Episode #223. Don’t Replace It, Connect It: A Smarter Way to Fix Healthcare, with Sam Meckey, President of WestCX

Summary

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Risk Never Sleeps Podcast

Episode #223: "Don’t Replace It, Connect It: A Smarter Way to Fix Healthcare"
May 19, 2026
Host: Ed Gaudet (CEO & Founder of Censinet)
Guest: Sam Meckey, President of WestCX

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Ed Gaudet welcomes Sam Meckey, President of WestCX, for a thoughtful, lively discussion on connecting instead of replacing legacy systems to revolutionize patient and consumer engagement in healthcare. Meckey, a Navy veteran with 25 years of healthcare experience, reflects on his career, leadership lessons, and intertwines personal insights with actionable wisdom for professionals in the healthcare tech arena. The conversation blends professional expertise, stories from military service, and advice for those entering healthcare.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Sam Meckey’s Background & Journey into Healthcare

[00:44–01:56]

• Sam is President of WestCX, formed by merging Televox and Mosaix (both part of Apollo).
• Military roots: Former Navy pilot (flew P3 Orions, C-130 Hercules), then transition into healthcare after business school.
• Personal connection to healthcare’s mission: Inspired by his mother, who had multiple sclerosis (MS).
• Quote:

  “If I’ve learned anything about myself, it's that I really love being part of something bigger than myself.” (01:24, Sam Meckey)

• Values alignment: The shared mission and team spirit in healthcare resemble the military ethos.

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2. WestCX: Connecting, Not Replacing, Healthcare Tech

[09:48–11:18]

• Mission: Facilitate seamless patient, provider, and member engagement by connecting (rather than replacing) legacy communication systems.
• Capabilities:
  • Televox: Massive healthcare messaging with EHRs for nearly 30 years.
  • Mosaix: Advanced voice platforms.
  • Integrated platform using AI from the ground up (streaming speech-to-speech technology).
• Sam’s Vision:

  “You don’t have to rip and replace technology systems. We make it a lot easier…to have a modern consumer engagement experience.” (10:31, Sam Meckey)

• Deep understanding of healthcare regulations and needs.

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3. Culture, Leadership, and Learning from Experience

[14:05–15:48]

• Lessons for young professionals:
  • Enjoy the journey, don’t just focus on outcomes.
  • The people you surround yourself with profoundly influence your growth.
• Message to his younger self:

  “Take time and enjoy the journey, because it goes by really fast.” (14:13, Sam Meckey)

• On building teams: Finding fulfillment in being part of something greater; doing hard things with good people.

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4. Innovating in Healthcare—Mission Over Margin

[21:07–22:43]

• Sam encourages new entrants to healthcare or tech entrepreneurship to “do it—and do it as quick as you can.”
• Importance of being mission-driven: “If you can figure out how to responsibly use AI, …you can really do some pretty interesting things.”
• Tech can address clinician burnout and amplify care:

  “When you can bring a technology solution that makes a clinician’s life better and easier…that’s pretty rewarding work.” (22:38, Sam Meckey)

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5. Personal Anecdotes & Shared Humanity

[02:05–08:59]

• Warm, personal banter about military service, family, travel, and music.
• Sam’s call sign: "Pumpkin" (“Short for pumpkin head!” 02:08)
• Strong family connections and their influence on major life choices.
• Memorable moment:
  • Military patches inspired by Grateful Dead art, tying together military service and personal passions.
  • Shared stories about children and the transitions as they enter adulthood.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Being Part of a Mission:

  • “Very much like the military.” (02:04, Ed Gaudet)
  • “That shared mission of healthcare…that you don’t get in other industries.” (01:56, Ed Gaudet)

• On Legacy Systems in Healthcare:

  • “You don’t have to rip and replace technology systems.” (10:31, Sam Meckey)
  • “We’re a technology company that understands healthcare.” (11:01, Sam Meckey)

• On Risk and Growth:

  • Riskiest thing you’ve ever done? “Jumping out of airplanes.” (16:13, Sam Meckey)
  • “You think you are [invincible] …and now we’re dealing with it!” (16:59, both laugh)

• On Professional Fulfillment:

  • “I love being part of something bigger than myself.” (14:43, Sam Meckey)
  • “Who you work with, and the people you surround yourself with, really matters.” (15:38, Sam Meckey)

• Advice for Young Professionals:

  • “Do it as quick as you can.” (21:07, Sam Meckey)
  • “The people you get to work with, you know…they’re trying to solve hard problems that matter.” (22:11, Sam Meckey)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:44–01:56: Sam Meckey’s introduction and path to healthcare, military background, personal connection
• 09:48–11:18: What WestCX does and why “connecting” is smarter than “replacing” in healthcare IT
• 14:05–15:48: Leadership wisdom, career reflection, and advice to his younger self
• 16:08–16:59: Discussing risk, airborne school, and lessons from pushing boundaries
• 21:07–22:43: Advice for newcomers in healthcare and tech; mission-driven fulfillment

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Lighthearted & Personal Touches

• Music Favorites:

  • Five albums on a desert island: Prince’s "Purple Rain," Springsteen’s "Born to Run," Noah Kahan, Fleetwood Mac’s "Rumours," U2’s "The Joshua Tree" ([17:37–19:46])
  • Shared love of live music, family-influenced music tastes, and concert stories

• Travel Inspirations:

  • Family heritage of wanderlust, goals to visit all continents ([11:23–12:10])
  • Unique travel tips (e.g., Cristania in Copenhagen, [07:10–09:23])

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• Key Takeaway: You don’t have to demolish what’s working in healthcare IT; the smarter solution is to connect systems for seamless, patient-centered engagement.
• Sam’s life and leadership lessons: Prioritize mission, value your colleagues, adapt with technology, but above all, appreciate the journey.
• For those entering healthcare: Act now, stay mission-driven, and leverage technology to solve meaningful problems.
• Sam’s parting wisdom:

  “When you can bring technology and solve some of these problems…that’s pretty rewarding work.” (22:38, Sam Meckey)

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For more on risk awareness and patient safety, visit www.censinet.com.

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome to Risk Never Sleeps, where we meet and get to know the people delivering patient care and protecting patient safety. I'm your host, Ed Gaudet.

[A]

Welcome to the Risk Never Sleeps podcast in which we learn about the people that are on the front lines protecting patient safety and delivering patient care. I'm Ed Gaudette, the host of the program, and today I am pleased to be joined by Sam Meki, the president of west cx. Did I get that?

[C]

Did I get that right? You got it.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

All right.

[A]

All right. So let's start off with a softball question. Tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, your current role, and your organization.

[C]

Awesome. So first, my background. I'm currently the president of west is a company that's owned by Apollo. It was formed by the merger of two of their subsidiary companies. One was called Televox. One is called Mosaics. I've been there for just about a year. So we've integrated the two businesses and improving our products that we're taking to market. My background been in healthcare for the last 20, almost 25 years, sad to say. Real traditional healthcare background, though. I started out as a Navy pilot, so I flew planes in the Navy. Got out.

[A]

Thank you for your service.

[C]

Thank you, sir. Appreciate that. So got out of the Navy business school, and then I spent some time working at UnitedHealth Group and Optum and a couple other companies within the healthcare space.

[A]

That's great. And how did you get into healthcare?

[C]

Got into healthcare, truly, because it was something that was interesting to me in terms of the ability to help other people. So I spent 10 years flying planes in the Navy. If I've learned anything about myself, it's that I really love being part of something bigger than myself. And so my mom had ms, and so when I was getting out of the Navy and trying to figure out where I wanted to work, I wanted to, one, I wanted to live in Minnesota. Two, there's this great big, awesome company called UnitedHealth Group that was interested in hiring me. And three, it gave me the opportunity to go help people live healthier lives.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Specifically help people like my mom.

[A]

The shared mission of healthcare that you don't get in other industries, Right?

[C]

Correct. Yeah. It's one of the things I love the most about healthcare.

[A]

So very much like the military.

[C]

Very much so.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

What was your call sign?

[C]

My favorite story. So I'm assuming you've seen Top Gun. I always preface it with nobody's call signs ever as cool as Goose and Maverick. Although I think mine was pretty cool. My Call sign was Pumpkin, which is short for pumpkin head.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[C]

Yeah. So I love it. I tell everybody that wherever I go and. Yeah, people who still call me Pumpkin, especially at work.

[A]

That's great. The producer has a cat named Pumpkin.

[C]

Really?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

There you go. I want to meet the cat.

[A]

What kind of planes did you fly?

[C]

I flew P3 Orions and C130 Hercules. So large.

[A]

Oh, the C130s.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Been on those.

[C]

Yeah. Great plane. So what, how did you get onto the C130?

[A]

I was in the field artillery.

[C]

Were you really?

[A]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Rotc. Rotc.

[C]

Nice. Where'd you go to school?

[A]

I went to school at Bentley.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah. And it was a satellite program through the Boston University.

[C]

Oh, that's awesome. Well, thanks for your show.

[A]

Thank you. Yeah, that's how I stayed in school. Otherwise I was going back to Connecticut. Plantsville, Connecticut.

[C]

Oh.

[A]

Going to a state school, living at home.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Yeah. There was no way I was going back. No way.

[C]

I totally get it. Yeah. For me, I wanted to get a really good education, so I went to naval academy.

[A]

Yeah, that's a great education.

[C]

Yeah, it was fantastic. Everything that you think it would be.

[A]

How long were you in?

[C]

Four years at Annapolis and then ten years active duty.

[A]

Ten.

[C]

Okay. Yeah.

[A]

See any action or.

[C]

I did. I flew three six month tours overseas. My first one was South America doing counter drug operations. My second one, I was in Italy flying in Bosnia during that conflict, doing a bunch of reconnaissance. And then my third tour was in Iceland chasing Russians on marines.

[A]

Whoa, Iceland.

[C]

Beautiful. Fun stuff.

[A]

Beautiful part of the world, Right?

[C]

It's really, really pretty. One of the more underrated places if it really is. Yeah. I highly recommend that.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So how about you? How long were you in?

[A]

I was in eight years. Oh, wow. Yeah.

[C]

Very good.

[A]

Yeah. Six. And then I. To reserve.

[C]

Okay. All right. Didn't want to make it a career. Didn't want to.

[A]

No. Because in 91 I was in a reserve unit and we were round out battalion for the 10th Mountain.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Out of New York. And we were ready to deploy and then the war just ended. I don't remember that.

[C]

I do.

[A]

So it was one of these moments. Yeah. And then I found out, actually a good friend of mine said if you want to get out, you actually need to resign your commission because they can call you back at any point in time. And I didn't know. Most people don't know that.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

And during the second conflict, people, neighbors, lawyers, dentists, they got called out and they didn't realize they went. They went overseas for a while. Big wake up call.

[C]

Yeah. The two Gulf wars kind of bookended my active duty time, so I was at the Naval Academy during the first one, and then I had just resigned my commission right before the second one started.

[A]

So you were smart, too.

[C]

I was going to business school, so.

[A]

Well, you got to get out, Right?

[C]

You do.

[A]

And people think, you know, you go irr and, you know, you collect your points and you can retire. Yeah. And it all sounds good on paper.

[C]

It does.

[A]

Unless there's a conflict.

[C]

So far. You say that because everybody who I know that stayed in the reserve, they all got recalled.

[A]

Yeah. It's crazy. And some of them, you know, didn't make it, and some of them came home sick, and it's just awful. But.

[C]

Yeah. Which I appreciate. I definitely have gone. I just.

[A]

Absolutely. Me too.

[C]

I would have at that point in my life. My wife and I had had our. I had our first two daughters, and I was just. I have so much respect and admiration

[A]

for the families that make them incredible. The sacrifice. People don't realize.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

It's so hard. It's such a hard life.

[A]

It really is. And. Yeah. You said your first two daughters.

[C]

How many? We have three kids now. So what? We had two daughters. I got out, I went to business school, and then we moved. Moved to Minnesota. My wife's from Minnesota and she wanted to move back there.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I always joke I was open to living in any of the 50 states and she was open to one until it compromised and we moved to Minnesota. But that's so unfair to her because we moved seven times in 10 years as active duty, and so she's fantastic. And so it wasn't really a sacrifice.

[A]

I just.

[C]

I like the little joke that we compromised.

[A]

I have three daughters, so.

[C]

Very nice.

[A]

Yeah. I feel your pain. They're great kids, though, aren't they?

[C]

They are, yeah. Like, you and I seem like we're about the same age, so I have one daughter who lives in Boston, daughter lives in Oregon. And my son's in college. He's up in Vermont. But I'm at that point in my life where when your kids. When it's their choice and they want to spend time with you.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Then you kind of like, okay. I think we might have got most of it right, you know?

[A]

Yeah. It's nice, isn't it?

[C]

It is. It's really.

[A]

Yeah. We had all three move in back with us, and then one of them just moved out with her husband and with a grandson.

[C]

Oh, congratulations.

[A]

Yeah, he'll be a year in March and then we have another one. She has another one on the way.

[C]

Oh, wow. Good for you.

[A]

Your whole world becomes that and you've heard that. And people say that, but when it's, yeah, you become that annoying, doting grandparent.

[C]

I don't think I look forward to that. So we're not close with any of them right now.

[A]

It's oh, yeah, you got some time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are your kids in the workforce now or.

[C]

They are, yeah. So both of my daughters are gainfully employed. I call them GDP contributing members of society. And then my son's studying abroad right now. He's doing a semester in Copenhagen, but

[A]

he's had a love Copenhagen.

[C]

We're going a couple of weeks.

[A]

You are?

[C]

Can't wait.

[A]

Oh, do you know this place called Cristania?

[C]

I do not.

[A]

Oh, okay. I'll tell you about Cristania. All right. So I am a deadhead. You can see my watch here.

[C]

There you go. I love it.

[A]

And there's a about a mile square plot of land that the government of Copenhagen deeded back in the 70s. Deeded to basically squatters. This was an area that they had military barracks in. And then the military moved out.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And the place became vacant and then squatters kind of moved in, took over. And so the government said, you know, we're going to try something. We're going to deed them this land outside of the government. Wow. They can do their own thing. They can set up their own government.

[C]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. And to see what interest. And it's still around. I've been there, I don't know, ten times or so. I haven't been in a while, so I don't know what it's like. But what's interesting about it is it became, as you can imagine, it became this haven for just about any type of drug you get. There's actually a street called Pusher Street.

[C]

Oh, really? Yeah. Okay.

[A]

However, I believe so. Since the 80s, 90s, they've kind of cleaned up things and. And the government's also, I think, taken back control a little bit because it get a little unruly.

[C]

But no.

[A]

What's interesting about that place, you should just, if you have time and you can check it out.

[C]

Check it out. Definitely will.

[A]

There's a four or five star restaurant, Spizzle open. Spizzle open.

[C]

Okay. Now check it out.

[A]

You're never going to find it unless you know where you're going. It's in one of the barracks and you'll see a Big sign, spizzle open.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

And the barracks are all graffiti, broken windows. I mean, you know, a very seedy place. But you walk up, there's four stairs. If you actually make it to the top, there's this door. It's a big wooden door. You open it up, and inside is this beautiful restaurant, and it's amazing.

[C]

I love places like that.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Check it out.

[A]

You have to check it out. I've eaten, and I've taken locals that have never been.

[C]

And they didn't know.

[A]

Wow. They'd never been to Cristania. I was like, oh, we can't go there. Like, no, no, it's okay. It's like, that sounds amazing. People are friendly, their commerce. They made these bike. These special Copenhagen bikes. And they're unique, and that's how they basically pay for their. Yeah. Economy. But it's kind of a cool place. Check it out. It's nice to go.

[C]

And. Yeah.

[A]

Daytime. Unless you go to dinner, you know. You know, you look like you take care of yourself.

[C]

My son's 6 7.

[A]

So is he 67?

[C]

Yeah. So he'll be able to.

[A]

How tall are you?

[C]

I'm 62.

[A]

Oh, okay. 67.

[C]

Yeah. He's a. He's a big guy, so. And he's the nicest, kindest, gentlest person you ever want to be.

[A]

Takes after dad.

[C]

Fortunately, he takes a lot after his mom, so, you know, that's the best part we got going. So.

[A]

So what do you guys do? What is West CX West?

[C]

So what we do is we basically are a communications and consumer engagement company. What we're trying to do is bring the retail experience of consumer engagement to healthcare.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

And we combine these two companies. One's a historical messaging business. So Televox was the largest messaging company with electronic health records, and then Mosaics was a voice company. And so basically, we've combined the two capabilities, and as some of the routine messaging has become a little bit more commoditized, what we're trying to do is help companies orchestrate conversations. So, you know, in healthcare, every provider you work with or every pharmacy or every payer, they've all got all these legacy telecommunications technology stacks that don't necessarily work together. And so what we want to do is help them use AI and use our agents and our tools in order to just basically orchestrate conversations across all their different systems. You don't have to rip and replace technology systems. We make it a lot easier for them to have a modern consumer engagement experience for their patients, their members, their customers, whoever it Might be. While at the same time, we're a technology company that understands healthcare. Televox has been in the healthcare space for almost 30 years. We've sent billions of messages to consumers over time. So we really understand the healthcare space and we understand the regulation that goes into healthcare.

[A]

Got it. And AI enabled.

[C]

AI enabled. Absolutely. From the ground up or from the ground up.

[A]

Nice.

[C]

We built a really nice streaming speech to speech platform that we're using that helps bring. Deliver the voice component of what we're trying to do as well.

[A]

Okay, so if you weren't doing this job, hobbies or otherwise, what would you be doing?

[C]

Traveling.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[C]

I love traveling, so that's part of why I joined the Navy.

[A]

See the world.

[C]

I had this grandma who I loved, my dad's mom. She passed away years ago, but she and my grandpa just used to travel the world and they kind of inspired me to have this bit of wanderlust, if you will. And so I love that. I've been to all 50 states, you know, 35 or 36 countries now, five continents. So my goal is all seven continents. Somewhere between 50 and 100 countries.

[A]

What's your favorite place in the world?

[C]

Oh, gosh. So I should say Minnesota, because that's where I live.

[A]

Outside of. Outside of the U.S. outside of the

[C]

U.S. well, outside of the U.S. i would say my favorite country that I've been to is Italy. Six months there.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

In Sicily. So not the tourist side of Italy or the.

[A]

The hardcore.

[C]

Hardcore.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Hardcore southern Italy. And it's just beautiful. And the people are so kind and the food and everything is just wonderful. So I love Italy in the usa, I think Maine. Amy and I lived in Maine for Nice. We're in Maine, in Brunswick. So the old Naval Air Station there was. Station.

[A]

So, yeah.

[C]

So Amy was there for horrid. I was there for two. I was deployed all the time. So we love it. We go back at least every other year to go back for vacation. We love going to Bar harbor for the Fourth of July.

[A]

You ever been to Christmas Island? Is that the name? No, I think it's up in Bar Harbor. Might be. What's the other one? That's down from Bar Harbor.

[C]

So Camden or Rockford or. An island.

[A]

Yeah. It's like an area I can never.

[C]

I know. I can't believe it off the top of my head. We love it.

[A]

But Portland we love, too.

[C]

Portland's fun. Are you a Patriots fan?

[A]

Yeah, of course.

[C]

Yeah. Oh, boy.

[A]

I know.

[C]

I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I'm a Steelers fan.

[A]

Oh, yeah. But Steelers are good. I mean, that's a hardcore, you know.

[C]

Well, I think everybody in the entire country. I feel bad for you because I think everybody was rooting for Seattle in the super bowl because nobody wanted to see the Patriots back. So.

[A]

Do you think so?

[C]

I think so.

[A]

I don't know. I think God's a Patriot fan. I think not this year.

[C]

I think maybe your God might be a Patriots fan, but I don't. Nobody else I know is. So it's.

[A]

How about the Vikings? Didn't that somebody just died?

[C]

25. Rondel Moore, unfortunately. Very. Yeah. It's a very sad story.

[A]

That's awful. Yeah. I have a friend who's a Viking fan and he sent me that text. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. It was really unfortunate. I think there were some depression.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

No, you just hate to see that you do terribly back from an injury and you know, the stories that you hear in the press. Everybody loved him. Great.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Great young man, you know, really working hard and on his way back and. Yeah. So if there wasn't enough going on in meso right now, we get that

[A]

together, we won't go there. You go back in time and tell your 20 year old self something. What would it be?

[C]

My 20 year old self, I think I would tell my 20 year old self to really take time and enjoy the journey.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Because it goes by really.

[A]

It does.

[C]

I know so. And I've been able to do some really great things. I loved, you know, I love being in the Navy. I loved working at UnitedHealth Group. I've been the CEO of a company. I love what I'm doing right now. I love building teams. But I don't think I took enough time to just enjoy it while. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And especially you're in it when you're in it and you're working with good people and you're doing really hard things. And one thing I definitely know about myself, I didn't know when I was 20, is I love being part of something bigger than myself.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And so when you're working with really good people, solving really hard problems and winning. And you're winning. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You're always like, my kids make fun of me because I always, you know, growing up I was always like, we can always do better.

[A]

We can always do better.

[C]

You can always do better. You know, And I don't think I took enough time to just appreciate.

[A]

Yeah, we probably have the same father.

[C]

Yeah, I think we might have. Absolutely.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

That's a great question. Nobody's ever asking for it. Really? I love that.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. All right, so a couple other questions. Biggest lesson in life, Something you learn. Maybe a mistake or piece of wisdom that you can share with others.

[C]

Wow. I guess. Lesson in life. So I think that's a really good question as well. I've learned a couple of life lessons. So one of the things I would say is back to this. Enjoying the journey, like who you work with and the people that you surround yourself really matters.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And so now my kids are getting into the workforce. You know, I feel really bad for kids today. There's so much pressure on them. There's so much anxiety. It's so different than you, you know, when you and I were.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And so I think the idea of, like, the five people who you surround yourself with, like, kind of really matter. It really does. Yeah, it really matters. And so. So I think if you surround yourself with good people and you work on hard things and you're constantly pushing yourself to grow, I think that makes a huge difference. Okay.

[A]

Riskiest thing you've ever done.

[C]

Oh, jeepers.

[A]

Converted G.

[C]

Riskiest thing I've ever done. Probably jumping out of airplanes. I went to airborne school.

[A]

You did airborne? Oh, that's one thing I regret. I wish I'd gone. I was gonna go and I never went, but. Yeah, the first jump is how many jumps?

[C]

Fifteen. Yeah.

[A]

Did you break anything ever?

[C]

No, but my tem jump, I landed in a tree and that was very painful. The jump master, we were jumping at Quico. The jump master pushed us out, and the winds were a little worse than we thought. And about 20 of us went out and I think about 10 of us landed in a tree that. That time, so. So. But fortunately, I didn't break anything.

[A]

So. Did you take a stick in the gut or shoulder or anything?

[C]

In the leg.

[A]

In the leg.

[C]

Cut my leg up pretty bad on that, but it wasn't. It wasn't, you know, I was young, away from that.

[A]

So you're invincible.

[C]

Yeah, you think you are. You think you are.

[A]

And now we're dealing with it.

[C]

Ex. And then work wise, I'm at this point in my life, you know, the last kind of two companies that I've been in, it's taken a chance on trying to, like, do both things. So like a couple of businesses and integrating them and push them in a new direction.

[B]

Nice.

[C]

The company has the CEO of this company called up Health Integral on Public Vs back. So trying to push that and really take companies that have sort of had a journey and gotten a little bit off that and trying to get them back. Yeah, I like that. I like the challenge of trying to solve hard business problems and help companies like that.

[A]

Nice.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

You're on an island. You can bring five records with you.

[C]

Oh, five records.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You have great questions.

[B]

Thank you.

[C]

Okay, five records. Well, definitely. Purple Rain by Prince.

[A]

Nice. Okay. Yeah. I love that little red Corvette.

[C]

Yeah, I would bring that. I would bring Bruce Springsteen.

[A]

Born to Run, a great album. Did you see the recent movie?

[C]

I haven't seen it yet.

[A]

Oh, it's fantastic. I bald.

[C]

I tried.

[A]

Yes. It's not what you expect. Yeah. It's a really great story, and it's moving. Yeah. And the actor does a great job, I think. Yeah.

[C]

All right, we'll check that one out. I saw the Bob Dylan biop. I said that was just great.

[A]

Another great movie, right? Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

So he's good. All right, so I've got Prince, I've got Springsteen. My kids. Well, you might like him if you're from Maine. We've gotten into Noah Khan lately.

[A]

I love Noah Khan. My kids brought me into Noah Khan.

[C]

So did mine. I love.

[A]

Yeah, I love that. When the kids bring him into music. New music. So, Zach. Brian.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Another, like, tortured soul, right?

[C]

Exactly. He's really good.

[A]

He's really good, too. Yeah. No Khan. Yeah. My daughter's seen no Con, like, seven times.

[C]

We've seen them. My family, we get together and go see. We've seen him, I think, three or four now. And we got tickets to see Fenway.

[A]

Yes. And he has a new album.

[C]

It's coming out next month.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

In April.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

All right. So I got Prince, I got Bruce, I got.

[A]

What's your favorite Noah Khan song?

[C]

Oh, man. I want to go to Maine.

[A]

Really? I like that. Between Two Villages. Yeah.

[C]

That's really good.

[A]

That's a great song.

[C]

Yeah. That is so sad. I know. He's so good.

[A]

He's so good.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

He taps into something.

[C]

And when you go to his shows, we saw him at this place called the Gorge out in Washington.

[A]

I know. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Remember Dead Grateful De.

[C]

Yeah. Oh, you've been there. Yes. All my deployment patches, by the way, when I was flying to the Navy, were all Grateful Dead teams? Because my first. My first mission commander was a huge Deadhead. And so he designed our first patch for our first deployment. It was Grateful Head.

[A]

Do you still have.

[C]

I do.

[A]

You're going to have to take pictures and send them to me. I'd love to see those. Yeah.

[C]

So I have three deployments. Each deployment has a different Grateful Deadly pack.

[A]

That's so cool.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So what other you got Two more.

[C]

So I need two more. Oh, gosh. So my son has been doing a lot of 70s and 80s music, so probably Fleetwood Mac Rumors.

[A]

Nice.

[C]

And.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So that's kind of a classic.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

My wife and I love you too. So probably the Joshua.

[A]

Did you see him?

[C]

Yeah, I've seen him.

[A]

You see him at Sphere?

[C]

I did.

[A]

I saw a bunch of dead shows at the Sphere. I didn't go to YouTube. I saw you two in Boston. But the Sphere is amazing, isn't it?

[C]

What a great venue. It ruins concerts for you.

[A]

It does. I've seen nine shows there.

[C]

Have you really? I saw Kenny Chesney.

[A]

You did? I love Kenny Chesney. That's good.

[C]

So believe it or not, I didn't really know Kenny Chesney. And we were in Vegas for work, and we had some clients there, and they're like, hey, you know, you guys want to go to Spirits? And Kenny Chesney? And so we're like, yeah. So it was fantastic.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And then. Okay, fun story. If you go to Vegas, you're going to hims. I am.

[A]

Yeah, I'll be there.

[C]

Okay. So Bruno Mars has a little place there called the Pinky Ring.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

So after Kenny Chesney, we went to the Pinky Ring and we're just hanging out there.

[A]

Don't even tell me Bruno, he came out. Oh, my.

[C]

45 minutes set.

[A]

So cut it out. I love Bruno Mars.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I went to Paramount Studios here Sunday. Yeah, it was so cool.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Just to be around greatness, you know, all the records.

[C]

We gotta spend more time together. All right, that's good questions.

[A]

Thank you. Last question. Somebody coming out of school that wants to get into healthcare or start their own business, what advice would you give them?

[C]

Do it. And do it as quick as you can. So first of all, healthcare, if you're mission driven at all, the people who get into healthcare, in my experience, are people that really are mission driven, people who like helping other people who want to solve really, really hard problems. I think if you want to get into technology, it's a great space to be in technology within healthcare, because there's so many opportunities. It's maybe not like some of the Silicon Valley stuff that you're seeing, but there are so many problems that need to be solved. And if you can figure out how to responsibly use AI, responsibly use technology, you can really do some pretty interesting things. And then starting a business and one of the most Important lessons I learned in business school was as you think about kind of your career and your sort of lifetime accumulation of wealth, you know, you, you want to work for a company that's number one or number two in your industry, or you want to go start your own business and figure out that way. So if you're trying to, you know, you're probably not going to make as much money starting a technology company in healthcare as you might somewhere else. But you know, solve that mission driven problem. You have a very nice life.

[A]

Yeah. And the lessons you learn early on in life. Right. Versus waiting to get older and the

[C]

people you get to work with, you know, like I love going in and talking with providers and leaders of healthcare systems like they're trying to solve hard problems that matter.

[A]

Embrace the journey.

[C]

Yeah. And so when you can, I think when you can bring technology and AI and solve some of these problems, like you look at all the providers today, how burnt out they are and how stressed out they are because there's. It's a supply and demand problem. Right. There's not enough providers, there's not enough clinicians. When you can bring a technology solution that makes a clinician's life better.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And easier.

[A]

It's amazing.

[C]

They can treat more people like my mom. That's pretty rewarding work.

[A]

It is. And Everybody understands that.

[C]

100. Yeah.

[A]

Versus if you do something non healthcare related, it's really hard for people to connect the dots. What is that? Sounds like smoke and mirrors.

[C]

Sometimes. Sometimes it is. Exactly.

[A]

All right, Sam, thanks so much for joining the program. This is Ed Gaudette from the Wrist Never Sleeps podcast. If you're on the front lines of protecting patient safety and delivering patient care, remember to stay vigilant because risk never sleeps.

[B]

Thanks for listening to Risk Never Sleeps. For the show, notes, resources and more information and how to transform the protection of patient safety, Visit [e-mail] that's C E N S I N E T. I'm your host, Ed Gaudet. And until next time, stay vigilant because Risk never sleeps.