The Art of the Warm Welcome: Measuring What Matters in Healthcare Experience
Release Date: 02/02/2026
Never More Hopeful: Transforming Healthcare Through Culture and Connection
To Care is Human
In this episode, Jason Wolf talks with Shella Southern, Chief Patient Experience Officer at OU Health, who shares a deeply personal and organizational journey that has shaped her perspective on human experience. From experiencing healthcare as a grieving family member to helping lead a systemwide culture transformation, she explores how listening, caring for the workforce, and co-designing change can create better experiences, and why she has never felt more hopeful about where healthcare can go.
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Leading with Courage and Curiosity: Advancing HX Across Complex Healthcare Systems
To Care is Human
In this episode of Leading the Conversation, Jason Wolf sits down with Lai Yee Soh, Group Chief Patient Experience Officer at Singapore’s National University Health System, to explore what it takes to advance human experience across complex healthcare systems. They discuss the power of collaboration, shared ownership, patient and family partnership, and learning across organizational and national boundaries. Lai Yee also challenges experience leaders to have the courage to remain curious, embrace complexity, and continually ask, “Who gets left behind?”
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You Are Not Alone: Finding Hope through Your Breast Cancer Journey with Susan G. Komen®
To Care is Human
In this episode, Stacey Palmer sits down with Laurel Pointer, Director of Community Marketing at Susan G. Komen®, to explore the human experience of navigating breast cancer. Drawing on her 27 years with Komen, her family’s history with breast cancer, and her own experience as a survivor, Laurel shares how advances in research, patient navigation, advocacy, and compassionate care are making a difference for patients and families. She also offers an important reminder for healthcare providers.
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What Matters to You: Reorienting Healthcare Around Humanity, Hope, and Connection
To Care is Human
In this episode, Jason Wolf sits down with Anders Vege and Shaun Maher, members of WMTY.world’s Convening Team. They reflect on their journeys from nursing and quality improvement to leadership in the global “What Matters to You?” movement. Through moving personal stories about patients, families, and their own parents, they demonstrate how understanding what truly matters to each individual can restore dignity, strengthen relationships, improve health outcomes, support staff, and make better use of healthcare resources. The pair also discusses the role of leaders in embedding this...
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Front & Center: Disability Rights, Community Care, and the Future of the Olmstead Decision
To Care is Human
What could a recent U.S. Department of Justice memo mean for people with disabilities and the future of community-based care? In this inaugural episode of Front & Center, we examine the ongoing debate surrounding the landmark Olmstead v. L.C. decision and explore its potential impact on individuals, families, and healthcare systems. Featuring perspectives from a family advocate, a public policy leader, and national reporting, this conversation provides context, examines the issues from multiple viewpoints, and highlights why this topic matters to patients, families, and...
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The Strategic Value of Healthcare Volunteers
To Care is Human
What if your volunteers stopped showing up? Houston Goodwin, CEO of Better Impact, joins Stacy Palmer to discuss how healthcare organizations can better leverage volunteer programs to improve patient experience, support staff, and make the case for greater investment. Learn how volunteer leaders can measure the impact of their programs, tell their story with data, and position volunteerism as a strategic arm of healthcare.
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What Matters Most: Advancing Human-Centered Care Through a Simple Question
To Care is Human
In this episode, host Kiia Lappalainen sits down with Claire Snyman and Angela DeVanney of What Matters to You World to explore how one simple question—"What matters to you?"—can transform healthcare experiences. Drawing on both professional and personal perspectives, they share powerful stories illustrating how understanding what matters most to patients leads to more personalized care, stronger relationships, and better outcomes. They also offer practical advice for organizations looking to embed this human-centered approach into everyday practice, demonstrating that meaningful change...
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Turning Teen Volunteers into Healthcare Leaders
To Care is Human
What happens when hospitals stop treating teen volunteers as helpers and start empowering them as leaders? In this episode, Terri Ipsen sits down with Tracy Herrington and Tammy Rivera of CommonSpirit Health to explore an innovative teen volunteer program that develops leadership skills, builds confidence, and introduces young people to meaningful healthcare careers. Discover how giving teens responsibility today is helping shape the healthcare workforce of tomorrow.
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From Personal Loss to Global Change: Vita Steina's Mission to Advance Human Experience in Healthcare
To Care is Human
Jason Wolf sits down with Vita Steina, one of the leading voices advancing human experience in healthcare across Europe. In this inspiring conversation, Vita shares how the loss of her young son to cancer transformed her life and sparked a mission to improve healthcare for patients, families, and caregivers. From pioneering patient experience efforts in Latvia to advocating for human experience as a cornerstone of healthcare quality and policy, Vita discusses the power of purpose, the importance of supporting the workforce, and her vision for creating lasting change across healthcare systems....
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What Matters Most: A Conversation with Maureen Bisognano
To Care is Human
In this special What Matters to You episode of To Care Is Human: Leading the Conversation, Jason Wolf sits down with healthcare pioneer Maureen Bisognano to explore the question that sparked a global movement: “What matters to you?” Drawing on personal stories as a nurse advocating for critically ill patients to the moments that shaped her lifelong commitment to person-centered care, she shares powerful examples of how listening deeply can change lives. Listeners will leave inspired by practical ways to bring the What Matters to You philosophy into everyday interactions with patients,...
info_outlineEvan Steele, Founder and CEO of rater8, reinforces how first impressions shape the human experience in healthcare. From a frustrating hotel check-in in Prague to building a platform that helps healthcare organizations listen, learn, and improve in real time, Evan shares the origin story behind rater8 and the philosophy of the “art of the warm welcome.” This conversation is a practical and inspiring look at how measuring, improving, and celebrating experience can drive more consistent, compassionate care across organizations.