how sweet it is

Well, today was a wonderful way to end the week, to say the least. Today my hospital celebrated all its patients who have survived cancer for five years. The majority of these patients came to our hospital with stage III and stage IV disease and, for the most part, had been told by previous care providers that they should go home and prepare to die.

Instead, they said "no." They chose hope instead of dispair. They took matters into their own hands and decided to fight the ugly, protracted, and downright scary disease that is cancer. And although they faced the slimmest of odds, these patients are here, five years later, to tell their tales and inspire others.




Today, watching these courageous patients and their families proudly display pictures of their kids, their gardens, and their lives, I was reminded of why I got into the healthcare business. At the end of the day, it's not about the government, or the insurance companies, or the hospitals: it's about making people well. About giving them their lives back. Days like these renew my faith that a patient-centric model can work: give people control over their health, support them in making their decisions, and let the free market go to work.