Douglas Flora, President-Elect at Association of Cancer Care Centers, shared on LinkedIn:
“Rough days in healthcare are inevitable. But the science is clear: the moment we replace ‘this is too hard’ with ‘what is the first step?’, we shift our cognitive activity from amygdala-driven fear to prefrontal-cortex problem-solving (paraphrasing Dominic Ng).
Right now, healthcare leaders need that shift. I shared a story with our team recently about a town divided by a dangerous river. When storms came, the water rose fast, stranding the community. The town asked the local builders for a bridge. It was a brutal task. Resources were limited, and the current was violent.
An older builder looked at the rising water and said, ‘It is going to take everything we have.’
A young builder simply replied, ‘I know,’ and picked up the first heavy stone.
Years later, no one remembered their names. They just remembered the people who stayed and built when it was hardest.
Healthcare has always been that bridge. We do not show up only when the economics are favorable. We show up because communities need a way across. But the river is rising again with workforce shortages, reimbursement constraints, and unprecedented demand. The old bridge worked when the river was predictable. That water is gone. We cannot sustain our mission unless we build differently.
This means engineering clinical pathways with fewer handoffs so patients cross faster. It means leveraging technology and AI to act as load-bearing support, reducing the cognitive weight on our staff rather than adding to it. It requires new partnerships to navigate parts of the river we do not fully understand. We cannot afford to keep building the bridge we have always built. Bridges are not anchored in calm water. Their strength is proven in the storm. We are the people our communities trust when the river rises. We are the builders. Let’s pick up the first stone.”
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