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No state has fallen further than Kansas in America’s Health Rankings. We used to be 8th in 1991.
Why did we slip so far down in the rankings? The answer might surprise you; it’s based on a leadership challenge.
At the Kansas Health Foundation, our bold vision is to make Kansas the healthiest state in the nation and to do so, this movement must be powered by Kansans in positions of authority and influence to shift Health outcomes.
Starting with the launch of the 2025 publication, Leading Health, written by President and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation, Ed O’Malley, this podcast aims to break down key concepts of this leadership challenge and actionable ways that we can work together to make a real impact on Health in Kansas.
In each episode, Ed O’Malley, and Senior Advisor at Kansas Health Foundation, Susan Kang, will highlight a chapter in the book and discuss with Kansans who are actively engaged in expanding our definition of Health.
Leading Health is an invitation to move the needle on Health in Kansas, and we invite you to join us in leading the way.
Ep05
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[00:00:00]
Ed O'Malley: Welcome back to another episode of Leading Health, the podcast where my colleague and I walk through this book, leading Health, how You and 30,000 Kansans [00:01:00] Help Communities Thrive. Susan, we've been on quite a journey today. This is our fifth episode, and we've done a lot of great things. We've covered the idea of, capital H Health versus Lower H Health. We have dug into why the 30,000, like who are the 30,000, and why the part they play is so important. Today we're gonna get into talking about.
Kansas at Number One Vision
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Ed O'Malley: Kansas at number one. Last episode, we described Kansas. Today we described what it's like when you're in the bottom half of the states in America's health rankings.
Today we're gonna be a little more aspirational. We're gonna be a little more idealistic. We're gonna be a little more visionary talking about Kansas at number one. And of course, the whole big idea behind this podcast and behind this book is to stimulate a conversation among the 30,000 about the part they play.
And improving health. So Susan, I'm excited to get into the conversation today. Tee up what we're gonna be talking about today.[00:02:00]
Susan Kang: I am so excited about this chapter because it's bold, it's energizing, it's visionary, right? We went from chapter four where we were like, okay, this is where we are. So pragmatism to bold vision in this chapter.
So I'm really, really excited about that. And you know, I mean, what we get to paint a picture of what it's like when Kansas is number one in the nation, right? Strong economy, thriving families, a workforce that's ready for the future. And our guest, I'm sure is gonna also be interested in, you know, having a workforce that's ready for the future, right?
So, okay, we're gonna introduce our guests later, but super excited about having Kenny Wilk on our show as well. Okay. So I want you to talk a little bit about some of the really key points in chapter five to get us ready to dive into the book, including casting, you know, casting a bold vision
Ed O'Malley: yeah.
Pragmatism Meets Idealism
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Ed O'Malley: Susan, so lemme dive in. So the last chapter we were pretty blunt about leadership always starts from [00:03:00] dissatisfaction.
Susan Kang: Mm-hmm.
Ed O'Malley: And that's true. But this chapter is about the other side of that coin and that leadership requires this on one hand, this ruthless balancing of pragmatism.
Which is kind of what we did last chapter. Like, what's not working right? What are the problems? Like, we have to be able to look honestly at the situation, but leadership also requires balancing that pragmatism with idealism. And this chapter, the title of the chapter is Kansas at Number. One.
The Coins and the Climb
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Ed O'Malley: And as you know, I carry these coins in my pocket of, of there our ranking each year that weve got 30 I that I know it's a little
Susan Kang: And they're not even light.
They're heavy.
Ed O'Malley: They're heavy coins. Yeah. And it's almost like a penance I'm doing until we get to number one. Right. I'm gonna carry all of them. But, so I have the coin for number 31. That was our low water watermark. Right. On America's health rankings. Right. I have the coin in my pocket for number 29.
That's. The ranking we were when we wrote the book. Okay. Then we were 28th the year, the next year. Mm-hmm. [00:04:00] And just about a month ago or two months ago, we learned that we were 27th. So I have all four of those coins in my pocket. It's a little obnoxious, but Okay. We're gonna get to number one and someday there's gonna be a coin that has Kansas at number one.
Susan Kang: Woo-hoo.
Ed O'Malley: Exactly. We're gonna get there. And it's it's crazy. It's big, it's bold, but. You know, all of my experience in Kansas Civic life has told me that Kansans can accomplish great things. It starts with an audacious vision. Like if you don't have that, it's really hard to mobilize people to work together in ways they're not used to working together.
And to get to number one, we're gonna have to work together differently as, as we know, as we've exploring throughout
Susan Kang: right,
Ed O'Malley: this book. But Suzanne, I wanna share just a few more things from the chapter.
What Kansans Told Us
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Ed O'Malley: So one of the things that we talk about in this chapter is that, we've learned some things from listening to Kansans, and there are three [00:05:00] big things that we mention in this chapter that we learned.
One of them is that Kansans really do believe we can do better. So three and a half years ago, we did a lot of listening all around Kansas, asking Kansans about their thoughts about this slide in the health rankings, what they think is going on and themes emerge. And one of the themes was that they really do believe we can do better, that the, this aspiration of climbing the health rankings, returning to the ranks of one of the healthiest states and eventually leading the nation in health that doesn't feel out of reach.
For people when we talk about it now, it feels a little crazy. A little audacious. Yeah. But it doesn't feel out of reach when we really talk about it with people.
Susan Kang: So what do you think Kansans would say now, so this is years later, after you've, you know, talked to those Kansans of us having this bold, aspirational goal of leading the nation in health?
Ed O'Malley: Well, you know, that's a great question. I, I hope they would say wow. Kansas Health Foundation is serious. They keep talking about it. It wasn't a [00:06:00] flash in the pan. Mm-hmm. It wasn't a one and done conversation. They're building a whole lot of process and structure. Mm-hmm. A chapter we'll talk about later on.
Part three, my favorite, we have a chapter about process and structure. Kansas Health. I hope they would say the Kansas Health Foundation is building all kinds of process and structure. Around that crazy vision mm-hmm. Of leading the nation in health. And of course when I use the word crazy, I use that affectionately crazy good.
Not crazy bad. The the second thing that Kansans told us as we were listening, that second thing that we lift up in this chapter is that. Kansans believe we must be bold. I mean, countless ways Kansans have conveyed to me that a lack of bold vision is a barrier to progress, not just on health, but on other things.
You know, we've talked about this other times where. Here in Kansas, we have a little bit of a aw, shucks, humble kind. We're average and darn proud of it. Mindset.
Susan Kang: Yeah. And the [00:07:00] Kansas nice. The
Ed O'Malley: Kansas nice thing going on. Mm-hmm. And I mean, on the one hand that's all great and that stems from, I think, our heritage and that we can, you know, just kind of work hard and kind of take care of our business and all that kind of thing.
And Kansans are saying. The, that's all fine, but the lack of bolder thinking is actually a barrier to achieving
Susan Kang: Mm.
Ed O'Malley: Like the dreams we have. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Or the things we would love to have. So, so we heard that and, and then we also heard that Kansans understand that seizing big, bold aspirations is collective work.
It has to be done together. Right. So, so we highlight. That in this chapter. And then we also talk a little bit about like what would life be like if Kansas. Was number one. Mm-hmm. In the health rankings. And of course by now our listeners know that when we talk about health, we're talking about capital H health, not just healthcare.
We're talking about all those things that go [00:08:00] into whether somebody is a healthy, thriving individual.
If Kansas Matched New Hampshire
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Ed O'Malley: And what we did in this chapter is we compared STA statistically Kansas to New Hampshire. Like New Hampshire's currently, number one. They were number one when we wrote this book. And we said, what if Kansas just had the same numbers as New Hampshire in the different Submeasures.
Susan Kang: Right? Right.
Ed O'Malley: What would that look like? And we got to things like 105,000 fewer Kansans would be hungry. Think about that. We have 3 million Kansans,
Susan Kang: right?
Ed O'Malley: So a hundred thousand of them is kind of a big number. If we were number one in health, if we just mimicked New Hampshire's numbers, there would be a hundred thousand people who would not be experiencing food insecurity in Kansas right now, think about those a hundred thousand.
Think about their families. Think about how being food insecure. Affects their ability to contribute to this economy, affects the ability for their [00:09:00] children to grow up in a healthy and whole environment. Right? We also looked at reading early literacy. If we could just match New Hampshire's numbers, 32,000 more Kansans would be reading at grade level by fourth grade.
32,000 more kiddos would be reading at grade level that that's 32,000 fewer people who will need extra services, who will need extra help in middle school and high school. And of course lots of us, lots of the listeners will know there's this correlation between. Early literacy rates and eventual money spent in the corrections in juvenile justice system.
Absolutely. So absolutely imagine 32,000 fewer Kansans needing those things. So a couple more Susan. 173,000 more Kansans would be exercising regularly. Almost 200,000. [00:10:00] I'm rounding up. Dad always told me not to let facts get in the way of a good story. Right? So almost 200,000 Kansans. Again, we only have 3 million of us.
Almost 200,000 more would be exercising like frequently, like all the time. That's a big deal.
Susan Kang: That's a huge deal. And I mean, I love that you are painting the picture of what Kansas could look like in number one actually using numbers.
Ed O'Malley: Yeah. Well, and
Susan Kang: so you have another number to share with us. I have one more
Ed O'Malley: to
Susan Kang: share, which is Okay.
Awesome. Yeah.
Ed O'Malley: 183,000 fewer Kansans would be engaging in non-medical drug use. So. Think about like people like substance abuse and and substance abuse disorder, 183,000 fewer Kansans would be engaging in non-medical drug use. Think about what that says about communities and our society and those of us who had loved ones who have battled substance [00:11:00] abuse disorder.
Susan Kang: Mm-hmm.
Ed O'Malley: Know that that is often a coping mechanism,
Susan Kang: right?
Ed O'Malley: For a lot of other things. Imagine if 183,000 fewer Kansans needed that coping mechanism. Ah, amazing. Okay. I wanna, I wanna read one final thing. I wanna read one thing from this chapter and then we'll get our guest up here.
Susan Kang: Okay. Sounds great.
Up to the 30000
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Ed O'Malley: Okay, so the final paragraph of this chapter.
Reads, it's up to the 30,000. Whether Kansas leads the nation in health, no one else can focus the energy, resources, and attention to climb all the way to number one. There are conservative and progressive ways of leading. Health, there are multiple ways forward, but before we debate strategies, we must realize health already is your work and leading health is your opportunity.
Meet Kenny Wilk
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Ed O'Malley: We couldn't imagine a better guest to have this conversation with us today. Kenny Wilk is a long time, member of the state [00:12:00] legislature have had a long career there. He was a mentor of mine in the legislature. He had a long. Career and business at Hallmark Cards. While he was in the legislature and prior to serving in the legislature and since leaving the legislature, he spent a decade and a half at University of Kansas Health System helping guide their community and governmental work, and is just a dear friend to the Kansas Health Foundation, a mentor and friend to me personally, and a provocative thought partner.
So I can't wait to get Kenny up here. Let's get him up here.
Susan Kang: Hi, Kenny. I'm so delighted to have you on our podcast today,
Kenny Wilk: and good morning to you, Susan, and I'm delighted to be here.
Susan Kang: Okay. Kenny and I go back a long ways when he was in the leg legislature and, and when, when it worked, and we don't, we don't have
Kenny Wilk: to go through
Susan Kang: all that.
All right. I'm just saying, but you know what? I was worried. KDHE. So it's just really great to have him on that, on the show, and I'm really, really excited for this conversation. So Kenny, you know, you've read this book, right?
Capital H vs Small h
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Susan Kang: And you know that the way that Ed starts out this book is around [00:13:00] his experience at the health system, right?
Where he got he, where he got to experience like neurosurgery kind of being done and organ transplants and you know, those kinds of things. And he. After in it sort of in, in reminiscing about that experience on his way home, it's really dawned on him to really to understand the difference between capital H Health and small H Health.
So small H health meaning healthcare. And capital HL meaning what we say, everything that you know, that, that helps humans thrive. Right? So Kenny, I think because we started out this book and you are, you know, you are at the health system I'm hoping that you might be able to tell us the importance of distinguishing between ca Health, capital H Health, and Small H Health.
Kenny Wilk: Well, Susan, thank you for that opening question and I'm delighted. To speak to that because it moved me and for the folks listening it's been a real honor for me to work with Ed on this book. I [00:14:00] don't know, it goes back well over a year, year and a half
Ed O'Malley: longer than
Kenny Wilk: that nap.
Yeah. Yeah. So I, I, I feel like I've kind of been a part of it, and I know there was a reference to this program at one point in the book, but it was further in the book. And then much to my delight and surprise when I read the final version, when it. Reference the experience program in the first paragraph.
I, I, I was taken aback, but re really profoundly moved by it. And I know we had talked about it. So, for our listeners this morning, we have a program at the University of Kansas Health System we call experience the University of Kansas Health System. And it, it really is about showcasing the care that we're able to provide so it, it, it fits.
The small H Health.
Susan Kang: Mm-hmm.
Kenny Wilk: And, and you know, let, let me say our folks, we call it an experience because it's not a tour. As you know, ed, it is a subversion into our culture, our people, our care, and really an [00:15:00] opportunity for the folks that deliver that world class care. To actually get to talk to healthy people and show what they do on a daily basis.
And it, it, it just means the world to them to be able to share that with folks that are coming. We take care of sick people all the time, but we learn through this program. They love having these civic, we, we have about 20 people come through. They're civic leaders. They're part of the 30,000 and they get to experience this and, and when Ed.
I believe it was actually your second time that you had
Ed O'Malley: gone. Yeah, because I, I went through one of your first versions of it years and years ago. So this is my second time going through that I write about in the book. Yeah.
Kenny Wilk: Yeah. And then when you come with the line, I, I, I actually wrote it in here.
You fear that we can, when we can heal, like we heal, it can blind us. To what we can prevent.
Ed O'Malley: Yeah. Yeah.
Kenny Wilk: I think that's a profound point and it's, it's certainly something that, that's moved me. I believe it's moving our system and you know, and it's important for us to say hospitals are here to take [00:16:00] care.
They're, they're here. You know, health is about healthcare. It's about healing people. That is our first and primary mission, but we have to join in the capital. H Health, the ability to thrive. That's really what we're trying to do. We want to heal people, get 'em out and keep 'em out and keep 'em healthy. But really grasping the capital H health, the ability to thrive and not need the kinds of expensive healthcare that much of which is preventable.
And I, I love when you talk about the graphs and the angles up and really. Changing our focus to get back to the beginning of that graph and preventing some of these things going on.
Hospitals Role in Thriving
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Ed O'Malley: Susan, you and I have talked about this elsewhere on this podcast, but we don't wanna minimize the critical importance of lower H Health, like, of healthcare and like what the hospital with the, with the University of Kansas Health System and our other hospital and cl clinical friends [00:17:00] are doing across Kansas is absolutely critical.
And it's just not enough though to help Kansas go from a low point of 31 in their rankings, 29 when we wrote the book 27 today, it's not enough to help us go up to number one. Like it won't help us get there. It'll, it'll, it'll be critical. It'll change the lives of people who are sick that we've gotta get.
People healthy to begin with. So I, I, I hope it never comes across Kenny as us diminishing the importance of healthcare as we're on this journey to overall health.
Kenny Wilk: I don't think it does at all. And I, you know, maybe another number, I, I love the numbers that you put in the book, but I think it's a number important for people to understand on any given year, any given year seven to 8% of the population will have an n.
Patient experience with the hospital. Right. A lot of people think it's a lot more than that. Mm-hmm. So 92 to [00:18:00] 93% of the population never go to an inpatient, which is a wonderful thing. We wanna drive that. And in fact, if you back out and you ask that question, how many people under the age of 65 have an inpatient?
It drops dramatically. We want to keep. That dropping. Okay. But, but that's what hospitals are there to do. But I believe you're, you're seeing hospitals embrace the capital H and do a better job. You, you, you see that kind of first and foremost in the number of people that are getting outpatient care now, the technology.
So there's a lot of things all helping to drive this and, and really help us all to thrive more without having those inpatient experiences.
Casting a Risky Vision
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Susan Kang: Kenny, so I'm gonna go back to our casting, our vision, right? For, to, to become number one in the nation in health. In order to do that, we talk about having to cast a bold vision, right?
And I'm curious to know. Have you, can you share a [00:19:00] time where you cast a bold vision, but that felt risky?
Kenny Wilk: Well, yes, and, and it's, it's something I'm, I, I don't talk a lot about, but I can certainly point today uh, to some things that, that, that have materialized. And I, I would take you back. To the early two thousands when I was in the legislature.
I had been there for a while. We won't get into all the history there, but I'd always had a strong interest in research and development, economic growth and put together with a coalition of folks what we called the Kansas Economic. Growth Act. it, it then formed the bioscience Authority.
Mm-hmm. And it, it led to National Cancer Institute designation. It led to the, the landing of in bath. Oh yeah, I remember that
Susan Kang: actually. Yeah.
Kenny Wilk: There was actually significant funding that went to ni r through some other companion legislation and, and we wanted to drive the biosciences.
And I, you know, I mentioned today we [00:20:00] actually, when we started out that initiative, and it was something I felt really strong about, worked with Nick Jordan, many others. Many others, and a lot of folks that. That were involved in that. But when we started that, we were focused on life sciences and we pretty quickly realized in order to make it work, and we actually had kind of pulled a number outta the air, we said, Hey, this is gonna be like a $500 million initiative, and if you want to be part of it, come join the team.
If that number scares you, then that's okay. Susan, as you might suspect, a lot of people did not wanna be part of that, but there was a lot of people that did, and that was one of my first lessons. People really do want bold visions. Mm-hmm. But we, we had to move from life sciences to biosciences.
Now today. Biosciences is pretty well understood. At the time when we started using the term biosciences, people were like, what are you talking about? And Nick and I literally traveled all over the state there. There was not an invitation that we [00:21:00] turned down, not a group that we wouldn't go talk to.
And we had worked with, at the time, it was K Tech. To cast the vision of what we thought Kansas could look like with this 10 20 year commitment towards the biosciences. And today, you know, it's one of the things I've learned and, and what what KHF has and what Ed has in his book Here is a long term.
Vision. These things are not gonna happen overnight. You actually have to kind of measure 'em. You gotta measure 'em as frequently as you can, but it's gonna be a decades journey.
Players Change Vision Stays
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Ed O'Malley: I just wanna add in a couple quick things just for folks who are listening. So you mentioned Nick Jordan, so former state Senator Nick Jordan from Johnson County, from Shawnee, if I remember correctly.
That's
Kenny Wilk: correct, yeah.
Ed O'Malley: The two of you teamed up on that and you also mentioned. KT Tech, which was a no longer exists, but it was a state, a quasi, a public-private, state kind organization designed to spur entrepreneurship and investment and, and connect with angel investors and all sorts of great things.
And to me, I, I bring those clarifications up just because [00:22:00] I think, I think what your story is, is reminding us is that the players will change. Right, so like Nick Jordan and Kenny Wilk are no longer in the state legislature. KT E is no longer an organization, but there are other individuals and there are other organizations that have emerged and carried the mantle forward of helping Kansas be on the, in the vanguard of bio and life sciences.
And so it, I think it's a good thing for us to remember. The people, the players, the organizations will change. But if the vision is bold enough, if it's audacious enough, and if the strategy is smart enough, it'll carry on even if the players and the organizations change over time.
Kenny Wilk: Agree.
Imagining the Unseen
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Kenny Wilk: And, and you know, so Susan, you know, I just jotted down vision and, and I think a lot of people, what, what, what is a vision?
A, a vision is imagining what you cannot see. [00:23:00] Imagining what you cannot see. I
Susan Kang: love that, Kenny.
Kenny Wilk: And, and, and that's what I see KHF doing in leading help. You're, you're helping us imagine what the future can be. And I, I find that inspiring. And I, you just, you have to keep repeating it over and over and over and over.
And as it begins to become into focus, then it becomes like the flywheel, right. It just, it can really take off.
Ed O'Malley: we talk Susan in the book that it's risky, right? Right. Casting bold visions is risky. But we're an endowed foundation. Like if we can't take a risk with casting a bold vision, who the heck can, you know who can do that?
So we're doing it and we're proud to do it, and we believe we can pull it off too. So, lots more to talk about in this chapter.
From Concern to Aspiration
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Susan Kang: So in the book we talk about sort of moving from concern to aspiration where sort of a community might be stuck talking about a problem, you know, but then [00:24:00] they need some help to shift their energy toward a possibility.
A, where they could cast a bold vision themselves. How do we do that without minimizing their concerns? Like, we don't want people to be just like. In the weeds all the time, just complaining about what is going on, right? How do we help people cast, you know, this bold vision, but also giving credence and giving a nod, you know, to to the, to the, to the stuff that they're suffering from.
Does that, does that make sense? How do you do that?
Kenny Wilk: It it, it makes perfect sense.
Listening Then Challenging
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Kenny Wilk: And, and I, you know, I, I think it's always important, Susan and, and Ed, and I know, I know Ed is practiced, I think KHF, but we have to listen. But you, you really, and, and when I say listen. I mean, really, listen, not, not, not just here, but really listen, it's something I've, I've tried to work on.
I've, I, I continue to try to work on to get better. But at some point you say, okay, I, I'm listening. I hear you. I understand. But I've [00:25:00] been one, particularly when I have had the privilege of, of and honor of having some, some roles that. Authoritarian leadership roles, whatever you might wanna call them. I, I, I would challenge people.
I, I'll listen to you. I wanna understand, but bring me your ideas, bring me your solutions. I don't even, I don't care if you think it's a bad idea. And, and, and if we start getting into ideas, ed, ed and I, people often. Say, well, what do you and Ed talk about? I said, well, we talk about all kinds of things and man, we generate all kinds of ideas, but that's how you start, Susan, bring your ideas, bring your solutions, and if you get the right people involved and you take the right time, you got the right price processes, I find you can come up with something, whether it be a, a long term or you know, just something even in the short term to start making progress on these daunting challenges.
We got, if you're part of the 30,000, you need to be thinking and you need to be bringing your ideas forward [00:26:00] and, and you need to be talking to as many people and, and bringing some collective ideas to the table.
Susan Kang: Mm-hmm. And so by listening, right, really listening you keep these people engaged. Right.
The around the problems and that helps them to come up with their own ideas and to cast a vision. Is that what I'm hearing?
Kenny Wilk: I believe that and, and frankly, I, I've learned over the years, sometimes I've had a lot of. Folks particularly was on the Board of Regents. We would just listen to, to folks what, what, whatever school it might be, whatever issue they might have.
When we just really listened. They just felt better for having told us, you know? And, and I did. That was a great lesson. You know, they'd move on and, you know, but they felt hurt.
Ed O'Malley: They felt hurt. And Kenny, you have been so involved in Kansas Civic Life, the fact that. You were chair of the Board of Regents slipped my memory as I gave the brief introduction of you.
So just another example of the wealth of experience you have on this topic we're talking about right now.
Authority to Set Direction
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Ed O'Malley: We write in this chapter, it's an exercise of [00:27:00] leadership. To cast a vision, it's especially important for the 30,000 to cast a vision. That vision should be informed by listening deeply to stakeholders and should reflect their hopes.
And dreams, but ultimately it takes someone with authority, credibility, and standing in a community organization or system to cast a vision. You know, one, one of my mentors, Marty Linsky uh, who, you know, a prolific writer on leadership and and heavily involved in civic life, member of the Massachusetts legislature decades ago worked for two governors in Massachusetts.
Marty likes to talk about that. One of the roles of authority is to provide direction. Okay. It's like a function of authority, and that's what we're talking about with vision. That the 30,000 as a collective, and we are clearly hoping more than 30,000, will help us cast this vision for Kansas to lead the nation in [00:28:00] health.
But even in their own way, you know, a member of the 30,000 might be, the executive director of the community foundation in their, in their community. Or she might be the CEO of the local bank and or she might be the mayor of the town or, and knowing that part of your role is to cast vision that there, it's something about the authority you hold.
Gives you the ability to hold people's attention and say, it's that hill we should take, versus that hill. Now you got, you have to have listened really, really well to know that the people wanna take a hill or that taking one of these hills is important to the people and you shouldn't assume, you know, the best way.
To take that hill, but casting that vision is what we need the 30,000 to do. And so I love this conversation and I love that you all are talking about anchoring the vision in listening, which is so critical.
Susan Kang: Yeah. Yeah.
Scrutiny and Staying Steady
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Susan Kang: And you know, so the other thing that we talk about in this chapter is this notion that when you do cast a vision.
It invites scrutiny. [00:29:00] So like, you know, for us, we've cast this audacious, bold vision of leading the nation in health that you can bet your bottom dollar that we're inviting scrutiny around that, right? I mean, some people might be like, what the, what, what are you talking about? How are you gonna, you know, be number one?
That is the bold vision as far as I'm concerned, without actually being in, without actually. Casting such a vision, we'll never get there, right? You have to have the audacity to be able to actually cast that vision. So that's partly why I'm here working at KHF. The book also talks about the bolder, the vision.
The tougher the scrutiny, which kind of makes sense, right? There's more to take apart. So how do you, so in your, in your position as you cast bold visions, how do you stay steady? Sort of, and maybe keeping other steady, you know, especially on your team when progress is slow and criticism sometimes can get loud.
Quiet Confidence and Decisions
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Kenny Wilk: Susan, I, I would say, and I [00:30:00] think this is really important, so we're, we're talking about the 30,000. And those are the folks that really need, they're in the positions, the authority, positions of authority. But let's not forget, 30,000 is made up one person at a time. So it really starts.
as Us as an individual. So if I want to be part of this journey, I, Kenny Wilk need to buy off on the vision. I need to be convinced Before I can really start convincing others. And you ask the question, how do you stick with it when it gets tough? 'cause I've had some really challenging stuff.
I've suggested the folks that, you know, I invite to the table and I would suggest to the 30,000 each of us needs to really spend some time and buy into the vision. And then you need what I call this quiet confidence. Without conceit a quiet confidence. You gotta be confident in what you're doing.
You have to believe [00:31:00] it as an individual. I have found Susan, that's contagious. That's contagious. You don't need to, don't be conceited. Don't talk down to people, but people are looking for that confidence. And then the other thing I would tell you is, and I have found this over time, so we listen, you, you need to listen, but at some point in time, somebody's gotta make a decision.
And, and, and folks are fearful, I think because of the risk, because of maybe the lack of confidence, they don't wanna make a decision. What do I mean by that? Decide to do something. Decide to do something. Yeah. Just see what's gonna happen. And that's what folks, the 30,000 folks that are privileged to be in these roles.
That's what we're able to do. If you don't get it right, that's okay. See what you learn. Back up and start again. But that's what people are looking for. They're looking for people to give 'em the confidence, make a decision, go forward and make [00:32:00] some progress.
Kansas Number One Impact
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Ed O'Malley: Kenny, you've been involved in, in civic life for a long time, and I would just love, I'd love to hear you riff on you.
Imagine Kansas is the healthiest state in the nation. Imagine like we're number one and I mean, you chair the Kansas House Tax Committee, the Economic Development Committee. You chair the Kansas Board of Regents. You've been in private sec in the private sector. You've been in the public sector.
The hospitals a nonprofit. You're in the nonprofit sector. Kansas is at number one. Just talk about what do you think it'd be like?
Kenny Wilk: I love how you paint the picture and I love how you use the numbers, and I think that's something we all need to continue to do. And I would invite us all to think about what if my community led the state?
And being number one, it could impact even my community. But when our state becomes number one, it'll be interesting. Number one. I, I understand it's gonna [00:33:00] take years, but we're making progress, right? And I, frankly, ed, I'm a little embarrassed, Susan. I'm a little embarrassed 'cause I started in the legislature in 1993.
And it wasn't long after that I realized we were ranked, I believe, didn't we top out at number eight or number nine? Mm-hmm. Number eight. Yeah. Number
Susan Kang: eight. Number number
Kenny Wilk: number
Susan Kang: eight in 1991.
Kenny Wilk: And you know what I, I'm embarrassed to say we didn't pay enough attention to it. We did not pay enough attention to it.
And look what happened, OOO. Over the 30 years, we've, we've just continually slipped. And that has come today. I can tell you with my experience, that comes at great expense. The, the things you were talking about there, the young children. Learning to read would have a profound impact on our state in so many ways.
It would impact incarceration rates. It would impact a lot of the social costs. That's what we've gotta understand with this vision. When these a hundred, what was it, [00:34:00] 180,000 people, that would be less off drugs.
Ed O'Malley: 183. Thousand,
Kenny Wilk: you, you are talking tens, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars in shifted costs.
Yeah. That wouldn't be there. I think we would be the envy of the country and then all of a sudden the economic, the free, the free enterprise folks, which are most people in Kansas. You'd have people wanting to come to Kansas. We want more people in Kansas. We need more people in Kansas. That would be the magnet and, and it would've happened.
It will happen and, and it'll be fun because we'll have to keep educating because the people that are actually ex. Experiencing it in, in the, in the 12 to 15 years, they may not understand how hard it was to get there. It'll be our job to make sure they know how hard it was to get there and how hard it's gonna be to stay there.
Susan Kang: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Ed O'Malley: Yeah. So
Susan Kang: true.
Health Drives the Economy
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Susan Kang: So Ed, I'm gonna interject for a minute because you're talking about, you know, strong economy. I will you talk a little bit about the research that our think tank [00:35:00] did around the economic case for health?
Ed O'Malley: Yeah. Kenny, I dunno if you've seen this or not yet, but we. Put out some research recently where our team, our research team did a scan of about a thousand different academic articles that were.
Written about the connection between health and economic output. Okay. And then they narrowed that, that search down to like a couple hundred articles that they really dug into and then did some, some theming of those articles and what what they found was amazing and like, first of all, we all know. That the biggest determinant of your health is your economic status.
We know that, right? You know that. We know that. That's pretty well documented. This research looked the other way around. It said, but what's the impact of health on economic output? And so at one level it was kind of obvious, they, the research shows a healthy individual. Has more economic output. The healthier you are, the more successful you're gonna be financially, economically.
That kinda makes sense. Like you, you don't have to take sick days. You can go to work, you [00:36:00] can so on. But they also found that the healthier a company's workforce, the greater impact on p and l for the company. It kind of makes sense when you think about it, right?
Kenny Wilk: Well, well, yeah. You're seeing companies all over the country, right?
Follow that. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. They've got the numbers internally.
Ed O'Malley: Right, and then they also found this research also found that the healthier estate's population, the greater the GDP for that state, so that like health isn't just an. Outcome. It's a driver and it's a driver of economics, you know, and so what I love about thinking about Kansas at number one, and again, Kenny, you were one of my mentors, and I was on the taxation committee with you as a young legislator.
When I was a young legislator. I was on the economic development committee with you. I was ingrained to think about because of you and other mentors like Mary Birch at the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce. I was ingrained to think about the [00:37:00] importance. Of healthy economic activity. And one thing I love about the idea of Kansas at number one is if Kansas is at number one in the health rankings, our economy is gonna be on fire in a good way.
And I love that.
Kenny Wilk: And that begins then to help solve a lot of other. Problems and challenges that we have.
Ed O'Malley: Yeah, it's like we're trying right now, we're trying to like win the football game, but our team is injured, not healthy, not at their best, right? We're trying to win the economic game in, in, in our country and our world, but we don't have a healthy team.
Like our, our team is one of the least in the lower half of of the healthy teams. Teams, meaning like the population of our state. If we want to grow Kansas, if we want to succeed economically, we have got. To become a healthier place. It's like, like a football team knows, a basketball team knows, a soccer team, knows the health of your [00:38:00] players is a major influence on the success you're gonna have on the field, on the court.
It's the same for us.
Kenny Wilk: Yeah, I, I've not seen that report, but I'd love to get a copy of that and, oh,
Susan Kang: we're more than happy to provide you with a copy of that
Kenny Wilk: report. It just makes so much sense, right? Yeah.
Susan Kang: Yeah. It makes
Kenny Wilk: perfect
Susan Kang: sense. I mean, right. The components, the things that, and so to my, you know, so I don't use sports analogies.
I is, I'm gonna just use like a building construction analogy, right? You have to have the constituent, sort of like the foundational pieces. In good shape in order for the house to be built on. Right? I mean, and, and, and for companies to be successful, it's the people. It's the, the, the biggest capital asset that, you know, workforces that companies have are its people.
And if they're not doing well, if they're not healthy. Right, both physically and mentally. Then there's not, there's, there's not a company to, to, to speak of, let alone succeed. So
Ed O'Malley: Susan, we start the book [00:39:00] before, literally, right before we talk about the University of Kansas Health System. We have a quote from Winston Churchill.
Healthy citizens are the greatest asset. Any country could have. That's, I think what you're talking about. I
Susan Kang: love
Ed O'Malley: it. Susan, I forgot about that quote. Take, take us out. What, what should we close with today on this episode?
Takeaways and Celebrate Wins
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Susan Kang: Okay, so I'm, you know, I'm gonna go around and ask you guys, for your takeaways from today's conversation.
So one takeaway for me is the idea of casting this bold vision. We've been talking about this and we know that it involves risk and it involves scrutiny, and I invite our listeners to figure out an area in their work or even in their personal lives that is important enough.
To cast a bold vision around that you can't afford not to cast a bold vision around that is what I encourage people to do. And Kenny would you go next and tell us what your biggest takeaway is from this, today's conversation?
Kenny Wilk: I'm glad that we have spent this time talking about. The vision because that can be something hard for people to wrap their head around.
[00:40:00] But I think it's so important and, and Susan, I, I couldn't agree more. I would invite the listeners to this program to really reexamine. Division and really what it means for Kansas to be number one, spend a little time looking at the numbers, maybe think about what are the numbers that would be most meaningful to you, but then just as you said, as an individual, what can I do?
To make a difference each and every day. And if each of us will do that, if each think of the power, if each of the 30,000 just started taking some meaningful steps, that's what's gonna move the flywheel.
Ed O'Malley: Yeah. Mine's similar to what Kenny just said. You know, I would, I would love. What's on my mind is like for members of the 30,000, like cast your version of a capital H Health vision for your company, for your organization, for your community. I mean, may, maybe it's, for your [00:41:00] company to win the healthiest Workplace award by the whatever organization in your town that does things like that.
Or, to have, 90% or a hundred percent of your team say that their organization helps them be their healthiest version of themselves, or they just cast some kind of capital H health vision to help us with this idea of Kansas leading the nation. In health.
Kenny Wilk: And Susan, can I, can I jump in one other thing?
Oh yeah,
Susan Kang: absolutely. Kenny,
Kenny Wilk: you know, ' cause Ed, ed and I were talking about this last night. So what we're talk, we're, we're, we're talking about going from 31 to one, and I think it's important to know, and Ed and I talked about this and I, I know we're gonna keep it going. We're not gonna go from 31 to one, but we're making progress and we're gonna celebrate.
And I, I want to just take a second and say that that's gonna be important as we make progress as a state, as we make progress as communities, we wanna know about that. 'cause we want to come to these communities, want. [00:42:00] KHF is doing a great job at your, at your meetings of celebrating the progress. But we're gonna get out into communities and when communities are making progress.
We're gonna celebrate that win and reinforce what we're doing and that'll feel good for people. Yeah. No, that will feel good. So you're, we're not in this over to not celebrate and really enjoy the 'cause. We can enjoy the moments as we make progress here and we, we've done a good job. Our hospital started out about as far down as you could start.
Today we're one of the best health systems in the country, but, but we've done a good job of rewarding and celebrating and, and have found that really makes a difference. And I believe we'll be doing that all across our state with this initiative.
Ed O'Malley: You know, Kenny, I know we're gonna have you back on a, on a future episode.
The next one you come back for is gonna be a few weeks down the road when it airs and it's about assumptions and I would love to. Dig into the story that you just referenced about the University of Kansas Health System and the journey it's been on during that episode.
Kenny Wilk: Let's do it. I look
Ed O'Malley: forward to it.
I love it.
Ed O'Malley: [00:43:00] Awesome conversation. Love the note about celebrating. Thanks everybody for joining us.
Next Episode Leadership Challenge
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Ed O'Malley: The next conversation, we are gonna begin to head into part two of the book, and part two is where we say, Hey, we think this is a health challenge.
It's actually not a health challenge, it's a leadership challenge. So I look forward to sharing more about that on our next episode. Thanks everybody.
[00:44:00]