Studies in Empathy: A Cleveland Clinic Podcast

How do you keep an entire enterprise operating effectively and efficiently while maintaining empathy and putting patients first? Join host, Steph Bayer, as she sits down with Andi Jacobs, Executive Director of Operations at Cleveland Clinic. In this episode, Andi shares her career journey and how each experience has shaped her as a leader while shedding light on how important each piece of the operations team is not only in keeping the hospital running but also guiding patients through their healthcare journeys with grace, empathy, and purpose

Does building a culture of high reliability help caregivers show empathy to patients and to each other? Listen as host Steph Bayer and Cleveland Clinic Associate Chief Safety Officer, Dr. Amrit Gill discuss how empathy is key to building a culture of open communication, psychological safety, accountability, and high reliability.

How can we show empathy towards each other and ourselves? Join host Steph Bayer in a conversation with Rev. Lisa Morrison, Senior Director of Spiritual Care at Cleveland Clinic. Lisa shares what spiritual care means and why it's important, the power of a pause, and how we can hold space for each other and ease suffering. At the end of this episode, we follow along as Lisa leads us through a self-compassion exercise.

How does high reliability fit into patient experience? In this episode, host Steph Bayer speaks with Chrissy Daniels, Chief Experience Officer at Press Ganey, the world's leading Human Experience platform for healthcare. Chrissy talks about the power of transparency, the difference between the absence of complaints and the presence of trust-building behavior, and how highly reliable processes are key to patient experience.

How does diversity in our caregivers impact our patients? Join host Steph Bayer in a conversation with Jacqui Robertson, Chief of Diversity and Inclusion at Cleveland Clinic. Jacqui discusses how Cleveland Clinic strives to embed diversity and inclusion into all aspects of the organization and retain diverse talent. She also talks about the relationship between inclusion and empathy, the need for cultural humility and being cognizant of our biases, and the importance of making space for vulnerability.

What is it like to have a patient's life in your hands? Host Steph Bayer speaks with Dr. Cassandra Garraud, a third-year Internal Medicine resident at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Garraud was recognized in 2021 as a Cleveland Clinic Hero for the personal impact she made on one of her patients. In this episode, she tells us about that powerful moment, how empathy was crucial to saving her patient's life, and how communication skills are key to giving and receiving empathy.

What does it mean to be an empathetic leader? In this episode, host Steph Bayer has a conversation with Christine Stead, CEO of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) and adjunct instructor at the University of Michigan. Christine talks about the role of her organization during the harrowing COVID-19 pandemic, the power of servant leadership, and why diversity is needed for empathy to exist in a meaningful way.

What qualities are important for working in healthcare? Join host Steph Bayer in a conversation with Kiersten Kanaley, Executive Director of Talent Acquisition Operations at Cleveland Clinic. Kiersten discusses how empathy fits into the hiring process, what Cleveland Clinic is doing to recruit intentionally from the communities it serves, and what she sees as the biggest trends in healthcare recruiting today.

How do we create joy for others and for ourselves? Join host Steph Bayer in a radiant conversation with Corporal Eric Hudson, an officer who has been with the Cleveland Clinic Police Department for 20 years. In this episode bursting with energy, Corporal Hudson shares what inspires him to shake out dance moves on the crosswalk, empathize with patients and fellow caregivers, and brighten the lives of the people around him.

How do we respond to challenges involving trauma? Join host Steph Bayer and Katharine Manning, author of The Empathetic Workplace: 5 Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job. In this episode, Katharine talks about her 25+ years of experience working on issues of trauma and victimization, how empathy is key to connecting with survivors, and how we can better support each other and ourselves.

Can music heal? Listen as host Steph Bayer and Cleveland Clinic Music Therapist, Christine Bomberger, explore how music can help ease pain and reduce stress and anxiety for patients. Together they discuss how the addition of a recording studio within the Children's Hospital allowed patients and loved ones to be creative, maintain connections, and ease suffering during difficult times.

What do our patients really want us to know about how they want to be treated? Join host Steph Bayer and Kate Watson, a longtime patient of Cleveland Clinic who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at 35. Together they discuss what patients really want and need from their healthcare providers and how the patient voice is a vital part of the care we provide.

Why is volunteerism so important and how does it impact both our patients and staff? Hear from Cleveland Clinic Volunteer Director, Alicia Pitre, as she shares her own passion for volunteerism and how today’s healthcare volunteers give their time to provide support, encouragement and an empathic perspective to help lighten the loads on our patients and caregivers.

What do future healthcare leaders think of the current state of our industry and where it is heading? In this episode, graduate students and Cleveland Clinic interns, Yamileth Gonzalez and Ermonela Muhameti, talk with host Steph Bayer to share their unique perspectives as immigrants who came to the United States at a young age. These experiences helped shape their passions for improving healthcare and access for underserved populations with empathy as a guiding principle.

How do healthcare organizations utilize empathy to ensure all patients receive the best care possible without any biases? Listen in as we have this important conversation with Rachel Godsil, distinguished professor of law at Rutgers Law School and co-founder and co-director of the Perception Institute, an institute devoted to creating solutions to reduced discrimination and other harms linked to cultural and social identity differences.

How do we truly see and serve our patients to magnify their dignity? In this episode, Dr. Wesley Ely shares his passion for treating critically ill patients and his philosophy that we cannot heal patients with technology if we do not first see them for who they are as a human being.

Do we care enough about our community to have a conversation about belonging and welcoming? Healthcare systems should be focusing on advancing health equity in their communities. Take a moment and listen to Monica Ramirez, Founder and President of Justice for Migrant Workers, and Steph Bayer give the space to talk about including and reaching out to our vulnerable populations.

Have you been training your empathy lately? Just like our muscles, we can train ourselves to be more empathetic and there is science to prove it. Listen in as we speak with Dr. Helen Riess, the founder and CEO of Empathetics and Psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, about the neuroscience and benefits of empathy in healthcare.

“Hey Alexa, play my favorite song!” You immediately smile and your mood is suddenly lifted. Why is that? Tune in to hear Maria Jukic, a senior director for the Arts & Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic and host, Steph Bayer, explore the science behind the impact art has on our health and wellbeing.

How do healthcare organizations continue to provide the best patient experience with a burned-out and exhausted staff? Do we still expect caregivers to provide the same level of care they did before the COVID pandemic? Join us in this episode with Sven Gierlinger, Chief Experience Officer at Northwell Health, and Rick Evans, Senior Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Experience Officer at New York Presbyterian hospital, as we discuss the hardships and opportunities we have to evolve the way we support caregivers, patients, and patients’ families.