We're used to seeing Hospitals as someplace we go to get care and help staying well. However, not many of us think too much about the help that Hospitals and their staff need in order to keep providing that care. Todd Wuerger is at the forefront of providing the help that our local healthcare facilities need and came to interview with me so that we could talk about the issues facing today's healthcare systems. He has what we French people would call "Joi de vivre" and he shares it freely in this conversation.
Todd graduated from UW-Milwaukee’s business school in 1992 and in 1998 completed his master’s degree in business administration from the UW-Whitewater. He worked as a manager of physician engagement at the Wisconsin Medical Society before joining the Foundation in March 2018.
He remains active in the community by coaching the Sauk Prairie High School boys and girls swim teams where he has three times been awarded Division 1 Coach of the Year by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association.
Todd lives in Sauk City with his wife, Julie who is a Director of Large Group Retention at Quartz Benefits Solutions. They have three children, Donovan, Stella and Wilson.
Announcer: 0:04
Welcome to frame of reference informed intelligent conversations about the issues and challenges facing everyone in today's world, in depth interviews with SOC counties, leaders and professionals to help you expand and inform your frame of reference brought to you by the max FM digital network. Now, here's your host, Rauel LaBreche.
Rauel LaBreche:
0:27
Well, welcome to another edition of frame of reference saw counties only, I am sticking with that we are the only show in salt county that talks with area leaders in various positions, to try to get a handle on some of the issues that are talked about in the national and global arena, but perhaps seem a little dis depersonalized. So try to get together with leaders in our area. And we've, if you listen to the podcast, you know that we've got things from all over the spectrum, which I love, because I love learning new things. And today is one of those days where I get to be happy, happy, happy, because I'm learning new things from a new guest. someone I've known actually for a number of years, but we had a really brief interaction in the past. And he reached out to me to say I've heard about your podcasts Would would you be interested in talking with me? And of course, I'm interested in talking with anyone I talk with everyone that wants to talk. So I was pleased to have him do that. And I'm even more pleased to have him sitting across from the table from me right now. Talking about none other than Todd Wuerger, who is the Executive Director, correct. Todd Correct. of the sock, Prairie medical health, healthcare foundation got it. So s SP M.
Todd Wuerger:
1:43
Eight share, we kind of lost memorial park a few years ago in the new hospital, it's constructed but you're tracking right? That's not pretty Health Care Foundation or health care
Rauel LaBreche:
1:51
is one I know like with some pre health care, it was like multiple campuses now because since the new hospital went up there we had another campus with the old hospital now being like a Wellness Center. And there's isn't the family clinic there are the free clinic is
Todd Wuerger:
2:08
never clinic is also part of that building. Now to cry cry, it's
Rauel LaBreche:
2:12
always interest. I walked by with my dogs on a fairly regular basis. And I actually have to get back to having my health club membership there because I missed those machines. That that was it's a good addition to the community is to have the facility like that where they're state of the art machines, it's well maintained. So if you ever moved to sock pray, folks, this is something you want to check out. And it's reasonably priced to on top of it all. So who could ask for anything more? Right. So thanks, Todd, again, for being here. Thanks for reaching out. I'm excited to talk about the things that I know you're an expert in. And even if you're not you'll you'll like teach everyone that don't question me. I'm I'm not completely full of baloney. Right?
Todd Wuerger:
2:58
All thanks for having me on the show. And yeah, I heard many good things about your podcasts. And I just appreciate the opportunity to visit with you here.
Rauel LaBreche:
3:07
Well, and I appreciate, you know, the healthcare arena has, I think changed relatively drastically in that the amount of pressure and the amount of focus that's been on health care, in recent times, has to be very stressful. I mean, people that I know that work directly in health care right now. I hear that regularly that they're just, it's a really difficult time as a human being to continue to provide health care in our country and our localities? Are you seeing that as well? Or am I imagining things and blowing it out of proportion?
Todd Wuerger:
3:46
No, I know, what you're seeing or what you're hearing is absolutely a fact it's, it's a very stressful time in health care, I guess you could make the argument anytime can be a stressful time. But obviously with the hit of the pandemic, and just all things just drastically changed and how our healthcare workers and our frontline responders had to step up and you know, put their lives their own lives at risk every day for the the people that they were caring for. So it just added a whole nother layer of stress on top of the stress of just the nature of the position. I'm not in a frontline position role, but what I can say for the many, many people that I work with many of my colleagues that you may not be on the frontline, we're still all feeling the stress of what's going on. And you know, we the culture itself pretty healthcare is very much of a you know, team based. We're all in this together, whether we're frontline or not, we're there to respond to support the folks that are responding to the, to the patients. And so it's it's been a very stressful time. But I think it's taught us a lot and I've learned a ton over the last year and a half, almost two years, learned about how to do things differently. How we can, you know, we just have to step outside of our comfort zones and look at things a different way and, and good things, believe it or not have come out of those, even though it's been a very stressful time. Yeah,
Rauel LaBreche:
5:20
I always think of a Mark Twain quote, from a short story he wrote, and I, I can never remember the name of Australia, I have to go back and read that. So I can quote intelligently. But the the story is really interesting overall, just a community that's very nice. And everyone's you know, gets along so well. And then, through a series of events, it just tests that community in ways that they never imagined. And everyone by the end of it is just at each other's throat, and you know, and trust anyone anymore. And it's just this horrible destruction of what they thought they had. And he makes one of the main characters makes the comment at the end that well, don't you realize that the weakest of all weak things is a virtue not tested by fire. And, boy, if he was talking to us today with that story back in the 1800s, because it I mean, we, I think, have endured that as a country and many professions have endured that testing by fire. And we've found that the virtues that we thought we had, we maybe didn't have as strongly as we needed. And now new ones have come out as a result of that. And you'll hear from people regularly that they've had to learn patience, and they realized how little patience they had before, you know, you've had to learn how to research things and really, listen to people have empathy for people. It's a, it's really a phenomenal time, I think, for us as a nation, and as communities to kind of take stock of it all. And so, hmm, could handle that better how?
Todd Wuerger:
7:04
I think it's better to test everybody's resiliency as far as how you, you face challenges that you haven't encountered before? And how are you going to work together to be part of the solution. And so I can say, in many ways that I think our organization, all of our team members have been very resilient. And I would also say that it's brought us closer together, we've had to take on these problems together, figure out solutions for them. At the end of the day, we're here to care for patients. And I feel just very fortunate to be actually part of that team that does that every day.
Rauel LaBreche:
7:36
Sure. Well, we can talk about that more down the road. But right now we have to do our my favorite thing, the podcast, which is as you can tell one of my favorite parts of the podcast. But, and I prepped you on this before, but the questions that I put on there, not necessarily only ones we're going to talk about, this is very Shakti and right, okay, you can just kind of, if you see a butterfly, that's just fine. Don't worry about ICMR or whatever. And you know, we and I know you're professional, so I don't have to worry about any Jerry Springer language coming home or anything. So I'm probably in trouble for that. But
Todd Wuerger:
8:13
I'll keep it family friendly.
Rauel LaBreche:
8:15
There you go. There you go. Try to remember right, your dog could be listening. That's right. All right. So okay, first one, our favorite color, blue, blue. Why blue?
Todd Wuerger:
8:26
You know, I think my mom bought a lot of our clothes. I have two brothers. And then when I was growing up, blue is just a color that was often purchased for the three of us. So I think it's a combination of that I have blue eyes. I went through one of those. I think it's what's your color to it was a personality tester. And I think I fell in the blue color, which means I I think I could have this wrong. That was many years ago, but my personality is such that I I think I'm a good listener. I tend to be compassionate. I have wonderful caretakers, remember Yeah, and I think a lot of people that work in the healthcare setting tend to be blue. And so whether whether it's because of that or I'll shamefully admit I was actually a Chicago bear fans going up now. That's a darker shade of blue. I know.
Unknown:
9:22
We're gonna edit that.
Todd Wuerger:
9:24
No, but actually, I Well, that was back in the 70s when the Packers went through they're really really they were kind of a team right so I I liked the color blue so I started cheering for the bears but it wasn't very long that I came to my senses and then I shifted quickly became a fan again.
Rauel LaBreche:
9:43
The Bears fans out there gonna love that reformed bear fan. I that's the thing that came to mind. And now all you know that we love the bears. If we didn't love the bears, we wouldn't have anyone to be angry with when they beat us. Right? So there's kind of we'd love to beat The Bears that's what I know more. So okay, so how about a favorite food?
Todd Wuerger:
10:05
Favorite food? Well, if I, if I'll call it my favorite, but I haven't every morning is oatmeal. It depends what you put in it. But I like to be creative. And some mornings I'll have it without apple and little cinnamon sugar sprinkles on it. Some mornings, I have it with blueberries, some mornings, either with pecans or bananas, but it just, you know, I've stuck to that plan for a better part of three years now every morning and there have been many mornings when I've deviated from that.
Rauel LaBreche:
10:35
What's interesting is it strikes me that oatmeal is one of those things kind of like pasta, right? Where it's just it's a good foundational element for a bunch of different moods and, you know, things that you're going through some blueberries today, you can just throw those on there and the oatmeal doesn't mind, you know? Exactly. Green peppers. Green peppers are not. They're not a friendly thing. Green peppers come on to something and they're like, right, you know, you're like, yeah, it's got green pepper and it doesn't it. So yeah, I'm glad to hear you. Like I actually know several people that are oatmeal.
Todd Wuerger:
11:09
Oatmeal can be a really boring food if you put nothing on it. So the key is you got to put something on it that you like, right? anymore.
Rauel LaBreche:
11:18
Just like boring old oatmeal. That's fine. That's fine. We don't want to make you feel bad for eating your cereal. borro boring. Where are you eating your cereal? Sorry, but I have a big
Todd Wuerger:
11:28
bowl of that. And it will hang with me for a while. So it usually will get me to the lunch hour with having without having a snack. I
Rauel LaBreche:
11:33
have heard that it does stick to yes it does. Okay, how about a favorite animal? Dog dogs in the Bronx?
Todd Wuerger:
11:42
Uh, you know, right now I have a 12 year old dog. She's a miniature schnauzer. Her name is Roxy.
Rauel LaBreche:
11:49
No other boy, he must have some character, you know, and
Todd Wuerger:
11:52
I know Schnauzers may get a bad rap. Because they they Yep. A lot. And yep, they like to talk to but I'll tell you, we've got just the nicest dog. And I'm sure everybody says that about their dog. But I just like dogs, you know, the old saying they're, they're your best friend. That really is true. They're there. You know, they don't judge you. They're always there for you. They're just, you know, and with all the stresses that we all encounter throughout the day. They're just nice to come home to
Rauel LaBreche:
12:18
Yeah, absolutely. Great. We have two dogs, we've we've, for the past number of years now. We've gotten rescue animals to so different agencies in the area. And it's always amazing to me how, like, you say, a dog doesn't judge you a dog. You know, some people complain why they're always jumping up. I mean, making such a hard it's like, well, have you ever stopped to think that your like, the most exciting thing that happens to a dog during their day is seeing the person that they absolutely love? And, you know, and like, I never thought of it that way. And I'm like, Well, you know, I don't know about you. But I feel pretty good. Having somebody come running after me. Like, I'm the most exciting thing that's happened to them in a long time in that unconditional positive regard. Right. So yeah, I don't understand people that don't like dogs. But you. You don't like a dog. It's like, I want to get to know you.
Todd Wuerger:
13:13
Well, I know there's there's a cat people out there and others. And I have no, I just didn't grow up with them. I grew up with dogs. So that's the only thing I guess I know as a pet. But I also want to share and this is something that kind of fits in that area of health and, you know, dogs, you have to care for them too and take them for their preventive checkups. And this was about two and a half years ago, we took our dog in, in the summer, my wife did and learned that she had to have a tooth pulled right. So it was an abscess tooth. They said, You know, you really need to have this removed, and so they set the appointment. So my wife took the dog to her appointment to have her tooth pulled. And they called a little while later. And they said, so we got on your dog's mouth. And we found that she actually needs 20 more of her teeth pulled we have your permission to do so. And we said okay, go ahead. And so after that encounter, and she came home with a cone on her head and was on pain medication for two weeks. Well, first off is a question how many teeth does a dog have you? Did you just take take all of them out? No, they have over 40 So about half of her teeth were removed. And from that day forward, I have been brushing her teeth every night. And I gotta tell you, it's no different than a human. If you don't take care of dogs for oral hygiene. It can it can reduce her reduce their lives. And so now every time we've had they're in for a checkup over the last couple of years, they talk about how clean and healthy her teeth are. And I just want to keep her that way.
Rauel LaBreche:
14:43
It's yeah, and it is a you're absolutely right. It takes time. And we've had both of our dogs have had actually the dogs before this had both had different forms of cancer. And that that's really I mean, I felt, I think Similar to some people feel with any loved one, when you see that they're just kind of going downhill. And there's nothing really in both of their cases, it wasn't a surgical round, we did some different things with diet and some, some, I think in one case, there was some medication we could take to kind of alleviate and slow down the tumor, but never did the chemotherapy. They were both in their mid teens by that point when we found out but yeah, it's it becomes a job, you know, it's it can be work to take care of a pet. And I always think I'm a selfish person, I want everything, you know, me, me, me, me, me. But dogs are really taught me about, you know, it is important to care. Because all of that love that they give you. You know it there, that oughta mean something. And if it means something, you're motivated to help, right and do what you have to
Todd Wuerger:
15:53
do. And just to finish that thought one thing that I've learned, I think there was a stat about it, how it takes, on average, 21 days to develop a new habit. And so don't get me wrong, I was in really enjoying this process with going into my dog's mouth with a toothbrush every night. No, you didn't have that. It was it was really one of the last things I wanted to do. But fortunately, she handled it well. We found a flavor. It's vanilla mint that she likes and so, but after 21 days, it became a habit. And then I really didn't even have to think twice about it in the evening. So it just goes to show you can develop a new habit with brushing your dog's teeth. So you can teach
Rauel LaBreche:
16:31
all kinds of old dogs new tricks, right? So new habits, how about a favorite book,
Todd Wuerger:
16:37
you know, I can't put my finger on a, like a favorite book. But I can say that the books that I enjoy reading, when I do read books are often books about former coaches or current coaches, I'm a kind of a sports fan and a person that grew up around sports. And I always enjoy a good read when a coach who's taken their coaching to a high level has written a book about how they got there. So I think about the and I've read some books about some of the former badger coaches Bo Ryan and Barry Alvarez. And I just found them just very, very interesting how they got started with their coaching careers and some of the, you know, the challenges and opportunities that they encounter along the way, how they, you know, I think the thing that came through and all these books that I read, were just, and it's probably no different than any other profession you take on and you succeed is you got to be passionate about what you're doing. And so that was the thing that I tried to pick up. You know, I try to pick up on things in these books that I can apply in my professional career, whether it's my role with the foundation and things that I could be trying and, and doing to lead an organization or I also coach high school swimming and there's always little nuggets that I can take from other people's successes to apply to my coaching my team, but I just always find these these these stories about coaches and what's gotten them to that level. And and what what can I take from those kinds of books? Sure. One,
Rauel LaBreche:
18:11
they're really good coaches have some real similarities to them, too, don't they, in terms of the passion is one thing, but then also just the the commitment to excellence. That, you know, the commitment to inspiring I mean, I, I find that's one of the things that I sometimes feel like where did the inspiration go, is that the the leaders, particularly in the political arena, lately, are have lost that ability to inspire people, and instead are just energizing them for things, you know, get people going on their their touch points or hot points and say that's different than inspiration. You know, to me, inspiration is, you know, getting you to realize and want to work towards a common goal, right. Whereas energizing the kinds of things we seem to do these days is more about just getting people moving and kind of hoping they all go towards the same thing that you direct them to, but then it gets all diffused and you know, a lot of missing information, you know, misguided pneus it's a it's an interesting time we live in, isn't it? How about this is one I like to wrap up this part of the podcast with but do you have a favorite memory from childhood? Something that when you think about or you know that if you come across something that reminds you of that it just brings you back to that? That place of play? That was fun. I wish I wish I would have done you know, I realize then how insignificant that was going to be later on.
Todd Wuerger:
19:46
Yeah, no, I, I guess as we approach the holiday time of the year, and I've been reminded lately that I need to come up with a skit for the worker family talent show. And what what this is, is I think we're going On a little over 10 years, our kids hadn't been born yet. I have a young family. But my younger brother who had started his family before we did, his kids were young at the time. And it was it was something that we did my family is when we were young, when our cousins would come to visit, for Christmas, we would just put together a bunch of Acts, and we would sell tickets at the door. And so my parents and my cousin's parents, and grandma would sit around in the family room, and we would do anything from reenacting a commercial that we saw on TV for, you know, coffee to somebody playing the piano to it didn't matter, you just came up with a skit, and you just did it. And that was our talent show. So many years went by, and we were just looking for something fun to bring the family together to do a little bonding. And we thought back on our childhood experience, and thought, well, you know, what the heck, let's just do a worker family talent show. And little that we know, at the time that year after year, after year, even last year, when our family did not get together in person, we all put together skits recorded. And then my younger brother who's into technology just stitched them together. And we did a virtual work or family talent show. So even last year, the show must go on. And my 87 year old dad, who is the emcee, he got up there with his top hat and introduce the show. And away we went. And we all had a skit. So anyway, as I think back in my childhood, I was very fortunate that I grew up in a positive, healthy environment, where just you know, family was important. That was that was the core of everything that we did, and the holidays meant that we just took a break from all the busyness of life, and we were together. And that's something that I'll just, I'll never forget. Sure.
Rauel LaBreche:
21:51
I wonder if that isn't part of our, our mental health issues today. Even as the, the erosion of families, in the end, there's so many factors that play into that, right the, the financial needs that have been, you know, in the financial pressures that are put on families that, you know, make both members of the family both husband and wife and oftentimes the kids have to work just to get by right. Or the the pressures just of you know, wanting to have a career and, you know, once you get started towards a career of wanting to just keep working, working, working, working, working, and you end up at a point where you don't have time to have a meal together, or the kids get so involved in things that you you know, barely see that many more, right? They're doing something every day. So there there's a you know, I think about that sometimes of how do we get that back? How do we get back to having the worker family, you know, talent shows that our doesn't take that much time, right, but it is a bonding thing. There's a a play our town by Thorton Wilder and I've always thought that it's so beautiful that the moment where George and Emily are first finding out how much they love each other in the background the church choir is practicing and the song that they sing is blessed to be the ties that bind and lace up boy what a what a genius way of putting things together right so I'm encouraging everyone that's out there listening to this right now think about the ties that bind and see if you can't figure out a way to strengthen them right, sir right. So folks, my guest today is Todd worker who is the Executive Director of the sock prairie Hospital Foundation that I get it right that
Todd Wuerger:
23:36
time Health Care Foundation, you know, and I'll just I'll just emphasize why it's healthcare not hospital and that is because as you mentioned earlier, Raul when so the the hospital owns four primary care clinics. And those are located in mais Khomeini spring green plane in Lodi. And so basically we are a healthcare system in the sense that we take care of the patients when they come to the hospital urgent care, because they have urgent or emergent needs or pre planned surgeries. But they also come to our primary care clinics and when they come to our primary clinics, and we have a staff that's dedicated to taking care of their needs, and referring them into the hospital when those when those additional needs are needed. So it's we really view ourselves as a fully integrated healthcare system. So I
Rauel LaBreche:
24:25
won't make that Miss. No, no, no, no, that's a no now what's going on what health care? So no, thank Thanks, doc. Because it is easy to think about it as the Hospital Foundation, I think is in the old days, at least I remember the big drive for the hospital and that became kind of a primary maybe, at least for that time. A primary focus for the foundation was to make that possible. Right.
Todd Wuerger:
24:48
Exactly. Yeah. The the original Hospital was built in 1956 and it was called sock Puri Memorial Hospital. Many years went by They continue to build on to the hospital that was in Prairie du SAC, which is what our Wellspring campuses now. But when that that, that land where we were unable to expand any longer and the needs continue to rise, that's when they secured the land or by the airport and built and did a major fundraising campaign to raise money for that new hospital. The foundation, of course, led that effort and we raised $5.2 million over an 18 month period of time. But really what's important about that, not so much, you know, the amount in the period of time, but just the fact that the community stepped up to support the need of the hospital. I think everybody knows what a what a wonderful asset, this is to the community, the fact that we have a hospital here, not every small community has a hospital. So I strongly believe that there was a reason why they raise so much money in such a short period of time is they they very much wanted this hospital to remain here.
Rauel LaBreche:
26:01
While folks so my guest today is Todd Wuerger, who's the executive director of the sock Perry Health Care Foundation, we're going to take a quick break to hear a word from our sponsors here on 99 Seven Max FM, don't go anywhere, you're not going to miss want to miss the Mr. Conversations really kind of dive into some of the mental health issues that are going on today, as well as a particular course that's now being offered through our healthcare organizations here in town on mental health first aid. So you're gonna want to listen because there might be the tools and tidbits of information that will help you to deal with your own mental health. But
Unknown:
26:40
the people that you care the most about them are part of your life. So
Rauel LaBreche:
26:43
don't go anywhere. We'll be right back here on frame of reference. He did need it now have no fear. The problem solvers are here rented at Macfarlanes in Sauk. City, we've got everything to help make your party a success. gables, tents, tablecloths, treat machines, you name it, something on that funny duelist getting put off, we can help with everything from edgers to excavators, floors, trimmers, generators, lifts, it's all here under one 200,000 square foot roof at Mcfarlanes. In Sauk. City, your complete rental center one block south of highway 12 at 780. Carolina's street where service is a family tradition. Well we're back here at frame of reference, talking with Todd Wuerger, who before we took a break was telling you about the worker family talent show, which I am going to ask for probably the tapes of that virtual wound because I want to see the range of talent that there is in the worker family, which just sounds like a fun tradition in in any family. So but Todd is the executive director of the SOC pre Health Care Foundation. And you know, and the question that came up my in my mind right away, Todd was how does one become an executive director of a Healthcare Foundation and it's like, I can't see no offense, but I can't see a person being in high school going, when I grow up. I want to be an executive director. It's just it's not something you even really, I think know about when you're younger, right? That these things even exist and then you know, when you find out that there are these foundations is like what everyone's working on basements. I don't get it. What's the deal? So tell me a little bit how did you get into this career?
Todd Wuerger:
28:20
In life? Short answer my wife,
Rauel LaBreche:
28:23
your wife, okay. It's all your fault.
Todd Wuerger:
28:25
And so yeah, truth be told it was my wife. And that's why we should always listen to our spouses. Right. And also the reasons one of the reasons in all seriousness, I, I knew about this job, months before I actually applied for it, I just didn't think I had the right skill set and the experience for this. So I, I came from a business background, I went to school for business I, I do have a master's degree in business and I had spent many, many years working in the insurance business and doing roles primarily in sales and business development. So I I just figured that my future was more finding a business setting and continue to to pursue that.
Rauel LaBreche:
29:11
So when you were off air, you were talking about working for unity. So when you talk insurance, you're talking health insurance, yes. Okay.
Todd Wuerger:
29:18
Yes. Yes. So I, I had a couple of short careers be after I graduated from college, but for a good period of time during my professional career, I worked at unity here in Sauk city and 10 years and then I kind of moved on from there to become an independent insurance agent and role that's where I met you is when I was on the chamber of directors or chamber board of directors and at the time, I was working for an insurance agency based out of Beaver Dam, but they set up an office in Sauk city and I did that for five years and then the Affordable Care Act came in and compensation with agents was changed and long story short, I got out of it but I I left for a period of time and went into the retail business. Find out quickly that that that wasn't very,
Rauel LaBreche:
30:02
that's a big shift from a very, very big
Todd Wuerger:
30:05
shift. That's that's a whole nother story, both selling things, but that's about it. And I was selling swimsuits to which you would think would be a passion for me because I coach high school swimming, and I was a competitive swimmer. But now I was only there for seven months. And I, I moved on and took a career for working for a medical society. But it was during that time that some things changed in the work environment, the person that had hired me and I was reporting to left the organization and I reported somebody else that I knew our futures together probably weren't gonna last much longer. But what happened was my wife notice that this job had been posted. And I knew the previous executive director who had been in the role for 18 years. And I thought, wow, that she's finally retiring. But again, note, no desire to apply for the job. And she just kept prodding at me. And just to get off my back, I said, Fine, I'll apply for the job. And I really wasn't expecting to, to get a call. But the day after I put in my application, somebody from the human resource team called and said, we'd like to have you come in an interview. So I said, Sure, what the heck. And so I sat down with a subset of the board of directors. And anyway, let's just say that the interview when more better than I anticipated, expected it to be, in the part about it, there really was very intriguing that got my just my competitive juices flowing. And just the the thing that interests me was how it took on this community health role. So not only are you raising money, that's what foundation directors do, but you're finding ways to give it back to the hospital and to the community in the form of wellness grants. And when they said that this is a really key part of this position. I'll never forget, I was driving home and the first call I made after that interview was done, my wife and I just I was so excited. I said, You'll never believe what part of this role is and, and wellness and health is just it's I guess, probably from a very early age has been part of my core, I was raised by a community health nurse, and just you know, one of the famous sayings that we had in our houses, your, your, your your health is your first wealth, and you always take take care of your health. And so I just when I learned that there was this community health component to the job, well, then, of course, I, I wanted to have a callback, I was hoping I get a call back. And sure enough, the next day, they invited me back for a secondary interview and, and the rest is history, I was hired for the position. But what does an executive director do? Well, we we raise money, and we raise money for a good cause. And that is to at the end of the day, keep the patients that come to sock berry health care, healthy, right. And in many cases, and the songs kind of counter maybe counterproductive or counterintuitive, I guess I don't know which which is appropriate word. But, you know, a hospital is here to take care of patients. And of course, they survive on taking care of patients. But in the role of a foundation, you're trying to put messaging out to the community and grants out to the community to take care of yourself, you know, take care of the or do these preventive measures so that you don't end up in the hospital. And so it's a really unique and cool role to be leading be in a leadership position within the community where you're putting money out in the community in form of grants where you want organizations and you want people to take care of themselves and to stay healthy, so they don't have to, you suck pre health care. And so that's what I really enjoy is being able to promote health and wellness in the form of grants. And we do that by raising money. It is let's face it, you know you're you're selling something right. And there's always a stigma with you know, you're you're a fundraiser, you're you're selling something, but what can go wrong with improving people's health. And so to me that resonates with my personality and my value structure and who I am as a person, and I want to keep people healthy,
Rauel LaBreche:
33:56
isn't that I mean that that base route of raising money, you know, there is a tendency for us to think of, you know, well, if I'm raising money, then that's sort of salies What I'm trying to do, and yet, I mean, I think of you know, my theater experience, I always think of a theatrical correlative, but they're in the musical carousel. There are cabaret. I'm sorry, in Cabaret, there's a lead player there, who at one point, you know, Cabaret is set during Nazi Germany time. And in this cabaret that you know, is, is pretty seedy in a lot of ways. But the lead player at one point comes up and sings money makes a bad guy rounds of Adguard rounds of Elga round, right? And there's an unfortunate reality there, right that if you want to be able to do anything, whether it's the benefit of people or you know, to the detriment of people, it does take money and organizations like your own. You can hold up the ideal of This is this is a really good thing that we're raising this money in order to help keep people healthy. And I think you're right. There's kind of a counterintuitive thing that well, but if you if everyone gets healthy, then they're not going to need to go to the hospital. So, you know, isn't that kind of hitting our bottom line, but in my brain that speaks to the integrity and the, the honesty, the know the word I'm looking for. But that sense of you mean it, that because you wouldn't be able to work in that sort of environment where the success of what you do impacts the financial success of another organization you're working for for? Right, there's this sense of, Well, they're not going to come and tell you why you're doing too good job keeping people healthy, we need to get them sick. So more of them come in the door for hospital, right? You're never going to, I would think you'd never going to hear that from the hospital administrator or any of the doctors or anything, right?
Todd Wuerger:
35:56
No, and even if we did, we did such a wonderful job promoting health and wellness that people think sick anymore, there's always going to be reasons for people to go to a hospital, right accidents, there's accidents, there's just
Rauel LaBreche:
36:11
illnesses that you can't really, I mean, how many people have you known that are super healthy, and they got COVID? You know, there are nationally, you know, focused upon cases of folks that were absolutely rock solid, healthy, and they got COVID and died. And that's just the recent example. But there's plenty of those were, you know, someone we don't know why, but they got very sick and needed a hospital. So are you finding in in your line of work and others that those experiences that you had leading up to this that you continue to look back on that as feeding your capability to lead now? I mean, it was it seeing other people that were leaders that were like, I wouldn't do that if I was leading, or was it seeing people to you talk about biographies in the first segment? There, there were some leadership principles there. Right, that really led you to be a better leader.
Todd Wuerger:
37:08
Yeah, you know, I, I think when I look at my position with the foundation and being a leader is it's about it's about doing the right thing I, I worked many years ago, when I was working at Unity for a CEO that he had a saying, and it related to selling health insurance. And the saying was, you know, you do the right thing and the money will follow. Right. So you you you go out, you represent the the product, you represent the company, you do it with integrity, you do it the right way you don't cut corners, you, you be honest with people, and you know, you may not get every customer but at the end of the day, we'll have enough business coming on coming in that will do fine. Well, you can apply that same principle in anything you do in life, you do the right thing, the right thing will happen you the pieces will fall in place, you know, you don't take don't take shortcuts, you you you do the right thing, and the right thing will follow. And so that's one of my principles. And I feel like I've I've done that, ever since I started with a foundation and as a leader, that's a really important thing is that you have to you have to practice what you preach, and you have to do things the right way. Do you
Rauel LaBreche:
38:18
feel that there's a it seems like part of our, our culture, our culture, the fabric of our nation, in fact, is I guess I want to say torn by the right thing being defined in traditionally not appropriate or not correct ways. I think of the alternative facts, you know, spectrum that's going on now. We're anyone that has an opinion, can state it as if it's factual. And that strikes me as a really dangerous and precarious place to be. Because if that's the case, then what is right, can be based on a false fact. So it's, it's the given this knowledge, which is come to find as a lie, is what I operate on in order to do the right thing. I may, in fact, be doing the wrong thing. So do you what do you feel is your compass for determining that? No, this really is the right thing. And I, I see the fruits of having thought this way, well enough to know that this is in fact, the right way. What how do you nail that down for yourself? Oh,
Todd Wuerger:
39:32
well, that's a really good question. Well, I what I can say as in my role, with the foundation, I am part of the leadership team and I participate in a lot of leadership meetings with the other directors and VPs and our CEO is, you know, we we rely a lot on unseen science and data to drive the decision making that we have and and I respect, authority and And the people that I'm around every day. So maybe part of being in a healthcare setting is you, you know, you, you, you rely on that data and that science because there there are people that have studied this information for a long period of time they've been trained. And and for me, that's just, that's just what I follow. I need to follow the facts, and I need to follow the science. And I think anybody that works in a healthcare organization, that's, that's what you hang your hat on at the end of the day?
Rauel LaBreche:
40:30
Sure. It seems to me, I actually read a brief article by I believe, with physician, yeah, he was a physician at Mount Olivet. And he talked about in this whole COVID pandemic, one of the things that he was observing was that there wasn't enough humility at the table of these discussions that there were too many people rushing to sound factual when the evidence wasn't quite there. So when we would predict what's going to happen, there was a confidence that really wasn't well founded, because the reality of the disease has been it's been up, it's been down, it's been up, it's been down. And the only thing that seems relatively predictable is it seems to be on about a two month cycle. Do you feel like that, that has that that desire to have an answer gets in the way of sometimes doing the right thing? And just saying, you know, we just don't know, and taking the licks that you get for? Well, why don't you know, you're supposed to be an expert. Why don't you know, you know, there's a, there's a fear there that I think can overtake even the best intentioned people. And they do give an answer. That's, you know, what, I am an expert. And I'm not going to be made to feel like I'm not an expert. You're not I'm getting out there said that. I think we get pressured into having answers. And sometimes the best answer is we just don't know right now. And that's not an acceptable answer, right? Because I'm Burger King. And I want that hamburger my way. Give me an answer. said,
Todd Wuerger:
42:11
yeah. So I I will admit there there. There have been times when I've heard that said that we we don't know. And I think that's acceptable, because we're facing something that we haven't faced before. And we don't have all the answers. But we, what we do have is we have the benefit a little bit of other parts of the country or other parts of the world that perhaps are a little bit ahead of where we are currently. And so the ability to be watched the experiences that other other org, or other communities or other parts of the world are going through and then trying to base our decisions based on things that they've experienced, or that they've tried that perhaps either succeeded or not succeeded, and then building up a strategy around that. That's really the the most historical or, you know, best information that we have at the moment, we really tried to go with the best information we have at the moment, before we make our decisions. Do you think
Rauel LaBreche:
43:09
that there's, you know, when I look at the leadership examples around us, sometimes I feel like they're getting different information than I'm getting. And that's becomes really difficult because I I don't get how, how your information base can be so different from my information base. And we both think we're getting good information. So is there in your leadership role? Are you able to, you know, find ways to kind of sift through all of that information and say, Okay, well, yeah, there's some truth here. And there's some truth here. And this is bogus. And so is this, you know, there, you know, that sifting and winnowing process? Do you have experience with that, and that you utilize that, you
Todd Wuerger:
43:54
know, I'm, I'm, I guess I could say, fortunately, in the, I'm not in a clinical role, where I'm responsible for doing that. What I can say is the people that are part of that process, and part of those discussions, I have a high level of trust in that they've done the deep dive research and they've consulted with other organizations, such as the CDC, and these are, these are physicians, these are people that are you know, they they've, they've gone through medical school and additional training, and they they have the foundation there to be able to, to know what the data is saying is true. And so I, I just put a high level of trust and respect in that the decisions that are making are going by the best information they have and that's what's moving our organization forward. So in
Rauel LaBreche:
44:48
your role as you're making decisions about, let's say fundraising, right, and, and technologies, methodologies that are working for other foundations. Do you have a litmus test of sorts that you Look at those things and say, Well, yeah, that that worked really well for them. But I don't know that it would work here. Because that community is very different. And I mean, it seems, seems to me that a lot of the things that we deal with, in general, have a lot of factors to them a lot of facets to them that if you just say, Well, they did that here, and it worked just fine. It's like, Yeah, but you know,
Todd Wuerger:
45:22
yeah, you know, so and that's a really good question. So as it relates to my role, with the foundation and going out and fundraising, I belong to a couple of professional organizations, one of which is a an international organization called The Association for healthcare, philanthropy or hp. The other one is a more local or regional professional organization called RW HC, the rural Wisconsin Health Care Network, or Co Op, I should say, and they're actually based here in Sauk. City is their home. And that's a group of foundation directors around the state that work for a foundation of small rural hospitals like ours. And so when the pandemic head, I'll just kind of stick to the, you know, the more recent where we've had to make some decisions about, well, how do you fundraise in a pandemic, you know, the inability to do an in person event like a golf outing. And so for two straight years now, we have not had a golf outing, nor have we had another in person event that we hold that the vintage, and not that that's all of our revenue, but it makes up a good part of it. And what's really important to us is that we be able to, a couple times a year, bring our donors together with friends and, and an AED use it as an opportunity to have a social event, but also to educate and raise awareness about what we're doing for the hospital. And so the inability to do that, we had to do some pivoting. And so what do you do? Well, you consult with your professional organizations, how did you How have you managed this one? What what new things have you tried out, and that not everything that other organizations do necessarily will work in your area. But one of the things that we did very early on in the pandemic, is we had a donor one day that called and, and he had caught when that? You know, we had suspended elective surgeries, we were required to do so. And, you know, what did that mean to the hospital? And I'm going to guess you you financially are struggling, you know, is there something that we can do to help and one of the things that was very much needed at the time as a way to keep our environment safe, was to purchase what are there, they're basically robots that you would put in a in a in a clinical area. And they disinfect or kill all the pathogens in that area in a very short period of time. And so we went out and purchase to the hospital dead, they're very expensive piece of equipment. But they did it as a result of a gift, a very generous gift from this couple. And so I asked if I had permission to share that they had made this gift. And their initial response was no, you know, we like to remain anonymous. And these gifts, we feel very fortunate that we have the ability to do this, but now we really don't. But then he came back and said, but if by sharing our names, you think it will inspire others to give them Yeah, feel free to share that. So we were literally weeks away from putting out a spring newsletter of which we were going to use a different frontline story. But because they they made this gift and allowed us to use her name to inspire others, we use it as a campaign. And so we we share their names, and we said would you please join this couple in and helping us raise money for COVID relief. And I will say that in that two month period of time, once the newsletter went out, we raised over $200,000. And that is something that we we don't normally see when you're putting out a newsletter to to your donors, and we extended it to patients as well. But it was just this amazing outpouring from the community that they they heard the message, they wanted to join this couple, it was a very well respected couple in the community. And so they stepped up and and if it weren't for that, the those those resources that we took in, we want to be able to help the hospital achieve many of the things they needed to address some of the COVID needs out there. So I guess what I'm seeing with this vector crushing role is, is we, you know, we we consult with other organizations, not everything that they try necessarily works, and you can't necessarily replicate something that another organization does, but at the time, it felt right to do it that way. And that's what we did. And in hindsight, it was a it was a good decision. But now we're just going to continue as we go into 2022 and moving forward just to you know, think outside the box and just think about other things, ways that we can do things.
Rauel LaBreche:
49:57
It's interesting because as you're talking about that I'm thinking about How there's an intuitive component to that, that you're alluding to with that you just kind of felt this was the right way to God, you kind of you know, and I, I believe personally that that intuition is informed by all of our experience kind of coming together and you know, helping to foment who we are and our experiences, all that good stuff. But then I also appreciated how you were respectful to the donor to that there, there's another component to that leadership processes, knowing enough to well, this is what's going to work for us best, but instead just saying, Hey, would you be willing to? And initially they said, No, but then as the day had a chance to foment on it or you know, percolate on the idea, it's like, well, but if it will help, and I think that that's kind of a that process is even somewhat driven by the leadership as well. Because if you provide a space where, you know, your the people that you're leading, have the room to make their own decisions, that can be really positive and really healthy as well. Right?
Todd Wuerger:
51:05
Well, I'm just very grateful that they, they were willing to share that they had made this gift because basis, basically, I think there's a lot of people out there that if if, if, if there's an assets being made, and not always will they make decisions about how they want to, you know, donate based on what others are doing, but it was an opportunity that presented itself and I I'm just very grateful that they stepped up and not only supported what we needed, but then said that we could, you know, share their names. And I think that truly did inspire others people to step up as well. And that's not being there's no shame in that. That's just, again, it's it's, it's just providing an opportunity that they that a little nudge that they may have needed to make those similar gifts. Sure.
Rauel LaBreche:
51:55
Folks, my guest today is Todd Wuerger, who's the executive director of the sock pro Healthcare Foundation. We're going to take a brief break from our sponsors, wrap up this episode, and then Todd and I are going to continue our conversation. Just kind of scratched the surface on a couple of things. We're going to see if we can take a little bit of a deep dive into those for next episode. So don't go anywhere. We'll be right back here. frame of reference. 99 Seven Max FM's digital network.
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52:24
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Rauel LaBreche:
52:56
Johnson and Johnson has a page on their website entitled, Who cares for the caregivers in it they state you must take care of yourself in order to help anyone at all. And yet somehow this message gets lost for the millions of Americans called to take care of a loved one for days, weeks, months, or even years. Who takes care of them. Whether you're a family member or a professional healthcare provider, the question is still valid. Todd worker on the staff at Sauk Prairie Health Care Foundation are acutely aware of the need to take care of our health care providers and work regularly to help them get the resources they need. But what about the rest of us? What are you and I capable of doing that would help those upon whom we rely on to help us when we need regular or urgent medical assistance. The current pandemic has put our health care providers under unprecedented stress. In some communities, the nurses and doctors and other medical staff are breaking under the increased workload. So what can we do to help care for the caretakers? I suggest we could start by following their directions. We could and should change our frame of reference by disregarding all the social media posts and bias news reports and experts quarter that lead us to doubt those closest to us. And instead, listen and heed the advice of those that are directly providing our care. Care for those that care for you. By trusting that they really do have our best interests at heart. If we can't or won't do that. Then how do we expect anyone to care? Maybe you could even consider a gift to the foundation. Stay well
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