Abby Fox (Intro): Welcome to the Still Caring Podcast, presented by Stillwater Medical.

Joe Akin (Intro): Here, community is at the heart of healthcare.

Katon Lunsford (Intro): Through honest conversations and shared experiences

Abby Fox (Intro): we explore what it means to care for our health—

Joe Akin (Intro): and each other.

Katon Lunsford (Intro): Because better health takes a village and you're part of ours.

Abby Fox (Host): Hello and welcome. I'm Abby Fox, the PR and Marketing Manager here at Stillwater Medical. And we're joined today by Denise Webber, President and CEO of Stillwater Medical. Denise, thanks for being here.

Denise Webber: Thanks so much for having me, Abby. And thanks for starting this on behalf of Stillwater Medical. I've got to catch a couple episodes, and this has been fun.

Host: Absolutely. Well, I know just from hearing the stories that I get to hear in my seat what an incredible community we have, and what incredible stories that they have about their own health journeys. And so, getting to shine a light on that is really what has fueled this podcast. So, thank you for listening. We appreciate that. Tell us a little bit today about your background. For listeners who might not know you very well, when did Stillwater become home for you?

Denise Webber: Wow. That was a long time ago. Stillwater became home for me in 1994. I'm originally from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I came to Stillwater to go to school at Oklahoma State. I was seeking sports medicine. At that time, I thought I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. And healthcare, I was always just pulled into healthcare. I've always loved healthcare. I was a junior volunteer—we called those candy stripers back in the day—at my hometown hospital in Broken Arrow and got my degree in my undergrad in sports medicine. And then, I got a master's also from Oklahoma State and Healthcare Administration, and I joined the team of Stillwater Medical in 2003, so 23 years ago.

Host: Yeah. Well, we are so grateful for your leadership over that time. This podcast is all about how better health is grounded in community, and how it takes a village for better health. How have you seen that play out in your own health journey?

Denise Webber: Oh my goodness, Abby, when I think back to my entire life, that whole phrase it takes a village to raise a child, that's definitely me. Every health situation that I've been through, whether that's been challenges in my childhood or my first delivery of my daughter, a village is really what it's been about, if that makes sense.

And I have had a couple cancer scares in my life. And I think there's always something special about when you experience something questionable or a health struggle or condition, and that the people around you are what make the difference and having those people that care about you, that check in with you, that you can share some of your most vulnerable thoughts and moments with.

Just this morning, I was around the table with some of our physicians and we were having a conversation about how fragile life is. You know, you're bebopping along, and then you can you get bit by a mosquito and your life can never be the same. And so, I think the village around you for all that life throws at you is so important to health.

Host: Absolutely. And you get a kind of unique seat at that, you know, from the inside of this organization, seeing how we work as a village to kind of care for others. What has stood out to you most about observing that and seeing that, and honestly, leading that?

Denise Webber: You know, I think that's a really great, great question, Abby, that a lot of times our community doesn't get to see. I would say the one thing that comes to mind, there's a lot that kind of surfaces to the top. But the one thing that really is on my heart to share is people that dedicate their lives to serving others, they typically are very empathetic.

And so when someone gets a diagnosis that's life-altering or life-changing, or when something happens, that's, you know, a challenge, they really bring that home. And I can't tell you how many times I've sat across the table of someone who's in angst or concerned or stressed about one of our community members and empathizing with them and how much I would say caregivers take-home of what I'm going to call the community's health. It's really inspiring to watch, and that this a team of people, watching them walk through—you know, you think about doing that all day long and, you know, we talk about that it's really a privilege to sometimes be present in the first moments of someone's life and to also be present sometimes in the last moments of someone's life and everywhere in between, that's such a privilege. And to watch people have to lean on each other to understand that. And especially as things are evolving, healthcare is not when you go to school, it stays the same. They've got to constantly evolve and figure out all this stuff that we are learning about the human body.

And so, I'm inspired on a regular basis by the people that we get to work with. Just Shyla Eggers was just sharing with me. We had a health fair in Blackwell, and she had no idea what would might happen that day. She thought she was just going for a health fair, and it turns out someone in Blackwell really needed our help, because they were really struggling with their life. And that was caught at a health fair. And we were able to get her the care that she needed. And so, you just never know the difference that you can make in someone's life. And this team is incredible with how much they care.

Host: Yeah and that's been so precious to me to get to be a part of because somebody that has no clinical background, you know, being able to somehow contribute to that has been amazing for me personally, I know.

So, let's talk about some of the hard stuff that you've had to go through. You've been CEO for 10 years, you've walked through a lot. A lot of people might say healthcare feels broken as a system. And so, how are we solving for that on the inside? How are we making sure that we're protecting those people that you talked about who are kind of putting themselves out there and providing the best service that we can to our community?

Denise Webber: You know, Abby, it is broken. I wish I could say it's not, and that we have an easy fix. The truth about healthcare and why it's broken, it is because it's been built through legislative efforts over decades. And we don't have a lot of control in healthcare. When I think about hospitals and physicians and providers throughout the nation, we don't get to determine the processes and the rules and the regulations we have to use within those frameworks, figure out ways that work. And so, that can create all sorts of competing incentives and that's a real struggle for healthcare.

The other side of that is when things are not aligned and, you know, when I use the word healthcare, there's so many more industries or players or, I don't know exactly how I want to phrase that, but there's insurance companies, there's pharmacies, there's manufacturers of drugs. There's equipment manufacturers. And so, you think about all these different components that make up the healthcare system. And all the laws that regulate each one of those are independent and uniquely different. And there are bodies that advocate for each one of those uniquely and independent.

And so, that just creates a lot of what I would call muck. And that's really tough for a caregiver. Because at the end of the day, what they love is taking care of people. And you think of our physicians and our nurses, how often they have to sit on the phone advocating with an insurance company to try to get a test approved or a medication approved. And that is so frustrating to them that they've spent years of education and know that, you know, this is what this person needs to extend the outcome of their life. This is going to be a really sad story, and it's not directly tied to sort of medical, but it just shows how tough this world that we live in is.

My cousin recently, he was 40 something. He recently died of cancer. And his wife's grief because the insurance company would not pay for a CT, and she ultimately believes that he would've lived longer with that CT. And so, I think of all that, and I don't know that we'll ever know if that's true or not, but that is such a heavy thing for patients and physicians and everybody in the healthcare space to have to sort through and way through.

I would tell you, you asked what are we doing to try to make it better. It is just one step at a time. You know, we're not going to be able to solve this overnight. It didn't get created overnight. And so, it's all the little things we can do to advocate for our communities, for our patients, for our caregivers, and to get involved.

I mean, that's what I would ask everybody from the community to get involved because our livelihood, our community, our everything in our lives, health is central to it. And so, it's important that we get involved, know what's happening and advocate.

Abby Fox: I have appreciated so much. You know, the leadership that you've shown through that and just the encouragement and the education that you've given us about different things that are happening legislatively that are making an impact. And so I think that's great.

And I think what I've also observed being involved in this organization resiliency. It's like a grit that I feel that everyone has because they are committed at the end of the day to the patient and doing what's best for the patient. So, how is that resiliency? We're celebrating 50 years on Sixth Street in that location. How has that resiliency played out, and how have you seen that?

Denise Webber: Oh my goodness. To think about, I wasn't here 50 years ago, but I was here 32 years ago as a college student. And while I wasn't in and out of the doors of Stillwater Medical every day, I do have a memory of what Stillwater Medical was like back then. And it's remarkable to think of this team and all the dedication, the strategy, the community, it is phenomenal to think of what Stillwater Medical was back in '94 or '76 when this building was built to what we are today. It really is an integrated group of people that everybody from the coders, the housekeepers, the physicians, the nurses, the techs, everybody is dedicated. And I think we realize that without any one of those people, if they're not here, somebody might not get the care they need. It takes every single one of us in each of those positions to be a hundred percent dedicated to realize that collectively we make the difference. And, you know, I always try to remind everybody of this. And I think the more we can lean in to this very thing that I'll share, the better we are at staying grounded and connected to why we're here.

In healthcare, whether you are the coder or you are the housekeeper or you're the nurse or the physician or the tech, everything is a problem. You know, whether it's a billing problem or a health problem or a coding problem. And so, we're a building full of people that are expertly trained to deal with problems. And sometimes when you deal with those all day long, that can be so draining to you. And so, trying to remind each and every one of us that we show up. And we help other people all day long to connect those dots and realize that the difference they're making, you know, a billing problem may seem trivial to some. But really, if that person just got outta the hospital and they're stressed about their bill, if our billing team realizes that they're a part of the care team and they handle that with grace and kindness and respect, that could be the difference in that patients outcome. And so, reminding everybody about the difference that we make, not only does it fuel the passion for why they chose this career path, but it really makes a difference in our community and how people view their health and Stillwater Medical.

Host: Well, when I zoom out and think about the last 50 years, it seems like we've transformed from just a hospital to a health system, and I feel like a lot of that growth has been driven by the need that we have in this region. And so, how do you see that? What is your hope for the next 50 years of what that might look like?

Denise Webber: You nailed it, Abby. I mean, you almost said exactly what I would say. When you think back to the 50 years of when this building was built, why we've been able to continue to grow and meet the needs of the community is because we've listened. And we're very fortunate in Stillwater to have and independent public trust health system that is here to serve the citizens of this area. And the reason to me why we've been able to maintain this independent health system is because we listen to the community and we grow based on what they need from us versus somebody else in another town telling us what we need.

And so, my hope for the future is that we continue to listen to what our friends, our neighbors, our community members need and want from this health system, and we respond. And if we do that, I think we'll thrive for many years to come.

Host: I love that. I think that's great. We're ending every conversation here with a challenge to care. So, something that the listeners can do for themselves or for their community to better improve health. What would be your challenge to care today?

Denise Webber: You know, it is such a busy world right now. I really worry about each and every one of us, because our attention spans are getting less and less because we are pulled every second of the day. There is some sort of piece of information or multiple pieces of information that are fed to us from devices, computers, phones, video games. It's just everywhere. And when I see that worries me is we're becoming less and less connected with each other, which I think is neat. And what you're trying to become a part of or create an inspiration around, which I love.

And so, my advice or my hope for the community is that we would slow down for a minute and get back together, invite people over for a dinner, a party, a gathering. The human condition is about connection with other people, not with devices. I use a device all the time, so I'm not an anti-device person. But I really think at the pace that we go on these devices, we're exhausted by the time the day is done. And that exhaustion leads to, you know, maybe not gathering with each other. And so, my advice or my hope for the world would be to limit that to some degree and make some time in our space to connect. Because as if I wrap this back to my first comment, it does take a village and sometimes when you're on your devices so much, you lose pieces of your village.

At some point in time, you might need that village. And so, that's what I would say is to spend some time with people and build those connections and those relationships. So, you have a village when you need them.

Host: Well, I think that's profound. and there have been so many studies about why those relationships matter so much to our health. You know, it's all connected and it all plays into it. Well, thank you, Denise. This has been wonderful. We really appreciate you being here today and sharing your story with us.

Denise Webber: Thank you, Abby, for doing this. Really excited for this to be so educational for our community.

Host: Yes. Happy to have it in the world.

Denise Webber: Yes, thanks, Abby.