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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.
Ep02
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[00:00:00]
Ed O'Malley: All right. Welcome to episode two of the Leading Health podcast. Susan.
Susan Kang: Excited to be here.
Ed O'Malley: Here we are,
Susan Kang: yeah,
Recap of Chapter One and Introduction to Chapter Two
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Ed O'Malley: episode two, which is covering chapter two of the book Leading Health. The subtitle is [00:01:00] How You and 30,000 Kansans Help Communities Thrive. So last episode, we talked about chapter one. Mm-hmm. And in chapter one, we talked a lot about that.
Simulation experience that I participated in at the University of Kansas Health System, which was an amazing
Susan Kang: Yeah.
Ed O'Malley: Experience. Yep. And I start chapter two just picking up on that experience. 'cause one of the things that, I, I learned in that experience is that the number of stroke victims. Up into the right, like increasing year by year.
Yeah. The number of trauma room visits. ER visits, up into the right, the number of cancer diagnoses. Up into the right.
The Role of the 30,000 Kansans
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Ed O'Malley: So we start chapter two with this. I walked away from that hospital simulation experience with a provocative interpretation. The up into the right data is what happens when [00:02:00] we the 30,000 fail to effectively exercise leadership on capital H Health.
Our brilliant medical professionals are the experts needed to deliver phenomenal healthcare, but it's the 30,000 movers and shakers of Kansas who have outsized influence on the things that create the condition for capital H Health. Mm-hmm. It was a really interesting drive home that day, right? Mm-hmm.
And I think it was driving home that day that I really started to think about. What's the role of the 30,000? And that's what this chapter really talks about, right? Right.
Susan Kang: Yeah. So say more about the 30,000.
Ed O'Malley: Alright, so what we're gonna talk about here is that the 30,000 is a special group of Kansans, okay?
They're a group of Kansans who hold authority in our state, and I got to that number, 30,000. And the way you do all of the [00:03:00] greatest things in life. Yep. On the back of a napkin at a bar. Okay. And I was trying to add up how many Kansans hold a role of civic authority. Like how many elected officials, how many pastors, how many, non-profit executives, community-minded business people, university deans, school superintendents.
Long story short, it added up to about 30,000.
And what we say in the book is that these 30,000 are a special group of Kansans. Members of this group have key authority roles. Giving them the ability to focus attention, direct budgets and cast vision. Simply put, when that group exercises leadership, they can make things happen.
Now, we will explore in the book that like it's not just up to them to improve health, but they've got a special role to play. And that's what this chapter really talks about.
Understanding the ALICE Population
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Ed O'Malley: It also talks about the health gap. It talks about the [00:04:00] difference between the health of people like the 30,000 right. And what we call the ALICE population.
Yeah. ALICE stands for asset limited. Income Constrained. It's the working poor. Right, right.
Susan Kang: Yeah.
Ed O'Malley: Brought to us by the United Way, they've been pushing this idea of ALICE, helping people understand the ALICE population. We'll talk more about that with our guest here in just a little while. But the chapter juxtaposes the Health of the 30,000.
With the health of the working poor and helps understand the influence the 30,000 has on. The ALICE population. So we're gonna get into that conversation with our guest here in just a little bit, and, it's gonna be a great conversation. I'm excited to explore it.
Susan Kang: Yeah, me too. I'm really excited about learning more about, the ALICE population and I have an acronym, that actually makes sense.
The, acid limited Income [00:05:00] Constrained Employed. Yeah. Right. Yeah. They're working and yet they're. Not making ends meet.
Ed O'Malley: Yeah. And you know, with the chapters really trying to hit home too, is that, look, if the playing field is level, then everybody's health is kind of up to them.
Susan Kang: Yeah.
Ed O'Malley: But if the playing field is outta whack, then we have a responsibility to level the playing field and the playing field is created in essence.
By the 30,000. 30,000.
Susan Kang: Right. Alright, so
Ed O'Malley: that's the conversation we're gonna have. It's gonna be a great one and Theresa Lovelady will be joining us here in just a little while for a fantastic conversation.
Susan Kang: Yeah,
Interview with Theresa Lovelady
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Ed O'Malley: So it is awesome having Theresa Lovelady with us.
Theresa, you and I have known each other a long time. You're president and CEO of Healthcorp, which is a federally qualified health center here in Wichita, Kansas. You're involved statewide though as well. You're on the board at the Sunflower Health Foundation, which of course is a, a great partner of ours.
We love our relationship with you. With all the work we've done together, what else should people know [00:06:00] about you before we dive into this conversation?
Teresa Lovelady: Oh man, I guess the most critical part is I'm a compassionate and passionate resident of Kansas that love, love, love, and I'm inspired by the work that you're doing right now to make certain that no Kansan is left behind.
At Health Core Clinic, I actually started out there as an uninsured patient, so I represent the ALICE's. Across our state. Wow. I completely understand what it feels like to try to navigate a health. Little H and the Big H systems Yeah. That we have.
Theresa's Personal Journey
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Teresa Lovelady: When I first showed up at Health Core Clinic as a patient, I came with my 4-year-old.
He would start in kindergarten and I needed an asthma action plan for him. I didn't even know that he had asthma. As he was growing up, I just thought he had Kansas allergies. Yeah.
Susan Kang: Mm-hmm. So,
Teresa Lovelady: I, I'm looking for a place to take him to gain access to care to, as an uninsured mom and I will never forget not being mommy [00:07:00] shamed when I showed up as ALICE.
At the front desk of Health Core Clinic. And so that was, my son's now 2324. He'll be 24 years old in a few weeks. And so it's been 20 years, since that interaction there at Health Core Clinic. And from there as I continued my education, and just transitioning in life, I served as a board member, so a consumer board member so that I could, you know, be a part of something that was amazing for, I mean, they didn't mommy shame me. Yeah. If you think about that, how critical that is. Mm-hmm. And then from there, I became the CEO, I call it getting in the hot seat in
Susan Kang: Yeah.
Teresa Lovelady: 2010. And for the first four months I, there was no money to pay me.
Wow. And so, if you think about the nonprofit world and sometimes what we struggle with and what we go through and so. Fast forward 15 years. When I think about the work that HealthCore Clinic does in our community, each year we serve about 13,000 individuals regardless of their income [00:08:00] status, I mean their income level and or their insurance status.
So thank you so much. I am inspired to be considered one of the 30,000, and yet I understand completely, what it feels like to come from a place in space and look at this situation from multiple, multiple sides,
Ed O'Malley: Theresa, yeah, you definitely are one of the 30,000 and you're one of the 30,000 who can relate pretty darn well to life when you're not one of the 30,000.
Yes. And I know we've got some questions, Susan, you got some questions that you wanna ask? But I, I do wanna, I do, I want to add a question real quick. Yes. I love that you said twice that you weren't mommy shamed, and I just think that there, it would be useful for people listening to this to understand what that means because there might be people who unintentionally have, have mommy shamed, right?
Yes. Like I might have done that. I, but I think you're speaking to something that's really important. And I'd love you just to flesh that out a little bit. What does that mean exactly? [00:09:00] Okay.
Teresa Lovelady: So when I showed up at the front desk, I had a job, it was a full-time job, but I earned about 1250 an hour.
And I couldn't afford health insurance. This is before the Affordable Care Act. And so my job did offer insurance, but was I gonna pay the five, 600 bucks a month in premium for family health insurance? Mm-hmm. Or was I going to pay the rent? And buy food and pay childcare expenses.
And so, I didn't get any subsidies, so I, I didn't get any food assistance, cash assistance, in that way. And I was a full-time student also working on my master's in social work. Wow. Because I wanted to, be, have a role in position in society that could help give back, because where I'm from, mental health and substance abuse and use where it was prevalent.
So this was my way of giving back. But I could not afford. Basic health insurance to gain access to care. So when I showed up at Healthcorp, I had a hundred bucks in my pocket. I'll never forget a hundred bucks. And, I didn't know what [00:10:00] to expect. Yeah.
And when I showed up, they told me about a program that they had called Smart Start, which allowed my son to get a free, health screening, health appointment. They served us, they, went in the back and I, I couldn't believe I got to keep the a hundred bucks in my pocket. Mm. And I didn't even know if that was enough.
Like, how do you navigate a healthcare system? And when you have insurance, you don't even know what you're gonna have to pay, so when you don't have insurance. And so my son, you know, he's standing there with me and the fact that they didn't embarrass me in the process or make me jump through hoops that would judge me at that moment as a parent trying to navigate a system to get asthma, an asthma action plan so my son could go to kindergarten.
Yeah, yeah. But now they did give me about four prescriptions. Advair Albuterol, some really expensive cough syrup up and a spacer. So I went to Walgreens and I couldn't afford to get the medication. And so they went a step further. They gave me a spacer. They told me, different asthma. Not asthma, but different cough syrup that I [00:11:00] could get.
But most importantly they signed me up for, an asthma education class that I was able to come back. Mm-hmm. So this is upstream work, you know, come back into. The clinic and learn how to help manage my son's asthma. And I was able to bring my son and his big sister, who of course if you're a single mom with kids, you work as a family together to take care of each other.
What was impactful about that is later I caught my son to, he's in kindergarten now and he's telling his friend, if I breathe like this. Tell your mom, I need help, but if I'm breathing like this, and he made the sound, he was like, I just need to rest for a moment. And so I love that. Gosh, that's, it's impactful and, and, and powerful when we provide access to a healthcare system and health.
The big HI love the concept about Big H without judgment.
Ed O'Malley: Well, I love that idea. Like it got easier to get the help you needed the health for your son. Because there was no judgment, [00:12:00] because there, it sounded like the people at Healthcorp when you came there already understood some of the things we're saying in this book, already understood that you know what, somebody in the ALICE population working hard, might need a little help Yes. In order, just like we all, we all end up needing help. Right, right. But I love it. It's such a great, it's such a great way of thinking about it.
Teresa Lovelady: Well, when you think about health without judgment, I think about Mr. Bud Gates and Ms. Nita Martin, the co-founders of what initially started as the Center for Health and Wellness.
They're on 21st mm-hmm. And Erie. Mm-hmm. And so three blocks where the shockers win and play and you know. Mm-hmm. And I think about this. Seed they planted in that community because of the health disparities that was there, the high incidences of suicide, cancer rates, the infant mortality rates.
Mm-hmm. And so they came together and created what is now health court clinic that centers on education and wellness. So if we don't do that upstream work, and if we don't focus on, how do we help individuals, how do we [00:13:00] empower individuals to manage their own health? Mm-hmm. And how do we give them the tools and the resources and the materials along with, you know, sometimes we may feel like that handout.
So you can't just give people a handout, you have to give them a hand up. So as someone who represents ALICE. And that way I think about where that hand up has taken me today to being the CEO, the president and CEO of Health Court Clinic.
Challenges and Responsibilities of Leadership
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Ed O'Malley: Susan, I want, I know you got a question you wanna get in here, but I just wanna give some context to our, our listeners.
If you're not from Wichita, so Health Corps is located in the northeast part of the community. It is one of the communities in Kansas that faces the greatest health disparities. So it's a a lot of challenges, people experiencing a lot of, of capital H and lower H health challenges and the two founders of Health Core you just mentioned, I think it's really a great example of.
You know, like they, in their time they were members of the 30,000. Yes. And they, I can imagine them [00:14:00] thinking to themselves, what can we do? To be helpful in improving health in the state. And so it's just a great example of what members of the 30,000 can do, and I just wanted folks, around the state to have that context of the community that we're talking about right now.
But Susan, I'm curious, what's on your mind right now?
Susan Kang: Well, first I wanna say Theresa, thank you for sharing that story, that it's just, you know, I mean, it really. Resonates with a lot of people, I'm sure. And, you know, and other people have been in that situation, especially with respect to the mommy shaming Yes.
Concept. you know, but you've experienced it. You were a member of the Alis population, and you've had this journey of now leading, right? Yes. Starting there and leading the Health Corps, the organization Right. That helped you in the first place. Yes. Which is like, it's just so, it's poetic in some ways.
Right? It's a
Teresa Lovelady: privilege. It's truly a privilege.
Susan Kang: 100%. You know what? What a privilege. And so in your work now, I mean, what does that gap look like?
Teresa Lovelady: Oh my goodness. So again, when you look at from all the [00:15:00] different perspectives, right, from that individual that. Uninsured at the front desk when you think about it as a board member, because I also served on our board, for a while.
And when I think about the hot seat, the, you know, when it's like, it's your problem. Yeah, it's your problem. And then I feel like you take, take on the weight of what can you do and how can you, fill in that gap or at least build a bridge across the gap. Mm-hmm. Or just do something with the gap besides ignoring the gap, that becomes, it, it's really hard work because you do have all the conflicting, things in the everyday work. You know, I can't ignore the person who comes into the front door of the clinic and they need health care. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like they need dental, behavioral health, substance abuse. They need a hug, you know, they, they need something right then and there. And then I think about the bigger overarching, health, you know, the systems in our society that, that drive those factors that. Physically make our communities sick. Mm-hmm. You know? And then how do you impact, [00:16:00] and, as a leader, how do you, how do you do things in that area that help remove some of the barriers or, or like you said, fill in the gap without being, it's risky, right.
Without being penalized, without being targeted, without being, shamed without burning out in the process, to be honest. So when I think about the 30,000 that have to do this work, you know, we have to humble ourselves. We have to collaborate, we have to, look internally at our respective organizations, but then also look at the other places where the 30,000 touch.
So, and when I was listening to you talk about the, the back of the napkin and going through, you know, I think about how I'm involved on different organizations, boards.
And the foundations and in the church and in the community, even in my home, at my kitchen table. So what are the things that I can do to help close the health gap in my family, in my neighborhood, in my community, at the clinic, and in all the other places and spaces that I show up [00:17:00] as a leader?
Mm-hmm. So-called leader, right? So how do we lead in those spaces and how do we exercise leadership in a way that we could impact the things to help close the gap?
Ed O'Malley: theresa, what is it that you think the 30,000 need to know? And, you know, the chapter, the whole darn book Right, is kind of interesting in the fact that it's written for a very niche audience.
Yes. Its written for the 30,000 and it's in essence making an argument. Right. It's a little bit more in the style of an old time pamphlet, you know, where it's like, you know, the pamphleteers at the beginning of our country would publish a pamphlet. And the pamphlet was an argument designed for a small group of people to read and absorb.
Mm-hmm. And consider and perhaps buy into, or maybe not. That's kind of what this book is, and it's aimed at those 30,000 and you're in such a unique position. 'cause you have, you are one of the 30,000, but you have vivid [00:18:00] lived experience of what it's like to not be I have ALICE. I will always be ALICE.
Yeah.
Teresa Lovelady: But I can also be part of the 30,000. So having. Citizen citizenship. Yes. You have dual citizenship. I love that. Yes. I love that in both areas. And it's okay, so yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when I, when I show up in, in certain areas or, in spaces or board rooms or back rooms or the front door of the clinic, you know, I, I feel like I'm able to have a really unique resource toolkit.
When I, when I show up in those spaces, whether it's in the boardroom and going, well, wait a minute, have we thought about involving individuals who have experienced homelessness? Mm-hmm. Yeah. At this table? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Where, where, whose voices are missing? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And then sometimes being able to connect to individuals that are.
Board members, or I would say the more elite in our community where it's like, no, no, no, but let me talk to you about this because I have a relationship with them. Mm-hmm. And I can help them understand that it's okay to think that way, but let me tell you a different. [00:19:00] Perspective. Yeah. And a lot of times when I share the ALICE story, right, it's like, wow, okay, well we're all capable of being ALICE at any given moment, right?
So one diagnosis, one lost opportunity. You lose your job. I mean, if you are in that situation, how do you navigate that? So when I think about what I would share with the 30,000 who probably represent. Multiple parts of that 30,000. 'cause they, they have different roles in our community is, let's not forget that ALICE is our neighbor.
Not only is ALICE our neighbor mm-hmm. She's probably a member of our family. Mm-hmm. Um, She's probably definitely a coworker or coworkers member, family member. ALICE, is it, it's. We cannot shame and blame. Mm-hmm. So when we make decisions and when we do things that that can improve the health of our community and the health Big H of [00:20:00] our state, we have to remember that we're all deserving.
So when we start looking at the deserving and undeserving in our community, we can't do that based on. Those, those, those thoughts of, they deserve, they deserve to be poor because they didn't do whatever, or they could have, should have picked yourselves up by the bootstraps. It's like if you don't have boots,
Ed O'Malley: right.
Teresa Lovelady: If you don't have shoes. Yeah. How do you do that? Well,
Ed O'Malley: well, and like, and I've always thought like, look, can we agree if somebody is, all they're doing is just sitting on the couch. Doing nothing, being lazy, not trying to make a better life for themselves or their family. Like, let's agree, like the, I still might have some compassion for that person, but I'm not gonna like tell the 30,000 that you have to make that person's life better.
But the people who are working hard, the people who are trying, the folks who have just been dealt a different hand. Than some of us if they're trying to play that [00:21:00] hand To the best of their ability. Part of what chapter two is about is the outcomes they're getting aren't just on their backs. It's also on the backs of the 30,000 who Create so many of the systems and structures and processes. And, and the way, the way we put it in the book real quick is, are the 30,000 responsible for the situation our ALICE friends are facing? No, not wholly, but yes. Partly we, the 30,000 create conditions that influence how and if ALICE families can thrive, flourish, and be healthy.
So it's like we just want people to like own that. Yeah. Like we, we got a piece of it.
Teresa Lovelady: Yes. And, if we can humble ourselves as the 30,000 and realize that we're all connected no matter what the authentic connections that we have as human beings, I mean, COVID taught us that. Mm-hmm. If, if.
If [00:22:00] we were breathing on each other and we can, you can then get what I have and I could make you sick. Well, we could make each other sick if we don't take care of each other. And as a matter of fact, that's why our state is in a status where it is now because. Ignoring the impact that we can have on each other's lives.
Even the, what we would consider the lazy person who's not, engaged in society. Well, they'll self-select and eliminate, but we cannot take, one person or one example of a group of people and say, we're not gonna take care of the whole. That's kind of like if you had cancer in your body, you're not gonna.
You get what I'm saying? Like you gotta take care of the whole so you can take care of our, our entire community in that way. So, it's important that if you are, blessed to be a member of the 30,000, that you take that blessing and understand that with that comes responsibility. And the need to make certain that we give back in a way. And the easiest thing that we could do to give [00:23:00] back as one of the 30,000 is to listen. Be an active participant, nonjudgmental, and in our little scope of influence, what are the little things we could do to help improve the health of our community?
Ed O'Malley: Yeah. So, yeah.
Closing Thoughts and Takeaways
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Ed O'Malley: So we're gonna, the book is gonna end up talking about a lot of different things we need to 30,000 to do, but let's just try to make it real concrete for some of our listeners right now of, like, like what are the ways? So what we're insane in this chapter is, hey, the 30,000, like you are partly responsible for the health outcomes of the entire state, right?
How does that play out? Like, I can imagine somebody in the 30,000 right now wondering like, well, okay, I kind of get it, but tell me something more specific of how my action or a or Yeah.
Susan Kang: So as a member of a Ali, you know, as a, as a dual citizen of the 30,000 in the ALICE population, right?
So what are some things that come up for you, as you think about [00:24:00] specifics that you might recommend?
Teresa Lovelady: At Healthcare Clinic, of course, being a community health center that provides access to medical, dental, behavioral health services, as well as we have a pharmacy embedded in the clinic, but we also have a food pantry.
We have a walking path around the clinic. We have multiple education classes. We provide baby talks. So if you're. Around prenatal education to help someone be a healthier mom in hopes to make the child healthier, and have the family healthy. So it's the little things we could do and embed. It's the decisions that we can make at the, for health insurance for our employees to make certain that it's a robust plan.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's, it's really just asking someone how they're doing. It's the really small things. We, it gets really complex when we think about, oh my goodness, I have this huge responsibility to cure something that there is no cure to. But the little things that each one of us could do, what is it like death by a thousand, little paper cuts.
Mm-hmm. Or paper cuts or something. Mm-hmm. So imagine [00:25:00] revitalizing State and our communities by the little bitty acts of things that we can do from our respective roles.
Ed O'Malley: Yeah. You know, in the, in the, book, we write the principle. Or manager, like the school principal or manager trying to get to the bottom of absenteeism.
Susan Kang: Yes.
Ed O'Malley: Is working on capital H Health. Yes. You know, like that's, that's an issue with compliance. That's an issue with discipline. It's also an issue about health. Yes. Like, you know, maybe there are reasons why that kid is always absent, that connects to more to things perhaps like.
The transportation we have available Yes. In our community or the challenges that family is having. And to like, for that principle to think of that mm-hmm. As not just a discipline problem related to absenteeism. Yes. But to consider it might be something bigger. We also talk about, you know, the elected official considering next year's budget is working on health.
Susan Kang: [00:26:00] Yes.
Ed O'Malley: Elected officials. I've been one. We often have to cut budgets. I get it. And we often get to choose how to re, how to invest additional dollars in things too. And knowing the connection between budget cuts or budget investments and capital H Health for the ALICE population really matters. Or we say the nonprofit board member working to improve their organization's effectiveness is working on health.
So. There's a lot of connections. We're gonna explore these connections throughout the book. Yeah. Which is gonna be really interesting. And Theresa, I know you're gonna be back with us a couple more times Yes. For future episodes. So thanks for being a part of this journey. I don't know if you know, know if you knew what you're getting yourself into, but we're glad you did.
Teresa Lovelady: This is the first time I've ever been a part of a podcast. Nice. This is the first podcast. I guess I'll watch it, but I've never watched a podcast before. Nice. Yeah. So I'm like a podcast virgin here, I guess. But now I love, I am definitely honored and humble that [00:27:00] you guys would even ask me, to come and be a part of this.
Yeah. But more importantly, if we can do anything to inspire the 30,000 to create the. To help support the next 30,000 that's coming in as well. Mm-hmm. I love that. Mm-hmm. And help pass along the thought and concept. Yeah. That 15, 20 years from now, we will get to number one but it's gonna take all of us passing a torch, kind of like Miss Nita and Mr.
But Gates passed a torch down to me. and I take that with like, there's a level of responsibility and accountability that comes with that to be in a role or a position to exercise leadership. Not just be that leader sitting there, but actually take on the tough stuff as well.
Susan Kang: Yeah. thank you for this amazing conversation.
I'm curious to know what is the one takeaway that you are taking away from this conversation today?
Teresa Lovelady: Well, being a part of the 30,000 it's my goal now to go recruit others uhhuh and to make certain that I'm creating the pathways to help them [00:28:00] understand the importance of the influence that they could have as their exercise leadership to help close the health gap.
Thank you, ed.
Susan Kang: Your thoughts.
Ed O'Malley: You know, to me the term mommy shaming is sticking with me. And I think it's just a great term and I think it, nobody, nobody, wants to think of themselves as somebody who would engage in mommy shaming. Mm-hmm. The way you described it, Theresa, but I think it's a really great example of that's probably happening mm-hmm.
More than we realize. And, it's not helpful and I'm gonna be thinking about that for a long time.
Susan Kang: I think for me it's for the 30,000 who are in positions of authority to know that they are in that position and that they truly are uniquely qualified to, you know, with their authority, use that to help close the health gap.
[00:29:00]