Cardell Velez: Chief Operating Officer for Health Network Provider Organization (AHN) and Passion for Hiring People with Disabilities

At Highmark Health, we believe what makes us unique makes us better. Our differences broaden our perspectives and foster a variety of skills to complement each other, creating a stronger and more vibrant workforce. It's this belief that earned us recognition as the best place to work for the 10th year for individuals with disabilities in a survey by the American Association of People with Disabilities and Disability:IN. We'll continue to celebrate and benefit from the inclusion of all people. To find out more, visit highmarkhealth.org. Welcome to Disability Matters with your host, Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guests, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome to the show. You know, I'm speaking to the best listeners In the world, and you'll see what I mean when I say in the world in a minute. But I mean every show when I get on here, I'm thinking, wow! How did I get such great listeners? Well, I'll tell you why: because of the passion and dedication about quality of life for people with disabilities. So thank you, thank you. And you notice I said in the world. Okay, hey, I don't know what's happening. I know I said this the last time, but of course the United States has the largest listening audience. But number 2, once again, is Singapore. Who, who, or what in the heck is going on there? You are all awesome. It keeps getting bigger.

Wow.

I mean, I don't know what you're doing, but you guys just are great. And you're, you are, you are passing on quality of life to people living with disabilities. Unbelievable. So, Cardell, are you shocked about that?

I, I was shocked the very first time that you, you let me know. We were talking about your, your show and you were saying how you had an international audience and, um, and that, you know, Singapore was a really large audience and you had— and so that actually was, was actually kind of, uh, mind-blowing for me that this is, this is taking off everywhere. So it's really, really neat.

Well, I'm actually gonna give you the top 10 today. Ready? United States, Singapore, Brazil, Spain, China, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Canada, and Japan. What about that? However, there are— okay, let's just pick one out here. How about South Korea, 38 listeners. You know what I say to you 38 people? You are just absolutely awesome. I say this on every single show. One person, one, can make a difference. And what you need to do is keep spreading this news, but there's something else you need to do. Do you know I've been to South Korea twice as a speaker on the employment of people with disabilities via the State Department? One time just through the State Department speaking across the country, but the other time with the Korean Congress, that's what it was called, on speaking about epilepsy and stigma. So why I'm telling you this, I love the people in South Korea. I love them. You need to spread that news of what I just told you, and you need to get moving here. You need to get up here with Singapore. But I just wanted to make sure I told you that. And I always have a special shout out to Yoshiko Dart, my friend, this international disability rights leader. Wife of the late, great Justin Dart. I've been doing this for years. I will not stop because I love Yoshiko and because she reminds us of our disability history. And every group, no matter who it is, deserves a disability history. So I love you, Yoshiko.

Thank you.

And Highmark. Highmark has been our lead sponsor for years. And as you will see in a moment, everyone, everyone that I am associated with in leadership is dedicated to the employment of people with disabilities and the greatest partner, greatest country. I mean, greatest company. in any country, Highmark stands tall. They do. There is no other company that from the top down for 31 years, every CEO has stood behind me. No one else, no other company can say that. And that's why I am so excited to have Cardell Velez, the Chief Operating Officer for Health Network Provider Organization, Allegheny Health Network, AHN. He is over, I think, 9,000 people, if he told me something like that.

Somewhere close to that. Yeah.

Okay.

Yes, close.

But when I met him, I immediately liked him. And he was immediately bought into working with me to employ people with disabilities. But Cardell, as you might guess, with all these listeners around the world and the United States, people want to know about my guests. They don't want me to just, you know, talk about AHN or what we're doing. They want to hear about you. So how about if we start? You know, with your journey, like, you know, after high school, where you went to college and what happened after that and where you grew up. Let's hear your story.

Let's hear my story. So I heard Canada on that list. I was actually born in Canada. So I was born in Happy Valley, Goose Bay, Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada.

Get out of here. Okay. Well, Canada, did you hear that? See, I bet you never dreamt you'd hear that from Cardell. See, that's that trivia. That my listeners get to know. Um, great. That's awesome.

Yeah. So my, my dad was in the Air Force. Uh, so we had the opportunity to move around quite a bit growing up. I lived in California and South Dakota before we moved to England in elementary school and middle school. Then we moved to Germany. And so I spent my remaining years of middle school And all of my high school years and graduated high school out in Germany. So I had a really, really fantastic experience growing up over in Europe, being born in Canada, seeing the world. And, and so that really shaped, you know, my future and my desire to join the Air Force. And so that's what my first career stop was, was joining the United States Air Force as an X-ray tech. And I started as an X-ray tech and Went on to interventional radiology and CT and nuke med and went to school at night, you know, from 6 to 10, and then on the weekends from 8 to 12 to try to work on my bachelor's degree and finish my bachelor's degree while I was in. So I spent 8 years in. About 6 months was spent out in Baghdad. So that's a lot of stories from I could fill a whole episode with the, the Baghdad stories and what I experienced out there. Uh, great experience, but I was going to get sent back to Baghdad when I was up for reenlistment. And so I had a very big decision on, you know, am I going to reenlist and stay in the Air Force and do the full, you know, 20 after 8 years? Or was I going to go get out of the Air Force and have honorable discharge and then start my civilian career. Um, when they told me I was going to go back to Baghdad for a year, as soon as I signed the paperwork, it kind of helped with that decision. Uh, not saying I didn't enjoy my time over there, but, uh, definitely that was going to be a long period of time in a war zone. And, and, uh, so that, that I leaned toward getting out. Um, when I got out of the Air Force, uh, there were some positions that were affiliated with, uh, Air Force physician cardiologist and a physician radiologist that were opening up a brand new imaging center out in Las Vegas. So they needed a director of operations to come, you know, help them open that, that practice. And so I went out there and, and spent my time doing that for almost a year. Went on from there, really enjoyed business development and moved to Colorado and did business development with with the cancer center. So worked at B+ for a while. Enjoyed my time in oncology. It was my first time understanding oncology and being around cancer patients and seeing that experience and wanted to stay in that field. And so moved to Dallas as an oncology administrator, spent 5 years doing that while I was Working as an administrator, I decided I really needed to go back to school. And so I was accepted into SMU Cox School of Business and, and worked full-time and then did school full-time. And on the weekends, I was a PET CT tech. So I did cancer imaging on the weekends to help pay for school. So very busy 2 years. And then from there, I transitioned back to hospital and joined a leadership team that was building a brand new hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. And I was the director of imaging services and therapeutic services. So speech, PT, OT, helped with their strategy, helped on the finance team. And we were opened, stayed operational for a year, and then, you know, things got tricky with the original leadership team that was building the hospitals. And so they wound up facing foreclosure or going bankrupt. And I was able a month before they went bankrupt to find another position with an organization in Texas, Texas Health Resources. So I spent the next 5 years with them, you know, working my way up in imaging as a director and as patient experience officer and then like a regional director and then, you know, vice chair of imaging services, helping lead all 19 hospitals. And that's where AHN and Highmark found me. They contacted me on LinkedIn and asked if I was interested in just having a conversation about a role in imaging as the vice president. This is back in 2020. Jumped on the call with with Dr. Casagrande, who was the chair of radiology at the time. I loved what she had to say. You know, our personalities meshed and I was like, yes, I'm going to join that team. And, you know, moved up here and spent 3 years here as the VP of Imaging Services. You know, my spouse stayed back in Dallas, so I was back and forth between Dallas and Texas a lot. And she was up here. And so Did that for quite some time and then had an opportunity to go be the vice president of health system operations eventually for UT Southwestern in Texas. That gave me a lot of exposure and some experience outside of the imaging realm, which I've grown up in. And at this time, that's 20-plus years spent in imaging and imaging-type leadership roles. And so Got to see a lot more and help lead a lot more with a great organization. Spent 2 years there and Dr. Casagrande got promoted. So now she's the president of our physician org. There was a role open for a chief operating officer. We started talking. Once again, sounded great and like a great opportunity. You know, Mark Steffko came on board and I was, you know, watching him and the team on LinkedIn do these One Agent Live events and do all kinds of really innovative things. And so I could feel the momentum going and really got excited about joining this team. So interviewed, got selected. And so I've been back in Pittsburgh since December, so about a little over 9 months now. So Dallas, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Pittsburgh, but happy to be back at AHN. I'm excited about everything that's going on with AHN and Highmark and And excited to meet you. I got to meet you and, and work together with you, which has been fantastic. And now I have the opportunity to be on your show. So I really appreciate that.

Well, wow. First of all, thank you for serving our country. I never knew you were in the Air Force.

Well, I appreciate that.

Thank you. Yeah. What a great thing. What a great thing. Yeah. You have really a very interesting background. I mean, you know, talk about having your eyes open to other cultures and, you know, other people. I mean, that, you know, that would be great for everyone. That is so great. But we're lucky to have you right now.

Yeah, I'm excited to be here.

Here in Pittsburgh at AHN.

Here in Pittsburgh at AHN.

So how, how did you— well, it was through this contact that you got to AHN, right?

Yeah, this, um, so it was, you know, my initial, like I said, my initial journey to AHN was really through LinkedIn. You know, the executive recruiter reached out to me and, you know, said, hey, we have this role and will you take a call for 10 minutes? And, you know, I said yes. And then it was like, you take another call for 15 minutes. And so they just kind of built over time. And so then when I started to meet the leadership team the first time, that's what drew me into AHN and Um, was really excited about everything that they were working on and growing. And I remember Bethany was like, I'm gonna build an imaging empire. And I was like, I wanna build an imaging empire too. And so that was just really, really exciting for me. And then, uh, you know, getting reconnected with the agent, even though I never lost contact with Bethany and, and all the leaders that I worked with when I was here the first time, uh, when I went back to Dallas, I always followed them and checked on them and they checked on me and And so it was always still a great relationship. But really, when I saw the momentum happening, right, with the new leadership team coming into place and Mark and Lou and Bethany and Brian Devine and everyone else who's, who's really driving— Dave Charbal and Brian Johnson— I was like, there's really something cooking back in Pittsburgh. And so really, really was excited to come back.

Glad you came. Wow, that is really a great story. Um, well, you know what, AHN, which is owned by Highmark, is really bigger than people ever can imagine. So how large is AHN? Cardinal Hospitals, everything.

Yeah, AHN is, is, is pretty large. And if you're not from Pittsburgh, it's You know, you know, you have these international callers. So we have, you know, 14 hospitals that span, you know, New York or Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh area, and even up into New York. And there's more than, you know, 300 clinic locations. There's health and wellness pavilions. There's regional cancer centers. I think there's 6 of those. You have 24,000 employees within AHN. And, you know, Highmark is even bigger. We have 2,500+ physicians on the medical staff, tons of patient visits, tons of employees just within our org or within my org. There's 8,000+ individuals that I help serve and lead in 21 departments and 100+ divisions. And so, you know, AHN really, really is a large health system.

Wow.

So how many hospitals did you say?

14.

That is amazing. That really is amazing. Yeah, I see AHN everywhere. Yeah, everywhere, everywhere I see AHN.

I do too.

I'm always so happy to see it. So Cardell, what stands out to you about Mark Savko?

Really stands out, or what has really stood out to me about Mark is, you know, he has— you can tell he has a commitment to the people and the culture of ATN, and he uses that, you know, momentum and that culture to execute on a really, really tight and bold vision for the future. So it's really combining, you know, those Those skills to really get to the people, really build a culture, tying it to a vision and a strategy. And he's just, you know, he's really smart. So if you're ever in a meeting with him, he catches everything. He asks incredible questions. He's very engaged, can kind of recount. I spent a lot of time kind of trying to watch how he does and conducts his meetings because you can learn a lot just from interacting with him. Because there's nothing— it's— you feel like there's nothing that he misses. He's able to capture all. He's very, very present. He's a very present leader. And I think innovative. Doesn't— you know, if it's a no, he still hears a yes, you know, so he'll still go after it. And so it's been really, really great to watch.

And, you know, that is so true. He is very kind.

Very kind. Yes.

He is very kind, very gracious. And I just want you all to know that because, you know, like Cardell's the same way and they're at the top. And I always say, if you go to a company, find out who is the CEO, who is the COO, who is the CFO, because that's going to tell you a lot. It's easy to go read about people and find out about them. But I can tell you, Starting with Mark, he is really an awesome person. And I must say, I am very honored that I was in the video with Mark.

That was the first time I met you and saw you. It was in that video. And that video was great. I mean, that just, for me, seeing that video being newer to it, back to AHN, really kind of set the tone. So like, okay, they're also having some fun.

Yeah.

Yeah, what we're talking about, everyone, is the Epilepsy Foundation. I mean, the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA, right here in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. I'm the chair of the board, but I've been involved forever with this association. And we have a fundraiser every year called the Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras. And what it is, is a fundraiser for the Epilepsy Association for helping young people living with epilepsy, adults, families, what happens at schools, you know, I could go on and on. But it's a great organization and a great gala. So we always have a king. And the king of the Mardi Gras last year Was Mark Savko. So you have to have some type of entrance. Like, for example, these realtors I know, they come in with a house. And the CEO of this chemical company had someone come in with tubes, dry ice with smoke going and everything.

Yes.

And Mark, they decided, no, we're gonna have a video. A takeoff on the TV show The Pit, which in case you don't know, just won Emmys. So I told everyone, yeah, I know, we were— I was part of it.

You were part of it.

Yeah, yeah. But, um, so it starts with, just like the TV show, instead of, uh, Dr. Robbie, it's Mark Savko superimposed, you know, on a motorcycle. Going into the AHN, it's filmed at AHN. The Pit is filmed 2 places, AHN and California. So they need the entrance and a lot of that stuff from AHN, and they're so nice, all so nice. And, uh, so anyway, Mark is pretending that he was in an accident. So all these EVPs from Highmark and AHN, they're walking in. Mark, are you okay? And then putting beads around his neck. Mark, are you fine? When are you coming? You're supposed to be at the Mardi Gras. And the last person to come in with a doctor's white jacket on was me. And I went over to Mark and I said, what are you doing? Get up. I'm the one that nominated you. Why are you in that bed? And, and so anyway, they showed this. At the Mardi Gras. And that's just like an example of how Mark— oh, and then, then you heard helicopters.

That's right.

The sound of helicopters. And then he came in on a gurney.

On a gurney.

It was so good. It was, it was so good. But that also tells you a lot about Mark because he's not like, it's all about me. You know, he's a very humble person, modest, just like Cardell. So there you go. That gives you an idea of 2 people at the top and what they are like.

I do want to say that is— that's also the very first time I didn't have the opportunity to meet you, but it was the first time I heard your story, which was really inspiring. And so I remembered you from the Mardi Gras ball, even after, uh, when you reached out to me, I knew your name. I remembered your Your face and your story. So I was like, oh yeah, I know exactly who that is. I don't think you knew who I was because I didn't, I didn't see you. But, you know, your story is also truly inspiring, really well told. Everyone was really listening. And it's such an important, really important story. So, you know, I appreciate you being, you know, so vulnerable, so humble to get up on stage and really tell everyone about your experience in your life. So that was—

Thank you.

Pretty impactful.

Thank you, Cardell. I'll tell you, a lot of people like me who live with epilepsy, they don't tell.

No, I can see that.

This is a disability that has been scorned and where there's stigma and fear. People don't even realize there are many different types of seizures. For example, I haven't had a seizure for years because of the medication I take, but when I do, I do not have a convulsion. And for some reason, everyone thinks every seizure is the same, and they aren't. They're different. But no matter what, as I said, there is this stigma involved. And it's funny when I go to a company and they say, oh, Joyce, We want to start hiring people with disabilities. I say, oh, but you already have.

Yeah.

Yeah, they're sitting here right now. They have bipolar disorder, depression, MS, epilepsy, dyslexia, dysgraphia, autism, MS, diabetes. I mean, I could go on forever because there are all these non-apparent disabilities. But here's the scary part. They aren't telling you.

Right. Yeah, I do believe that people don't feel comfortable, you know, talking about it openly. And that's a shame. So, I mean, you are an inspiration to allow people to feel comfortable doing that. I've met other people who are more comfortable in telling their, you know, their story, which then in turn inspires me to tell my whole truth and story and be more vulnerable with People when they ask me questions. And so I think, you know, that kind of just goes on and on and on if you're willing to do that. And you just never know who's listening and who is going to take that, and it's going to help, you know, their day and help them cope or share, or, you know, with their next job opportunity. I just think it's really incredible. So I think you are also very incredible.

Well, thank you very much. So, yeah, we're in the Mutual PR club, the two of us, Cardell. So, Cardell, I have a book here. Here it is. AI in healthcare.

The biggest topic in healthcare.

Healthcare. And you know, you hear about it everywhere. You hear from Epic, you hear it from Everywhere.

That's right.

What do you think is going to be the impact in healthcare from AI?

You know, I spent a lot of time of my career, as I was saying earlier, in imaging and radiology. And so AI has been around in imaging and radiology for quite some time. They're probably one of the earlier adopters. Because it's more of the easier transition in, you know, helping the radiologist workflows be more efficient, or in the technologist scan time and looking and analyzing the sequences to say, hey, you can cut this down and we can supplement this with or fill in some of the gaps from an imaging standpoint and allow patients to have a shorter scan, right? So there's just so many different capabilities within imaging. Then I started to really ramp up and hear about all the ambient listening. And so that's really, really impactful. And now almost all hospitals have it. So your physicians are coming in, they're able to talk and spend more quality time facing the patient, listening intently. And in the background, AI is taking notes and is transcribing them into their orders in the way that they typically like to take them. It's eliminating any of the small talk. So that's the other interesting part that people might not know. Like, so if you're sitting there talking about the basketball game or the football game last night, AI is saying, we don't need that. It's only grabbing the clinically relevant information to load into the chart. And so that is also allowing for physicians to spend a lot more face-to-face time with patients and hopefully less administrative time. doing notes and writing their notes, which has transformed to the bedside, right? So now there's AI in nursing. So as a nurse is coming in and talking to the patient, maybe if you're admitted to the hospital, it's also listening and taking notes, and it could, you know, help update your family if they come visit you because everything is captured and shown. There's just endless amount of uses. We're looking at using it for, you know, patients who don't have maybe primary care And to call out. And so if you've ever listened to how AI has progressed from a phone call standpoint, you can't even tell it's AI. And so they may call saying, hey, you know, Joyce, we see that you haven't had your annual appointment. We would love for you to come in. We have availability here. And you may think you're talking to a real person. And that interaction is so amazing. It stops people from having to you know, sit and make those phone calls, and then they can focus on, you know, more of the, the highly or higher skilled thing that they went to school for. So just, I mean, the opportunity is endless with AI.

First, I want to talk about that ambient listening that you were referring to.

Yep.

That, you know, someone at AHN told me, oh, let me tell you about the doctors. They're so glad they don't have to have pajama I said, what? What are you talking about? Oh, surgeons, when they would go home, they have to write up all their notes, you know, could every— go through everything.

Right.

Have everything ready for the next day. And now here, they don't have to do that. And I, you know, my, one of my, on one of my trips to the doctor, the doctor said to me, I hope you don't mind. I'm going to use my AI device. I said, oh no, I think that's great. And why I said that is when you want more doctor-patient time.

Well, I think that's what—

And when you see the person looking at you to get your mannerisms and their body language, I mean, it's— is it the same if the whole time they're over at their computer typing in everything that's happening? I mean, this gives you more time directly with the physician. I mean, that's my opinion. What do you think, Cardell?

I agree. I mean, and it gives you more quality time, right? So that you really do feel— so you're not, you know, you're not seeing the back of a lab coat as they, you know, kind of are looking over their shoulder and trying to take notes and trying to talk to you. And then they turn around and do part of the exam, then you got to turn back around. They are, like you said, face-to-face, eye contact, listening intently, not having to worry about, you know, did I catch that? Or when you left, like, oh, what was that that she said? Or, oh, I know they need this medication refilled. What was that medication that they needed? And there's an extra problem. Like, they are able to really focus in on the patient's needs when they're using that. So I agree with you wholeheartedly, Joyce.

So, oh, here we go. I'm just looking at this. Something that I read talked about the ability for AI to possibly move forward with— well, Karen Hanlon, the great Karen Hanlon, told me That you are able with AI to have predictive knowledge. In other words, you are prone to have cancer or you are prone to have Alzheimer's. Do you think that will continue growing and develop and be even more dynamic?

I do. I think with looking at the entire patient's chart, So say you take it, you have AI and you plug it into a patient's chart and you have all the notes. And so if I'm a patient, I might come in once a year for something that's unrelated. Like, you know, this is bothering me this, this time and this is bothering me the next time. Now AI might be able to say, hey, you think these are 2 unrelated things? What if this is part of the same type of disease process that's going on? And I've looked through all of your notes and you're showing all the indicators of having this type of disease process. We probably should be checking you for X. So AI is going to be able to take and condense all that information from all of your patient journey into one single view of you as a patient and potentially help diagnose things that you aren't even— or physicians not even thinking. about diagnosing because you can see multiple different physicians. I'm seeing this specialist and this primary care and they may not be looking at all the information or trying to connect it because that's not their specialty, where AI could potentially be pulling all that together and saying, hey, this looks like it's something that is a bigger problem. We should check.

I know a lot of people, I mean, there are bad things with AI and I am aware of But do you realize with what you just said, that could save lives?

Absolutely. Yeah.

You know what I mean? That AI is really good because that could actually save a life. You could see, wait a minute, it looks like you're heading toward cancer or cancer of the colon or whatever it is.

Yeah. These lab indications say that it would combine with what you said to this doctor.

Yeah.

You might have cancer. You know, it just is incredible.

Yeah. I mean, to me, that saves, you know, that can save a life. And who knows, Cardell, AI, as smart as it is and how it keeps moving, you never know. Maybe someday it will do enough research that it will know the cure for cancer. You just don't know.

You don't.

It is so smart and it keeps moving so fast. It's unbelievable. But right now it is time for our news break with the dynamic Miss Jennifer Mathis. Mathis on the mic. All right, there she comes. Hi, Jennifer, how are you?

I'm good, thank you. How are you?

And you know what, we don't talk about this enough, but, uh, Jennifer Is the Deputy Director at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. That's her little job. Her really important job is Mathis on the Mic. That's— don't tell Holly I said that. I am honored to be on the board of Bazelon. But so you know this, she's brilliant. Jennifer is brilliant. Every time I talk to Chris Griffin, She reminds me how brilliant you are. And Cardell, Kris Griffin in the Obama administration was an appointee at the Office of Personnel Management, but actually she also was in the Bush administration. Ted Kennedy, Senator Kennedy nominated her, and she was EEOC, Vice Chair of EEOC.

That's incredible. That's a huge compliment.

Yeah. But anyway, Jennifer, what news do you have for us today?

So I figured I would let people know of the latest happenings with all of the DOJ cases that are pending, that are either active cases pending, that are settlement agreements, that are in some stage or other. that involve Olmstead. And what I wanted to highlight is that in the last several weeks, DOJ has withdrawn itself from 4 cases. So this began a few weeks ago with a case in Texas that actually went to trial during the first Trump administration. It was about people with developmental, intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes in Texas and was litigated by the Justice Department as well as some private litigants. Center for Public Representation represented a class of people with IDD, intellectual and developmental disabilities. But DOJ itself represented the United States and went to trial in that case. And there was a lengthy decision, a 475-page decision that was issued last year. Took a while from the trial to the decision, but they won on every issue. And DOJ has now withdrawn itself from that case.

Wow.

Filed something with the court saying basically we're out of here. Now in that case, that's one of the cases where there are still private lawyers involved. So somebody is there still pursuing those claims and actually representing the individuals. So that is helpful. But that is what started this chain of withdrawals. And then in New Hampshire, shortly after that, in a case that also had private litigators in it, But that one was a mental health case. In fact, we used to be involved up until the settlement. And that settled quite a few years ago. It was about people with mental health disabilities in the state psychiatric hospital as well as in a state-operated nursing home. So DOJ just announced it was withdrawing from that case as well. And then after that, North Carolina. So I think it was Friday, September 11th. DOJ did a joint filing with the state of North Carolina saying they were terminating, and that case has no private lawyers in it. So that was just the Justice Department's settlement. So they are— they asked the court to terminate the settlement. They said there was substantial compliance, we're done here. And so the court Dismissed. So that case is now no more. And then after that, they filed a notice in a case in Alameda, also one that we are involved in. I am no longer involved in it because I am recused after having been at the Justice Department. But that one also was a mental health case, involved people with mental health disabilities who were cycling between the county psychiatric hospital and the psychiatric emergency room and the county jail and the street. And so it was basically people over and over and over again being institutionalized and spit out again because of the lack of community services. So DOJ just filed in that case. A notice that it was withdrawing. So we're just seeing that in case after case after case, they are getting out. And I think this is significant. There are a number of other cases that still remain. I think we can probably expect to see them doing this in eventually most or all of those cases if this holds. So People should be aware. We are seeing the effects of the memo that came out of the Justice Department flipping their position, their decades-long position on Olmstead, saying that there's an integration mandate. Their current position is now 180 degrees, that there is no such thing as an integration mandate, coming after many, many years of being the lead enforcer. Of that obligation. So I think, you know, the takeaway here is they are in fact divesting themselves of any responsibility to, or any action to enforce this obligation, that they no longer believe in it. And it is going to be up to the rest of us to enforce, and it's going to be up to the states to do the right thing and to commit to the integration mandate. So that's my news for this week. I think in terms of what people can be doing, one thing we've talked about on the news here before is making sure that you, whatever kind of state you're in, That you've asked your state leadership for a commitment to not jump in and join the attacks on Olmstead that are coming from the federal government. 18 governors have made that commitment, which is great. We are now still focused on getting attorneys general. And anyone whose governor did not sign on to that commitment, You can still ask them to make their own statement saying that they commit to implementing the integration mandate.

Thank you so much. I just want to say once again, if you're listening to the show, listen to what Jennifer said. You've got to call. You've got to go visit. You've got to get in touch with your representative. Because you could be next. We never know what's going to happen. I always tell people they're the temporarily able-bodied. At any point in time, you could have an accident. This could be you. This could be you that, no, you can't be in a community setting. You have to be in a nursing home or an institution. That could be you. So you need to speak up. And Jennifer, you are awesome. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Talk to you next week.

Have a great day.

Thank you.

I have the best newscaster. She is known nationally, Kardell. Anytime there's a mental health issue, if it's the New York Times or Washington Post, you can count on them talking to Jennifer Mathis.

That's incredible.

Yeah. I want to just talk about you for a minute. Cardell. You know, when I met Cardell, as I said, I told him what Highmark was doing with Bender Consulting, partnering to find employment for people with disabilities in competitive areas.

Yes.

And over the past year and a half, we have done so much clinical work. You know, my dream is that AHN and the hospital, as Ted Kennedy Jr. said to me, becomes a best practice. Because let me tell you, people with disabilities have not had good luck getting employment in hospitals. Treated, seen as patients, yes, but not employees. And here's AHN saying, we want to set aside these jobs for, for people with disabilities. Well, That's again, no hospital is doing that. So I just want to say that Cardell, for all of you listeners, not just here but around the world, he was on it immediately. It's not like he said to me, could I think about this? Or could I get— we're really busy, I have a lot going on, can I get back to you? No, it was immediate. And Cardell, I can't tell you, as I've told Karen, David, Mark, and every— when they hear this radio show, how highly I think of you.

I appreciate that. It's very kind.

You are really a good man. You care about others. So now you know why AHN and Highmark are the best place you could possibly work, especially a person living with a disability. So what, with your background in healthcare, and I didn't know this, but in the Air Force, we talked about the impact of AI. But you know what? A lot of that comes also down to the people using AI, right?

That's right.

So my question to you is, when you hire someone, what do you look for in people, Cardell? What is important to you?

Yeah, no, first, of course, as we're looking through resumes, we're looking to see if they have the technical skills or hard knowledge to do the job, right? So, and we're hoping, and most of the time, of course, our HR partners and recruitment partners do a great job at looking through those resumes and only pushing forward the ones that I know, like, okay, everyone on this list is qualified. to do the job based on the job description. So we want to make sure that we are fair and we're doing things extremely fair in that regard. Now, when I talk to people, I'm looking more so for, you know, are they like what we're saying, a good culture fit? Are they good people? Are they kind? Do they enjoy what they do? Do they enjoy patient care? You know, do they light up when they're talking about the role that they want to go into, or the role that we're, we're discussing? You know, are they able to articulate, you know, how are they going to come into the organization? And not only, you know, what we can do for them, but, you know, what they're going to bring to the organization and how they're going to better enhance, you know, our organization. So it's, it's, it's pretty simple. I feel like, you know, when I sit across from a candidate, you can, you can kind of tell if they're really into it. You know, I've had interviews where You know, the person that's like, I forgot, I don't even know what I'm interviewing for. I put in so many applications. I'm like, well, if you don't, you know, if you don't know what you're interviewing for, or then it's going to be pretty much a no for me. It's the ones that are like, I know exactly what I'm interviewing for. You know, I want to be a part of Highmark and AHN. I know what your core values are. I know what your vision and your mission is. You know, I've studied your company. I've followed your company. I know your leadership. You know, I've LinkedIn stalked some people and, um, I want this job and you can see it comes out and it shows.

You know what? I hope all you young people are listening at the Bender Leadership Academy. What do I always say about an interview? Job preparation.

That's right.

You know, people look for people with initiative and people that are thorough with job preparation. Have so much better chance of getting the job. As a matter of fact, my HR team, if they interview someone and say, what do you know about Bender Consulting Services? They do something for people with disabilities. What about Joyce Bender? I think that, you know, I know she works there. They're out. They're done. That's it. You know, we want the person to say, yes, I know Bender's a national company that focuses on the competitive employment of people with disabilities. Joyce Bender is a national, international advocate. And it was because of her epilepsy and accident that she partnered with that great company, Highmark. I mean, that, that is so important. Because, you know, if you don't and Cardell would ask you these questions, you're being disrespectful. So you really need to be prepared for interviews. Uh, not only that, it's— and, and I think you'll agree with this, Cardell— a lot of interviews today are, you know, on the With Zoom or Teams, whatever it is.

Yes, it is. Yeah.

It's the same thing. I mean, the way you get dressed for an interview.

Yeah. Is your camera on?

Yeah. If you were, yeah, I have this one fantastic person. She works at Highmark, now Sheba. Uh, and she too was in the military. And when she years ago first got her job at Highmark through us, She called and said, every day when I go to work, I have my work uniform on.

I love it.

And that, and, and, and, you know, when you, you've got to understand when you enter, and here's another thing, you've got to be early when you get on. Got to be early.

You got to check your technical difficulties early. You know, I see that a lot. You know, people have been in before and inevitably something goes wrong. And so, yeah, you got to get on there early. You got to make sure your camera works, test your microphone, you know, do all those things so that you're ready to go and you can focus.

Great advice. Great advice. So Cardell, you are a very good man and you are very smart. So, and you have good communication skills. You're the whole package, Cardell. So Cardell, who is your role model? Because obviously people have influenced you.

Yeah, no, absolutely. I, you know, and I've thought about this, you know, I've thought about this, um, this question, of course, and, and, you know, trying like, oh, the, the kind of generic answer, but it is honestly true. It's both my parents, you know, my, my mom, my dad have been married for, uh, man, 50 years plus. They, for different reasons, have really, really Helped shape my career, my outlook, you know, who I am, my core values, my morals and integrity, all those things. You know, my dad, um, really, really showed me about hard work. He's not the, the, the, the type that when you go to school and you all know these people that just pick up things really instantly and can recall and take tests well. He is the type that's going to wake up at 3 AM. And he's gonna block time to study. He's gonna study from 3 to 5. He's gonna exercise from 5 to 6. You know, he was military for 26 years. And he was always like telling me, you gotta work hard. You gotta be educated. You gotta be more educated. You gotta, you know, if you just put your head down and work hard, someone's gonna find you and you're gonna get promoted. That was his, you know, just effort, hard work, education. Now my mom is, is wickedly clever. sees all the moves, right? Sees the whole chessboard, all the strategies. She is the type that is going to pick up things really quickly and, and put the pieces together. So I used to love watching, you know, the two of them work together as my dad was trying to navigate his career. And my mom is seeing, you know, 10 steps ahead and trying to tell my dad, you know, you need to do this because, you know, 6 months from now it's going to lead you here. So I've taken both of those kind of strategies and that, you know, those learnings from my parents and watching them. And this is just professionally. I mean, they were, of course, lovely parents. There's 5 of us. All of us kids are successful. They got us out of the South Bronx, New York, and raised us in Germany and England. So I can't say enough about, you know, the personal part of what they've done for my life. But the professional part and just seeing how they've both navigated that career in just different ways. I try to take little pieces of kind of both of them.

What is their— what is their first names?

Deborah Velez and Richard Velez. So Debbie and Rick.

Debbie and Richard, you did a good job. You did a good job. Congratulations to you. So, Cardell, over the past year, what do you think has been your greatest accomplishment?

There's been a lot. You know, we've— the Heritage Valley integration has been I'm going really well. The, you know, just getting the team and, and trying to, to build the right culture and bring together and, and putting the right, you know, VPs in place. But, you know, recently we did our core behavior survey and we had so much participation. Like, we had more participation than we ever had before. And then our engagement scores went up. So that in itself, you know, looking at how we're performing, how we're leading, How engaged people are within the organization and getting that feedback saying, hey, you know, we, we are engaged, we're participating in the survey. And on top of that, we think you're, you're doing a little bit better. I mean, there's still room to— a lot of room to improve, but they're like, you're doing a little bit better than we were doing before. So that right now is, is kind of the, the, the greatest accomplishment so far in 2026. Wow.

Congratulations to you. You've got a long way to go.

So I know you're going to keep it up.

And I'm gonna be your PR agent. Well, once again, this is Cardell Velez, Chief Operating Officer at AHN, and you can follow him on LinkedIn. Yes.

Right. Okay. I will accept everyone. Come follow me on LinkedIn. A lot to post, a lot going on at AHN. I love, uh, I love highlighting all the things going on with Highmark and AHN. So Yeah, come follow me.

C-A-R-D-E-L-L, Cardell V-E-L-E-Z. Cardell Velez, thank you so much for being with us today.

Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. This was, this was great. This hour went by pretty quick, but yeah, I really appreciate it.

Yeah, well, I'll have you back on now that you've had experience.

Yeah, this is my first experience. That's what I was telling Joyce. This is my very first time doing this, so hopefully People don't judge me too bad, but this was great. Thank you.

Well, they're hearing you all the way to Singapore. So, Cardell, great job. Great to have you. Thank you very much. And we end every show with a quote. And today that quote is, remember, hold your head high. Look the world straight in the eye, said the great Helen Keller. And in the words of Mary Brocker, when you get up tomorrow, choose joy. You won't be disappointed. Hey everyone, talk to you all next week.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11:00 AM Pacific Time and 2:00 PM Eastern Time for Join us next week for another installment of Disability Matters, right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.

Thank you.