Scott Meiser/Greg McGuinness: Corporate Leaders Share Roles at AHN and Commitment to Hire People with Disabilities

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.

Hey, hi everyone, this is Joyce Bender. I hope everyone is having a great day. You know, I'm always Just so happy to be with you. You know, when we're on, when I'm on here, I'm thinking about you. I'm trying to envision where you are. You know, are you watching TV, your computer, seeing us on YouTube? Or are you listening on demand? I'm always thinking about that. And I'm always thinking about those listening around the world. Wow. Okay. Yeah, Singapore, you are still reigning as number 2 after the United States with the most listeners, followed by Brazil, Spain, China, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, Canada, France. Those are the top 10 out of the 143. And you know, Although you have thousands listening in Singapore, I just want to mention that in Zambia, like several other countries, there's only one listener. And whoever you are, one listener, you can make a difference because I went to South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Panama about Speaking about quality of life for people with disabilities, and if you have a disability, you should never be ashamed. So you, one person, can make a difference by telling other people about the show. So I love you, you one person. Thank you so much. And I also, of course, have to thank. Highmark for being the lead sponsor of this show for years now. Just another great thing that, you know, David Holmberg and every other executive has stood behind me. So, you know, if you're listening, you want to know what Highmark's like, I can tell you. They're a great company. They hire people with disabilities. As you know, this month we're celebrating National Disability Employment Month. And for those of you— no, I didn't make a mistake. I know that over the years it's called National Disability Employment Awareness Month. But you know what? We've had far, far too much awareness. We're aware. Everyone's aware. They're aware. They just need to hire someone. Therefore, I call it National Disability Employment Month. And those are the real heroes. Yoshiko, special shout out to you. You know how much I love you. And before we start, I, I want to mention, many of you may know that we lost RJ Might.

And RJ—

Bitty, I'm sorry. And RJ Was on Breaking Bad. You would know him as the son, Walter White Jr., who really did have cerebral palsy. And what a loss. I mean, I, I was so upset when I found out that at the young age of 34, he's gone. Just want to say To his family and friends and everyone. I love him so much that on October 27th, I'm going to replay the show that I had several years ago with RJ so that we all remember how much he did for the disability community. And you remember I said about champions, as we're celebrating this month with champions, I have 2 champions, and they're on with me right now on the show, Scott Mizer and Greg McGinnis. Scott is the Vice President of Supply Chain Operations, and Greg McGinnis is the Director of the Distribution Center and Logistics for Allegheny Health WorkNet Distribution Center. And I say welcome.

Hello.

To 2 of my favorite people.

Thank you, Joyce. Happy to be here.

Happy New Year. And how are you doing, both of you?

Glad to be here. Thanks, Joyce.

You're welcome. So my listeners, as you can see, we have a lot of them, and they always want to know, oh, that person was great, what are they like? So now I ask every guest, hey, tell us your story, you know, like where you grew up and Then what got you on? What was your journey to get to your job today? So we'll start, start with you. And I just want to tell everyone, Scott is truly a champion. This isn't a new thing with him hiring people with disabilities from Bender Consulting Services. He's been doing this for years. He is the real deal. He called me and said, I want to work with you on these positions. So If you ever hear about Scott, you should meet him. Go ahead, Scott.

Thanks, Joyce. Appreciate it. I guess I grew up in Michigan, one of 5 boys. We have 5 boys. You know, we all survived childhood somehow. But, you know, I went to Christian schools growing up, went to a Christian college, got my MBA from Christian College. I raise that because I think it informs part of who I am, that environment I grew up in, the family environment, the schools I went to help form who I am. But, you know, I had a journey. I got an accounting degree, found out I didn't want to do that, and ended up, you know, in supply chain, I'll say through the back door, and have worked in a variety of industries. You know, from, from the rail industry to fashion, um, to obviously healthcare. Um, so, uh, every step of that journey's, um, made me part of who I am, has taught me something. So that's a little bit about me.

Wow, this explains a lot because I too am a person of faith. I graduated from Geneva College and you live it. Scott, you do because you care about those left out. How about you, Greg? Let's hear your story.

Sure. I have a similar background as Scott. I'm not from Pittsburgh originally, grew up on Philadelphia, New Jersey area. Irish Catholic, large family, Catholic school growing up. Came out to Pittsburgh, attended a Catholic college out here. I was a little different than Scott. how I ended up in supply chain and where I am today. I actually sat down and met with the deans of the school. I think it was my sophomore year when I was having my, what am I going to do with the rest of my life breakdown. My parents actually suggested that I go do— go speak with the deans and find out what type of career opportunities these courses that I was taking would— I could expect. And so supply chain was the one that was I think most interesting to me, fit my personality, I think allowed me to do a lot of different things. And then I moved around from there. I've been in supply chain, really given me the opportunity to change careers within supply chain from inventory to obviously distribution now, procurement, manufacturing, power plant operations. I've Lived from Minnesota to New York, down to Maryland, and now back in Pittsburgh again. So good opportunity presented itself. Here I am 8 years later, I think 9 years later, working in healthcare here at the distribution centers.

Making a difference, that's for sure. So Scott, tell us about your What is your role at AHA? What do you do there? What is your role? What's the size of the staff? Tell us about it.

So supply chain operations within Allegheny Health Network, and that's Greg and I both work in supply chain operations, is a team of around 250 individuals that are really responsible for making sure that the hospitals get the supplies they need. So we work across multiple functions. So we have materials management as a function we have in the hospitals. So they're stocking the shelves in the hospitals. We have a corporate team that does things like master data management and a lot of the back office work to make things tick. We have our distribution team that Greg runs that, you know, does central storage of of all the supply so that the hospitals have a backup network. And then finally, a procurement operations function, which does a lot of the supply ordering. That team is based, like I said, in the hospitals. We actually have a small team based in India as well, and then our corporate staff. And again, our reason for being is to make sure the hospitals get the supplies they need so they can take care of our patients. Which is our reason for being.

So I've always wondered this. What if it's some really special, expensive, I don't know, something they would need maybe in brain surgery or heart surgery, some item? Do you still go through the normal process, or are those— there are things where it has to be hand delivered?

We still go through the normal process. We have some specialty delivery processes. Greg can tell you a lot about that, but, you know, we will do what we call a white glove delivery where we'll take it right into the pharmacy, for example. But we handle all kinds of interesting product through the distribution center. My favorite one has got to be fish skin, which is used for burn and wound patients. We stock it out here. We deliver it the same way we would everything else. It gets a special tote to let everyone know it's a specialty expensive product, but through the same workflows. But, but by stocking it here, we're able to protect the hospitals because they, they can't stock all that in the hospital. And, and last thing we want our clinical staff doing is managing supply. We want to take care of it for them so they can take care of the patient. That's what we're both good at, and that's the most important thing is to take care of the patient.

Yeah, I tell everyone that. I tell the story about how the nurses at one time put those boxes together that you get in your room with the toothbrush and all of that, and how you explained to me how, you know, AHN is saying, why would we have our nurses doing this other work? And now you do it right there. And I know this because of my employees. Working in that area. So you're doing everything you can to give clinical people more time to, to take care of people, just what you said.

Absolutely, absolutely. That's the most important thing, right? If you look at the mission and vision of our company, right, it's to take care of our members and our patients. And the best way we can do that as supply chain is free up the folks' time. who do that, who are on the front line taking care of that. Don't make them worry about supply. Let them worry about the patient. We'll worry about the supply.

Yeah, that's great. Well, everyone, we have to go to commercial break, but we're going to be right back for the next hour and we'll be talking next to Graydon McGinnis. So don't go away. We'll be right back.

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. With The 2022 our Best Place to Work commitment Award is presented by Highmark Health. to supporting 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.

Since 1985, Bender Consulting Services has served as a national leader in advancing employment of people with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, with private sector companies and federal government agencies. Bender assists customers with achieving their diversity and workforce inclusion initiatives by tapping into a talent pool of individuals seeking professional positions, including those in the STEM fields. In addition, Bender Services include disability employment consulting, training, and technology accessibility through their Hi-Test line of service. For more information, please visit www.benderconsult.com.

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You're listening to Disability Matters. Now please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

And Greg McGinnis from the distribution center at AHN, owned by Highmark, uh, and a place where we have employees with disabilities working, which is so great. Greg, how about you? Why don't— what is your role at the distribution center? And I know you mentioned supply chain, but tell us a little bit about your experience in distribution.

Sure. So my role is the director here up at the distribution center. We're 175,000 square feet. We run 24 hours a day, 6 days a week with 4 shifts. They handle all the inbounding, outbound replenishment, picking, and delivery of all the products that AHN hospitals, surgery centers, physician practices, pharmacies that they need. So overseeing that as far as distribution goes, I think I mentioned just a few minutes ago that I've had a number of different roles through my career before coming onto the distribution side and into healthcare. And I think that the experience with the inventory management, demand planning, analytics, system design— you know, we run a warehouse management system out here at the distribution center, which is the orchestrator for pretty much everything that we do, and it's a complex system. All the opportunities prior to coming here is really what I think set me up for us to be successful. And just being a jack of all trades versus master of one gave a lot of exposure into these different areas that distribution center all touches.

Well, I know you deal a lot with my chief of staff, Leanne Thomas, and she's always telling me, oh, Glenn is so nice. I love working with him. He is so friendly. And of course, Gerald and Jill. Also enjoy working with you and Scott, because, you know, Scott, Ed, Ed Lesniak, you hired. Here's a— in procurement, here's someone barely speak in front of people. When I met him, very discouraged because, you know, he couldn't find employment. And now he's up there in front of everyone talking. And, you know, I, I give you all the credit.

Thank you.

Scott, I give you all the credit for really being part of changing his life, a major part. So, and I remember even, Scott, when you called me and told me there was some big thing, I don't know what it was, but that he saved money for the company, something he did. And like, I'm— I was just so happy. So, as I said, Scott and I go way back. But Scott, you have, as I said, always been a big supporter and a champion. You know, not everyone is like you. You even called me one day just to tell me, Joyce, I have these openings. I want to work with you. So unfortunately, 70% of people with disabilities are not counted in the workforce. There aren't other Highmarks or AHN or Engine or The Forge, you know, spectacular how Highmark is, but many aren't. So tell, tell my listeners, why do you hire people with disabilities?

Well, I raised my upbringing earlier, and I certainly think that that's got a piece of a sense of justice, justice, ethics, and and morals, right? But, but the other part of it is, is more practical than that. And, and that is that, you know, people make assumptions about what folks can and can't do. And you, you and I both know Tom and his story about the person that coded with a pencil. Tom's a vice president in our IT organization. And the reality is that every person brings something different to the table. And All those points of view, all those abilities make us better, can make us better. And that extends through our whole workforce in supply chain operations. And Greg can tell you great stories where frontline warehouse staff have brought ideas forward and said, hey, I think we could do this different, it can make us better. Everyone has the ability to do that. And so really, you know, Yes, it's the right thing to do, but it also makes us better every day. So it's good for us to do it.

Yes, that's why I tell people it isn't just charity. It's a business investment. I mean, there have been people, you know, working, for example, at the print shop at the Forge so long. You know, when people with disabilities get a chance to work, they're so grateful. They're so appreciative, not because they're superheroes, but because they've been left out. But, you know, we want paychecks, not pity. Do a good job, you keep the job. You don't, you don't have the job. And boy, my one employee— well, Justin and Eric are both great. Eric's the one that went on the interview and we couldn't find him, and that's because he just stayed.

Yep, we put him right to work. And you know what, they're both coming up on their, uh, second anniversary pretty soon, those 2 folks. But you mentioned Ed, right? He's been with the company now, it's got to be like 8 years in his role. He's done a great job, right? So yeah, I think that loyalty, there's something to be said for that too.

Which saves the company money. Retention. That's what Larry Kleinman, the chief human capital officer at Highmark, was saying. And look through the records across the board, and my employees have such high retention that it's astounding. But that's why, if you've been left out and then someone does give you a chance, you know, you're gonna— you are going to be grateful. So, as you also know, everyone listening to the show, I live with epilepsy, and I'm not ashamed that I live with epilepsy. It fits me because when you have epilepsy, you have too many neurons firing off. That fits me because I've got the firepower, so it doesn't bother me to live with epilepsy. But great, one of our employees, Eric, had a seizure. at the center. And then what we did is I came out because I'm the chair of the local Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA. And we did a presentation and it was so awesome because the room was filled. And we did a presentation about what happens when someone has a seizure, what to do. I just wondered, What was the impact of that? Did you feel that made a difference?

I think it made a huge difference. It was a big wake-up call for us because I think we're accustomed here to slips, trips, falls, backaches, and having someone with epilepsy is a new ailment for us that we weren't previously exposed to before. And, you know, as we look back and reflected after that event happened, I think one thing that we— when we reached out to see how we could educate ourselves and the teams, because ultimately what happened when that occurred, the only people that were in the building were really Justin, supervisor, and the outbound staff. So the supervisor and Justin did a great job getting in touch with Eric's parents, making sure that he was comfortable and they were doing everything. appropriately while he was having an episode. And so then, then after the education, we also started to look back and say, well, what can we do differently as we bring on more Bender resources? And so now I think we ask a few more questions up front when we bring on any of those new candidates so we can prepare ourselves and prepare the team for what we might have to deal with should episodes like that occur again.

Well, everyone, everyone could take a lesson from you having the Epilepsy Association come out. Because many people there that day, when they talked to me afterwards, or when I saw anyone afterwards, even people that weren't there, but there are a management level at Highmark, or agent, Different people told me that is one of the best things that you did. Scott, what did you think?

That—

oh yeah, I— that was— we've had a lot of different speakers out here, and they kind of run the gamut from motivational to informational. That is the most engaged I've ever seen the team, and we probably had 150 people on site that day. I struggle to think of another of an employee that didn't come up to yourselves, to one of us as leaders, and talk about how it touched them and how they have somebody, a relative with epilepsy, a friend, and how it meant so much to them to hear about living with epilepsy. So I think it was hugely impactful to the team in general, as well as to me.

Beneficial.

Yeah, I thought the engagement— I was going to echo the same thing Scott said, which was the engagement from the team was, you know, after the luncheon's over, generally the speakers go about their way and everybody goes back to work. There were a line of people there to ask questions. Those who didn't ask questions during the speaking, during the speaking part while they were eating lunch, So it was probably along the lines, probably our top, top 1, top 2 most engaged luncheons that I can remember.

Wow, that's wonderful. Yeah, that is wonderful. Well, hey, anytime we'll come back out again, just let me know. But right now it is time for our news break on the half hour. Mathis on the mic with Jennifer Mathis. from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and really known throughout the United States as an expert on mental health issues. And I stole her. I have her part of the week. I have her for an hour, for half an hour on my show. So Jennifer, welcome. What news do you have for us today, Jennifer?

So I wanted to highlight today that It is the deadline for submitting comments in response to the solicitation from HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for comments, public comments on their proposal to incentivize certain activities in their homelessness, the big homelessness support program, which is called the Continuum of Care program. Which supports right now lots and lots of supported housing for people with disabilities. It's a $4 billion program, so very significant. It's the largest federal housing subsidy program for people who otherwise would be homeless. And they are, as we have talked about on the news segment before, moving any radically different direction than where they have been in the past couple of decades. And so HUD is moving away from supporting permanent housing and towards transitional housing. It would put almost all the money into transitional housing, which is typically where people with disabilities Number one, you can only be there for a limited period of time. And so all these people who currently are supported in that program, in the Continuum of Care program with permanent housing subsidies, would lose their housing. So it's anticipated that about 170,000 people who currently are housed would lose housing and become homeless. But also transitional housing is where it's kind of an old model where people get moved from place to place to place to place as they learn and gain skills. And the idea is that you have to graduate from each place and prove yourself before you can move to the next place. And we have learned from many, many years of studies, research, experience that that doesn't work very well, that people Learn best the skills for independent living in the setting where they are going to use them. So teaching someone in another setting, you know, that you're going to theoretically use the bus in some other neighborhood, in some other place, with some other grocery store, in some other neighborhood, like, it doesn't make sense. It doesn't translate. It doesn't work. And so that is So that's one of the things that HUD is proposing to do. Another thing is that they are moving away from what we call Housing First, where you give the person housing and then engage them in treatment rather than kicking them out of the housing or not letting them into housing in the first place until they are completely compliant with a treatment plan. That kind of old model that was sometimes called treatment first, that people kept getting turned out onto the street because they couldn't comply. People with the greatest needs were the ones who ended up becoming homeless over and over again. And we learned again that housing first worked as an approach. It was much more effective, kept people housed at rates of 80%, 90%, as opposed to something like 30% with more traditional treatment-first housing. So HUD is moving away from all of those things that worked and proposing to incentivize now treatment-first housing where they will kick people out or not let people in until they are completely compliant with the treatment plan. Moving towards transitional housing and away from permanent housing, moving towards incentivizing partnerships with law enforcement among landlords and other people who are in these continuums of care, which is likely, I think, to increase the law enforcement encounters with people with mental health disabilities and tends not to have very good results when we do that. There are a lot of things that I think people should care about in here. There are comments that are draft comments on our website, bazelon.org. That's bazelon.org. It's right on our homepage. There's a template. It's long. You don't have to take all of what's in those comments, but I just want to invite people to take a look at them. The comments are due today, so for folks who haven't done them and would like to comment, because I think it is important for people to have a voice and people to be heard in these public processes, you can take a look at some of the key ideas in that comment. And even if you put together something short, something very short, it is still helpful to submit it. How you submit the comments is, I think the easiest way is to find the solicitation through Google. You just Google HUD homelessness public comment, and you put that in. You will pull up this solicitation, and it tells you, gives you a big button to click on to submit a public comment. Again, they're due by midnight today. HUD and what's the homelessness public comment?

Did you all get that? Write that down. Huts Homelessness Public Comment. You've— okay, once again, you know, like, oh, I don't care about— well, I would care if it was me or someone in my family that ends up in an institution or skilled nursing home or homeless. You've got to do something. You've got to do something. You know, we've had an impact with this radio show. So everyone listening, I want you to go do that and go to bazelon.org, B-A-Z-E-L-O-N, and on the front page you can read the comments. This won't take long, the whole process, but it will make a difference with Senate and Congress. You've got to do something. And Jennifer, we will want to know what happened next week.

Yeah, absolutely. And there are, you know, this matters even if HUD is not going to listen. There is litigation happening, not our litigation, but counties and states and service providers have sued HUD over this. And so this is going to matter. What happens in those comments is going to matter potentially in that litigation. So it's important that people comment.

It is important. Make sure you do it. All right. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Have a good day.

You too. Take care.

We are the only place that has news every week about what's going on in the disability community anywhere, anywhere in the world. We're the only ones. And Jennifer is such a scholar and so esteemed. It's so great, great to have her on here. So, Scott, we were talking about this a little bit earlier when I was asking my questions, but what type of products are in the distribution center? And explain to me how it not only gets to the hospitals, but to, you know, inpatient facilities or urgent care, whatever you want to call it. How does that work?

Well, I, I could answer that question and we could talk about cotton balls and Band-Aids and all sorts of things that help us take care of patients. But let's make it real because you asked Greg about Eric and his seizure earlier, and Greg has a story about Eric and his seizure and the products we keep in the distribution center. I'm actually going to kick it over to Greg and tell that story.

Um, yeah, so the, um, One of the products that we have here at the DC is a generator. It's an implantable that goes into the brain and it controls or lessens the— not technically sure what it does other than how Eric described it, but it lessens the significance of the episode. And, uh, so a few months after that, uh, episode had occurred here with Eric, um, uh, he went in to see his doctors and they ended up, uh, I believe putting the same, same product that we have here on our shelves.

Oh my goodness.

Uh, into, uh, into him, and he's been so free. Knock on wood. So it's doing, doing what it's supposed to. He had a couple weeks, I remember checking on him when he came back to work, just How things are going, but you had to acclimate with the technology.

But, uh, so there you go. You didn't know that story, did you, Joyce? We have the products that take care of your friends, your family. Yeah, so Eric's generator came out of this distribution center, and that's the kind of product we have in the distribution center along with the customers.

Wow. And yeah, that is amazing. And I'm assuming it's so important to keep everything on track, everything moving.

Absolutely. You know, that's a great point, and kudos to Greg and his team, right? So last winter, you know, those of us in Western Pennsylvania will remember we had a massive snowstorm. I joke with Greg's driving— Greg's got a team of drivers and trucks that deliver products all over Western Pennsylvania. And I tell those drivers, I said, either they're crazy or they're good. But during that whole snowstorm, while Western Pennsylvania was seized up with snow, they never missed a beat making deliveries to our hospitals. So we run our own fleet of trucks. We have some highly skilled drivers, obviously. They make those deliveries all the way up to Erie, down to the south side of Pittsburgh, to all of our facilities. As Greg said, you know, we're running 6 days a week, 24 hours, so 6 days making deliveries, you know, from Sunday night through Thursday night and into Friday, just to make sure that the hospitals have the supplies they need to take care of our patients.

Yeah, because that can be life or death. I mean, you know, if there's something they need Then they need it. And yeah, when I was in there, I was talking about to someone about Dr. Sauber and my knee replacements. And I said, just think, somewhere in here are those devices that I use somewhere in in here. And it's it's amazing when you think, wow, how many products of different types. Are in there. I mean, this is like a real complicated thing to me because if someone has to think what products they need, then they have to purchase those products, then they have to think how much they need and where. I mean, this whole supply chain, this is involved.

It is. And you know, and by the way, Dr. Sauber is a huge fan of the DC. He brought a bunch of physicians out here to. To tour the DC so they could understand where their products were coming through. And you're right, it is complicated. Our job is to make it simple for the clinician, for the Dr. Sawbrys of the world on the other end, take care of the patient. So our job is to make it look easy. It's like that duck though, our legs are moving pretty fast. You know, when you think about some of the supply disruptions that are happening in our world today, we managed to work through it.

So.

That's, that's what we're good at.

Well, I'm saying that because people, you know, when you talk about a distribution center, I don't think they realize how involved all of that is. And, you know, what a great job that, that you all do, because I hear about it when I tell someone at Highmark, you know, about the distribution center. As a matter of fact, Our new CEO, Karen Hanlon, saw me at a store and told me, yes, Joyce, I have to tell you, I was out at the distribution center. I had a tour of the distribution center and I saw your employees.

She did.

Yep.

Yeah, that is awesome. So they know, we all know how important that distribution center is. So, Scott and Greg, both of you, I can tell you've been influenced by different people in your life or in history, you know, or school, whatever it is. But I wanted to ask you, I'm going to start with you, Scott. As you reflect on your life, who is your role model?

I guess I said I don't think about the question quite that way. I would say I've had the chance to work with or observe 3 great leaders in my career, just 3. And I gotta tell you, 'cause you raised his name earlier and, you know, I'm really, you know, pleased for Karen.

Thank you.

I've worked in her organization for a long time in my career at Highmark, and I'm very pleased and excited for her. David Holmberg, I would tell you, is actually one of the 3 great rate leaders that I've had the chance to be exposed to in my career. I'll tell you a story. We went to visit with a supplier. Karen was in the meeting, actually, and David was late to the meeting. And, you know, back then we were just a $17 billion, you know, health plan, not the same size we are now, but that's a massive company. And he's the CEO of this massive company. He walks into the meeting 15 minutes late and could have sat down and just joined the meeting. He first apologized to the supplier, which nobody would have expected out of him. And then the meeting went on its way. And at the end of the meeting, he walked out of the meeting and he turned around and came back in and he apologized Apologized to my manager and me for being late to the meeting and introduced himself. He's a busy guy, a large company with a lot going on. No one would have expected that of him, and yet he did that, which showed me the humility of him as an individual at that level. And I'll tell you, you probably know Craig Reiner, who's Chief Marketing Officer for IMR Cal. You know, I was talking to Craig. About that story, he said, you know, working directly for him, I can tell you that's exactly who he is. It's not an act. He does that every day. That's who he is. So I would put David up there at the top of my list of 3 folks that I've ever been exposed to, worked for in my career, as one of the great leaders with, you know, traits that you want to emulate.

So that's the 2 I'd list.

Yeah, he is. Just what you say. He is so humble. He really is. You know, all these years I would go with the CEO out to breakfast at the Holiday. And when we went out, we usually went to Dave, if it was David or any of the CEOs, their office on the 31st floor. Had a little kitchen area, and we would go in that little kitchen area offshoot from their off— big office and have coffee and whatever. Well, a few years ago, I said to my executive secretary, Carol, call and see where David wants to go. So she came back in and she said, he said Calio's. I said, Carol, now this is David Holmberg. Call back. She said, no, it's Kelly O's. And when I saw him at breakfast, he said, so I surprised you. Why were you so surprised? I said, look around. Do you see any CEOs here?

He's very, very down to earth.

And you know what? They all knew him. The waitresses. And that is, that is just how he is.

Do you know the punchline of that story? Do you know why he was late? He was meeting with 2 former active duty military members. And he said, he said, as far as I was concerned, for their service to our country, I was going to give them as much time as they wanted. That's why he was late. And yet he still apologized when no one would have expected. So, wow, very, very real person.

Wow. Ray, what about you?

Uh, a similar probably answer along the lines of Scott, where I don't think I just have one mentor. I've gained, um, uh, gained or learned traits from people that I admire, whether it's actual mentors, uh, that I've had throughout my career. But I think when I think of something I've carried with me for a long while now, think of when I was first with AES working in the power plant, went home for Christmas. Everybody went on their majority people went on their Christmas vacation, and plants running at skeleton crew. The plant tripped, went offline, and. Catastrophic manner, we'll say, and everybody had to come back. So the entire plant came back from Christmas break in order to get the power plant back online. And just seeing the chaos that unfolded, but looking around at the leaders, specifically our plant manager, our plant engineer, and just how, you know, Scott mentioned it's probably a term we use. Good bit here in supply chain, but it's that duck, that duck on a calm pond where looks like the duck's not doing anything, but it's just chaos. Those little flippers are paddling underneath the top of the pond. It's very calm. So just, just seeing how leaders like that can remain calm under pressure and I think I've carried that through with some of the chaos that we've experienced here, my time in healthcare, working in the distribution center, like COVID. But those are the people that I think I've looked up to and learned a good bit from.

Well, you really learned from them, you know, and they do, they do have an impact on you. And that is really awesome that you feel like that. So if a person is listening to the show right now with a disability, Scott, what would you say are the benefits or reasons they should consider a job like in a distribution center?

And I, the first time I heard that question, I had to laugh because I think my first response to you would be, The benefits to who, them as an employee or AHN as a company? Because we talked about it earlier and both parties benefit. We definitely benefit from having a diverse workforce with a lot of different ideas. I think for us, we offer, you know, a career progression, a path within the distribution center and certainly beyond that into the hospitals. In terms of development of career, and Greg's had folks move up through their career here in the DC and on to even to roles in the hospital. And so I think that's what we offer them. But but what they actually offer us is a different mindset, right? Greg Greg told me this story. You know, I mentioned assuming abilities earlier. And, and, you know, I think the first time you employ someone with disabilities, you may do that and you learn from it, right? But Greg had one of the folks come up to him and say, hey, can we try and do some of the other roles in the distribution center? We assumed maybe they couldn't, right? But the answer was, sure, let's go ahead and give it a try. And her response was, great, good, this other stuff's boring.

Right.

I want to try something different. It was great, great unfiltered response. And so now the team's helping out with a lot of different work, you know, and making us better as they do that. And I think then personally, right, for me as a leader, and Greg would probably echo this, they personally help us grow, right? Getting away from that assuming and, you know, including more voices that make us better. So I think we benefit as a company. I think they benefit as an individual. I think I benefit as an individual.

How about you, Greg? What do you think?

Yeah, learning the new skill, like Scott mentioned, learning new skills. They've expanded. We came in with one mindset where it was just we're going to be rebuilding packs. They've gotten very good at doing exactly that and have decided and have asked to branch out to other things. So not only are they doing the— they have done receiving activities. Now on Fridays, they do picking activities, so they're picking products for the hospitals throughout the course of the week. If we're heavy, they're helping out on the dock to palletize and tote. But the, the positive, just them demonstrating the positive attitude, the willingness to learn, the teamwork, and willing to help out. Like I said, if they're on, if the dock seems like they're heavy, they're more than happy to hop in and roll their sleeves up to help get the job done and help the other members of the team catch up.

I would add to that a great family environment. A great culture, leaders who care, leaders who are open. I mean, you can tell when you go out there that people, you know, are happy, and it's sort of— it's like a family environment. And if you work hard and do a good job, just as you said, you can move.

Mm-hmm.

You know, you can move up, or you could move into another role at AHN. And I also want to say That with all the data centers in the United States being built because of AI, it's gonna be a lot of work in those areas, distribution. So, you know, this is a hot area right now. But I also think it's a great area. Just think, you're learning everything about the products.

Yeah.

If, if you transfer to the hospital position, I mean, that is really— I think it's really a great, great opportunity. So before we close the show, Greg, what do you believe are the key traits it takes to be successful in this job?

I think I probably mentioned a few of them, like the positive attitude, willingness to help out the team, learn. You know, the benefits of contributing and what they're doing to support the business, the team, anything that we can do simpler here. I think Scott mentioned it before. Anything that we can do here to benefit the downstream clinicians and take work off of them, that's part of our mission and vision. And just kind of eating the elephant a little bit at a time, because every little bit counts. We could save minutes at the hospital. And take any of that burden off the clinicians by doing something up here. All that adds up when you look across the entirety of AHN and all its different locations and clinicians doing the work to help support the people in our communities.

Yeah, well, be at work every day early with a smile on your face. This is what we say here at Bender. And I just want to thank both of you again, not just for being on the show, but being 2 examples of the great leadership at Highmark. And listen, you are— you can share this show. So listeners, if you're thinking, wow, that's interesting working in that area, I want to share this show, just go get the The podcast, and you can send it to whomever you want. Remember, you can see this on YouTube, but if you're tied up and can't do that, you can listen to it on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, almost all social media systems. And as you will see, more people listen listen to it on demand just because of people's work schedule and whatever that you're doing. Uh, so thanks again. Thank you both for, for being with me.

Thanks for having us, Joyce. We appreciate it.

Well, we end, uh, every show we have with a quote, and today that quote is from Tony Coelho. Since it is National Disability Employment Month. And this quote says it all. Work gives us dignity, said the Honorable Tony Coelho, author of the Americans with Disabilities Act. And in the words of Mary Brocker, when you get up tomorrow morning, remember, Choose joy. You won't be disappointed. Talk to everyone next week.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific Time and 2 PM Eastern Time 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.