In this episode of Conversations with Chanda, Chanda Smith Baker explores the human side of healthcare where care, leadership, and crisis intersect. The conversation begins with Bridget Rosario-Vega, a staff member at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, who shares her deeply personal experience navigating a serious hospital stay and the nurses and caregivers who showed up with compassion when she needed it most.

Chanda is then joined by Lisa Shannon, CEO of Allina Health, for a candid discussion about the realities shaping healthcare today, from workforce strain and mental health gaps to innovation, AI, and the hard choices healthcare leaders are facing. Together, they hold two truths at once: a system under pressure and the people within it who continue to show up with humanity and care.

This episode is a reminder that healthcare is not just a system. It is people caring for people, and leadership showing up in moments that matter most.