September 2, 2026: Salus Forum

Jenny

I’m fortunate to say I’ve talked to Jeremy so many times this last year, and I’m happy to say that that untapped resource we’ve talked about and that has helped greatly. I have reached out to my mentor at S.F. General. She was the prior department chief, huge mentor in the palliative care space. I think Jeremy, you’ve connected me with Dr. Kuruvilla before. I’ve talked to her once. I haven’t talked to her since. I guess a big question is that right now it’s just a temporary situation. But what future situations. You all have been leaders. There’s always going to be someone higher, and you have a disagreement with that leadership, and it’s a matter of hard emergence. It’s a stampede. How do you manage and maneuver that situation?  Jeremy’s recommendation is to establish calm. It’s like running a code blue. How do you make sure you’re the one person who’s calm while everyone else is panicking around you? I’m only one year out. I’m learning how to do that, but it’s hard. It’s so hard.

Bill B

Jenny. in some ways, it’s the opposite of the flock. The stampede is different from the flock in that the cow says, why the hell are we running? I’m going to just sit here, let you guys all run off the cliff. I’m going to stay here. That’s back to Howard’s notion about discernment. This guy named Robert Sapolsky, who’s one of my heroes, talks about our capacity to invent imaginary lions. That is, we’re geared to be out in the savanna, running away from real lions, but we’re not on the savanna. We can imagine lions all over the place. In some sense, how is it that you can discern. You say, wait a minute, your folks are all stampeding. I’m just going to stay here, try to remain a bit calm and watch all the rest of you run around madly. Which means, as always, we need to come to the calming.

Howard

One quick comment. Jenny, thank you for your commitment, your dedication, your passion for palliative care. I think it’s 100% necessary, and I’m glad people like you are doing that. I served as a CEO in a hospital for a number of years, and exactly the same issue came up with palliative care and wanting to get more funding. The battle is always about the dollars.

It’s just that palliative care doesn’t bring as many dollars in as does ORs and procedures and other things that might be done to or for those patients at the same time. It comes down to an economic battle. Understanding where the pressure comes from is important, and when hospitals, CEOs, and CFOs are stuck with having to make budgets, they’ll look at those places like palliative care and make cuts there.

I think the answer is understanding where the risk comes from and being able to mitigate it with data or heartfelt stories to the board of trustees where the decisions are ultimately made and understand where your power comes from and leverage that power. Otherwise, you’re at the victim level. Sadly.

Jenny

Thank you for sharing that Howard.

Howard

Sorry to be so practical about it.

Jenny

No, that’s fine. I want to stop being naive. I’ve learned many hard lessons. At the end of the day, it’s a business. And I have to keep reminding myself of that—even though the work I do is so heartfelt and so vulnerable. I’m so honored to do this kind of work. I must have a specific mindset if I’m going to continue in this space. So, your perspective is very helpful, Howard. So, thank you.