BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast Freddy, Joe & Nakin

In the final episode of the inaugural season of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with Brian Washburn, Executive Director of Operations at Humboldt General Hospital. Brian speaks to the crew about his early career pathways and how advanced certifications help leverage young leaders for the next phase of their career. Brian specifically speaks to MGMA’s Certified Medical Practice Executive (CMPE) credential. The CMPE credential is recognized as the professional standard in medical practice management.

Brian Washburn – Executive Director of Operations at Humboldt General Hospital

Brian Washburn is the Executive Director of Operations at Humboldt General Hospital, a critical access hospital located in Winnemucca, Nevada. He graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Accounting, then went on to obtain a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. After graduating from Pitt, he secured a business associate fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in the department of Management Engineering and Internal Consulting. After a few years he moved to Montana where he worked with the Billings Clinic in a small hospital as Director of Operations before moving to Nevada.

The crew asked Brian the following questions:


What encouraged you to pursue healthcare administration?
You currently serve as the Executive Director at Humboldt General Hospital; can you tell us a bit about your work and the things you oversee on a day-to-day basis?
You have acquired an array of certifications throughout your career; can you talk about what those are and what drew you to them?
Can you speak on the CMPE certification and how it has helped you?
How can one best prepare to get the CMPE and how long did it take you to get it?
What are the necessary steps to get the CMPE?
Your career has covered a myriad of paths from large hospitals and systems to more rural areas of the country in critical access hospitals, can you talk about the differences between those two worlds?
What led you to Big Timber, Montana and Winemucca, NV and how does rural medicine affect the healthcare admin side?
What made you decide to enroll for a DHA?
How have you managed the doctorate while working?
What are some of the challenges you face being a young executive and what advice would you give to those in a similar situation?

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!


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In the penultimate episode of the first season of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with a great friend, Derick Simmons. Derick works as a Strategy Consultant for Rock Health Advisory. Rock Health is a full-service seed fund that supports startups working in digital health. Rock Health offers funding, access to medical, venture, legal and corporate partners, and office space to its portfolio companies. Additionally, Rock Health offers advisory services to clients across healthcare in the advancement of digital health strategies. In his role, Derick aligns with large players across the industry to converge what digital health is advancing with how their clients can move the needle forward in their respective organizations.

Derick Simmons – Strategy Consultant at Rock Health

Derick is a consultant at Rock Health where he supports healthcare, life sciences, and tech clients to develop digital health strategies. Prior to Rock Health, he was a transformation consultant at an integrated health system where he advised senior executives on digital health strategy, entrepreneurial partnerships, and new ventures. Derick earned an MHA from Cornell University and a B.S. in Management and Organizational Behavior from BYU. Before completing his academic training, he worked as a healthcare venture capital associate, researcher, and consultant—and also completed two years of volunteer mission service in Romania and Moldova.

The crew asked Derick the following questions:


You have focused more on the investment and innovation side of healthcare, what drew you to this area of healthcare?
You currently serve as a consultant at Rock Health. What is Rock Health and what does your work entail?
How is Rock health different from other Venture Capital/Private Equity firms?
Are there specific types of innovations that Rock Health is interested in?
Can you share an example of a company that Rock Health is invested in?
What advice do you have for someone interested in the venture capital side of healthcare and wants to get more involved?
What types of qualities does Rock Health look for in their health team and how can someone who is interested in Rock Health get their foot in the door?
What do you think are some of the big challenges in healthcare that tech companies are best suited to solve?

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!


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In the 18th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with Joanna Ekstrom. Joanna works at La Clinica De La Raza, which serves the East Bay area as a federally qualified health center. La Clínica was founded in 1971 to address health barriers and create better lives for the underserved. Today, La Clínica is the first choice for providing multi-lingual, accessible full-scope health care services in the East Bay, no matter a patient’s income level or insurance status. Joanna details how funding for FQHC’s impacts the programs they implement and how her team makes community-based care a realization for thousands of people in California.

Joanna Ekstrom – Senior Planner at La Clínica de La Raza, FQHC in the Bay Area

Joanna Ekstrom works as Senior Planner at La Clínica de La Raza, a Federally Qualified Health Center in the Bay Area, where she oversees the team responsible for program development, grant writing, and grants management. She also works closely with executive leadership on strategic planning, program planning, and other agency initiatives. Previously she worked at UCSF on a cervical cancer screening project, at another FQHC program serving transgender patients, and at a nonprofit mental health agency. Joanna has an MPH in Community Health Science from UCLA and a BA in Sociology and Women’s Studies from UC Santa Barbara.

The crew asked Joanna the following questions:


For our listeners who may not be aware, can you speak to the great work that La Clinica de la Raza does and who they are?
You currently serve as a Senior Planner at La Clinica de la Raza. What does your work entail?
What has your experience been like managing a team of eight?
What advice would you have for someone who is a first-time manager?
How does funding differ at an FQHC level? What is funded?
How do FQHC’s make an impact at the community, state and national level?
Can you describe a specific program or two that La Clinica de la Raza currently runs?
It takes a certain kind of person to work for an FQHC when there are other lucrative opportunities? What has made you stay in this work?
How does the specific nature of the FQHC business affect program offerings or other business decisions? Can you compare that to a typical hospital?
If someone wanted to get involved with a FQHC, what is the best way?

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!


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In the 17th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with Monica Shah. Monica has spent the better part of her career working in the international areas of major health systems domestically and abroad. Monica spent time working in Singapore for Johns Hopkins International and currently works within the international affairs division of Weill Cornell Medicine. She shares how different business models of international healthcare are seen across academic medicine and how her work today differs from some of her early work in the City of New York.

Monica Shah – Director of the Office of International Affairs for Weil Cornell Medicine

Monica V. Shah presently serves as Director of the Office of International Affairs for WCM. Prior to her role as Director, Monica helped drive Global Initiatives for WCM through project management of WCM’s proposal to build a Greenfield hospital in Shanghai. Before joining WCM, she was a part of the Strategy & Analytics team with NewYork-Presbyterian Global Services, where she managed strategic department initiatives and consulting projects in the Middle East. Monica also served as Project Administrator for Johns Hopkins Medicine International in Singapore. In this capacity, she led strategic and new business planning for the hospital and regional affiliates. Monica has degrees in Cultural Diversity and International Health Studies and Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Connecticut, along with a Master of Health Administration from Johns Hopkins.

The crew asked Monica the following questions:


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your healthcare background?
When people think of international healthcare, they may think of public health work or doctors without borders. Can you describe the underlying business models for international healthcare at AMCs?
In your healthcare journey you worked at Johns Hopkins International for a couple of years. How would you describe JHI’s business model?
You currently serve as the Director of the Office of International Affairs at Weill Cornell Medicine. Can you tell us what the job entails and how you landed there?
What are some of the partnerships that Weill Cornell Medicine has established or is establishing?
What insight into international health systems have you gathered from your work?
What advice would you give to early careerists or students who are interested in getting into international healthcare?

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!


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In the 16th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with the founder of Ash Wellness. David Stein speaks about what led him to create a company that offered inclusive and accessible healthcare by enabling providers and businesses to provide at-home diagnostics care to their patients. He shares his personal story, experiences of others and how Ash hopes to change the end-to-end experience of at home diagnostic testing.

David Stein – Co-founder and CEO of Ash Wellness

David Stein is the CEO of Ash Wellness, a B2B at-home diagnostic company launching remote care services for healthcare organizations and D2C businesses. Ash Wellness offers white-labeled operations management, testing via a CLIA/CAP certified lab network, kitting and fulfillment, and modern technology infrastructure. In his role, David is responsible for mission vision, strategy oversight, fundraising, and corporate development. He is a graduate of the Cornell Tech MBA program. David lives in New York City, and is passionate about parties and healthcare access.

The crew asked David the following questions:


For our listeners who may not be aware, can you speak to the great work that Ash Wellness does and what it is?
Your background has been in myriad of avenues in healthcare, can you talk to us about what led to your decisions to follow the opportunities to start Ash Wellness?
You mentioned how Ash started with the LGBTQ+ community, is that who you are still primarily focused on right now?
This past month, we celebrated National LGBTQ Health Awareness week, can you talk about what this week means and where we are in this journey?
How has the pandemic changed Ash’s business model and the overall business?
How have partnerships allowed Ash to expand their services?
How did the Chipotle app inform the design of at-home diagnostics testing?
What advice would you give to early careerists in healthcare?
Are there any specific hard or soft skills that you picked up at the first job or in grad school that you would recommend to listeners?

In this week’s episode of Talking with Nakin, we look back at a previous episode that examined the antiviral pills by Merck and Pfizer. The guys discuss what continued options to combat COVID-19 look like as the pandemic evolves.

As more data has come out there are large discrepancies in the effectiveness of Molnupiravir and Paxlovid. The US government has spent over $2B on Molnupiravir and many hospitals are no longer willing to use it while Paxlovid has a lot of restrictions as to who can take it and what it cannot be taken with.

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast!


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In the 15th episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast, the team sits down to speak with the founders of Appcelerator. Chelsea and Inno share what the impetus was for launching an organization that is focused on ushering the next level of leaders in great positions across the healthcare landscape. Appcelerator is a career advancement program that provides exposure, resources, and individualized career mentorship to enhance your job search skills and support job placement. Chelsea Perry – Co-founder of Appcelerator and Senior Manager at CVS Health Chelsea Perry is a Senior Manager of Product Development at CVS Health where she leads product dev for telehealth and eLearning platforms and other stealth initiatives. She is also Cofounder of Appcelerator, a diversity talent development platform connecting users to employers and mentors for career advice, referrals, and professional coaching. Chelsea began her career as an administrative fellow at Kaiser Permanente after graduating with a Master's degree in Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2019, she was recognized as Teladoc Health’s inaugural She Powers Health Under 30 award recipient honoring individuals championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Innocent “Inno” Okechukwu – Co-founder of Appcelerator and Manager at Johnson & Johnson Inno works in strategy at Johnson & Johnson, where he leads work in innovation as a Manager, Business Innovation and Venture Design. He is also Co-founder of Appcelerator, a diversity talent development platform connecting diverse talent to mentors and employers for career advice, referrals and career coaching. Inno's background is in corporate strategy and innovation within healthcare. He also has previous entrepreneurial experience founding a business during college. He holds a Masters in Health Administration and Bachelors of science from the University of Missouri. 

The crew asked Chelsea and Inno the following questions: 


What is the Appcelerator and what led you to found it? 
How many cycles has the Appcelerator gone through and how many students are admitted per cycle? 
What does the application process look like and what levels of support does Appcelerator offer candidates when they apply for fellowships and jobs? 
What is the placement rate for Appcelerator? 
How does the income sharing agreement work and what percentage does Appcelerator take? 
So far your avenues have been in Strategy and Ops, Health Tech and Consulting; where is the organization headed next? 
What have been the early successes/challenges thus far? 
What advice would you give to the early careerist in healthcare admin? 

Grab a drink and join us for another episode of BYOB: The Healthcare Podcast! 

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