Ep. 37: Jodi Schmidt serves as the executive director of the Care Collaborative at the University of Kansas Health System. The Care Collaborative is a patient safety organization dedicated to delivering high-quality clinical care to improve the health of people living in rural Kansas communities. Founded in 2014 and accredited by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the collaborative is a network of healthcare providers and care teams who use evidence-based treatment models to achieve the best outcomes.

Jodi is a past president of the National Rural Health Association and representative to the American Hospital Association’s Small and Rural Hospital Governing Council; past Chair of the Kansas Hospital Education and Research Foundation and member of the Kansas Hospital Association’s Rural Emergency Hospital task force; and Sunflower Health Plan’s rural and community advisory boards.

Listen now, and learn how Jodi is an innovative leader in health care.

For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/

Ep. 36: Corey Scurlock, MD, MBA, is the founder and CEO of Equum Medical. Dr. Scurlock is an Intensive Care Specialist with a deep background in acute care telemedicine, starting his first program in 2011. As the CEO and founder of Equum, Dr. Scurlock has grown it from its original singular hospital and service capabilities to over 100 hospitals with a footprint of purpose-built, digitally enabled clinical services across the hospital acute (inpatient) care continuum and post-acute facilities. Equum Medical today is nationally recognized as a leader in the telehealth services and clinical workforce marketplace with demonstrated results across Multi-Specialty, Tele-Critical Care, Virtual Nursing, Virtual Sitter and Telemetry implementations. As a thought leader in digital health, Dr. Scurlock is a frequent contributor in the Forbes Business Council author series and his insights and vision have been shared through global events such as HIMSS, American Telemedicine Association, National Rural Health Association and more.

Prior to founding Equum Medical, he served as Medical Director of eHealth at New York Medical College where he introduced multiple acute care telehealth programs with the eICU/Philips program achieving highest ranking in quality in the nation for three years in a row. Scurlock’s program growth extended to new care areas, including tele-sitter, where he was responsible for the implementation and operation of a system generating over 250,000 hours of monitoring. His pioneering work in virtual care helped scale Hicuity Health (Advanced ICU Care) tele-ICU service with multiple monitoring centers and physicians directly reporting to him. Before becoming involved in telemedicine, Dr. Scurlock was active in academic medicine serving as the Director of the CVICU at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan.

Listen now, and learn how Dr. Scurlock is an innovative leader in health care.

For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/

Ep. 35: Ryan Lester, MPH, serves as Vice President, Education, Health of the Public and Science at the American Academy of Family Physicians. He previously served as the bureau chief of health promotion at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a leadership coach and adjunct professor at Washburn University for population health.

He has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Kansas, which spurred his passion for environmental health issues and a master’s in public health with a concentration in public health administration from the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Past volunteer roles include treasurer and president-elect for the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and the chair of the Olathe Housing Authority Board.

Listen now, and learn how Ryan is an innovative leader in health care.

For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/

Ep. 34: John McDonough is a professor of public health practice at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a former Massachusetts legislator.

Between 2008 and 2010, he served as a senior advisor on national health reform to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. During that time, he worked on the development and passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Between 2003 and 2008, he served as executive director of Health Care for All, Massachusetts' leading consumer health advocacy organization, where he played a key role in passage and implementation of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law. Between 1998 and 2003, he was an associate professor at the Heller School at Brandeis University and a senior associate at the Schneider Institute for Health Policy. From 1985 to 1997, he served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he co-chaired the Joint Committee on Health Care.

His articles have appeared in Health Affairs, the New England Journal of Medicine and other journals. He also has authored three books.

He received a doctorate in public health in 1996 from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan and a master's in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1990.

Listen now, and learn how John is an innovative leader in health care.

For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/

Ep. 33: Eva Stahl is the vice president of public policy and program management at Undue Medical Debt. Eva oversees development and implementation of Undue Medical Debt’s policy work and programming, including beneficiary insights, community engagement and government initiatives.

Prior to Undue, Eva was a leader in the health advocacy community for over a decade. During her tenure, she collaborated with national coalition partners to advance health care affordability priorities. Eva also coordinated efforts to support health advocates and community partners advancing a health equity agenda that addresses social determinants of health, including economic security.

Eva holds a Ph.D. in social policy from Brandeis University and a master’s degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

Listen now, and learn how Eva is an innovative leader in health care.

For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/

Ep. 32: Mark McCormick is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, advocate and consultant.

He served as the first-ever executive director of the Kansas Black Leadership Council (KBLC) in 2024-25.

The statewide organization was established 10 years ago to advance meaningful change for Black or African Americans living in Kansas. KBLC works to empower Black communities through civic engagement, leadership development and community advocacy.

Prior to KBLC, Mark spent two years at the ACLU of Kansas as deputy director of strategic affairs and as communications director and nine years as the CEO of The Kansas African American Museum. He also served as director of communications for the Kansas Leadership Center and worked as a writer for The Wichita Eagle and the Louisville Courier-Journal.

In this episode, he discusses his journey into storytelling, how journalism has changed, how a lack of access to health care impacts communities, the need for storytelling to open people’s hearts, and much more!

Listen now, and learn how Mark is an innovative leader in Kansas.

For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/

Ep. 31: Mike Perry is a partner and co-founder of PerryUndem, a nonpartisan, public opinion research firm.

Before co-founding PerryUndem in 2013, Mike was a partner for 16 years at the national polling firm Lake Research Partners.

Through public opinion research, Mike seeks to bring the voice of those most affected by today’s issues into the policymaking process. He works mainly with nonprofit organizations and foundations and has briefed members of Congress, White House officials, state-elected officials, journalists, activities and others on his findings.

He works on a wide variety of social issues but specializes in health care research. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Southern California.

In this episode, he discusses recent research he conducted in Kansas and nationally that reveals what is most challenging to families raising young children right now and what public programs they find most valuable.

Listen now, and learn how Mike is an innovative leader in health care research.

For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/

Ep. 30: Karen L. Weis, PhD, RNC-OB, FAAN, is a decorated U.S. Air Force veteran and noted researcher who serves as the dean of KU Medical Center’s School of Nursing-Salina Campus, as well as the associate director of research for the Kansas Center for Rural Health. She also holds the Christine A. Hartley Rural Nursing Professorship. She is a native of the Salina area, working with and focusing on research of various health disparities.

In this episode, Karen discusses growing up on a farm in Kansas before graduating from nursing school and joining the Air Force for 30 years.

She shares about her time as a military nurse, including overseeing some of the U.S. Department of Defense’s largest maternal child units and serving as a flight nurse.

She also discusses her role and the efforts of the School of Nursing-Salina Campus and recent research she has conducted on rural and maternal health.

Listen now, and learn how Karen is a pioneering leader in health care in Kansas.

For more about the Health Fund: https://healthfund.org/