October 3, 2025 • 17 mins
This episode was recorded live at the 2025 Joy & Wholeness Summit in Asheville, North Carolina.
Kristen Gradney, MHA, RDN, LDN, is the Chief Wellness Officer and Vice President of Total Rewards for LCMC Health in New Orleans, LA, with over a decade of experience leading healthcare teams and transforming care through innovative, community-based strategies. A graduate of Louisiana State University with degrees in Sociology and Nutritional Science, she completed her dietetic internship at the Medical University of South Carolina and earned a Master of Health Administration from Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University. Kristen has held senior leadership roles in both acute and ambulatory care, developed worksite well-being programs, and served as a care transformation consultant. She serves on the Southeast Region American Heart Association Board and other healthcare and academic boards and is a nationally recognized wellness expert featured in major media outlets. Kristen also speaks nationally on healthcare leadership, nutrition, and wellness and has held leadership positions with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and multiple nonprofit organizations.
Thanks for tuning in! Check out more episodes of The Well-Being Connector at www.bethejoy.org/podcast.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Introduction (00:13):
Welcome to another episode of the Well-Being
Connector Podcast, hosted by RoyReid and sponsored by the
Coalition for Physician and APPWell-Being.
This episode is one of amulti-part series recorded live
at the 2025 Joy and WholenessSummit.
Thank you for listening.
Roy Reid (00:31):
Welcome to a new episode of the Well-Being
Connector Podcast.
I am your host, Roy Reid, andI'm here this morning at the Joy
and Wholeness Summit withKristen Gradney, and she's going
to talk about her work and herprograms and maybe a little bit
about the presentation thatshe's giving at the conference.
Kristen Gradney (00:50):
Sure.
Thanks so much for having me.
Yeah, this is exciting.
This is my first time here.
And you know, it's really greatto finally connect the work
that I'm doing more globally andsee how it fits in with
healthcare across the country.
Roy Reid (01:03):
It's a great event, wonderful turnout, and a
wonderful cross-section ofdisciplines here.
So let's start with you.
Let's let's we all come to thiswork uh through a journey,
through our own story.
Share your story of whatbrought you into this work of
well-being for providers.
Kristen Gradney (01:21):
Yeah, you know, it it's a it's a kind of a long
journey that happened withoutme, I think, even realizing that
it was happening.
But when you look back and lookat all the pieces and the
puzzle over time, it makessense.
So I'm a registered dietitianby trade.
And, you know, I started seeingpatients 17 years ago.
And so I was a clinician and Iworked in hospitals and then I
(01:46):
worked in ambulatory settingsand diabetes care and in
dialysis centers.
And in dialysis centers, thatwas really hard work.
It was really fulfilling, butit was really hard.
And so I kind of transitionedinto leadership and always
carried with me the experiencesthat I went through, um, the
times when I was side by sidewith the provider when we had to
(02:07):
give bad news or hear bad news,and that just kind of stuck
with me.
And then, you know, through mycareer, I became different
levels of leadership.
I was a manager inpatient andthen a director of many
different ambulatory settings.
And during COVID, that was kindof a shift for me.
So I supported healthcare inschools and schools shut down.
(02:29):
So I had to kind of figure outreally quickly how do we make
ourselves useful in this reallytough time?
And so we started opening umCOVID testing centers and just
really supporting everythingthat the hospital needed related
to COVID and saw the toll thatit was taking on our employees
and our community, and thenreally started to look at things
through a different lens.
(02:50):
Um, fast forward to 2023, achief well-being officer role
popped up.
I saw it and I said, you know,this sounds kind of cool.
This sounds like really kind ofI could put everything that
I've done together and maybemake an impact in a space that
I've never thought about.
And it was like just the doorsopened and it was, it happened.
(03:10):
So in 2023, I became the chiefon this officer at LCMC Health,
which is a health system in NewOrleans.
Roy Reid (03:16):
Awesome.
So talk about the work you'redoing now in the space and maybe
that leads into uh what it isthat you're gonna be talking
about with the attendees here atthe conference.
Kristen Gradney (03:27):
Yeah, so I really approached initially this
work from a population healthstandpoint.
Because of my background, Ireally looked at it like we are
responsible in a way to providea healthy environment for this
group of people to work in andthrive in, and not just when
they're in our four walls, butoutside of our four walls,
because we are sending 15,000people back out into the
(03:50):
community after the work thatthey do every day.
So, how do we really look atthat holistically, not only from
a singular perspective, butreally this impacts the
well-being of everyone aroundus.
Roy Reid (04:02):
Right.
Kristen Gradney (04:03):
So we got to really do it well.
Um, and so I really looked atwhere the opportunities lied.
And the first thing that Ireally noticed was our middle
managers were kind of strugglingwith supporting the people who
were really doing the hard workevery day.
And then you go level up, andyou know, people are kind of
like, what is wellness?
Is this yoga?
Like, what are we talkingabout?
So I really wanted to make itrelatable.
(04:24):
And a lot of the work that Idid was initially educating
middle managers on what does itmean to create an environmental
well-being?
I always talk about well-beinginformed.
So when we make decisions,everyone in our organization
should be well-being informed.
We need to look at everydecision through a well-being
lens, just like we do finance,right?
But we got to look at itwell-being informed and helping
(04:45):
those leaders even think about,and I've told people, where do
you put a printer?
Let's look at that from awell-being informed lens.
Does it need to be in the nextroom down the hall, or can it
physically be behind somebodyand make their life a little bit
better?
So we did operationalwell-being courses for our new
leaders.
I go and talk to every newleader orientation.
So it was really important todrive the culture that way.
(05:07):
And from there, we createdother, we have a Be Well Center,
I should say that.
So it's called the Be WellCenter, and that kind of houses
all of these programs.
A few other things that we weredoing were um responding to
trauma and not in thetraditional sense of just
handing off EAP resources.
And there are lots of greatones, but we hired in-house at
(05:28):
the time a RN who became asocial worker and who had worked
in the ICU in new trauma, andthat evolved into another PhD
level social worker and thenanother one.
And we get calls all week long.
I got one this week about uh areally tough case that
traumatized the unit.
And these are folks who do thisevery day.
So you know it's really toughwhen I get a call.
(05:48):
And so we were able to send outthat PhD level social worker
the same day to have aconversation before they went
home to at least check in withfolks and say, hey, we're here,
you know, and I'll be backtomorrow, so that they can show
up feeling like I have somereal-time support.
So we've really tried to makeour approach tangible.
You know, we've offered ourproviders real-time resources.
(06:09):
We're doing pilots when theysay, hey, this isn't working,
how do we equip a manager to doa pilot to really address
whatever that might be?
So my approach is reallyhands-on, really focused on
supporting people with resourcesthat aren't just like on a web
page or exist somewhere, but Iwant them to see it, feel it,
hear it from the top down, evenfrom the way that their manager
(06:29):
talks, excuse me, the way thattheir manager talks to them
every day.
Roy Reid (06:33):
You unpacked a lot.
I did.
That's that's but but that'sgreat.
Let me let me take a couple ofpieces and ask you to expand on
it because a couple of thingsyou said I think are unique in
this space.
And one of them, you talkedabout the proximity to the
printer.
So you're you're looking atworkspace and its impact on my
(06:54):
well-being.
Yes.
Talk a little bit more aboutthat and and what went into
creating that, and who all doyou have to have involved to
make something like that work ina health system?
Kristen Gradney (07:05):
Sure.
So it really came from Lean SixSigma principles.
Like I've been in operationsfor a long time, and I I that
was something that really drovethe way that I did business.
And so I thought about it and Isaid, you know, those are the
things that really make thedifference in somebody's work
day.
We when we're thinking aboutwell-being, it's not just the
time of crisis, it's not justwhen I need something, and those
(07:28):
times matter, but reallyburnout begins in little
increments over the course oftime, right?
And if we don't address thoselittle things, they turn into
big things.
So thinking about the thingsthat really beat us up every
single day, right?
I'm tired of having to get upand walk to the other room.
It's it's wasting the patient'stime, my time.
(07:49):
I'm frustrated already.
And then this is one otherthing.
Or, you know, we even looked ateducation.
So we've educated our leaderson operational well-being.
And we did, we brought in alean six sigma black belt.
She partnered with me, and Ieducated her on here's what
well-being truly means.
Now, how do we apply what youknow to creating environments
(08:09):
that support well-being?
So we created this course andwe really looked at it, was you
know, we almost createdwell-being was a function of how
we improve our efficiency andcare for our people.
We almost looked at itmathematically to say, you got
to do these things if you wantthis to happen.
So we brought in Aline SixSigma Black Belt, myself, we had
our well-being program managerat the time.
(08:31):
And then we we just opened itup to all managers who were
seeking some training and reallylistened to them and heard
their situations and then kindof consulted with them to figure
out how do we improve yourday-to-day, whatever it might
be.
Roy Reid (08:46):
That's awesome.
And you talked earlier uh aboutincorporating that healthy
community model uh as your asyour guide because you're you
deploy all of your employeesback into the community uh when
they go out there and and andhow they integrate.
What type of measures are youusing to check the results that
(09:08):
you're getting for all of whatyou do based on that?
Kristen Gradney (09:12):
Yeah, and and I'll be honest, measures are
tough.
I find that it's very tough inthis space because right when we
do an engagement survey once ayear, it's kind of a checkpoint.
Um, we've seen engagementscores increase over the past
few years.
And so we've had this initial,we've started these initiatives
over the past two years.
So we have a little bit of acorrelation there.
(09:34):
We do also engage with folksonce they've touched our
services.
So we do surveys to find outwas this helpful to you?
So anecdotally, we have thatdata that says people are
feeling like they are moresupported than they were in the
past, even if it's just I have aconversation with someone about
the services.
(09:55):
Um, in addition to that, we'vereally we've deployed the
well-being survey, so the AMAwell-being survey, but we added
on all employees and we kind ofwe really created that kind of
on our own.
We partnered with AMA to gettheir input, but we created a
well-being survey for everyonebecause we wanted everybody to
know this is not just forproviders, right?
(10:17):
Like we providers have uniqueneeds, but we want to hear
everyone's voice.
And we heard their voices,we've been addressing the needs,
and we find engagement just inour services.
We monitor our traffic and ithas gone up over a thousand
percent over the past two years,just in people visiting our
services.
Roy Reid (10:35):
That's fantastic.
What's next in your program?
What are you guys working onnow that a year from now we'll
be talking about how it'sworking?
Kristen Gradney (10:44):
Yeah, so we're really honing in on I mentioned
that operational well-being andefficiency.
And so we've partnered withsome of our clinic managers and
really focused on how can weimpact providers day to day?
What does that look like?
And so we're working withclinic managers to start pilots
(11:06):
that they really come up with.
Roy Reid (11:08):
Okay, right.
Kristen Gradney (11:08):
Like we don't want to be the solution, we
don't want to drop something inand say, hey, research says, or
hey, we think we really want topartner.
So we've been identifyingclinic managers.
They come to us and say, Hey,our managers are really
complaining about our providers,are really complaining about
this.
Can you help us with it?
So we really become consultantsto the practice, okay, help
(11:30):
them identify, help them pullsignal data, start looking at
measures and provide equip themwith resources that they may not
have had in that well-beinginformed lens.
Like we're really trying tohone in on that.
So that's something that we'vebeen working on.
But really, like as the chiefwellness officer, looking at all
the other components that wemay not have considered.
(11:52):
Um, we think about benefits,and benefits is something that
every organization does.
And a lot of times it'sboilerplate, yeah, you know, or
oh, we think this is, but reallyhearing the voice and really
doing that from a betterwell-being-informed lens.
And I want well-being to bewoven into every single fabric.
I want finance to think aboutit.
(12:13):
I want, you know, nursing tothink about it in a new way.
I want legal to think about it,right?
I've been having conversationswith our legal team on how we
administer leaves and how we dothat from a well-being-informed
lens.
So that's the future, is reallythat wellness, well-being is
not a singular department, whichmay put us out of a job at some
(12:33):
point, right?
Which, which may be great, butto have every single person
looking at it through that lens.
Roy Reid (12:40):
Talk a little bit about leadership buy-in.
You can't do a program likethis if you don't have that.
What what steps did you have totake?
And and who who are your whowere your initial champions for
this?
Kristen Gradney (12:53):
Yeah, you know, it was, it was, it's been a
difficult journey.
It still is a challengingjourney because as I mentioned,
when you talk about well-being,people think about code
lavenders and yoga, and thatthat kind of caps it out.
And honestly, that was a littlebit easier.
People feel like, oh, okay, Iget that.
I know what that is.
But then when I start talkingabout well-being informed lenses
(13:14):
and operational efficiency andhow that somebody asked me
what's like, what does that haveto do with well-being?
So it's helping people connectit.
And and I think by doing somethings well.
So we had one particular reallytragic incident, the mash
casualty incident in New Orleansthat happened on New Year's
Day.
Um, that was a moment ofclarity, I think, for some
(13:36):
folks.
My so I got a call very earlythat morning, called my team,
and we responded.
So we showed up on site.
We were some of the first folksat the hospital on site, um,
worked with the reunificationcenter for families, supported
employees, like in the moment.
And this was really tragic,really hard.
And so I think leadership hadan aha moment, like, oh, wait,
(14:00):
this is what we're supporting.
This is when it matters.
And that's what I'm going totalk about tomorrow is how do we
we get paralyzed with the data,right?
And we're like, oh, we needreally solid data.
But sometimes you just needthose impactful moments to show
this is what this is about, andthis is the long-lasting impact
that it can have when you haveit, right?
(14:21):
If we focus on the numbers toomuch, we miss out on the impact
that it truly has to people.
And so that has been one of theways when it really matters,
we're there, and people getthat.
And that allows me theflexibility to work on those
operational well-being in theday-to-day pieces that may not
be as clear.
Roy Reid (14:41):
Our audience is primarily people that are either
interested in doing this typeof work or aspire to do it.
As you think about where youstarted and and where you are
today, what would be two orthree pieces of advice that that
you could give that can helppeople break that barrier of
what people perceive wellness tobe and get them into the kind
(15:04):
of wellness that has these typesof results?
Kristen Gradney (15:07):
Yeah.
I would say, you know, uh beinformed, read the data, read
the research, talk to otherfolks, but don't be afraid to
really dive into what the peoplethat you're serving needs.
Every institution is going tohave some of the same things,
but you will have thosedifferent things.
And I think that's where we'vebeen able to pick up traction is
like really paying attention towhat we needed in addition to
(15:31):
all of the other things, right?
So be creative, be thoughtful,be present with the folks that
you're trying to serve.
Remember that there are peopleon the other side that you are
trying to impact and really hearwhat those people need.
I've always said, you know, thegolden rule is treat people as
you want to be treated.
Let's treat people the way thatthey need to be treated versus
(15:52):
what we think they want.
So, you know, focus groups,wellness committees, where you
truly hear the voice, let thatinform how you move forward in
this work versus just letting itbe research-based, study based.
Those are those are great,right?
We have to have those, but youwant to hear the voices of the
people that you serve and you'llbe successful, right?
You are serving their needs.
You'll be wildly successful ifyou do that.
Roy Reid (16:15):
Well, your energy and enthusiasm are tremendous, and
the work that you're doing issounds like it's moving the
needle.
And I want to thank you forspending time with us today.
Uh, look forward to hearing thestory again, yeah, uh, perhaps
down the road uh as you expandand grow on it.
Kristen Gradney (16:31):
Well, thank you so much for having me.
Thank you.
Roy Reid (16:33):
Absolutely.
It's been a blast.
All right.
All right, take care.
Closing (16:38):
Thank you for tuning in to the Well-Being Connector
Podcast, brought to you by theCoalition for Physician and APP
Well-Being.
The Well-Being Connector offersinsightful conversations with
healthcare professionals devotedto fostering wholeness within
their organizations.
Each episode delves deep intothe holistic approach to well
being, underscoring theimportance of physical, mental,
(17:00):
social, and spiritual health.
For more episodes, visit ourwebsite at www.bethejoy.org/
podcast.
Welcome to another episode of the Well-Being
Connector Podcast, hosted by RoyReid and sponsored by the
Coalition for Physician and APPWell-Being.
This episode is one of amulti-part series recorded live
at the 2025 Joy and WholenessSummit.
Thank you for listening.
Roy Reid (00:31):
Welcome to a new episode of the Well-Being
Connector Podcast.
I am your host, Roy Reid, andI'm here this morning at the Joy
and Wholeness Summit withKristen Gradney, and she's going
to talk about her work and herprograms and maybe a little bit
about the presentation thatshe's giving at the conference.
Kristen Gradney (00:50):
Sure.
Thanks so much for having me.
Yeah, this is exciting.
This is my first time here.
And you know, it's really greatto finally connect the work
that I'm doing more globally andsee how it fits in with
healthcare across the country.
Roy Reid (01:03):
It's a great event, wonderful turnout, and a
wonderful cross-section ofdisciplines here.
So let's start with you.
Let's let's we all come to thiswork uh through a journey,
through our own story.
Share your story of whatbrought you into this work of
well-being for providers.
Kristen Gradney (01:21):
Yeah, you know, it it's a it's a kind of a long
journey that happened withoutme, I think, even realizing that
it was happening.
But when you look back and lookat all the pieces and the
puzzle over time, it makessense.
So I'm a registered dietitianby trade.
And, you know, I started seeingpatients 17 years ago.
And so I was a clinician and Iworked in hospitals and then I
(01:46):
worked in ambulatory settingsand diabetes care and in
dialysis centers.
And in dialysis centers, thatwas really hard work.
It was really fulfilling, butit was really hard.
And so I kind of transitionedinto leadership and always
carried with me the experiencesthat I went through, um, the
times when I was side by sidewith the provider when we had to
(02:07):
give bad news or hear bad news,and that just kind of stuck
with me.
And then, you know, through mycareer, I became different
levels of leadership.
I was a manager inpatient andthen a director of many
different ambulatory settings.
And during COVID, that was kindof a shift for me.
So I supported healthcare inschools and schools shut down.
(02:29):
So I had to kind of figure outreally quickly how do we make
ourselves useful in this reallytough time?
And so we started opening umCOVID testing centers and just
really supporting everythingthat the hospital needed related
to COVID and saw the toll thatit was taking on our employees
and our community, and thenreally started to look at things
through a different lens.
(02:50):
Um, fast forward to 2023, achief well-being officer role
popped up.
I saw it and I said, you know,this sounds kind of cool.
This sounds like really kind ofI could put everything that
I've done together and maybemake an impact in a space that
I've never thought about.
And it was like just the doorsopened and it was, it happened.
(03:10):
So in 2023, I became the chiefon this officer at LCMC Health,
which is a health system in NewOrleans.
Roy Reid (03:16):
Awesome.
So talk about the work you'redoing now in the space and maybe
that leads into uh what it isthat you're gonna be talking
about with the attendees here atthe conference.
Kristen Gradney (03:27):
Yeah, so I really approached initially this
work from a population healthstandpoint.
Because of my background, Ireally looked at it like we are
responsible in a way to providea healthy environment for this
group of people to work in andthrive in, and not just when
they're in our four walls, butoutside of our four walls,
because we are sending 15,000people back out into the
(03:50):
community after the work thatthey do every day.
So, how do we really look atthat holistically, not only from
a singular perspective, butreally this impacts the
well-being of everyone aroundus.
Roy Reid (04:02):
Right.
Kristen Gradney (04:03):
So we got to really do it well.
Um, and so I really looked atwhere the opportunities lied.
And the first thing that Ireally noticed was our middle
managers were kind of strugglingwith supporting the people who
were really doing the hard workevery day.
And then you go level up, andyou know, people are kind of
like, what is wellness?
Is this yoga?
Like, what are we talkingabout?
So I really wanted to make itrelatable.
(04:24):
And a lot of the work that Idid was initially educating
middle managers on what does itmean to create an environmental
well-being?
I always talk about well-beinginformed.
So when we make decisions,everyone in our organization
should be well-being informed.
We need to look at everydecision through a well-being
lens, just like we do finance,right?
But we got to look at itwell-being informed and helping
(04:45):
those leaders even think about,and I've told people, where do
you put a printer?
Let's look at that from awell-being informed lens.
Does it need to be in the nextroom down the hall, or can it
physically be behind somebodyand make their life a little bit
better?
So we did operationalwell-being courses for our new
leaders.
I go and talk to every newleader orientation.
So it was really important todrive the culture that way.
(05:07):
And from there, we createdother, we have a Be Well Center,
I should say that.
So it's called the Be WellCenter, and that kind of houses
all of these programs.
A few other things that we weredoing were um responding to
trauma and not in thetraditional sense of just
handing off EAP resources.
And there are lots of greatones, but we hired in-house at
(05:28):
the time a RN who became asocial worker and who had worked
in the ICU in new trauma, andthat evolved into another PhD
level social worker and thenanother one.
And we get calls all week long.
I got one this week about uh areally tough case that
traumatized the unit.
And these are folks who do thisevery day.
So you know it's really toughwhen I get a call.
(05:48):
And so we were able to send outthat PhD level social worker
the same day to have aconversation before they went
home to at least check in withfolks and say, hey, we're here,
you know, and I'll be backtomorrow, so that they can show
up feeling like I have somereal-time support.
So we've really tried to makeour approach tangible.
You know, we've offered ourproviders real-time resources.
(06:09):
We're doing pilots when theysay, hey, this isn't working,
how do we equip a manager to doa pilot to really address
whatever that might be?
So my approach is reallyhands-on, really focused on
supporting people with resourcesthat aren't just like on a web
page or exist somewhere, but Iwant them to see it, feel it,
hear it from the top down, evenfrom the way that their manager
(06:29):
talks, excuse me, the way thattheir manager talks to them
every day.
Roy Reid (06:33):
You unpacked a lot.
I did.
That's that's but but that'sgreat.
Let me let me take a couple ofpieces and ask you to expand on
it because a couple of thingsyou said I think are unique in
this space.
And one of them, you talkedabout the proximity to the
printer.
So you're you're looking atworkspace and its impact on my
(06:54):
well-being.
Yes.
Talk a little bit more aboutthat and and what went into
creating that, and who all doyou have to have involved to
make something like that work ina health system?
Kristen Gradney (07:05):
Sure.
So it really came from Lean SixSigma principles.
Like I've been in operationsfor a long time, and I I that
was something that really drovethe way that I did business.
And so I thought about it and Isaid, you know, those are the
things that really make thedifference in somebody's work
day.
We when we're thinking aboutwell-being, it's not just the
time of crisis, it's not justwhen I need something, and those
(07:28):
times matter, but reallyburnout begins in little
increments over the course oftime, right?
And if we don't address thoselittle things, they turn into
big things.
So thinking about the thingsthat really beat us up every
single day, right?
I'm tired of having to get upand walk to the other room.
It's it's wasting the patient'stime, my time.
(07:49):
I'm frustrated already.
And then this is one otherthing.
Or, you know, we even looked ateducation.
So we've educated our leaderson operational well-being.
And we did, we brought in alean six sigma black belt.
She partnered with me, and Ieducated her on here's what
well-being truly means.
Now, how do we apply what youknow to creating environments
(08:09):
that support well-being?
So we created this course andwe really looked at it, was you
know, we almost createdwell-being was a function of how
we improve our efficiency andcare for our people.
We almost looked at itmathematically to say, you got
to do these things if you wantthis to happen.
So we brought in Aline SixSigma Black Belt, myself, we had
our well-being program managerat the time.
(08:31):
And then we we just opened itup to all managers who were
seeking some training and reallylistened to them and heard
their situations and then kindof consulted with them to figure
out how do we improve yourday-to-day, whatever it might
be.
Roy Reid (08:46):
That's awesome.
And you talked earlier uh aboutincorporating that healthy
community model uh as your asyour guide because you're you
deploy all of your employeesback into the community uh when
they go out there and and andhow they integrate.
What type of measures are youusing to check the results that
(09:08):
you're getting for all of whatyou do based on that?
Kristen Gradney (09:12):
Yeah, and and I'll be honest, measures are
tough.
I find that it's very tough inthis space because right when we
do an engagement survey once ayear, it's kind of a checkpoint.
Um, we've seen engagementscores increase over the past
few years.
And so we've had this initial,we've started these initiatives
over the past two years.
So we have a little bit of acorrelation there.
(09:34):
We do also engage with folksonce they've touched our
services.
So we do surveys to find outwas this helpful to you?
So anecdotally, we have thatdata that says people are
feeling like they are moresupported than they were in the
past, even if it's just I have aconversation with someone about
the services.
(09:55):
Um, in addition to that, we'vereally we've deployed the
well-being survey, so the AMAwell-being survey, but we added
on all employees and we kind ofwe really created that kind of
on our own.
We partnered with AMA to gettheir input, but we created a
well-being survey for everyonebecause we wanted everybody to
know this is not just forproviders, right?
(10:17):
Like we providers have uniqueneeds, but we want to hear
everyone's voice.
And we heard their voices,we've been addressing the needs,
and we find engagement just inour services.
We monitor our traffic and ithas gone up over a thousand
percent over the past two years,just in people visiting our
services.
Roy Reid (10:35):
That's fantastic.
What's next in your program?
What are you guys working onnow that a year from now we'll
be talking about how it'sworking?
Kristen Gradney (10:44):
Yeah, so we're really honing in on I mentioned
that operational well-being andefficiency.
And so we've partnered withsome of our clinic managers and
really focused on how can weimpact providers day to day?
What does that look like?
And so we're working withclinic managers to start pilots
(11:06):
that they really come up with.
Roy Reid (11:08):
Okay, right.
Kristen Gradney (11:08):
Like we don't want to be the solution, we
don't want to drop something inand say, hey, research says, or
hey, we think we really want topartner.
So we've been identifyingclinic managers.
They come to us and say, Hey,our managers are really
complaining about our providers,are really complaining about
this.
Can you help us with it?
So we really become consultantsto the practice, okay, help
(11:30):
them identify, help them pullsignal data, start looking at
measures and provide equip themwith resources that they may not
have had in that well-beinginformed lens.
Like we're really trying tohone in on that.
So that's something that we'vebeen working on.
But really, like as the chiefwellness officer, looking at all
the other components that wemay not have considered.
(11:52):
Um, we think about benefits,and benefits is something that
every organization does.
And a lot of times it'sboilerplate, yeah, you know, or
oh, we think this is, but reallyhearing the voice and really
doing that from a betterwell-being-informed lens.
And I want well-being to bewoven into every single fabric.
I want finance to think aboutit.
(12:13):
I want, you know, nursing tothink about it in a new way.
I want legal to think about it,right?
I've been having conversationswith our legal team on how we
administer leaves and how we dothat from a well-being-informed
lens.
So that's the future, is reallythat wellness, well-being is
not a singular department, whichmay put us out of a job at some
(12:33):
point, right?
Which, which may be great, butto have every single person
looking at it through that lens.
Roy Reid (12:40):
Talk a little bit about leadership buy-in.
You can't do a program likethis if you don't have that.
What what steps did you have totake?
And and who who are your whowere your initial champions for
this?
Kristen Gradney (12:53):
Yeah, you know, it was, it was, it's been a
difficult journey.
It still is a challengingjourney because as I mentioned,
when you talk about well-being,people think about code
lavenders and yoga, and thatthat kind of caps it out.
And honestly, that was a littlebit easier.
People feel like, oh, okay, Iget that.
I know what that is.
But then when I start talkingabout well-being informed lenses
(13:14):
and operational efficiency andhow that somebody asked me
what's like, what does that haveto do with well-being?
So it's helping people connectit.
And and I think by doing somethings well.
So we had one particular reallytragic incident, the mash
casualty incident in New Orleansthat happened on New Year's
Day.
Um, that was a moment ofclarity, I think, for some
(13:36):
folks.
My so I got a call very earlythat morning, called my team,
and we responded.
So we showed up on site.
We were some of the first folksat the hospital on site, um,
worked with the reunificationcenter for families, supported
employees, like in the moment.
And this was really tragic,really hard.
And so I think leadership hadan aha moment, like, oh, wait,
(14:00):
this is what we're supporting.
This is when it matters.
And that's what I'm going totalk about tomorrow is how do we
we get paralyzed with the data,right?
And we're like, oh, we needreally solid data.
But sometimes you just needthose impactful moments to show
this is what this is about, andthis is the long-lasting impact
that it can have when you haveit, right?
(14:21):
If we focus on the numbers toomuch, we miss out on the impact
that it truly has to people.
And so that has been one of theways when it really matters,
we're there, and people getthat.
And that allows me theflexibility to work on those
operational well-being in theday-to-day pieces that may not
be as clear.
Roy Reid (14:41):
Our audience is primarily people that are either
interested in doing this typeof work or aspire to do it.
As you think about where youstarted and and where you are
today, what would be two orthree pieces of advice that that
you could give that can helppeople break that barrier of
what people perceive wellness tobe and get them into the kind
(15:04):
of wellness that has these typesof results?
Kristen Gradney (15:07):
Yeah.
I would say, you know, uh beinformed, read the data, read
the research, talk to otherfolks, but don't be afraid to
really dive into what the peoplethat you're serving needs.
Every institution is going tohave some of the same things,
but you will have thosedifferent things.
And I think that's where we'vebeen able to pick up traction is
like really paying attention towhat we needed in addition to
(15:31):
all of the other things, right?
So be creative, be thoughtful,be present with the folks that
you're trying to serve.
Remember that there are peopleon the other side that you are
trying to impact and really hearwhat those people need.
I've always said, you know, thegolden rule is treat people as
you want to be treated.
Let's treat people the way thatthey need to be treated versus
(15:52):
what we think they want.
So, you know, focus groups,wellness committees, where you
truly hear the voice, let thatinform how you move forward in
this work versus just letting itbe research-based, study based.
Those are those are great,right?
We have to have those, but youwant to hear the voices of the
people that you serve and you'llbe successful, right?
You are serving their needs.
You'll be wildly successful ifyou do that.
Roy Reid (16:15):
Well, your energy and enthusiasm are tremendous, and
the work that you're doing issounds like it's moving the
needle.
And I want to thank you forspending time with us today.
Uh, look forward to hearing thestory again, yeah, uh, perhaps
down the road uh as you expandand grow on it.
Kristen Gradney (16:31):
Well, thank you so much for having me.
Thank you.
Roy Reid (16:33):
Absolutely.
It's been a blast.
All right.
All right, take care.
Closing (16:38):
Thank you for tuning in to the Well-Being Connector
Podcast, brought to you by theCoalition for Physician and APP
Well-Being.
The Well-Being Connector offersinsightful conversations with
healthcare professionals devotedto fostering wholeness within
their organizations.
Each episode delves deep intothe holistic approach to well
being, underscoring theimportance of physical, mental,
(17:00):
social, and spiritual health.
For more episodes, visit ourwebsite at www.bethejoy.org/
podcast.
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