What Happens When a Healthcare Leader Becomes the Patient?

What happens when someone who has spent their whole career inside healthcare, suddenly becomes the patient?

In this moving episode of Hope, Power and Healthcare, hosts Chris and Melissa sit down with healthcare veteran Terry Tuznik. Terry is a former Navy nurse, health IT leader and current consultant, who now finds herself navigating the healthcare system from the other side.

After being unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage 3C ovarian cancer, Terry began openly documenting her journey across social media. What started as a way to keep loved ones informed has become something bigger. A mission to inspire others, shed light on the realities of healthcare from the patient perspective, and remind people that even in the hardest moments, joy is still possible.

During this discussion, Melissa reflects on her own cancer survival story, and the group explores resilience, advocacy, and what healthcare leaders can learn when they truly listen to patient experiences.

This episode is a reminder that hope, power, and humanity can still exist inside healthcare, even when the system makes it hard to see them.

Follow Terry’s Journey here:TikTok: @Terrys.Cancer.Journey

#HopePowerandHealthcareHosts:Chris Hemphill - Chris’s 17 years in healthcare technology have spanned sales, operations, data science IC, and AI leadership. Chris couples this with a focus on health equity and serves as the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy Research Fellow for Healthcare AI. Chris’s currently leads Modular Feedback, which focuses on helping healthcare innovators find and build thoughtful AI use cases: https://modularfeedback.com

Melissa Reilly - Melissa spent the last 20 years leading innovations at major payers: UnitedHealth Group(Optum Ventures), Aetna, and Evernorth/Cigna. She’s helped drive and commercialize multiple startups in AI & consumer testing, and she is now driving product and commercialization for healthcare innovators full-time. She brings industry expertise as well as a background in law, negotiation, & real estate. Her company’s name is STLTH.

Production:Edited by Alyssa SchrollMusic by Chris Hemphill