational.

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And

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from street medicine to home based monitoring to

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behavioral health integration, we're transforming

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how care is delivered and how healthy outcomes

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are achieved.

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During the pandemic, our infrastructure allowed us to

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prevent more than eighteen hundred hospital admissions

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when beds were scarce and,

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needs were changing,

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hour to hour. We were able to demonstrate

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the true value of innovation and readiness. And

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and so today, I'm I'm excited that screening

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for SDOH,

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recognizing that you've gotta understand the why to

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behavioral utilization of services,

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And then the services

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that we provide

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are operational, not aspirational.

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What I'm most proud of, I have the

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most incredible team that does this work with

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me,

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and none of it would, you know, be

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possible without them. There's a 154

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members of the department.

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And over the past eighteen

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months, my team of seven directors

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and several other team members collaborated

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with our our EMR colleagues to streamline

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referrals across the health system. And so now

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it's easy for providers across pediatrics and adult

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care

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to refer

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patients seamlessly within their own workflows,

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removing barriers for our providers

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and the clinical teams who are,

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ensuring

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that the continuity of care and access

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is available,

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which it it improves,

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timely access to care. It's been very exciting

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to see this come to fruition.

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Thank you. I'm gonna ask you about leadership

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in a second and advice for emerging leaders.

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Before I do that, I'm gonna ask you

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the most challenging question of the day, Novella,

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and and and I wanna know if you're

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ready for a seriously tough question. Okay. Yes.

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So so so here's the question. With your

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background,

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do you cheer more for the mountaineers or

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the cavaliers? Where's your head at on West

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versus Virginia.

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I love my cavaliers.

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And in good times and in in challenging

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times, I I I love them and,

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I'm so excited to see

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their constants,

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constant work per paying off in ways that

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I I don't think any of us could

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have imagined this year. No. We we love

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that. Thank you so much. And let me

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ask you the the the the next real

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question, which is about leadership.

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You've had this fantastic leadership career. You're incredibly

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centered, incredibly bright. You deal with people really

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well. What advice do you have for people

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that are emerging leaders?

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I I love that question.

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I think it's so important

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to, build people, make them a part of

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your strategy, and and I I wanna share

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that. If you believe deeply in your work,

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as I have over the last, I've been

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in health care for thirty two years and

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at UVA Health for fifteen plus.

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If you believe deeply in your work, hold

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steady to it. Lead strategically through the challenges,

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the skepticism,

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which I've experienced,

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and the resistance,

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but stay creative, stay innovative, and focus on

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solutions

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that remove pain points and are as comprehensive

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as possible to address the right care

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at the right time,

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in the right place, with the patient at

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the center of everything that you do.

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Recognizing

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the the second half of that is that

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recognizing that it takes a village to do

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this work

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and to always be open to collaboration,

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learning, partnering,

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and surround yourself with people who share your

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passions,

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know them as people first,

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empower them, invest in their growth, and celebrate

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their strengths. And when you build partnerships, and

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I believe this wholeheartedly,

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trust. When you build partnerships, you trust people

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and you elevate others.

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The collective set of success, will succeed

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what you could have ever imagined possible.

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Novella, I think that's a I think that's

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a fantastic perspective. Again, I I wanna thank

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Novella Thompson, hospital administrator administrator University of Virginia

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Medical Center, also in charge of population health.

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Just an absolutely brilliant career and and and

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great to visit with Novella. Thank you so

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much for joining us. Oh, Scott, thank you

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so much. It's my pleasure. It's really exciting

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to be here. Appreciate all you do to

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keep us in the know.

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We are trying, but we need people like

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you do it. So thank you so much.

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Thank you. Thank you so much.