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This is Laura Dear with the
Becker's Healthcare podcast.

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I'm thrilled today to be
joined by Shannon Bradley,

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chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
at Keck Medicine of U usc. Shannon,

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it is a pleasure to have
you on the podcast today.

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Thank you. It's nice to be here.

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Now, I know we have a
lot to talk about. I,

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there's so much happening
in healthcare right now,

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and especially thinking about diversity
and inclusion is such an important space

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and topic for us. But before
we dive into my questions,

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can you tell us a little bit more
about yourself and your background?

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Sure, sure. Um, I am serving
as the inaugural, uh,

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chief Diversity and Inclusion
Officer of Kec Medicine of usc. Um,

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we are one of only two university based
medical systems in the Los Angeles area,

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uh,

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providing highly specialized world-class
patient care within our four hospitals

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and over a hundred clinics.
So my entry into diversity,

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equity and inclusion really started,
uh, from a non-traditional standpoint.

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I was a non-traditional student,
um, entered college, uh,

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later on in life and was a single
parent at the time. Um, so, uh,

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during my journey, um, I did not
have access to, uh, healthcare. Uh,

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my daughter had access to Medicaid,
uh, but I did not. And so, uh,

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had an opportunity to
really understand, uh,

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firsthand some of the
challenges of accessing, uh,

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healthcare here within the United States,
um, particularly, uh, when you are,

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um, experiencing low income. And so
it really drove, uh, certainly a,

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a more of an interest in really
getting into healthcare, uh,

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to figure out how from the
business side of things,

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I could make more of an
impact. Um, I also, uh,

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was blessed with the opportunity to
win a scholarship with the Executive

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Leadership Council, which
is an organization that
focuses on Fortune 500, uh,

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black leaders in, uh, um, organizations.

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And, uh,

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really was able to learn a little bit
more about how organizations really focus

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on diversity, equity, and inclusion,
the benefits, the value add,

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why they were focused on, uh,
de and I, and it sparked, uh,

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an additional interest, um, that
really has played itself out in, um,

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my current work.

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What are the valuable perspective that
is that you have and just really bringing

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that experience to your current role?

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Because I know that a lot of health
systems are trying to navigate, um,

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you know, what the healthcare journey
looks like for patients across the board.

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Um, so, you know, I,

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I can imagine that perspective really
makes a difference for you and for tech

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medicine. You know,

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when you look at where the health system
is headed and especially diversity and

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inclusion, how do you see that evolving
and changing over the next few years?

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What's the growth strategy and how are
you really leading into making an impact

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for patients in the community at large?

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Yeah, I,

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I think it is an approach that focuses
on really having a better understanding

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of what the community needs are,
understanding our internal demographics.

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We know that nationally, um,
certainly within the Los Angeles area,

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the patient demographics
continue to shift.

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And so having the ability
to not only attract the

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best and brightest employees
and colleagues to work with,

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but also looking at how we
can incorporate, again, the
feedback of our patients,

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making sure that we're
providing culturally, uh,
intelligent and welcoming care,

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uh, for patients.

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And also looking at what are the service
lines and things that we need to be

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invested in that we don't have our,
our, uh, finger on the pulse up, right?

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How do we better understand what's coming
in the future, um, and continue to be,

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um, proactive in building out the
services and experience that patients,

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um, really want to, to have. So I
think, uh, for us, it really, uh, again,

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focuses on kind of evaluating our
demographics, uh, in particular, um,

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and across not just race
ethnicity, um, but age language,

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um, certainly socioeconomic status and
the, the social determinants of health,

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uh, looking at how we can provide,
uh, specialized, uh, care,

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even more specialized care based
on, uh, patient population needs.

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And then providing the care environment
that contributes to, um, uh,

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equitable, uh, outcomes for
all patients that we serve.

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Absolutely. I think that's such
a great point. And, you know,

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I definitely love the idea
of incorporating feedback
from the community and,

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and then really trying to understand
what they're gonna need next and be

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proactive about how you're
developing the service lines and,

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and what you're doing.

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Could you tell us a little bit about
an exciting and impactful initiative or

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project that you're working
on right now and you know,

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what you're really hearing
from the ground level?

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Yeah, so our, I think
most significant, uh,

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focus area right now is really around
building our health equity framework.

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Um, and so that is a lot of,
uh, collaboration on our part,

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really digging into to the data to
see, uh, what opportunities we have,

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um, certainly what our,
our patient population, um,

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is reflective of in terms of
demographics, um, and the, again,

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the services that we need to be putting
into place, um, to help move us forward.

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Um, currently, uh, we're working with
our quality team, our university,

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uh, research team, uh, our four
hospitals and our clinics, uh,

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to really build out a comprehensive
approach that considers, uh,

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not only the compliance aspects
of DE and I, but also, uh, again,

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our outcomes from a quality standpoint.

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What's the financial impact of the
efforts that we're undertaking? Um,

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how do we, uh, ensure that
there is appropriate, uh,

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feedback from the
communities that we serve,

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so that there's also that
voice incorporated in, uh,
what they'd like to see.

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And so it's a, a, a massive, uh,
puzzle for us. But I think one that,

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um, certainly every healthcare, uh,
system should be undertaking, uh,

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in terms of figuring out how to advance
health equity. It's a, I think a core,

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uh, component of what we should be
doing is healthcare organizations.

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That's certainly really meaningful,
and like you said, you know, a,

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a <laugh> a huge undertaking,
but, um, important for,

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for the improvement of care in, in
bridging any health equity gaps.

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And I can imagine too, you know,

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when you are trying to get the feedback
and trying to connect and understand

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what the community needs, you have to
do that in a few different ways or,

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or not everybody is responsive to one
particular method. How are you doing that?

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How do you really connect and
gather feedback and really, um,

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get yourself to a place where you feel
like you are understanding what the

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community is telling you,

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and they're really able to open up
to you with some great feedback?

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Sure. Uh, one of the,

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the things that we're focusing on
right now is our community, uh,

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engagement and community benefit strategy.

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So we're really taking a look at how
historically we've engaged with, um,

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specific communities, uh, to
ensure that there's, uh, again,

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that representation across the
board when we're looking at, um,

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what we're going to focus on from a
community benefits standpoint. Uh,

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but we're also trying to be a little
bit more strategic. And so it's, uh,

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continuing to build those relationships,
uh, through our university relations,

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uh, relations team, uh,

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is looking at how we leverage our
employee resource groups for, uh, again,

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a better sense of awareness.
Uh, a lot of our, uh,

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workforce and colleagues are
members of, uh, the community,

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and so having them also inform us on
organizations that we could or should be

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partnering with as well. Um, and being
able to make those introductions and, uh,

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being actively involved in the communities
that we serve helps to build that

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trust that then lends
itself to us having, uh,

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more in-depth conversations about
what the needs are and how we can be

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responsive to them, but also, um,
certainly, uh, help equip our communities,

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uh, to also advance, uh,
their own, uh, health as well.

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That's so helpful to know.
Thank you so much, Shannon,

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for going through those
methods with us and really, um,

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helping us understand
what that looks like. Now,

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before we wrap up our conversation,

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I'm wondering what is the most important
thing that healthcare executives should

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do now to make sure they're on a
path for success in the future?

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Especially as they're trying
to be more diverse and,

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and inclusive within their
policies, both internally, uh,

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from the workforce standpoint,

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as well as how they connect with
their communities, um, you know,

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in really becoming, uh,

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more focused on delivering the
services that their communities need?

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Yeah, I think investing in the,
the lens of diversity, equity,

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and inclusion, um, I,

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I think certainly having the
infrastructure to, uh, continue to,

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to build, uh, the maturity in our
de and i efforts is important.

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But I think at, at a minimum, really
taking an opportunity to look at,

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uh, what your, uh, outcomes
are by, uh, real and sogi data.

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Uh, taking an opportunity to,

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to really dive into what your patient
demographics are. Um, we know that, again,

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the workforce is, is changing. Um, we are,

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no matter whether you're looking
at race, ethnicity, language, uh,

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et cetera, uh, we know that the,
the patient population is aging. Um,

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and so that in and of itself
comes with some additional, um,

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opportunities for us to really look
at how we provide care internally,

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but also the socioeconomic needs
that are going, going to, um, arise,

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uh, based on, uh, that
patient population as well.

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And so I think really taking that first
step, um, to, to look at things, um,

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and look at the data, uh,
specifically will be helpful. Um,

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I think secondarily or,
or maybe second, uh,

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I'd say would be looking at, uh,
the service line opportunities.

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Um, so really understanding
where we, um, must be equipped,

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uh, internally from a, uh, cultural
intelligence standpoint, uh,

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to accommodate and welcome patients
in the ways that they desire, um,

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and really continue to be able to
build trust to ensure that folks feel

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comfortable coming to our organizations
and receiving the services that they're

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interested in. Uh, we know, I think,
uh, that, for instance here, we,

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we've been able to focus on a
gender affirming care program. Um,

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and so those are the types of activities
that really introduce additional

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revenue streams, but also speak to a
very specific need for, uh, patients.

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And so it's opportunities like that,

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that I think we can really take advantage
of to help strengthen our financial

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impact, but also again, provide, uh,
better patient care and services for, uh,

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the communities that we serve.

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Wow, that's amazing. And Shannon, you
know, what great opportunities, um, to,

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to really help on all fronts,
whether it's the patients and, um,

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understanding what they need, and then
two, from the organization at large,

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just con having that diversity and I, I
love the new service line opportunities,

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um, you know, really makes a
difference, especially during the,

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the tough times that we're
going through right now.

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So thank you so much for
sharing that with us.

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I really have appreciated
our conversation today,

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and I look forward to
connecting with you again soon.

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Thank you very much. It's a
pleasure. Have a great day.