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Welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast. I'm Chris

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Sosa, your host. And I'm thrilled today to

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be joined by doctor Angelie Gallien. She's president

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of medical staff of Rady Children's Health of

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Orange County and chief physician wellness officer. Angelie,

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thank you for joining us today. Hey, Chris.

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So happy to be here and happy new

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year. What a great way to kick off

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the start of 2026.

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You can say that again. Angelie, for those

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in our audience who may not be familiar

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with yourself and or your organization,

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can you please tell a bit of this

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a bit about both, please?

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Perfect.

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So

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we recently merged with the entire Rady Children's

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Health System, but today I'm gonna focus on

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Rady Children's Health of Orange County.

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We are a greater than 350

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bed tertiary quaternary care pediatric

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freestanding children's hospital in Orange County, California.

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Part of our system is Children's Hospital Admission,

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which is a hospital within a hospital system.

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Specifically, in terms of my role for the

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medical staff, I'm really proud to be the

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president of over 1,300

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physicians and APPs.

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One of the unique things about my role

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is that a few years ago, our hospital

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really recognized

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the importance

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of having clinician led physician wellness initiatives.

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We love the work of people like the

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American Medical Association

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who talk about how that can be a

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real asset to any organization

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to not only recruit, but also retain high

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level physicians.

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So I am the inaugural chief physician wellness

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officer,

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really looking at system level change,

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thinking about IT infrastructure,

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physician led programs,

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and how do we make it not only

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a great place to get care, but a

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great place for physicians to work.

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So, Angelie, you said you're,

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of course, the

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inaugural

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chief physician wellness officer.

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How did this position

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evolve exactly when it comes to your organization?

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It's it seems like a long time coming

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as it probably the case with other organizations

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as well. But how does that relate to

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your position?

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I love that question, Chris, because it really

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allows us a chance to highlight multiple things

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about a healthy health care system.

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So first, it really happens with partnership with

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both the physicians, the employees, and your leadership.

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What's going on in the system? What are

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evolving trends in health care? And what are

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upcoming challenges that we might face? I think

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the physician workforce challenge is something that a

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lot of health care systems are definitely keeping

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an eye on.

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But like most things, it developed organically.

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We started with a physician wellness committee, started

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looking at initiatives,

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and then saw that there was an increased

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rate of physician burnout.

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I really wanna give huge kudos here to

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our then CEO, Kim Cripe, who is now

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our co CEO with Patrick Frias,

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in terms of not only being a great

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mentor, but an advocate for what's to come.

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She has been a CEO for three decades

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in health care, sometimes when there weren't even

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women in the boardroom.

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To that end, she's really good at looking

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forward at what might happen and thinking about

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how do we prepare for that future.

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She's been a friend, a mentor,

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and, again, an advocate for this role. So

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when working with her leadership team, our chief

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transformation officer, Paul Vandola,

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they decided that this would be a really

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good role.

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And let's be honest, it was a trial.

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Let's try it. Let's see how it goes

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with someone who's enthusiastic.

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But I have to confess to you, Chris,

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it is still a challenge for me to

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think about work life integration.

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I am not the model of physician wellness,

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And so this was a great chance to

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learn, but also to have empathy for what's

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happening in the workforce.

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Yeah. And certainly like anyone in your position,

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it's not even though the buck the proverbial

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buck will stop with you in terms of

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the initiatives that are undertaken

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by your role in in your or your

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office, let's say.

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There are the people you're leaning on. Right?

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So

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it's it's

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they're decisions that are not made lightly,

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to to put it simply.

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So, Angelie,

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looking back at 2025,

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so what would you say is the most

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important initiative that you led?

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Specifically, what it takes to launch it and

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what were have been the results so far?

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Chris, if it's okay,

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I'm gonna choose a couple things, but I

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also wanna share something that was really amazing

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to be a part of.

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So in terms of leading a couple initiatives,

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one of the things that we did was

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think about how are you actually helping physicians

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and leaders

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think about becoming leaders for wellness centered leadership?

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How do you think about leading by example?

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It's not something we're typically taught in health

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care is to take care of yourself. Really,

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this idea of putting on your own oxygen

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mask before you're able to care for others.

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So our medical group decided to actually think

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about

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funding

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a research study in which we brought in

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nationally renowned leaders

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to do wellness center leadership for our physicians.

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The results were so great in terms of

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decreasing burnout and improving resiliency and feeling valued

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that we actually, last year, launched the first

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cohort with physicians and our executive management team

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members.

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Having an opportunity where your physicians are working

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side by side with your executive leadership

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to think about not only self reflection, how

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do you become a wellness centered leader, but

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then how do you translate that to your

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community

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was transformational for us.

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We saw double digit reduction in burnout for

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our physicians

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and our executive leaders.

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The other thing that was great was that

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we practice alignment all the time. At Children's

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Hospital, we're very mission driven.

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But what was great about this was we

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were using the same language to think about

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our own burnout resilience and have that insight

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together.

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There's a lot of data. Those connections you

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make at work are some of the most

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protective in terms of resilience, burnout.

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So when we're facing tough decisions, both financially,

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life or death, having those relationships cemented, those

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conversations outside the classroom

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was absolutely critical and so, so meaningful.

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We are now gonna do another cohort we

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just kicked off, so super exciting.

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The other thing I'm really proud of is

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that last year we launched the women physicians

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impact network group. There's a large body of

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data that show that a lot of women

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physicians,

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increasingly now in the workforce

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are feeling undervalued,

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higher rates of burnout, and are leaving the

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profession.

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We see them as a key asset. And

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so one of the things we did was

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found a way to bring women physicians together.

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Think about how do you improve their leadership,

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build their connection, build that community for them

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both inside the hospital and out.

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We've seen great results.

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And every year, we not only participate in

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physician engagement, but also the AMA organizational biopsy

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where you get to choose the questions.

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One of the things that's exciting is, yes,

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you get the national benchmarks,

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but also we get to see, hey. If

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we did an initiative, are we able to

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follow that over time?

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Both those two things, wellness centered leadership and

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the women physicians impact network group have now

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showed us sustained change year over year,

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and we are really excited about it.

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But, Chris, what I really wanted to share

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with you today

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was that this year, as I mentioned,

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as of 01/01/2025,

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we did have the formal merger of equals

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for Rady Children's Health of San Diego and

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Rady Children's Health of Orange County.

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It is really unique to be in a

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health care system that is doing that model,

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a true merger of equals.

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Our co CEOs, Kimberly Chavalas Kreipe and Patrick

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Frias, have done an absolutely tremendous job.

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Many of us learn in business school that

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culture will dictate how mergers and acquisitions go,

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And to be a part of their tremendous

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body of work to make sure the culture,

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the atmosphere,

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and really this idea that we are better

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together

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was not just a concept, but something they

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are practicing every day. It has been really

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amazing.

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That's so special, Angelie, that this culture has

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been able to

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be integrated so at least so far, so

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so seamlessly. I know it's only been a

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short time, but, it sounds like things are

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heading in the right direction there.

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I do have a somewhat personal question for

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you, though, Angelique. So you mentioned burnout and

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how it's been decreased.

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From your own perspective,

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when you're feeling like and I've asked this

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question of other CEOs and and other executives,

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so I'm curious as how it relates to

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you. When you're having just a tough day

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or feeling burned out yourself,

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how do you get out of it?

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I love that question. I also really appreciate

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how personal it is because it's not something

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that we typically talk about.

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I think it's different for every person.

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I like to joke that I'm I'm Indian,

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but I don't do yoga.

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I do love exercise, but as a busy

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mom, physician, and leader,

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it's not always something that I can slip

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in for thirty minutes at lunch and then,

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you know, go read my next issue of

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Becker's.

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And so one of the things I think

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about is what fills your bucket

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and making sure that we are

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understanding

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that the things that fill your bucket can

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be different at different times.

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So for me, a lot of it is

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the connection.

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This idea of having the work best friend,

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the people that you count on at work,

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having someone to share that with is really

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critical.

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One of the things that we did was

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to make sure that we have places for

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physicians to connect. Physician dining rooms, physician lounges.

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And, really, when you have a difficult situation,

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a difficult interaction,

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or you just feel like you're not able

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to do enough for a family. Being able

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to connect with other physicians, people who are

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your friends and your colleagues, really powerful.

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But there's definitely times. Watching Netflix,

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seeing what's on Disney plus, It's all great.

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The other thing I think is a more

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long term arc about thinking about

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how you make time for yourself and prioritizing

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it.

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In medical school and for many of us,

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we were taught keep going, work harder, work

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longer hours. And what we're seeing is a

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real generational shift

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and that people are prioritizing

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themselves, their wellness, their health,

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in fact, so they can be better at

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delivering care.

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One of my other roles is as a

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board certified sleep medicine doctor, and so I

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really prioritize my sleep.

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And one of the things that you find

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is even from top performing athletes to leaders

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to what we do every day. Sleep makes

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a huge difference.

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So making sure to prioritize sleep, time with

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my family, but really also time with my

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friends and colleagues who are my work family,

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for me is everything.

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That's very interesting that you mentioned sleep. I

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think you're the first executive who I've asked

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that question or some version of it. I

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mean, certainly,

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related to your expertise, it makes sense. And

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I wouldn't say that other executives do not

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prioritize sleep, but, you know, it I think

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it's good for your peers to hear certainly

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that's like, you know what? Sometimes just

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taking a nap or getting more sleep in

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is is a huge deal.

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Angelie, thank you so much for sharing that.

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So

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now we're gonna look ahead a little bit.

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So

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answer this question in whatever way you you

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find fitting for for Ratey Children's.

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So what do you think are the biggest

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priorities and headwinds you're focused on for 2026?

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That's a big question,

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and I think that we're all thinking about

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it on both the micro and macro level.

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Children's hospitals have historically been really thoughtful about

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their financial outlook because we have such a

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high number of government payers.

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We are all thinking about how people are

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going to be able to afford health care

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and how we're gonna make sure that we

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continue to provide high level health care with

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just an evolving financial landscape.

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I think we're in a really lucky position

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to have had the broader Rady Children's merger

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in terms of not only our ability to

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think about

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clinical care, but also how we think about

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making sure we're able to provide care to

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an even larger number of kids and families

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during these evolving times.

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When I think on a more micro level,

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we, of course, wanna maintain excellence in clinical

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care all the time. One of the greatest

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things I love about being part of the

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Rady Children's Health System

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is this sense of energy. When you walk

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onto our campus,

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I don't wanna say it feels just like

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Disneyland, but it really feels like things are

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possible.

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We have had such great leaders who have

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really been thoughtful about not only our financial

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future, but our clinical excellence and made that

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a priority.

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The doctors, the nurses, we're all excited. We're

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excited about how to grow, how to do

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things better,

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what new fields of medicine we can think

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about. With our medical innovation institute, we also

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have an MI four internship

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where every year

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highly competitive candidates come and we bring about

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a 100 young students, high schools, college,

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about to go to med school. A whole

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bunch of kids come. We learn innovation, how

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it applies to clinical care, and they're embedded

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right with us in the exam rooms, in

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the OR.

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That perpetuates this sense of energy. People are

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excited. We're excited to see what we can

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do next, and I really wanna, again, give

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credit to Kim Cripe, Patrick Frias

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for helping us keep that energy.

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For a lot of hospitals, mergers can be

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a time of a lot of uncertainty

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like trepidation.

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Our leaders have done such a good job

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of identifying that our greatest strength is really

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our people, the patients we care for, and

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how we think about the culture of the

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entire community.

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So I will say again, on the macro

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level, it's about making sure we can continue

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to provide excellent care to our entire community.

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But on the micro level, it's about how

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do we keep that energy,

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keep people excited

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because it is something that is really

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unparalleled

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when you visit different health care systems.

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That is wonderful to hear. And and hopefully,

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there are other health systems that hear this

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and and are able to learn from that

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as well.

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Angelie, next question I have for you. It's

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it's

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a bit of a bummer, let's say, but,

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00:14:09,820 --> 00:14:11,445
no, maybe not. It doesn't have to be.

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00:14:11,924 --> 00:14:13,125
But I'll just put this out there. So

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00:14:13,125 --> 00:14:14,565
what do you think is the hardest thing

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you're going to have to do this year?

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00:14:17,845 --> 00:14:20,164
Interestingly, I think that 2025

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highlighted

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that we have to be prepared for uncertainty.

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The uncertainty can come at the state level.

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00:14:27,139 --> 00:14:29,480
The uncertainty can come at the federal level.

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But as we all learned in 2020,

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uncertainty can also come from things that are

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00:14:35,220 --> 00:14:35,720
geographically

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00:14:36,259 --> 00:14:37,559
gonna be really significant.

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00:14:38,500 --> 00:14:39,240
And so

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00:14:39,725 --> 00:14:41,825
we are in a culture in which

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00:14:42,445 --> 00:14:45,024
our generations are really used to instant access.

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00:14:45,165 --> 00:14:47,485
You can have immediate change and that is

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00:14:47,485 --> 00:14:47,985
a

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00:14:48,445 --> 00:14:51,184
wonderful thing, but health care doesn't necessarily

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evolve at the same pace.

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So when we're thinking about what's challenging for

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00:14:56,470 --> 00:14:57,610
2026,

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00:14:57,830 --> 00:15:00,149
how do you maintain that excellence in clinical

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00:15:00,149 --> 00:15:02,169
care, again, keep up that energy,

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00:15:02,549 --> 00:15:04,490
when you have to be prepared for uncertainty

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and that the system may not necessarily

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00:15:07,664 --> 00:15:09,664
be able to evolve as quickly as we're

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00:15:09,664 --> 00:15:12,164
used to with advances in the EHR

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00:15:12,784 --> 00:15:14,084
or even different regulatory

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00:15:14,544 --> 00:15:15,044
avenues.

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00:15:16,065 --> 00:15:17,985
Thank you for not showing that for us,

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00:15:17,985 --> 00:15:19,664
Angelia. I know there's a lot that can

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00:15:19,664 --> 00:15:21,365
be contained in that answer.

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00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:25,399
So, yeah, I appreciate you being able to

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00:15:25,399 --> 00:15:27,559
to be succinct, but, you know, certainly clear

423
00:15:27,559 --> 00:15:28,379
with our audience.

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00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,080
Lastly, let let's take this in a a

425
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,160
different direction then. So where do you see

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00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,480
the best opportunities for organizational growth when it

427
00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,179
comes to rated children's health?

428
00:15:37,815 --> 00:15:40,634
Really excited about is our clinical innovation.

429
00:15:41,735 --> 00:15:43,735
One of the things in terms of having

430
00:15:43,735 --> 00:15:46,295
a culture that allows you to feel like

431
00:15:46,295 --> 00:15:47,355
anything is possible

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00:15:47,894 --> 00:15:50,535
is that it helps you attract and retain

433
00:15:50,535 --> 00:15:51,835
some really great talent.

434
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:54,360
It is a really different feeling when you

435
00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,379
come on to the Rady Children's campuses.

436
00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:58,860
And when you think about that,

437
00:15:59,399 --> 00:15:59,899
innovation

438
00:16:00,519 --> 00:16:02,759
is not typically just one person having an

439
00:16:02,759 --> 00:16:05,240
idea. It's when you're sitting together having those

440
00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:07,659
ideas. Hey. My patient needs this.

441
00:16:07,964 --> 00:16:09,804
Oh, there's this change that's coming down the

442
00:16:09,804 --> 00:16:11,745
pike. How are we solving for it together?

443
00:16:12,284 --> 00:16:14,865
That idea of collaboration and innovation

444
00:16:15,324 --> 00:16:16,544
when you have a culture

445
00:16:17,404 --> 00:16:19,985
that's rapidly changing is a real opportunity.

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00:16:21,250 --> 00:16:23,409
So when we now have our colleagues from

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00:16:23,409 --> 00:16:25,909
San Diego, Mission, Orange all coming together,

448
00:16:26,370 --> 00:16:29,490
all of those opportunities for connection, innovation, that

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00:16:29,490 --> 00:16:31,350
spark are really amplified

450
00:16:32,049 --> 00:16:32,549
exponentially.

451
00:16:33,954 --> 00:16:36,754
This year, our co CEOs hosted the stronger

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00:16:36,754 --> 00:16:39,174
together summit where they bought a thousand leaders

453
00:16:39,315 --> 00:16:41,414
from all over the organization together.

454
00:16:41,954 --> 00:16:43,095
We sat in tables,

455
00:16:43,475 --> 00:16:46,034
and we thought about new ideas and things

456
00:16:46,034 --> 00:16:48,509
that were gonna happen. But the energy, the

457
00:16:48,509 --> 00:16:51,230
connections, all of that, that's where our greatest

458
00:16:51,230 --> 00:16:53,549
strength is. I am convinced that some of

459
00:16:53,549 --> 00:16:56,690
the greatest clinical innovations of the next generation

460
00:16:56,750 --> 00:16:58,509
are gonna come from right here in Southern

461
00:16:58,509 --> 00:16:59,009
California.

462
00:16:59,884 --> 00:17:01,725
Angelie, thank you so much for being so

463
00:17:01,725 --> 00:17:03,884
generous with your time, your insights, and everything

464
00:17:03,884 --> 00:17:05,484
else you've been able to share with us

465
00:17:05,484 --> 00:17:07,664
today, both professionally and personally.

466
00:17:08,525 --> 00:17:10,204
We're gonna see you soon at our conference

467
00:17:10,204 --> 00:17:11,724
in April, so we can't wait for that.

468
00:17:11,724 --> 00:17:13,644
And beyond that, I always look forward to

469
00:17:13,644 --> 00:17:15,265
the next time our paths are going across.

470
00:17:15,610 --> 00:17:16,890
Thanks so much, Chris. It was a real

471
00:17:16,890 --> 00:17:18,410
great way to start 2026.

472
00:17:18,410 --> 00:17:19,310
Have a great day.