Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1208031
T M C P U L S E | F E B R U A R Y 2 02 0 31 DAVID CALLENDER, M.D., assumed his new role as president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System in fall 2019. Before that, Callender spent a dozen years leading The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and three years direct- ing the UCLA Medical Center. From 1996 to 2004, the head and neck surgeon worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center, rising to the role of executive vice president and chief operating officer. to emulate more of a retail model, using different channels to get infor- mation out and to try to help people make better choices. If you think about people already loyal to the Memorial Hermann brand, today we wait for them to go through the pro- cess of trying to make an appoint- ment. Can't we create different ways to connect—multiple points of access that meet consumers on their terms? PULSE | Memorial Hermann Health System recently unveiled its first Community Resource Center, designed to address the holistic needs of southwest Houston. An onsite partner- ship with the Houston Food Bank gives patients in this area access to fresh food. Are there other new projects or ideas you'd like to see blossom at Memorial Hermann? DC | I'd like for us to keep pulling on that thread, to focus on commu- nity. This sort of approach—going beyond traditional health care venues, putting clinics in schools— really started 20 years ago. With those children [from 20 years ago], we've seen better academic achieve- ments, improvements in health. We want to grow that effort. PULSE | How do you manage your professional commitments to ensure that you don't work 24 hours a day? DC | I do that though exercise. I read. I try to set the right example in terms of taking time away. If I'm going to go on a vacation, I don't read my email when I'm away. If people need me, I tell them to call me. I love going away to the moun- tains—going on a vigorous hike and getting out and doing whitewater rafting. I think we have to create those breaks. If we're continu- ally engaged in problem-solving every day, we lose our ability to be creative. Folks work at Memorial Hermann because they want to make a difference and they'll push themselves beyond the point of exhaustion. We have to do a better job providing lifelines for self-pres- ervation. It's about better support for their work, understanding our limits as individuals, thinking about how we create teams in the organi- zation, and then giving our people time to separate—to do something different that's good for the mind, the body and the spirit. David Callender, M.D., was interviewed by Pulse Editor Maggie Galehouse. The conversation was edited for clarity and length. id Callender