March 28, 2025 • 31 mins
Big news! The inaugural episode of the HOSA Podcast – The Future of Health is here! Hosted by George Sifakis, CEO of Ideagen Global and Director of the HOSA Washington Office, this podcast dives into the future of healthcare and leadership in the industry.
In this first episode, we’re joined by Dr. Charles Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Global Medical Services at Lockheed Martin Corporation, for an insightful discussion on innovation, medical leadership, and the evolving healthcare landscape.
Tune in now and be part of the conversation!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to the HOSA Future Health Professionals
Future of Health Podcast.
This is the inaugural podcastand I could not be more honored
and privileged to have with ustoday Dr Charles Williams from
Lockheed Martin.
Dr Williams, welcome, Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
(00:32):
You know, Dr Williams, it's anamazing moment.
You're the very first guest,the very first guest ever, on
this brand new Future of Healthpodcast for HOSA Future Health
Professionals and I'd love tolaunch right in.
But before I do that, I want toask you about your graphic,
because I think you're going toset the bar so high with the
(00:55):
plane behind you.
I'll ask you what is thatexactly?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well, thanks, george, for the question.
I'm quite proud of that.
That is the Lockheed MartinF-35 Joint Strike Fighter, so it
comes in three differentversions.
This version happens to be theone going to the Australian
government, so it's a fantasticplatform that helps us give air
dominance, global air dominance,and is an important component
(01:20):
of our global security strategyIncredible.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Well, thank you for that and thank you for being the
very first, the very firstguest on the Future of Health
podcast presented by HOSA FutureHealth Professionals.
I'd like to launch right in nowwith asking you to describe for
our audience your career pathand how you became the chief
(01:47):
medical officer at LockheedMartin.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, thanks for the question, George, and really no
pressure right on being thefirst but one.
It's a pleasure to be here, notonly on the podcast but in this
role of chief medical officer.
I'll admit my path has been abit tortuous.
But in this role of chiefmedical officer, I'll admit my
path has been a bit tortuous.
I am an emergency medicinephysician by training and
(02:12):
experience.
I did 17 years of emergencymedicine, but my path in
corporate medicine actuallystarted while I was an emergency
medicine resident and my secondyear of my emergency medicine
residency in Oklahoma City Ibecame the medical director for
the Oklahoma County Sheriff'sOffice.
That allowed me to providemedical support for the sheriff
deputies that were in the fieldand really helped show me how a
(02:35):
health care provider couldworking not only delivering
direct patient care but workingon the policy and procedures for
the health and well-being of anemployee population make a
larger impact in an organizationand on someone more than just
an individual.
(02:56):
Fortunately, at the time thatdidn't really much pay the bills
, so I went into emergencymedicine.
It did continue, and so I was afull-time emergency medicine
physician and then transitionedto be the medical director for
multiple law enforcementagencies while I was doing
emergency medicine and afterabout 17 years of emergency
(03:18):
medicine, I realized that mypassion for working with large
groups, with employees, andaffecting kind of healthcare
policy was much more impactfulfor me, and I had the
opportunity in 2010 to actuallywork for this company, lockheed
Martin, as the medical directorof one of the business areas
(03:40):
actually the aeronauticsbusiness area that makes this
fine jet right here.
I did that for five years butthen recognized that in order
for me to grow, I'd have tochange the organization and move
into more conventionalhealthcare.
So I did a year at oil and gas,I did a year as a medical
(04:02):
director for a large healthsystem in Texas and then was
recruited to be the medicaldirector for onsite medical
services at a pharmaceuticalcompany.
And from that, after a littleover 10 years of experience in
corporate medicine, I wasinvited to come back and serve
as the chief medical officer forLockheed Martin Corporation.
Officer for Lockheed MartinCorporation.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And at this point in 2025 now hard to believe- I have
the pleasure of being here nowthree years as a Chief Medical
Officer and, as you alluded, youknow, it's incredible to hear
your trajectory and such avaried career path and nonlinear
(04:43):
I guess you'd say A nonlinearcareer path Just simply
incredible.
And so your career does spanfrom emergency medicine all the
way to special operations andnow includes corporate health at
Lockheed Martin.
How did your experience inemergency and crisis management
shape your approach to corporatemedicine?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
management shape your approach to corporate medicine
Well.
You know, I think all of thecumulative experiences that have
been incredibly helpful, as youindicated.
You know my um, the, you know mycareer with law enforcement.
As I was doing emergencymedicine really gravitated to
the special operations divisionsof the law enforcement agency,
so I became certified in allthings special weapons and
tactics, executive and dignitaryprotection and all the crisis
(05:28):
management initiatives, and thenran the scope as a public
health authority in a communityof over 300,000 people in Texas
and so forth, and so really whatthat did was that allowed me
one to understand thatflexibility was the key in
crisis situations.
(05:50):
The ability to kind of quicklyevaluate a situation and develop
a formative action plan andthen be responsive to that as
well as put contingency plansfor things that might happen in
the future, have been veryhelpful.
Dealing with corporate medicineand dealing with bureaucracies
(06:14):
that in some instances take along time to make decisions, in
other instances you have to bequite agile in, and so really
the training that I've had, bothin emergency medicine and
serving law enforcementcommunities and communities in
general, have been kind ofperfectly aligned and helping
(06:35):
prepare me for my role currentlyas the chief medical officer
for lockheed and and so, as welook at this trajectory over 17
years in emergency medicine andpublic health consultancy, dr
Williams, what drew you to thecorporate world and what
challenges did you face duringthis transition?
(06:59):
Well, that's a great questionand we don't have a long time to
go into the challenges.
But you know, I went intohealth care because I had this
passion to help people right andto help others and I actually
had a button somewhere that saidI care, but I think I've lost
it somewhere.
And it was this desire to helpothers that really led me into
(07:24):
medicine as a whole.
In medical school I found thatI was drawn to, you know, making
rapid decisions.
I was drawn to the excitementof the emergency department and
throughout all of my rotationsin medical school, I much more
enjoyed the time I spent in theemergency department than I did
(07:44):
in other areas in the hospitaland the training.
So I knew that medicine reallywas the direction that I wanted
to take.
I also knew that I enjoyed notonly helping one person at a
time, but I enjoyed helpingmultiple others, and so you know
it was.
And so what I found is I wasdelivering care in the emergency
(08:07):
department.
Whereas that was rewarding, Ienjoyed the procedures and
enjoyed the stories that notonly had immediate impacts on
people's health and well-beingbut also set up the structure
(08:30):
for long-term and engagingconversations with individuals
in maintaining their health.
That that was much morerewarding, and so it was after.
But, as I indicated before, Ireally didn't.
It didn't pay the bills verymuch doing corporate medicine.
(08:50):
And so, um, what I decidedafter, about 2016, when I was
working full-time in theemergency department, I was
consulting as a medical directorfor multiple law enforcement
agencies that if there was a waythat I could change and flip
the script so that I could earnmy living doing corporate
(09:12):
medicine and then do emergencymedicine part time, I would do
that.
And that's when, of a sudden, afriend recommended that I look
at an opportunity that had comeup in Lockheed Martin.
So, within the span of a coupleof months, I made the decision
and made the transition intocorporate medicine.
(09:33):
Now, I did that withoutfinancially preparing myself for
the change from primary caredelivery and emergency medicine
to corporate medicine, which isa much different pay scale, and
so I actually had to work andmoonlight in the emergency
departments to continue to fundthe lifestyle that I generated
(09:54):
as a emergency medicinephysician that was doing other
things, and so it was really aninteresting transition.
And so the challenges, you know,one was the financial challenge
that I hadn't appropriatelyprepared for, but the other
thing that was fascinating was Ihad to learn the language and
(10:15):
the culture of corporations,which is markedly different than
what you use in the emergencydepartment or on the hospital
floor, and I found myself, aftera significant time, as you know
, the lead physician in theemergency department and, being
a leader, being really backeddown in a position where I had
(10:38):
to learn the language, the flow,the culture and be much more
understanding and accepting ofthe fact that I didn't know
everything about theorganization that I was in, and
that was a pretty significantchallenge in itself.
(10:58):
You know, corporations in manyinstances, as I indicated before
, will make committees bydecision rather than you're the
deciding physician standing at apatient's bedside, and so it
took a while to acclimate tobeing one, not the sole decision
maker in the room.
(11:21):
Sole decision maker in the room, I think I've lost your audio
there, and that is a challenge.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
As you're leading the way, you're also helping to
drive impact, change and all theabove right.
So, again, it's not a straightline, even when you're leading,
which I find to be fascinating,especially with respect to your
(11:54):
career path.
And so, dr Williams, as chiefmedical officer, you oversee
employee health services acrossLockheed Martin's global
operations.
What strategies do you employto ensure that there is both
consistency and quality in sucha diverse and expansive
(12:17):
organization?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Well, that's a great question and I'll tell you, it's
kind of one of the ongoingchallenges of the role and, I
think, one of the things thatjustifies the reason for a large
organization.
The corporations really shouldhave a chief medical officer.
Lockheed Martin has atremendous culture behind it and
the adage that we use hasreally evolved even as recently
(12:42):
as this year, and the coreprinciples that Lockheed follows
is perform, transform and grow.
And, george, as you indicated,we have just domestic in the
United States over, you know twodozen on-site medical services
that are in very diversepopulations across our geography
(13:06):
, in the United States and theninternationally.
We have employees and personnelin over 75 different countries
all over the world, and thatleads for some very dynamic
types of environments in whichour employees are looking for
their medical needs to be met,either through the health plan
(13:27):
or at our on-site medicalfacilities.
And you know, our on-sitemedical facilities really are
focused on the occupationalhealth and well-being of our
employee population, which, youknow, depending on the geography
, depending on the populationand depending on the products
and the services in which theywork, can be very different.
(13:48):
And so my organization and myrole really is focused on
ensuring that we do the bestthat we can to allow our
opportunities, our employees,the opportunities for them to do
exactly that perform, transformand then grow in the service
(14:10):
that they provide.
So what I ask of our medicalproviders is that we take that
exact same adage and we look athow do we optimize the medical
service and the care that we canprovide, how do we transform
and evolve those services tomeet the needs of the population
as they evolve, and then how dowe grow?
(14:34):
Or, I think more appropriately,how do we optimize the services
that we provide and deliverservices where they need to be
delivered and maybe stop doingthem where they no longer need
to be delivered.
So we really take the sameadage that the company has and
implement that across ourmedical organization and there
(14:58):
is the example of leadership.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
It takes leadership to help an organization really
thrive, and so, in your role asphysician, lead for the
corporate crisis management team, dr Williams, what are the key
elements of effective crisisresponse within a global
corporation like Lockheed Martin?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Well, that too is a great question, and I think
every corporation, organization,healthcare provider, everyone
knows that COVID-19 and recentlythat going through the pandemic
brought kind of a new dimensionof sustained operations during
a crisis and really exemplifiedthe importance of having a solid
(15:47):
medical contingency plan.
And so one of the elements incrisis management is having a
strong medical contingency plan.
And so Lockheed Martin, inorder for us to continue our
business operations, had to havea strong, firm foundation in
how we are going to ensure thatour employees were one safe to
(16:09):
come to work and safe while atwork, in order for them to
continue to do the importantwork that they do in the field.
And so, across all phases ofthe crisis, from the proactive
planning, from the initialresponse, from even during the
recovery phase, I've had a roleguiding and leading our crisis
(16:34):
management team.
Or what are the medicalimplications of one, the illness
?
The illness impacts on ourbusiness operations, what are
potential contingencies for?
How do we help keep ouremployees healthy and safe?
And then, as we're recovering,and as we recovered from the
pandemic, what were theappropriate mechanisms that we
(16:58):
could use in order to stand downsome of the protective measures
that we had to put in placeduring COVID-19.
And that's just an example ofhow, regardless of what the
crisis is, you need to have afirm and strong medical
contingency plan associated withthat in order to best maneuver
(17:19):
your organization through it.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
And so, as we look at the innovation and specifically
innovative approaches ortechnologies that you're
implementing, how are you usingthese to enhance, for example,
occupational health and employeewell-being at Lockheed Martin?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
being at Lockheed Martin.
Well, you know I'm happy to saythat the vendor that we have
contracted with that providesthat and delivers the actual
care and our onsite services isa bona fide health plan.
So our onsite health centers inthe United States are an active
health plan under the fullguidance of the law, and as a
(18:08):
health plan and a health systemthey mimic a lot of the
technologies that we see in theoutside healthcare systems as
well.
Everything from telemedicine andbeginning to look at how
artificial intelligence playsinto helping with documentation,
diagnoses and management, aswell as looking at artificial
(18:32):
intelligence predictivecapability in helping us one
evaluate where occupationalinjuries or illnesses might
occur and how we can bestmitigate them before they ever
occur, are some of the thingsthat we bring to bear currently
and are working on.
You know, lockheed Martin is aleader in the defense industry
(18:52):
in the application of artificialintelligence to help keep our
geography safe and we, much aswe do in our business principle,
use the same thing in our careprinciples as well.
So we're looking for allavenues of how can we most
appropriately and mostefficiently keep our employees
safe and healthy while in theworkplace and if any of that can
(19:17):
be translated to a whilethey're at home.
We'll do that as well.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
And so you've served and provided medical support in
in Incredibly challengingenvironments across the world.
This is an indelible part ofyour background, and so how has
this and these variedexperiences helped to influence
your ability to address healthand safety concerns,
(19:45):
specifically for the employeesworking in remote and or high
risk areas?
Speaker 2 (19:56):
working in remote and or high-risk areas.
Well, obviously I'm a bitbiased, but I think it's been
tremendously helpful, right?
I mean, in order to know besthow to deal with the challenges
of a geography, you need tounderstand that geography.
And, george, as you indicated,I've had in the course of my
career the opportunity not onlybe the medical director for
multiple agencies but to deploywith, to work alongside with and
(20:19):
to operate with a lot of theteams in a vast number of
geographies, from the jungles ofColumbia and the West Coast of
Africa and Bosnia and all thesedifferent types of places.
Having boots on the ground andbeingnia and all these different
types of places.
Having boots on the ground andbeing those boots on the ground
means that one I was also apotential consumer of the health
care services that was there,so I always had to think about
(20:46):
if I got sick or injured, whowas going to take care of me or
how was I going to take care ofmyself.
Having that experience allows meto one in some of the
geographies know exactly what,because I've been in those
geographies as well but if notto anticipate and think and
understand that I have to learnabout.
Where are our employees working, what are the work that they're
doing and what are thoseinherent risks that they may be
(21:09):
exposed to and doing?
That allows me to most crediblythink about okay, how can I
build a medical contingency planon, how do we take care of them
, how do we ensure they're safeand, if something goes wrong,
how can we do the best we can tominimize any illness or injury?
So it's one of the things thatI always think that in order to
(21:32):
walk the walk, you need to beable to get your boots on the
ground and go see, and thathelps me understand how best we
can apply the principles ofhealthcare provision to those
populations.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
And so, as a member of the National Safety Council's
Corporate Health DirectorsNetwork, what are the most
significant trends and orchallenges that you see in
corporate health leadershiptoday?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You know, I think that's a great question and that
question kind of the answerskind of evolve over time.
Right now, our organization isworking with understanding the
implications of the newadministration and the executive
orders that are coming through,and how do we ensure that one
we are directly aligned with theexecutive orders that are
(22:27):
coming out of our Oval Officeand we're doing that in context
with unders, with ensuring thatwe're taking care of our
employees to the greatest extentpossible.
You know we have um the issuesin.
We have to understand that thehealth care of our employees is
really like the health care is across-section of the health
(22:49):
care the United States, and sohelping our employees understand
how to best access the care,how to be intelligent utilizers
of the healthcare system despitenot being their prime and not
being their primary careprovider, is is a tremendous
role that we have in trying tohelp support our employees and
(23:11):
our organizations.
You know the National SafetyCouncil is working on issues
from, you know, drug overdose inthe general population and in
the workforce, in the workforce,to PFAS and microplastics and a
number of different challengesthat occupational health
(23:35):
settings are facing, and being apart of that advisory council
allows me one to give input andadvisement from what we're
seeing within our organizationand then benchmarking and
understanding from outsideorganizations what might also be
a risk to our population aswell.
So you know, I guess I wouldsummarize that by saying that
(23:58):
you know, many of the challengesthat we're looking at as part
of the National Safety Councilas challenges to our employees'
safety and health are very muchlike the challenges that we're
seeing across other corporationsand the geography as a whole.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
And so, as we look at balance, how do you strike a
balance between maintainingemployee health and well-being
while also managing thefinancial aspects of corporate
health services at LockheedMartin?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
George, you're hitting on all the challenges
that we have, right, I mean as afixed entity within our
organization.
We have, just as you indicate.
We have a fixed budget.
That we do.
I think the great thing that Ienjoy about Lockheed Martin they
have an old adage that we neverforget who we're working for,
(24:56):
and that is we're working forourselves and we're working for
others.
And there is a fundamentalunderstanding within our senior
leadership that a safe andhealthy employee is also a
productive employee as well, andone that you have less risk of
attrition.
So there is absolute value toensuring that we have the safest
(25:20):
and healthiest population thatwe are able to help facilitate.
And so, you know, within thatstructure, we're given a budget
annually.
And then, you know, part of myrole is ensuring that my
operations, my contractors, myvendors that provide service
(25:41):
operate within that budget, orwe have significant
justification for why we wouldneed to deviate from that budget
, but it's always a balancingact.
Whereas we would love to beable to do anything and
everything from a healthcareperspective for our population,
it's just not financially orfiscally reasonable or really
(26:01):
even responsible to do that, notonly within our organization,
but within any organization orfor the general public, and so
we are always balancing thebusiness with the dynamics of
managing an optimal healthcareorganization for our employee
(26:24):
population.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
And so, as we come to the end of this inaugural HOSA
Future Health Professionals,future of Health podcast, I'd
like to ask you a question onthe future.
And so, dr Williams, what doyou envision as the future of
(26:57):
corporate health services,particularly in aerospace and
defense industries?
And how is Lockheed Martinspecifically preparing for these
changes.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I think the future is bright Again.
I will admit, as the firstguest, that I am biased, right
and in my role.
However, if you look at thechallenges the healthcare
industry is facing as a whole,not just within corporate
medicine but as a whole accessto care, the continued cost
(27:23):
drivers of accessing care,finding providers to deliver
that care and do that in ameaningful way, as well as the
overarching health risks that wehave to the population, having
an embedded healthcareorganization that is
specifically looking at youremployee population and how to
(27:46):
optimize their health andwell-being is becoming more and
more of an important entity.
Recent articles are talkingabout the evolving growth of my
role in other organizations.
The roles of chief medicalofficers for corporations and
organizations that have realizedthe value of having an employed
(28:10):
resource to give medicalguidance, if not deliver care,
is growing and expanding, and Idon't anticipate that that will
change In my organization sinceI've come back as the chief
medical officer.
We, even with the healthcarechallenges and budget challenges
(28:31):
that we've faced, myorganization continues to grow.
We continue to look at one wheredo we need to put onsite
medical services to deliver careto our employee population and
how do.
We continue to expand ourfootprint to cover more of the
geography outside thecontinental United States.
(28:51):
That is a trend that is goingto continue in growth and that
is, and should be, reallyhappening in every one of our
industries.
The aerospace defense industryin particular is one that is,
(29:19):
shall we say, there is acontinued and will be a
continued need for the work thatthe aerospace industries do.
Certainly, lockheed Martin isthe number one defense
contractor for the US government, if not for the world, and the
need for us to put programs,policies and systems in place to
help assure and to validateglobal security is a continued
(29:44):
growing imperative.
And, as we talked about earlier, if you're doing operations in
an environment, a key componentof that is you have to have a
good, strong medical contingencyplan.
So as our organizations, ourcorporations, our enterprise
grows, as the industries grow,then our ability to implement
(30:06):
onsite medical services anddeliver optimal care to our
employee population becomes moreand more important than ever in
order for our employees to beable to perform, transform and
grow.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Dr Charles Williams.
Chief Medical Officer.
Lockheed Martin, thank you sovery much for appearing as the
very first guest on theinaugural POSA Future Health
Professionals, future of Healthpodcast Extraordinary.
(30:43):
We're deeply grateful and, mostimportantly, we are inspired,
sir, by your leadership.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Thank you so much, george, and best of luck to you
and every one of theparticipants that gets the
opportunity to watch the podcast, and best of luck for future
podcasts.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Thank you, dr Williams, you've inspired us.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Thank you so much for having me, thank you.
Welcome to the HOSA Future Health Professionals
Future of Health Podcast.
This is the inaugural podcastand I could not be more honored
and privileged to have with ustoday Dr Charles Williams from
Lockheed Martin.
Dr Williams, welcome, Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
(00:32):
You know, Dr Williams, it's anamazing moment.
You're the very first guest,the very first guest ever, on
this brand new Future of Healthpodcast for HOSA Future Health
Professionals and I'd love tolaunch right in.
But before I do that, I want toask you about your graphic,
because I think you're going toset the bar so high with the
(00:55):
plane behind you.
I'll ask you what is thatexactly?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well, thanks, george, for the question.
I'm quite proud of that.
That is the Lockheed MartinF-35 Joint Strike Fighter, so it
comes in three differentversions.
This version happens to be theone going to the Australian
government, so it's a fantasticplatform that helps us give air
dominance, global air dominance,and is an important component
(01:20):
of our global security strategyIncredible.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Well, thank you for that and thank you for being the
very first, the very firstguest on the Future of Health
podcast presented by HOSA FutureHealth Professionals.
I'd like to launch right in nowwith asking you to describe for
our audience your career pathand how you became the chief
(01:47):
medical officer at LockheedMartin.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, thanks for the question, George, and really no
pressure right on being thefirst but one.
It's a pleasure to be here, notonly on the podcast but in this
role of chief medical officer.
I'll admit my path has been abit tortuous.
But in this role of chiefmedical officer, I'll admit my
path has been a bit tortuous.
I am an emergency medicinephysician by training and
(02:12):
experience.
I did 17 years of emergencymedicine, but my path in
corporate medicine actuallystarted while I was an emergency
medicine resident and my secondyear of my emergency medicine
residency in Oklahoma City Ibecame the medical director for
the Oklahoma County Sheriff'sOffice.
That allowed me to providemedical support for the sheriff
deputies that were in the fieldand really helped show me how a
(02:35):
health care provider couldworking not only delivering
direct patient care but workingon the policy and procedures for
the health and well-being of anemployee population make a
larger impact in an organizationand on someone more than just
an individual.
(02:56):
Fortunately, at the time thatdidn't really much pay the bills
, so I went into emergencymedicine.
It did continue, and so I was afull-time emergency medicine
physician and then transitionedto be the medical director for
multiple law enforcementagencies while I was doing
emergency medicine and afterabout 17 years of emergency
(03:18):
medicine, I realized that mypassion for working with large
groups, with employees, andaffecting kind of healthcare
policy was much more impactfulfor me, and I had the
opportunity in 2010 to actuallywork for this company, lockheed
Martin, as the medical directorof one of the business areas
(03:40):
actually the aeronauticsbusiness area that makes this
fine jet right here.
I did that for five years butthen recognized that in order
for me to grow, I'd have tochange the organization and move
into more conventionalhealthcare.
So I did a year at oil and gas,I did a year as a medical
(04:02):
director for a large healthsystem in Texas and then was
recruited to be the medicaldirector for onsite medical
services at a pharmaceuticalcompany.
And from that, after a littleover 10 years of experience in
corporate medicine, I wasinvited to come back and serve
as the chief medical officer forLockheed Martin Corporation.
Officer for Lockheed MartinCorporation.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And at this point in 2025 now hard to believe- I have
the pleasure of being here nowthree years as a Chief Medical
Officer and, as you alluded, youknow, it's incredible to hear
your trajectory and such avaried career path and nonlinear
(04:43):
I guess you'd say A nonlinearcareer path Just simply
incredible.
And so your career does spanfrom emergency medicine all the
way to special operations andnow includes corporate health at
Lockheed Martin.
How did your experience inemergency and crisis management
shape your approach to corporatemedicine?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
management shape your approach to corporate medicine
Well.
You know, I think all of thecumulative experiences that have
been incredibly helpful, as youindicated.
You know my um, the, you know mycareer with law enforcement.
As I was doing emergencymedicine really gravitated to
the special operations divisionsof the law enforcement agency,
so I became certified in allthings special weapons and
tactics, executive and dignitaryprotection and all the crisis
(05:28):
management initiatives, and thenran the scope as a public
health authority in a communityof over 300,000 people in Texas
and so forth, and so really whatthat did was that allowed me
one to understand thatflexibility was the key in
crisis situations.
(05:50):
The ability to kind of quicklyevaluate a situation and develop
a formative action plan andthen be responsive to that as
well as put contingency plansfor things that might happen in
the future, have been veryhelpful.
Dealing with corporate medicineand dealing with bureaucracies
(06:14):
that in some instances take along time to make decisions, in
other instances you have to bequite agile in, and so really
the training that I've had, bothin emergency medicine and
serving law enforcementcommunities and communities in
general, have been kind ofperfectly aligned and helping
(06:35):
prepare me for my role currentlyas the chief medical officer
for lockheed and and so, as welook at this trajectory over 17
years in emergency medicine andpublic health consultancy, dr
Williams, what drew you to thecorporate world and what
challenges did you face duringthis transition?
(06:59):
Well, that's a great questionand we don't have a long time to
go into the challenges.
But you know, I went intohealth care because I had this
passion to help people right andto help others and I actually
had a button somewhere that saidI care, but I think I've lost
it somewhere.
And it was this desire to helpothers that really led me into
(07:24):
medicine as a whole.
In medical school I found thatI was drawn to, you know, making
rapid decisions.
I was drawn to the excitementof the emergency department and
throughout all of my rotationsin medical school, I much more
enjoyed the time I spent in theemergency department than I did
(07:44):
in other areas in the hospitaland the training.
So I knew that medicine reallywas the direction that I wanted
to take.
I also knew that I enjoyed notonly helping one person at a
time, but I enjoyed helpingmultiple others, and so you know
it was.
And so what I found is I wasdelivering care in the emergency
(08:07):
department.
Whereas that was rewarding, Ienjoyed the procedures and
enjoyed the stories that notonly had immediate impacts on
people's health and well-beingbut also set up the structure
(08:30):
for long-term and engagingconversations with individuals
in maintaining their health.
That that was much morerewarding, and so it was after.
But, as I indicated before, Ireally didn't.
It didn't pay the bills verymuch doing corporate medicine.
(08:50):
And so, um, what I decidedafter, about 2016, when I was
working full-time in theemergency department, I was
consulting as a medical directorfor multiple law enforcement
agencies that if there was a waythat I could change and flip
the script so that I could earnmy living doing corporate
(09:12):
medicine and then do emergencymedicine part time, I would do
that.
And that's when, of a sudden, afriend recommended that I look
at an opportunity that had comeup in Lockheed Martin.
So, within the span of a coupleof months, I made the decision
and made the transition intocorporate medicine.
(09:33):
Now, I did that withoutfinancially preparing myself for
the change from primary caredelivery and emergency medicine
to corporate medicine, which isa much different pay scale, and
so I actually had to work andmoonlight in the emergency
departments to continue to fundthe lifestyle that I generated
(09:54):
as a emergency medicinephysician that was doing other
things, and so it was really aninteresting transition.
And so the challenges, you know,one was the financial challenge
that I hadn't appropriatelyprepared for, but the other
thing that was fascinating was Ihad to learn the language and
(10:15):
the culture of corporations,which is markedly different than
what you use in the emergencydepartment or on the hospital
floor, and I found myself, aftera significant time, as you know
, the lead physician in theemergency department and, being
a leader, being really backeddown in a position where I had
(10:38):
to learn the language, the flow,the culture and be much more
understanding and accepting ofthe fact that I didn't know
everything about theorganization that I was in, and
that was a pretty significantchallenge in itself.
(10:58):
You know, corporations in manyinstances, as I indicated before
, will make committees bydecision rather than you're the
deciding physician standing at apatient's bedside, and so it
took a while to acclimate tobeing one, not the sole decision
maker in the room.
(11:21):
Sole decision maker in the room, I think I've lost your audio
there, and that is a challenge.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
As you're leading the way, you're also helping to
drive impact, change and all theabove right.
So, again, it's not a straightline, even when you're leading,
which I find to be fascinating,especially with respect to your
(11:54):
career path.
And so, dr Williams, as chiefmedical officer, you oversee
employee health services acrossLockheed Martin's global
operations.
What strategies do you employto ensure that there is both
consistency and quality in sucha diverse and expansive
(12:17):
organization?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Well, that's a great question and I'll tell you, it's
kind of one of the ongoingchallenges of the role and, I
think, one of the things thatjustifies the reason for a large
organization.
The corporations really shouldhave a chief medical officer.
Lockheed Martin has atremendous culture behind it and
the adage that we use hasreally evolved even as recently
(12:42):
as this year, and the coreprinciples that Lockheed follows
is perform, transform and grow.
And, george, as you indicated,we have just domestic in the
United States over, you know twodozen on-site medical services
that are in very diversepopulations across our geography
(13:06):
, in the United States and theninternationally.
We have employees and personnelin over 75 different countries
all over the world, and thatleads for some very dynamic
types of environments in whichour employees are looking for
their medical needs to be met,either through the health plan
(13:27):
or at our on-site medicalfacilities.
And you know, our on-sitemedical facilities really are
focused on the occupationalhealth and well-being of our
employee population, which, youknow, depending on the geography
, depending on the populationand depending on the products
and the services in which theywork, can be very different.
(13:48):
And so my organization and myrole really is focused on
ensuring that we do the bestthat we can to allow our
opportunities, our employees,the opportunities for them to do
exactly that perform, transformand then grow in the service
(14:10):
that they provide.
So what I ask of our medicalproviders is that we take that
exact same adage and we look athow do we optimize the medical
service and the care that we canprovide, how do we transform
and evolve those services tomeet the needs of the population
as they evolve, and then how dowe grow?
(14:34):
Or, I think more appropriately,how do we optimize the services
that we provide and deliverservices where they need to be
delivered and maybe stop doingthem where they no longer need
to be delivered.
So we really take the sameadage that the company has and
implement that across ourmedical organization and there
(14:58):
is the example of leadership.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
It takes leadership to help an organization really
thrive, and so, in your role asphysician, lead for the
corporate crisis management team, dr Williams, what are the key
elements of effective crisisresponse within a global
corporation like Lockheed Martin?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Well, that too is a great question, and I think
every corporation, organization,healthcare provider, everyone
knows that COVID-19 and recentlythat going through the pandemic
brought kind of a new dimensionof sustained operations during
a crisis and really exemplifiedthe importance of having a solid
(15:47):
medical contingency plan.
And so one of the elements incrisis management is having a
strong medical contingency plan.
And so Lockheed Martin, inorder for us to continue our
business operations, had to havea strong, firm foundation in
how we are going to ensure thatour employees were one safe to
(16:09):
come to work and safe while atwork, in order for them to
continue to do the importantwork that they do in the field.
And so, across all phases ofthe crisis, from the proactive
planning, from the initialresponse, from even during the
recovery phase, I've had a roleguiding and leading our crisis
(16:34):
management team.
Or what are the medicalimplications of one, the illness
?
The illness impacts on ourbusiness operations, what are
potential contingencies for?
How do we help keep ouremployees healthy and safe?
And then, as we're recovering,and as we recovered from the
pandemic, what were theappropriate mechanisms that we
(16:58):
could use in order to stand downsome of the protective measures
that we had to put in placeduring COVID-19.
And that's just an example ofhow, regardless of what the
crisis is, you need to have afirm and strong medical
contingency plan associated withthat in order to best maneuver
(17:19):
your organization through it.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
And so, as we look at the innovation and specifically
innovative approaches ortechnologies that you're
implementing, how are you usingthese to enhance, for example,
occupational health and employeewell-being at Lockheed Martin?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
being at Lockheed Martin.
Well, you know I'm happy to saythat the vendor that we have
contracted with that providesthat and delivers the actual
care and our onsite services isa bona fide health plan.
So our onsite health centers inthe United States are an active
health plan under the fullguidance of the law, and as a
(18:08):
health plan and a health systemthey mimic a lot of the
technologies that we see in theoutside healthcare systems as
well.
Everything from telemedicine andbeginning to look at how
artificial intelligence playsinto helping with documentation,
diagnoses and management, aswell as looking at artificial
(18:32):
intelligence predictivecapability in helping us one
evaluate where occupationalinjuries or illnesses might
occur and how we can bestmitigate them before they ever
occur, are some of the thingsthat we bring to bear currently
and are working on.
You know, lockheed Martin is aleader in the defense industry
(18:52):
in the application of artificialintelligence to help keep our
geography safe and we, much aswe do in our business principle,
use the same thing in our careprinciples as well.
So we're looking for allavenues of how can we most
appropriately and mostefficiently keep our employees
safe and healthy while in theworkplace and if any of that can
(19:17):
be translated to a whilethey're at home.
We'll do that as well.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
And so you've served and provided medical support in
in Incredibly challengingenvironments across the world.
This is an indelible part ofyour background, and so how has
this and these variedexperiences helped to influence
your ability to address healthand safety concerns,
(19:45):
specifically for the employeesworking in remote and or high
risk areas?
Speaker 2 (19:56):
working in remote and or high-risk areas.
Well, obviously I'm a bitbiased, but I think it's been
tremendously helpful, right?
I mean, in order to know besthow to deal with the challenges
of a geography, you need tounderstand that geography.
And, george, as you indicated,I've had in the course of my
career the opportunity not onlybe the medical director for
multiple agencies but to deploywith, to work alongside with and
(20:19):
to operate with a lot of theteams in a vast number of
geographies, from the jungles ofColumbia and the West Coast of
Africa and Bosnia and all thesedifferent types of places.
Having boots on the ground andbeingnia and all these different
types of places.
Having boots on the ground andbeing those boots on the ground
means that one I was also apotential consumer of the health
care services that was there,so I always had to think about
(20:46):
if I got sick or injured, whowas going to take care of me or
how was I going to take care ofmyself.
Having that experience allows meto one in some of the
geographies know exactly what,because I've been in those
geographies as well but if notto anticipate and think and
understand that I have to learnabout.
Where are our employees working, what are the work that they're
doing and what are thoseinherent risks that they may be
(21:09):
exposed to and doing?
That allows me to most crediblythink about okay, how can I
build a medical contingency planon, how do we take care of them
, how do we ensure they're safeand, if something goes wrong,
how can we do the best we can tominimize any illness or injury?
So it's one of the things thatI always think that in order to
(21:32):
walk the walk, you need to beable to get your boots on the
ground and go see, and thathelps me understand how best we
can apply the principles ofhealthcare provision to those
populations.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
And so, as a member of the National Safety Council's
Corporate Health DirectorsNetwork, what are the most
significant trends and orchallenges that you see in
corporate health leadershiptoday?
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You know, I think that's a great question and that
question kind of the answerskind of evolve over time.
Right now, our organization isworking with understanding the
implications of the newadministration and the executive
orders that are coming through,and how do we ensure that one
we are directly aligned with theexecutive orders that are
(22:27):
coming out of our Oval Officeand we're doing that in context
with unders, with ensuring thatwe're taking care of our
employees to the greatest extentpossible.
You know we have um the issuesin.
We have to understand that thehealth care of our employees is
really like the health care is across-section of the health
(22:49):
care the United States, and sohelping our employees understand
how to best access the care,how to be intelligent utilizers
of the healthcare system despitenot being their prime and not
being their primary careprovider, is is a tremendous
role that we have in trying tohelp support our employees and
(23:11):
our organizations.
You know the National SafetyCouncil is working on issues
from, you know, drug overdose inthe general population and in
the workforce, in the workforce,to PFAS and microplastics and a
number of different challengesthat occupational health
(23:35):
settings are facing, and being apart of that advisory council
allows me one to give input andadvisement from what we're
seeing within our organizationand then benchmarking and
understanding from outsideorganizations what might also be
a risk to our population aswell.
So you know, I guess I wouldsummarize that by saying that
(23:58):
you know, many of the challengesthat we're looking at as part
of the National Safety Councilas challenges to our employees'
safety and health are very muchlike the challenges that we're
seeing across other corporationsand the geography as a whole.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
And so, as we look at balance, how do you strike a
balance between maintainingemployee health and well-being
while also managing thefinancial aspects of corporate
health services at LockheedMartin?
Speaker 2 (24:34):
George, you're hitting on all the challenges
that we have, right, I mean as afixed entity within our
organization.
We have, just as you indicate.
We have a fixed budget.
That we do.
I think the great thing that Ienjoy about Lockheed Martin they
have an old adage that we neverforget who we're working for,
(24:56):
and that is we're working forourselves and we're working for
others.
And there is a fundamentalunderstanding within our senior
leadership that a safe andhealthy employee is also a
productive employee as well, andone that you have less risk of
attrition.
So there is absolute value toensuring that we have the safest
(25:20):
and healthiest population thatwe are able to help facilitate.
And so, you know, within thatstructure, we're given a budget
annually.
And then, you know, part of myrole is ensuring that my
operations, my contractors, myvendors that provide service
(25:41):
operate within that budget, orwe have significant
justification for why we wouldneed to deviate from that budget
, but it's always a balancingact.
Whereas we would love to beable to do anything and
everything from a healthcareperspective for our population,
it's just not financially orfiscally reasonable or really
(26:01):
even responsible to do that, notonly within our organization,
but within any organization orfor the general public, and so
we are always balancing thebusiness with the dynamics of
managing an optimal healthcareorganization for our employee
(26:24):
population.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
And so, as we come to the end of this inaugural HOSA
Future Health Professionals,future of Health podcast, I'd
like to ask you a question onthe future.
And so, dr Williams, what doyou envision as the future of
(26:57):
corporate health services,particularly in aerospace and
defense industries?
And how is Lockheed Martinspecifically preparing for these
changes.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I think the future is bright Again.
I will admit, as the firstguest, that I am biased, right
and in my role.
However, if you look at thechallenges the healthcare
industry is facing as a whole,not just within corporate
medicine but as a whole accessto care, the continued cost
(27:23):
drivers of accessing care,finding providers to deliver
that care and do that in ameaningful way, as well as the
overarching health risks that wehave to the population, having
an embedded healthcareorganization that is
specifically looking at youremployee population and how to
(27:46):
optimize their health andwell-being is becoming more and
more of an important entity.
Recent articles are talkingabout the evolving growth of my
role in other organizations.
The roles of chief medicalofficers for corporations and
organizations that have realizedthe value of having an employed
(28:10):
resource to give medicalguidance, if not deliver care,
is growing and expanding, and Idon't anticipate that that will
change In my organization sinceI've come back as the chief
medical officer.
We, even with the healthcarechallenges and budget challenges
(28:31):
that we've faced, myorganization continues to grow.
We continue to look at one wheredo we need to put onsite
medical services to deliver careto our employee population and
how do.
We continue to expand ourfootprint to cover more of the
geography outside thecontinental United States.
(28:51):
That is a trend that is goingto continue in growth and that
is, and should be, reallyhappening in every one of our
industries.
The aerospace defense industryin particular is one that is,
(29:19):
shall we say, there is acontinued and will be a
continued need for the work thatthe aerospace industries do.
Certainly, lockheed Martin isthe number one defense
contractor for the US government, if not for the world, and the
need for us to put programs,policies and systems in place to
help assure and to validateglobal security is a continued
(29:44):
growing imperative.
And, as we talked about earlier, if you're doing operations in
an environment, a key componentof that is you have to have a
good, strong medical contingencyplan.
So as our organizations, ourcorporations, our enterprise
grows, as the industries grow,then our ability to implement
(30:06):
onsite medical services anddeliver optimal care to our
employee population becomes moreand more important than ever in
order for our employees to beable to perform, transform and
grow.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Dr Charles Williams.
Chief Medical Officer.
Lockheed Martin, thank you sovery much for appearing as the
very first guest on theinaugural POSA Future Health
Professionals, future of Healthpodcast Extraordinary.
(30:43):
We're deeply grateful and, mostimportantly, we are inspired,
sir, by your leadership.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Thank you so much, george, and best of luck to you
and every one of theparticipants that gets the
opportunity to watch the podcast, and best of luck for future
podcasts.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Thank you, dr Williams, you've inspired us.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Thank you so much for having me, thank you.
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