Episodes

  • Episode 309: At What Point Is Fed Not Best? A Deep Dive into the Impact of Childhood Nutrition on Health Equity and Outcomes with Trista Sebastian

    Episode 309: At What Point Is Fed Not Best? A Deep Dive into the Impact of Childhood Nutrition on Health Equity and Outcomes with Trista Sebastian
    Jan 8 2025
    Today, Ashley welcomes Trista Sebastian, an expert in Early Childhood Education and a self-proclaimed nutrition guru, for an in-depth conversation about the critical role childhood nutrition plays in shaping the health and development of young minds and bodies. Together, they explore how proper nutrition during these formative years influences not only immediate behavioral patterns and academic performance but also long-term health outcomes and social equity. Trista sheds light on the profound connection between what children eat and their physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being, emphasizing the lasting effects that early dietary habits can have on adulthood. This thought-provoking discussion also examines how nutrition intersects with health equity, addressing systemic barriers and disparities that impact children's access to healthy food. Don’t miss this enlightening episode that underscores why what we feed our children today determines the adults they become tomorrow. Trista Sebastian is an Early Childhood Education teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio. . Currently serving as the lead teacher at a preschool, Trista not only nurtures young minds in the classroom but also oversees the school’s nutrition program, ensuring that her students have access to healthy, balanced meals. Her passion for childhood nutrition began during a deeply personal journey—her pregnancy with her daughter—which inspired her to dive deeper into the connection between nutrition and early development. Since then, Trista has dedicated herself to advocating for the importance of proper nutrition in shaping children’s health, behavior, and future outcomes. Her unique blend of classroom expertise and hands-on experience with childhood nutrition makes her an invaluable voice in this vital conversation.
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    48 mins
  • Episode 308: Nursing the Future: Why We Can’t Replenish the Workforce Fast Enough with Dr. Kim Kelly-Cortez

    Episode 308: Nursing the Future: Why We Can’t Replenish the Workforce Fast Enough with Dr. Kim Kelly-Cortez
    Dec 11 2024
    In today’s Episode, Ashley sits down with Dr. Kim Kelly-Cortez to explore challenges nursing schools face, such as faculty shortages, limited clinical training slots, high burnout rates among current educators, and the financial barriers students encounter. We also delve into the ripple effects of these issues on healthcare, such as staffing shortages, overworked nurses, and potential impacts on patient care quality. Dr. Kimberly Kelly Cortez is the Senior Associate Dean and Director for the Prelicensure BSN program at Western Governors University. She continues to support the growth of the Prelicensure program by expanding into additional states, opening simulation centers/labs, expanding access to communities and populations in need of pathways to nursing education. Her research continues to focus on student success, programmatic excellence, Competency Based Education (CBE), and simulation. She has presented research related to NCLEX, CBE, and Diversity in BSN prelicensure programs at the NLN Education Summit, AACN Transform, and the National Nursing Workforce Conference respectively in recent years.
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    45 mins
  • Episode 307: The Importance of Price Transparency in Healthcare

    Episode 307: The Importance of Price Transparency in Healthcare
    Oct 2 2024
    On today’s episode, Ashley sits down with with Keith Somers. CRO at HealthCorum. Keith is an entrepreneur with a finance background who co-founded HealthCorum after a series of frustrating experiences navigating the healthcare system as a patient and caregiver. As CRO at HealthCorum, he leads the sales/marketing team on all market interactions while maintaining responsibility for company operations. HealthCorum is a company that provides data analytics and insights focused on the healthcare industry. They specialize in analyzing data on healthcare providers, such as hospitals and physicians, to assess their quality, efficiency, and overall value in comparison to other similar providers. HealthCorum's platform and underlying data helps healthcare organizations, insurers, and employers identify high-performing providers, reduce costs, and improve the quality of care.
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Episode 306: Accelerating Health Equity in the Rio Grande Valley

    Episode 306: Accelerating Health Equity in the Rio Grande Valley
    Sep 4 2024
    Today Ashley sat down and talked with Dr. Edwin Estavez. Edwin is the founder of the Altacair Foundation. He Previously, served as Market President of Value Based Care at Prominence Health, a leading health care company that provides high quality, cost-effective care to diverse populations. Edwin, has over 30 years of experience in health care and higher education administration, risk management, and business development, with a PhD in Administration and an MSW. He is passionate about organizational transformation. From health care delivery and outcomes through value-based care tactics, to patient engagement programs, and care coordination models. Join as we chat about the mission of Altacair, how he ensures the foundation stays true to its mission and vision, and the collaboration between Altacair and The Leavitt School of Health on the Accelerator Conference. Altacair Foundation: About Us – Altacair Foundation Accelerator 2024: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/accelerator2024-advancing-value-for-health-equity-tickets-951490021267?aff=oddtdtcreator
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    31 mins
  • Episode 205: The DEI Blueprint: Building Inclusivity in Healthcare and Education Featuring Dr. Melissa McLaren

    Episode 205: The DEI Blueprint: Building Inclusivity in Healthcare and Education Featuring Dr. Melissa McLaren
    Aug 21 2024
    On today’s episode of The Race to Value, Ashley sits down with her colleague and friend, Dr. Melissa McLaren to discuss the importance of DEI in Healthcare and Education, and why building inclusivity is not just a buzzword, but something that is vital for the future. Dr. McLaren is an Associate Dean and Academic Program Director at the Leavitt School of Health at Western Governors University. She graduated with her BSN from The Ohio State University and her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Minnesota. She received her master’s in management and leadership and an MBA from Western Governors University. Melissa and her family have engaged with lawmakers at the local and state level, as well as the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus and the US Department of Health and Human Services in support of gender-affirming care and other LGBTQIA+ rights. They have spoken at state and national conferences to educate on the importance of family support when raising a transgender child. Dr. McLaren has partnered with organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign, Welcoming Schools, PFLAG, the ACLU, TransOhio, Equality Ohio, and many others to advocate for transgender youth. Dr. McLaren currently serves on the Human Rights Campaign Parents for Transgender Equality National Council. She is a board officer for Equality Ohio and was an inaugural board member of her local LGBTQ+ organization. She is a member of the AACN DEI Leadership Network Communications Committee. She lives in Ohio with her husband of 20 years, 19-year old twins, 2 dogs, and several entitled cats. Previous Episode: Ep 137 – Authentic Truth, Love, and Compassion: A Family’s Journey in Gender-Affirming Care, with Melissa and Conner McLaren – The Race to Value Podcast™ 0:50: Defining Diversity and Inclusion 4:52 Why is diversity and inclusion so important in today’s society? 9:34: How the impacts of disparities and health inequities affects absolutely everyone 13:30: How treatment of patients differs based on insurance status 21:00: Education related healthcare burdens, and how education has an impact. 24:00: How diversity enriches the learning experiences in educations settings 33:24 Stories about successful inclusive educational initiatives 38:00 Shifting policies and practices 39:30: Dr. McLaren’s personal story
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    51 mins
  • Ep. 204: Mark Young, CEO of MyCHN

    Ep. 204: Mark Young, CEO of MyCHN
    Aug 7 2024
    On today’s episode of Race to Value, Ashley sits down with Mark Young, CEO of MyCHN to discuss how MyCHN launched a partnership with Wysa, an AI-driven mental health platform. We discuss how this collaboration aims to bolster the well-being and mental health of MyCHN’s Crisis and Behavioral Health patients by providing them access to Wysa’s innovative AI personal mental health companion at no cost. Mark Young has worked in health services since 1989 and in community health since 1998. He has a Master's in Business Administration from Trident University and a Master's in Organization Management from the University of Phoenix. Over his career of 30-plus years, Mr. Young has worked with initiatives in the Rio Grande Valley, northeast Texas, and south Texas. Projects he has developed include outreach and engagement with colonia residents, residential treatment services for pregnant women and children, a tuberculosis intervention program, multiple chemical and alcohol dependency programs, behavioral health programs, and many outreach, education, and intervention projects. Timestamps: 3:00: Discussion on how MyCHN created this partnership with WYSA and the benefits it has brought to their patients. 6:00: How this tool is used to help patients 7:30: Tools and Resources that WYSA offers 11:30: Breaking the Stigma around using AI in Healthcare 16:00: Discussion on the current state of Behavioral Health 19:00: Discussion on younger populations and if they are more likely to opt into utilizing AI for healthcare
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    26 mins
  • Ep. 203: The Nursing Workforce in a Post Covid Landscape

    Ep. 203: The Nursing Workforce in a Post Covid Landscape
    Jul 24 2024
    In today’s episode we chat with Geoffrey Roche, MPA. Geoffrey is the son of a nurse, future of work and education expert, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging advocate, champion for transforming health equity, and the host of the Ed Up Health Up podcast. His professional career includes over nine years in hospital administration as a strategic advisor to the President and CEO and department director of various departments, including Business Development and Planning, Government Affairs, Community Health, and Public Relations, for Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono. At Lebanon Valley College and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology he held senior leadership roles focused on strategic partnerships, organizational strategy, and business development. As Senior Vice President, Business & Workforce Development at Dignity Health Global Education, he led a diverse team focused on developing institutional relationships with leading health systems while simultaneously championing national conversations and initiatives to develop innovative diversity, equity, and inclusion solutions for the healthcare workforce. “We expected to see a drop in enrollment before the pandemic for all healthcare programs. Why did Healthcare and Education not come together to combat this?” - Geoffrey Roche “We have made bad decisions as a society when taking care of our healthcare workforce.” - Geoffrey Roche“We have five generations of people in the workforce, and this is the first time we have had this.” - Geoffrey Roche“As Leaders we need to harness the creativity and passion for all generations in the workforce.” - Geoffrey Roche 2:25: What is happening in the nursing workforce? 4:30: The Supply and Demand Gap Challenge and addressing culture in healthcare organizations. 5:30: The Gig Economy is now in healthcare, and we have to get used to this model. 8:00: Millennials in the workforce and creating a culture that allows people to be the best they can be by creating a community and culture that allows them to thrive. This means they must be valued and heard. 14:00: What do we need to do as healthcare leaders to invest in our people? 17:30: Why you need to listen to your workforce, instead of just hiring consultants. 20:30: If we do not have a healthcare workforce, it will impact education, clinical placements and preceptorships. 22:50: Apprenticeships, why they are important and why healthcare has been slow to implement them 29:27: We need to do more work in the K-12 Landscape to promote and encourage people to go into healthcare careers. It is important to learn that there are jobs in healthcare that aren’t being a doctor or a nurse.
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    34 mins
  • Ep. 202 – Upcoming Changes to the Institute for Advancing Health Value

    Ep. 202 – Upcoming Changes to the Institute for Advancing Health Value
    Jul 10 2024
    Welcome back to Race to Value! In this episode we introduce our new host, Ashley Schwartz and discuss the rebranding of the Institute for Advancing Health Value and how we are expanding our work. Today’s guest is Dr. Keith Smith (M.A., Ed.D., MBA, L.M., RMHC (ret.)) serves as the Executive Dean and Senior Vice President for Michael O. Leavitt School of Health at Western Governors University. He has strategic leadership experience in the business, nonprofit, and higher education sectors. His 26-year career in higher education comprises holding faculty, dean, vice-provost, vice-president, and now senior vice-president positions, at five universities prior to coming to WGU, inclusive of leading schools of health, business and IT, and arts and sciences. He has taught courses and given presentations domestically and internationally on leadership and organizational change, higher education innovation, and personal growth and development. Smith has supervised educational programs in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He has played a lead role in both regional and programmatic accreditations. His teams have developed a wide spread of programs from the microcredential through doctoral levels, as well as partnerships with business, government, military, and community colleges across the nation. 0:19: Introduction to Keith Smith, SVP of WGU’s Leavitt School of Health. 1:42: Upcoming changes you can expect to see with the Institute for Advancing Health Value and it’s rebrand. 2:52: Expansion in content- we will be continuing our work in Value Based Care, but are expanding into workforce, health equity, diversity and inclusion and workforce development. 4:50: Health Equity Convening in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. This is a new area of work that we are continuing to expand and explore in different areas of the United States 8:00: Discussion of the Programs that the Leavitt School of Health currently offers. 11:40: Discussion of WGU’s strategic pillars and how they will benefit the general public and the current workforce. “We want to set a greater tone out in the Healthcare Industry, in terms of thought leaderships and opportunities to partner with those in different systems, and opportunities to be a resource center for them.” - Dr. Keith Smith “Educational Equity feeds into Health Equity. By providing education to everyone, it opens the door for health equity and having trained, qualified and a culturally competent workforce that mirrors the diverse population that they are caring for.” – Ashley Schwartz
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    19 mins