Healthcare's CIO of the Year (ft Ellen Wiegand)

Welcome to Digital Voices, where healthcare and life science leaders explore the real work behind transformation. This podcast is about people, leadership, and the conversations that move healthcare forward. Now your host, Ed Marx.

Welcome to another edition of Digital Voices. So glad you get to hang out with us, and you will be as well because I have the amazing human, Ellen Wiegand. Ellen, welcome to Digital Voices.

Thank you, Ed. Thanks so much for having me.

Now, this is great because you are really just a great person and you happen to be a great CIO as well. So it's like a double bonus for Digital Voices. And you're also the Chief Information Officer Healthcare Category of the Year with Orbi. So congratulations.

Thank you.

That's pretty amazing. We're going to unpack that a little in a few minutes, but But I just want to acknowledge that up front. That's a pretty big deal because a lot of individuals are considered for that and you rose to the top and it doesn't surprise me. And so again, I'm glad that you're here and I think everyone's really going to enjoy our time together. So we met a few years ago. Obviously we're all in the same industry, so we could skip that part, Ellen, because people really want to know what songs are on your playlist. What kind of music do you like to listen to?

Oh my goodness. So when we moved to Richmond here just about 3 years ago for this job and My husband and I, we started listening to Camp and I haven't gotten rid of that one yet. That's still in the regular rotation. Today, driving home from work, I was listening to Lord Huron, kind of like folk indie rock mashup, I guess, is my thing right now.

Yeah, I love that. We're going to add Lord Huron and Camp to our Spotify playlist. We actually have a Digital Voices Spotify playlist and every Every song that's recommended, we add onto that. I actually listen to the playlist quite a bit because it's such an eclectic collection, as you can imagine, after 300 and some episodes. What about like a life message or a mantra, or what words kind of guide your philosophies?

Sure. That's a super interesting question for me because I have such a hard time boiling it down into just a few short words. I think I live my life trying to make things better for people. I try to remind myself to just Show up every day with humility and empathy and courage to do the right thing. And all of the pieces kind of fall into place when you do that, I think.

Yeah. I love the word you use of courage. So yeah, humility and empathy, you know, I hear that a lot and it's very important, but courage. Yeah. Because it's not as easy as people think.

It's not easy. It's not easy to do the right thing all the time. And not that I do the right thing all the time, you know, but you do, you have to really be tough sometimes.

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. So tell us about yourself. Yeah, you already mentioned that you moved to Richmond a few years ago, but like, what's your life story? Like, where were you even born?

That's a big question. I was born in Albany, New York. So I'm from upstate New York. I grew up at what I think is a pretty typical suburban family lifestyle. who are, you know, the '80s and the '90s. Every time I see a Gen X meme, I'm like, yeah, that is right. They're all right. Um, so that, that is a lot of my growing up. I have a brother who is a couple years younger than me, who I'll see here in a couple days for Christmas. I'm really excited about that. Um, I grew up in a family of mathematicians, scientists, engineers. My dad was an engineer. My mom ran a Traffic Safety Research Institute. My grandfather was an actual rocket scientist.

Dang.

And he lived close to us, so we would see him, um, you know, and my grandmother most weekends. And he would always have like some fun sciencey kind of project for my brother and I. You know, we would do all sorts of things, you know, take apart small appliances, put 'em back together and whatnot. When Microsoft came out with their first PC, he bought one and we Took it apart and put it back together and learned how to program on it. And so I think you come by this tech thing fairly naturally. Incidentally, my brother and I both ended up healthcare executives. So I don't know what it was about that, but we're both here in the same industry, which is interesting.

That is interesting. What, what does your brother do?

He is CFO at a behavioral health provider in Colorado. So he's in finance. Wow.

And what city in Colorado?

He lives in Denver. And the company he works for is up in Fort Collins.

Oh, nice. Yeah. I just asked because a lot of my early formative years are Fort Collins.

Oh, nice.

Yeah. And I love Denver and all things Colorado. That's very cool. Hey, was there a pivotal moment in life that fundamentally changed your trajectory?

Yeah, I think all the way back since you brought me all the way back to childhood and forward, there's so many moments where you think, man, if I had decided something different, Where would I be right now? But thinking about my career, I think in college, I, I'll point out one pivotal moment, which was as I was getting ready to graduate college, I had gone into college thinking I was gonna be a doctor. You know, I started the pre-med program. I got about halfway through and decided that was not what I wanted to do, right? That was not my— gonna be my life's career. But I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I, you know, took a whole bunch of classes. You know, I was taking finance and computer science, law. I did internship at a law firm. And by chance, in our college career fair, I met a recruiter from one of the EHR vendors, Cerner.

Yeah.

And her name was Angel, ironically. And so, we met at a career fair, and it was like an aha moment, right, where I could bring technology and the computer science that I really enjoyed together with healthcare. And I have, you know, for a long time wanted to work in healthcare. So, to bring those 2 things together was something I had never even contemplated. You know, I didn't realize that could be a thing until she showed me that it could. And that's how I started my career. I started at Cerner and it's been, you know, a 25-year journey through healthcare IT.

Wow. That's an amazing career and you're only, you know, not even halfway through it, Ellen. So, I can't imagine what's gonna—

Oh, don't say that.

what's going to happen next with you. So, who was a person in your journey that helped you see who you could be? You know, because obviously, you know, you're like you talked about, you're at Cerner and you're sort of growing in this career. Now you're CIO. So, was there a person that in particular that helped you along the way?

There were a lot of people who helped me along the way. The one person who I'll say, I'll call out as being hugely influential in my life was my boss at Virginia Mason. He was the CIO at Virginia Mason. He hired me to be a clinical systems director in the IT department there. And at the time, you know, I was so excited to get that first director role.

Yeah.

You know, that for me felt like the pinnacle. Yeah, it was really an exciting role, exciting opportunity. Moved to Seattle, you know, moved to a new city to take on this new role. And it started what has now been, you know, a 15, 16-year mentoring, coaching, friendship relationship. I think it's incredible when someone helps you see something about yourself that you have not really been able to fully realize, but it's even more so when they're willing to invest their time and energy to help you, you know, actually realize that vision. And he did that for me. You know, he helped me realize that I could do more than just stay in my really safe clinical system space, that I could learn more, I could have a bigger impact across the organization. And he not only did that, but he helped me build a plan to get there.

Very cool.

You know, a long-term plan, you know, starting with getting my MBA, you know, get to do the coursework, do some projects, you know, take on bigger roles to help build that leadership competency. And without that coaching, I don't, I'm sure that I would not be here. Um, it just has been an incredible mentoring relationship.

Wow. That's really cool. Yeah, that's what it's all about. And I'm sure you do the same with your team today as a result. I like that. And that's obviously what led you in part to become the Orbi Healthcare CIO of the Year. So I mentioned that at the top of our show, tell us a little bit more about Orbi and, and sort of the context of this award.

Yeah, that award was so thrilling. The Orbi is an award that the Inspire Leadership Network gives to CIOs to recognize CIOs and our leadership and contributions to our organizations. It's an interesting award in that they give out regional awards. So there's chapters around the country. They give out regional awards throughout the year. And then all of the winners of those regional awards compete for a national award each year. And the winners are selected by a group of previous Orbie Award winners. So it's like a peer review process, which feels pretty good, right? Your peers are kind of judging your work. And the really fun part about it is the award is given out at a gala in August. They have a conference, and so it's given out live. All of us finalists are there at the gala, not knowing who won.

Okay.

And you just wait for whoever's name is going to be called. And this year, You know, they have different categories. So healthcare is its own standalone category. And the finalists in the healthcare category are all incredible leaders, right? They're people that I have looked up to and admired for a long time. And so we're waiting for the names to be called. And the fact that my name was called, it was like, I was just stunned. You know, you sort of sit there like, oh my goodness, I can't imagine this is something that would be happening to me right now. So it was— Yeah, it was just thrilling. And I have to say, as stunned as I was, you know, the VCU Health team, they deserve it. You know, there's been some amazing work happening here at VCU Health. And I said it at the gala, and I say to everybody, you know, no one wins a CIO of the Year Award for their individual contributions.

Right.

Right? It's a team award. The entire IT team, our entire organization's leadership, team, you know, helping to really use technology. Like, let's adopt technology to make our quality better, to improve our patient experience, our team member experience. And that doesn't happen if the whole organization's not all in on it.

Yeah.

So it was great recognition. It was, um, it's just thrilling that, you know, still the afterglow is real.

Yeah, I can tell. No, it's great. Uh, that's why I wanna talk about it because yeah, you're right. You know, you're, You're elected there by peers, selected, and that's always the most meaningful thing. And as you shared, it's all about the team. So it's really a team award and you get to represent them. But at the end of the day, it still takes a courageous leader, a humble leader, an empathetic leader like you spoke about in the beginning. So congratulations to you. That's a pretty big deal. Great thing to be proud of.

Thank you.

So you mentioned VCU Health. So let's talk a little bit about it. What's the heart And it is a great organization. I, I've spent a little bit of time at VCU Health. It, it's an amazing organization. The leadership is, is just stellar. But yeah, tell us a little bit about VCU. What do you like about it?

Yeah, VCU. What I love about VCU is our people. It might sound cliché, but you know, the heart of VCU is our team members and our mission. You know, everybody is all in on fulfilling our mission. We're a comprehensive academic health system. We serve Central Virginia. We also operate the largest safety net hospital in the Commonwealth of Virginia. So we see everybody who needs to see us, whether it's through complexity and really needing some critical tertiary, quaternary care or ability to pay and access. We see the entire spectrum and that is really a special environment to be in.

Yeah.

I might give one example of kind of this dedication and commitment to mission that not a lot of people know about, which is at the beginning of 2025, right after the holidays, The city of Richmond lost its water supply.

Yeah.

We went like almost a week without running water in the city of Richmond. And so, if you can imagine operating a large academic medical center with no running water and all the challenges that that brings, but the team stepped right up. You know, it's like, we don't have water. Okay. We are all, you know, we grab a bucket and carry it up to the floors and make all of the adjustments, moving care around to some of our other facilities who had running water. It was like everybody was all in on making sure we could still take care of our patients and each other through that just really incredible time. No one who would foresee a complete water outage in a pretty major city, but it happened and we persevered. And I think that really shows kind of that heart of—

Yeah, that's a great story. And I, and I do remember, 'cause I was actually slated to, to be in Richmond and we had to change our plans as a result. But yeah, the fact that how you all came together to take care of patients and things, uh, yeah, it's pretty amazing. And what I, the other, the other thing that I found interesting is I just happened to be walking through campus and the original, what is it, the White House for the Confederacy is on your campus?

Yeah, it is. There's a lot of history in Richmond.

Yeah.

There's a lot of history here, um, which makes it for a really rich community.

Yeah. I, I just was so fascinated about it. Obviously you're a great, great leader. That's been a very common theme in just our short time together. What are one or two key skills that enabled your stellar growth and success?

Oh yeah, that's a really good question. I think curiosity is probably one, you know, this need to, for continuous learning, you know, constantly trying to figure out, you know, how could we do something better? How can we improve? How can we take better care of our patients? What's the new, next new thing that we should be incorporating and learning about and making our work better? I think that's critical, especially now, you know, there, technology is constantly evolving, right? You can't be in a technology role and think you know it all.

Right.

There's impossible. So, you know, the continuous learning, understanding we don't know what you, No one knows it all, and we're all learning it together. We're figuring it out, and we're figuring out how to best use these technologies that we have. So, I think that's one. Another really important, I don't know if it's a skill or what we might call it, but is resilience, right? Like, the work is hard, and you have to be able to show up every day with some renewed energy to do the hard work.

Yeah.

You know, we can, take on these really big challenges. We can do incredible things. And you kind of, then you have to know how to take a step back and rest and recover and kind of renew yourself for the next one. I think that is critical because careers are long, right? It's, and you have to be able to maintain that energy for a long time.

Yeah, those are great. And yeah, I'll double down on the resiliency. You know, I've run into a lot of CIOs or former CIOs recently and, and You know, I don't know that many people who are not CIOs realize the heaviness, the weight of the role. It's a very important role and no one's complaining about it. It's just, there is a heavy responsibility. There's a lot of patient care and safety that rides on the shoulders. And so it's important, like you're saying, to be resilient and to take care of yourself. And speaking of which, if, when you do, when you do get drained and tired or you're looking to to sort of re-jump, restart your creative capabilities? What do you do? What do you do to replenish or refresh yourself?

Yeah, I, um, I'll always say, I think my brain works best when my body's in motion. So I tend to, you know, go outside, go for a walk, go for a run, go to the gym, you know, just something to sort of get moving and be out in, in the world and in space a little different. You know, you, You're just a little different than when you're sitting there at your desk on your computer. Yeah. Like the wheels start really turning. So for me, that helps a lot, especially if I'm trying to like process something for myself, you know, um, thinking about how to solve a complex problem or put the pieces of things together, you know, take a walk and sometimes the pieces sort of, they fall into place themselves.

Yes.

In that process. Yeah.

Yeah. That, I like that because you're also getting physical traction. You're moving, which is important because sometimes in stressful cases, we might want to retreat. And sometimes that could be the worst thing to just completely retreat and withdraw and not get out and move. Now, Alan, this has probably happened already, but just in case it hasn't, if you were invited to speak at the graduating class for VCU, the university, What would be one or two key points? And maybe you've touched on them already. You've given us a lot of really sage advice about life and career, but what would be maybe one or two different things that you would offer the graduating class?

Sure. I think the first thing I would say to the graduating class is that I am super impressed with them. You know, whenever I've had the opportunity to work with a VCU student, I am amazed. You know, I think back to myself coming out of college, you know, what, how I, you know, presented myself to the world as a senior in college and compare to what these graduates are doing now. And it's like, wow, you all are incredible. They are so thoughtful. They're so caring. They are asking such great questions and coming up with really good ideas. They're out there doing the work, you know, as they're going through their coursework. And so I think— They're amazing. And I think that those skills that they have, that thirst for knowledge, the continuous learning, adaptability, caring, like those are the things that are going to win the day, I think, in the future, particularly now this job market, it can be really tough, especially for new grads. And so you gotta figure out your own way and kind of make things happen for yourself. And I think The VCU grads are really well prepared for that.

Yeah, no, that's awesome. Those are good words. I wanna end back to your parents, 'cause it sounds like you had a great childhood and your granddad sounds super, super fascinating as a rocket scientist and some of the things that he exposed you to. But was there anything that your parents made you do that you kind of rolled your eyes a little bit, but now looking back, you're like, wow, I'm really glad they sort of forced me into that?

Yeah, it's so interesting because, yeah, I was thinking about this question, thinking you might ask me this. I even talked to my mom. I was talking to my mom this week and I said, did you ever make me do anything I didn't want to do? Because I couldn't think of anything. And she's like, no, I don't think I did. And so, but what we realized while we were talking on the phone is like, they actually, they made us, both my brother and I, they made us make our own decisions and think for ourselves.

Love it.

You know, whatever we wanted to do, they were pretty much on board. You know, they, Like, yep, go do it. They also, you know, full transparency, they expected us to own the outcome of that.

Yeah.

You know, if we were liking it when we decided to do it, then that was great. If we weren't, if we had to figure out how to work ourselves out of it or course correct or, um, whatnot, they were more than willing to offer up how they might make the decision, but really they were not, were wanting us to make our own decisions. And I think that that really served us well, both myself and my brother, you know, and as we've worked our way through our careers and lives and all of it.

Yeah, no, that's great. Yeah, you're, it's not surprising given the success of, of, of you as well as your brother that you had parents like that. And, uh, that's always great and refreshing. So Ellen, we, we covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time. We talked about, about your music, about your life message, and really kind of a common theme was this whole being empathetic, humble, having the courage, make things better. You have to just show up. And we, again, we talked a lot about your, your growing up. Which is always foundational. That's why we talk about it, foundational for who people become. And then talking about your career, how you got into healthcare and tech. And we talked about the Orbi, we talked about VCU Health and the great attributes and how you take care of the community there and the mission and the heart of the organization. And then we talked a lot about leadership. Is there anything we missed or anything you want to double down on? I'll give you the last word.

Well, thanks for the last word. I don't know that we covered a lot of ground. I'm not sure we missed anything. I think, you know, the one thing I would offer up is being a CIO, you mentioned it's hard. I would say there is no one single path, you know, so for folks who are out there thinking that this is a career that they want, I would say to go for it, to follow your own journey to the role of CIO, right? There's no like playbook or stair-step thing that's gonna exactly get you there. You have to do it your own way. And it's totally possible. You just have to lean in and— be willing to put in that work and be yourself throughout the journey.

Ellen, that's really well said. I, I really appreciate you sharing and being so transparent with our audience and being part of the Digital Voices. Thank you.

Thank you for welcoming me into, uh, the family here.

Thank you for listening to Digital Voices. We hope today's conversation sparked ideas, reflection, and connection. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify Podcasts so you don't miss an episode.