Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast with Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire, MBA

Episode Date: January 11, 2026
Guest: Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Duke University Health System
Host: Grace Linkeller
Event: 13th Annual CEO and CFO Roundtable (recorded live)

Overview

This episode centers on Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire’s vision and leadership at Duke University Health System as she discusses strategies for organizational growth, impactful initiatives, and the critical mindset healthcare executives need for long-term success. The episode balances concrete projects with motivational leadership advice, offering insight into the intersection of marketing, community outreach, and hope-driven leadership in healthcare.

Guest Introduction & Background

(00:32 – 02:57)

Eclectic Career Path: Trudy describes her professional journey as a "lattice, not a ladder," touching on leadership roles spanning the Red Cross, Micron, Raytheon, Health Catalyst, and her current role at Duke Health.
- “My career path has been eclectic. I think of it as a lattice, not a ladder.” (01:16)
Emphasizes the value of being a “multi-hyphenate” and drawing from varied experiences.
- “At points along the way, I've been an advisor, a founder, a caregiver, a P and L leader, a community volunteer, and a marketing strategist.” (01:54)
Motivated by a personal purpose: “to improve human health and wellness,” aligning with Duke’s four-part mission of research, clinical care, education, and community health.
- “I believe few places align more deeply with that purpose than Duke, where the mission-driven kind people are second to none.” (02:39)

Growth Strategy at Duke Health

(02:57 – 04:55)

Strategic Focus: Main initiative is to “expand access to hope, health, and healing for more North Carolinians” with an emphasis on people-first culture.
- “Our system growth strategy is centered on expanding access to Hope Health and healing for more North Carolinians…by putting our people first.” (03:08)
Three-pronged growth approach:
- Buying (e.g., integrating Duke Health Lake Norman Hospital)
- Building (creating new care sites across the state)
- Partnering (including a landmark collaboration with UNC for a freestanding children’s hospital)
Marketing tightly integrated with growth:
- Increase awareness and visibility, especially in Durham, their core market.
- “Our outstanding marketing team is driving growth in three key areas: growing the business…growing the margin…growing the brand.” (04:01)
Campaign Examples:
- Lake Norman introduction, 48-hour access campaigns for heart and ortho care (building on a cancer care campaign).

Notable Projects & Impactful Initiatives

(04:55 – 06:23)

Full Circle Storytelling Strategy:
- A holistic communications strategy to spotlight under-shared stories of community impact.
- Collaboration with university and community partners (e.g., CEO Community Health Advisory Board, Faith and Ministry Advisory Board, government relations).
- “It’s really more than a communications effort. It's a collaborative and transformational initiative.” (05:06)
Community Impact Story:
- Duke’s farm (in collaboration with School of Medicine, endocrinologists, students, and community volunteers).
- Since 2016: Over 273 tons of repurposed food, now feeding 700 families weekly.
- “Food is medicine. And I love this story and that we were able to come together and share it.” (06:10)

Essential Leadership Mindset for Healthcare Executives

(06:23 – 08:17)

Leaders as Beacons of Hope:
- Acknowledges industry challenges but emphasizes reframing them as opportunities.
- “The most important thing that healthcare executives can do right now is serve as beacons of hope.” (06:33)
Gallup Leadership Study:
- Recent results: 56% of workers prioritize hope from leaders above traits like trust or compassion.
- “When leaders inspire hope, the data shows organizations thrive, wellbeing improves, engagement deepens.” (07:18)
Duke’s Acronym for HOPE: Honor Our Purpose Every day.
- “At Duke Health, we've turned hope into an acronym, a way of being—an action-focused word for us.” (08:08)
Urges all leaders to embrace a hope-driven mindset to energize and uplift teams, patients, and communities.

Notable Quotes

“My career path has been eclectic. I think of it as a lattice, not a ladder.”
— Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire (01:16)
“Few places align more deeply with that purpose than Duke, where the mission driven kind people are second to none.”
— Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire (02:39)
“Our system growth strategy is centered on expanding access to Hope Health and healing for more North Carolinians…by putting our people first.”
— Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire (03:08)
“It’s really more than a communications effort. It's a collaborative and transformational initiative.”
— Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire (05:06)
“The most important thing that healthcare executives can do right now is serve as beacons of hope.”
— Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire (06:33)
“At Duke Health, we've turned hope into an acronym, a way of being—an action-focused word for us.”
— Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire (08:08)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:32 — Introduction & Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire’s background
02:57 — Overview of Duke Health’s growth strategy
04:55 — Most exciting current initiative: Full Circle Storytelling
06:33 — The crucial leadership mindset: Being beacons of hope

Conclusion

Trudy Sullivan Stoudamire offers a comprehensive look at how Duke Health is marrying growth with purpose through partnerships, strategic marketing, and authentic storytelling. Her call for hope-driven leadership stands out as a clarion message for both current and future healthcare executives, shifting the conversation from overcoming industry headwinds to creating a culture of optimism and impact.

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Transcript11 lines

[00:02]
A
This is where healthcare leadership comes together. Becker's 16th annual meeting brings more than 3,500 hospital and health system executives and nearly 800 speakers to Chicago, April 13th through the 16th. This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former President George W. Bush. For the agenda and event details, visit Beckershospitalreview.com and click on the Events tab in the upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you in Chicago.
[00:33]
B
This is Grace Linkeller with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast, and we are recording live at the 13th annual CEO and CFO Roundtable. I'm currently joined by Trudy Sullivan Stoudemire, who is the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Duke University Health System. Trudy, thank you so much for being here. I'm going to have you start off by introducing yourself a little bit further and telling us more about your background.
[00:55]
C
Okay, thank you, Grace. It's an honor to be here. I'm Trudy Sullivan Stoudem, privileged to serve as the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Duke University Health System. I've been in this role for eight months, and while my time here is relatively new, the journey to the seat feels like it's always been meant to be. I'm a middle child from Boise, Idaho, a proud wife to Charles, and together we have six children and seven grandchildren. My career path has been eclectic. I think of it as a lattice, not a ladder. I began at the American Red Cross and I cut my teeth there in biomedical services, in marketing and communications, and I later became the CEO of one of our nation's largest blood regions before serving as the Chief Marketing Officer at National headquarters. And from there I pivoted into senior leadership roles across industries semiconductor industry at Micron, Aerospace and defense at Raytheon, and then healthcare IT at Health Catalyst. So during my career, I've stepped away from work to have and care for our children, to support my dying father, and then to return to work with renewed purpose. And I consider myself a multi hyphenate. I don't know if you've been reading Fast Company. There's a great article about multi hyphenates and the power of our various experiences, adding to the unique perspective we bring to our roles today. So at points along the way, I've been an advisor, a founder, a caregiver, a P and L leader, a community volunteer, and a marketing strategist. So I came to Duke Health because my personal purpose is to improve human health and wellness, and I believe few Places align more deeply with that purpose than Duke, where the mission driven kind people are second to none. And our four missions, research, clinical care, education and community health, inspire and impact lives every day. And our powerful purpose of leading with heart and innovation to contribute to a healthier humanity is so deeply aligned with my own purpose.
[02:57]
B
Wonderful. Well, thank you for joining me. And let's start our conversation talking about growth strategies. So can you kind of give us an overview of what your growth strategy is over the next year or two?
[03:08]
C
Our system growth strategy is centered on expanding access to Hope Health and healing for more North Carolinians. And we're doing this by putting our people first. And with a strategic growth effort tied to buying, building and partnering. And some of our most exciting initiatives, and it's not a comprehensive list by any means, include our unique partnership with UNC to create North Carolina's only freestanding children's hospital, the integration of Duke Health Lake Norman Hospital, building care sites across the state to close access gaps and expanding ambulatory services through strategic partnerships. And what's really exciting is the tight alignment between our marketing and communication strategy and this vision for growth. So we're focused as a team on increasing awareness and visibility of Duke Health across our primary service areas and especially in our own backyard of Durham, where we serve as a safety net. And our outstanding marketing team is driving growth in three key areas. Growing the business so with a perspective on increasing new patient volume to feeder services, growing the margin by driving volume to high margin services, and then of course, growing the brand so we can touch more lives through our strategic partnerships and our growth opportunities. I'll just give an example of some of the work. We're currently running two major marketing campaigns, one introducing Duke Health to Lake Norman and another focused on 48 hour access for heart and ortho care, which builds on the success of our 48 hour Access Cancer campaign. And our communications teams are ensuring that we're tightly aligned to our team members, supporting them in the ways that make most sense. And the news office is New is doing really new and different thought leadership and PR work.
[04:56]
B
Wonderful. And can you tell us about the most exciting or impactful initiative or project you're working on right now?
[05:03]
C
Yeah, that's a tough question because there are so many impactful initiatives. I think one of the most energizing initiatives that we're leading is our full circle storytelling strategy. And it's really more than a communications effort. It's a collaborative and transformational initiative. So we're spotlighting the real stories we've not shared in the past about impact across our communities and we're collaborating with our university and local partners to do so. So an example would be engaging more closely with our CEO Community Health Advisory Board and our Faith and Ministry Advisory Board and working very closely with our government relations teams to amplify our message. And another example I'd share of a story that we just told recently that was really exciting, I think to all of us is about root causes. So I did not know that Duke University has a farm and that farm produces thousands of pounds of food annually. But we also collaborate with other organizations. The school of Medicine, our endocrinologists, our medical school students, community volunteers. And since 2016 we've repurposed more than 273 tons of food and we now feed 700 families a week with that food. So food is medicine. And I love this story and I love that we were able to come together and share it.
[06:23]
B
Wonderful. And then what is the most important thing that you think healthcare executives should be doing right now to make sure their organizations are successful in the future?
[06:33]
C
I believe the most important thing that healthcare executives can do right now is serve as beacons of hope. So why do I say that? I think the challenges that we face. I've been here all week at the conference and the topics are pretty tough. From all of the financial headwinds to workforce shortages, to payer dynamics, regulatory changes, site neutrality, all these are real challenges. And we need to be able to see them as opportunities. And our people need to know that we're with them, that we see them, and that together we can create a better future. And, and the power of hope is grounded in research. For example, I've long followed the Gallup Leadership Study. They do it globally. And this year's findings are pretty striking. 56% of those surveyed indicated that the most important leadership trait that they're seeking in their workplace is hope. Not trust, as it's been over the years, but hope. And it outranks every other, every other trait to include compassion and stability. And so when leaders inspire hope, the data shows that organizations thrive, wellbeing improves, engagement deepens. And I believe as healthcare leaders, we have a really unique opportunity to be beacons of hope for our teams, for our patients, for our communities. And when our people feel hopeful, that energy transforms every interaction. So my recommendation is to lead with hope. And at Duke Health, we've turned hope into an acronym, a way of being an action focused word for us. And it's honor our purpose every day. And I think all leaders should embrace the power of hope for a better future for all of us in this industry.
[08:18]
B
Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast today and sharing these insights again. We are recording live at the 13th annual CEO and CFO Roundtable.
[08:28]
C
Thank you, Grace.