The Backstory

A strong return is only half the job.

For CVS Health Ventures Managing Partner and Co-founder Vijay Patel, the other half is strategic: Back companies that can improve the consumer experience, support clinicians and take on affordability.

Vijay joined Jarrard President and Founding Partner Anne Hancock Toomey for Backstory Sessions, Jarrard’s limited short-form podcast series recorded live at the Nashville Health Care Council’s Healthcare Sessions 2026 conference.

He shared how a career that began in private equity led to digital health partnerships, strategy and business development at CVS Health – and eventually to his pitch for the venture arm the company didn’t have. Five years after raising its first $100 million, CVS Health Ventures has grown to 40 portfolio companies.

His take on AI is equally grounded: Put it to work on the administrative burden so clinicians can spend more time with patients. Don’t ask it to replace the relationship at the heart of care.

Vijay’s advice to his younger self is worth carrying forward: Careers are long. Be generous. Build real relationships. Earn trust over time.

Watch the full episode now, then subscribe to our YouTube channel to follow the series.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from Healthcare Sessions 2026 in Nashville, host Anne Hancock Toomey talks with J.R. Green, founder and board chair of Psychiatric Medical Care (PMC), the nation’s largest behavioral healthcare management company with 400+ hospital locations across 35 states.

Greene traces his path from consumer brand leadership at Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Revlon into healthcare, guided by his psychiatrist father.

He talks about the challenging conversation with his father that led to switching from consumer goods to healthcare and founding PMC - turning around a small company that was under significant pressure and growing it from six employees in two locations to thousands.

Of course, there's plenty of conversation about leadership lessons learned along the way...but also about Greene's one-of-a-kind background as the Big Orange Tux Guy (IYKYK) and a children's book author.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from Healthcare Sessions 2026 in Nashville, Anne Hancock Toomey interviews Jenn Adams, CEO of August Bioservices, about her 30+ year career in sterile injectable manufacturing and the path that led her from Baxter into entrepreneurship. Adams explains how a long-standing investor partnership helped launch August Bioservices in 2020 with a mission to bridge the gap between demand for critical sterile injectable medicines and manufacturing capacity. She describes rebuilding and expanding the Nashville site, recruiting top-tier technical talent during the pandemic, and qualifying high-speed equipment for prefilled syringes and vials. All of this operation work, she is quick to point out, is driven by people far more than assets - and she closes with the reminder to “not be afraid” and to pursue meaningful work. Also, the first Backstory F1 pit crew reference.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Backstory Sessions — a new short-form series recorded live at Healthcare Sessions 2026 in Nashville, and also on YouTube.

Host Anne Hancock Toomey sits down with David Dill, chairman and CEO of Lifepoint Health, to discuss his path from growing up with a basketball-coach father and teacher mother to earning an accounting degree at Murray State and moving to Nashville in 1991. Dill explains how work at Deloitte and a dialysis startup pulled him into healthcare in 1996, leading to nearly two decades at Lifepoint and eight years as CEO. He reflects on how the CEO role demands stewardship of culture and values across 55,000 team members in 34 states, including intentional communication - for example, revamping internal comms through daily videos during COVID.

Dill shares why “always do the right thing, even when no one is watching” guides difficult decisions, outlines strategic bets on diversification and asset-based operating structure, and offers advice on passion, mentorship, coachability, and learning through failure.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a bonus!

In this special edition episode , Anne Hancock Toomey interviews Warner Thomas, president and CEO of Sutter Health.

They start with a note about the first podcast Anne ever hosted - a 2020 conversation with Thomas that reminds us all of how much has changed even as the principles of authentic leadership haven't.

From there, Thomas traces his path from a disciplined, outdoorsy childhood in Vermont to pumping gas, plowing snow, and later studying accounting and computer information systems. Like many guests, Thomas hadn't planned on a healthcare career. He instead started with an eye towards investment banking, training at Ernst & Young before making the leap and heading to. Southern New Hampshire Medical Center. There, an early mentor shaped his leadership perspective and professional experience.

Later on, Thomas spent 24 years at Ochsner Health, rising to CEO leading major growth and innovation and learning to center strategy on patients and purpose through initiatives like “Power of One,” while prioritizing people during Katrina and COVID. Joining Sutter four years ago, he became the system's first outsider CEO in 40 years. He began his tenure with a deep and thoughtful talent assessment, then built a rapid growth strategy including ambulatory expansion. Throughout it all, Thomas has emphasized communication, trust and the key leadership traits of being humble, hungry, smart and curious.

• 2:18 Life in California
• 3:53 Vermont Roots
• 6:13 First Jobs
• 10:24 Mentors and Leadership Style
• 14:29 Learning Mindset and Strategy
• 17:19 Ochsner Growth Lessons
• 21:20 Purpose and Culture
• 25:22 Joining Sutter
• 31:56 Leadership Traits
• 34:15 Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final episode of Season 2, Anne Hancock Toomey interviews Cynthia Brandt, PhD. Brandt is CEO of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health and a deeply respected leader in the world of philanthropy. Brandt reflects on growing up in the Midwest in a minister’s family, early lessons in authenticity from a difficult camping experience and the teacher who led the excursion, and how receiving scholarships didn’t just make higher education for her but also sparked her belief that philanthropy can change lives. Before joining the foundation that helps power Stanford Children’s Health, Brandt built her career through a series of impressive roles. After work in banking and nonprofit roles, she pursued sociology in graduate school, worked at Stanford, moved to a profoundly meaningful role at Mills College, and later led a record-breaking Smithsonian campaign that exceeded its $1.5B goal by educating the public through grassroots storytelling. She discusses her CEO learning curve through the pandemic, a stewardship mistake that reshaped her approach, leadership traits like culture, humility, and clarity, and her focus on joy and purpose at work.

1:40 Midwest Roots

4:22 A Lesson from Camping

06:44 Scholarships Changed Everything

10:52 Finding Sociology

12:18 Stanford And Mills

16:57 The Smithsonian and Storytelling At Scale

22:38 From the Smithsonian To Children’s Health

26:10 First Time CEO Lessons…and Mistakes

31:46 Traits Of Great Leaders

34:52 Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Patrick Frias is a truly unique leader with a truly unique story. Today, he is wrapping up his tenure as Co-President and Chief Executive Officer of Rady Children’s Health before heading back to his old stomping grounds in Georgia to lead Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

In episode 209 of the Backstory, Anne Hancock Toomey interviews Dr. Frias about how he became who he is today and the way he thinks about leadership. co-CEO of Rady Children’s Health, noting that after their recording he was announced as the next leader of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

He was born in Chile, raised in Gainesville, Fla., and finished college in Nebraska as a theology major before heading off to medical school to become a pediatric cardiologist.

Along the way, he learned from – and was deeply supported by – his family during some tough childhood years. He also learned how to treat people thanks to an early job pumping gas at a local Mobile station.

Today, he leads by focusing on mission and people first, and in this conversation he and Anne talk about:

• How to stay grounded and steady through both success and adversity
• The importance of surrounding yourself with talented people and empowering them to lead
• Leading with humility, empathy and a clear sense of purpose, especially in a complex world like healthcare

Chapters:

• 1:57 Roots in Chile and Florida
• 3:42 Bullying and Empathy
• 4:29 First Jobs
• 6:27 Creighton, Theology and Pediatric Cardiology
• 11:41 Atlanta Career and Leadership Rise
• 15:07 Healthcare Leadership Realities
• 17:26 Becoming Rady CEO
• 24:55 Merger Mission and Stakeholders
• 30:13 Leadership Traits and Growth Edge
• 32:07 Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marty Bonick is about as well-known a name as you’ll find when it comes to the National – and Nashville – healthcare scene. Bonick is President and CEO of Ardent Health, which operates 30 hospitals and more than 280 care sites across mid-sized urban markets nationwide, while employing over 24,000 team members. In this conversation, Bonick and Anne Hancock Toomey talk about his time growing up on Chicago’s South Side with a construction-worker father and nurse mother, his shift from pre-med to healthcare administration, and learning the industry through an administrative fellowship at Hillcrest in Tulsa. He describes mentors who shaped his patient-first approach, early leadership lessons from serving frozen yogurt and prepping pizzas, and being thrust into a first CEO role at 32. He also recounts the moment when, watching the movie Twister on VHS, he got a call asking if he’d be interested in moving to Oklahoma. Yes, really.

• 2:13 From Chicago to Healthcare
• 4:40 Handy Skills and First Jobs
• 7:07 Mentors and Work Ethic
• 9:52 Hillcrest Fellowship to COO
• 13:04 Becoming CEO at 32
• 16:41 Three Leadership Rules
• 18:47 Starting Over in Louisville
• 22:25 Measuring What Matters
• 26:26 Taking The Career Fork
• 30:45 Fired
• 34:20 Traits of Great Leaders
• 36:41 Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Season 2, Episode 7, Anne Hancock Toomey sits down with Lisa Shannon, CEO of Allina Health, to discuss her impressive trajectory from a rural community in Ohio to leading a health system with 12 hospitals and dozens of clinics across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Shannon began her career as a hospital-based dietician, growing and evolving to become a highly respected executive and leader. That success came from the early influence of her grandmother, along with, of course, mentors and leaders along the way. Shannon talks about a devastating medical error that affected her family early in her life. Indeed, one of Shannon’s priorities throughout her leadership career has been the pursuit of zero safety events, which includes creating a culture where anyone and everyone is empowered to speak up.

She also offers insights into balancing work and family and emphasizes the significance of listening to one's instincts in making career choices.

• 2:02 Early Life and Influences
• 4:42 First Jobs and Early Career
• 7:50 College and Career Path
• 15:36 Leadership Journey and Mentorship
• 16:58 Patient Safety and Cultural Change
• 21:38 Career Highlights and Challenges
• 30:59 Leadership Insights from the Role of CEO
• 35:04 Balancing Career and Family
• 39:43 Lightning Round and Closing Thoughts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob Allen is CEO of Intermountain Health, one of the nation's largest and most innovative health systems. In this episode, host Anne Hancock Toomey talks with allen Allen about his journey from growing up on a dairy farm in Wyoming to becoming a healthcare CEO at the age of 28. And if you're thinking you've heard the farm-to-CEO story before, you'd be right. Several of Anne's Backstory guests come from a similar background and here, they discuss parts of that life that may point people to careers in executive leadership.

Beyond that, Allen discusses the valuable lessons learned from his rural upbringing, the various roles he undertook in healthcare from nursing homes to hospitals, and his commitment to servant leadership. He delves into his early career challenges, including turnarounds of financially struggling hospitals, the significance of a people-first mindset, and the necessity of addressing the correct problems in leadership.

As he recounts his progression through different roles at Intermountain Health, Rob emphasizes the importance of transparency, hope, and engaging employees to achieve organizational success. He also opens up about balancing his demanding career with family life and offers advice for aspiring leaders. The conversation highlights Rob's visionary approach in simplifying healthcare and expanding proactive care, and the importance of authenticity, purpose, and compassion in leadership.

• 2:24 Early Life on the Farm
• 6:35 Influential Figures
• 8:38 College Years and Career Beginnings
• 11:40 Transition to Healthcare Administration & Leadership Challenges
• 17:28 Turnaround Success Stories
• 21:01 Career Moves and New Opportunities
• 22:14 Returning to Intermountain Health
• 24:37 Building a Hospital in Park City
• 33:05 Balancing Family and Career
• 35:27 Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Hale is the CEO of health tech company Oura. Producing one of the most prominent wearables out there (The Oura Ring), Oura is working to improve health and wellness through sustainable behavior change. In this episode, Hale and host Anne Hancock Toomey discuss his journey from working as a bike mechanic in Reno, Nevada, to a career spanning some of the most notable tech companies of the past 20+ years: Macromedia, Adobe, Linden Lab (creator of Second Life), HomeAway, and SurveyMonkey. He discusses the transformative impact of Oura's smart ring on his personal health, as well as his professional mission to shift healthcare towards preventative care through technology and AI. Hale also reflects on the lessons learned from his diverse career, emphasizing the importance of human-centric leadership, accountability, and ambition. The conversation offers valuable insights into the future of health tech and the power of mission-driven companies.

• 3:18 Early Life and Influences
• 7:31 First Jobs and Formative Experiences
• 10:11 Career Beginnings and Influences
• 13:27 Macromedia and Adobe: Lessons in Leadership
• 18:27 Linden Labs and the Early Metaverse
• 21:33 Joining HomeAway: The Birth of Vacation Rentals
• 25:24 Lessons from SurveyMonkey and the Importance of Brand
• 27:18 Joining Oura
• 32:37 The Vision for Oura and Healthcare Transformation
• 34:33 Leadership Insights and Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Spencer is a tech entrepreneur and founder of TeamQ, who today is using his decade playing in the NFL as a foundation for helping athletes across the country maximize their potential on the field and in life. In this episode, Spencer and Anne Hancock Toomey discuss his background growing up in Bentonia, Mississippi, transitioning from farm life to football. He wasn't just a football player, though. Spencer had an impressive career at Ole Miss and, following a conversation with Archie Manning, entered the draft...where he was picked in the first round (unheard of for a center) and ended up snapping the ball on the play that instantly became known as BeastQuake.

Here, Spencer shares insights into his dyslexia diagnosis and how football became both a crutch and a tool for his personal development. He digs into the lessons he learned and the needs he observed while playing that led him to his post-NFL career founding TeamQ, a performance intelligence platform aimed at empowering athletes beyond the game. The conversation covers Spencer’s leadership philosophies, the importance of relationships, and AI. Plus, the joy of driving tractors on the farm.

• 2:02 Early Life and Family
• 7:33 College Football Journey
• 13:32 Realizing NFL Potential
• 17:30 NFL Career Highlights
• 19:35 Leadership On and Off the Field
• 20:53 Transitioning from NFL to Life After
• 25:07 From Physiology to Technology
• 35:07 Balancing Family and Entrepreneurship
• 38:06 Leadership Insights
• 39:40 Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Anne interviews Chris Bishop about his multifaceted career in healthcare and his transition to leading in the animal health sector as CEO of Veterinary Innovative Partners (VIP). Bishop shares his journey from growing up in Tennessee, working the seafood counter, playing college basketball, working in myriad roles within healthcare and navigating the complexities of corporate leadership. He reframes "sales" as influencing behavior, discusses the importance of mentorship and highlights pivotal moments that shaped his leadership style. He also reflects on the impact of faith and the value of creating a culture of ownership within an organization. As always, stick around for the lightning round.

• 2:44 - Growing Up in Tennessee
• 7:59 - College and Career Aspirations
• 9:12 - Entering the Healthcare Industry
• 16:05 - Leading Regent Surgical Partners
• 22:24 - Transition to Veterinary Healthcare
• 24:53 - The Pet Boom and Its Implications
• 27:58 - Leadership Lessons and Personal Growth
• 30:53 - Balancing Family and Career
• 33:39 - The Role of Faith in Leadership
• 34:57 - Qualities of Effective Leaders
• 37:49 - Lightning Round: Quick Insights

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

From sleepaway camp to the Appalachian Trail, Jennifer Pharr Davis’s story is one of curiosity, courage and...camp. Her early desire to "keep up" rapidly transformed into a relentless drive to find her own limits, leading her to achievements few can even imagine. In this episode, Anne Hancock Toomey sits down with the former National Geographic Adventurer of the Year to talk about how lessons from the trail have shaped her life as an athlete, business owner, and leader.

Jennifer’s path began in the mountains of North Carolina and led her to set the fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail—averaging 47 miles a day over 2,200 miles—and to create the Blue Ridge Hiking Company, inspiring thousands to connect with the outdoors. Along the way, she’s learned about resilience, risk-taking, and redefining leadership through self-awareness, faith, and the power of nature.

“If you never fail,” her camp director told her, “you haven’t set your goals high enough.”

Highlights:

•

2:46 – Growing Up in the North Carolina Mountains

•

4:18 – Lessons from Summer Camp

•

8:30 – First Job & Early Leadership

•

11:00 – First Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike

•

15:00 – First ‘Real Job’ & the Call of the Trail

•

18:00 – Founding Blue Ridge Hiking Company

•

22:00 – Lessons in Leadership & Longevity

•

23:30 – Back to the AT

•

31:00 – Endurance, Adversity & Teamwork

•

35:00 – Breaking the Record

•

36:00 – Advocacy & the Next Chapter

•

38:30 – Family, Faith & Work-Life Balance

•

41:00 – Leadership Lessons from the Trail

•

43:30 – Lightning Round

•

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first episode of Season Two, Anne Hancock Toomey sits down with Scott Becker.

Becker’s name is synonymous with healthcare media and can’t miss industry conferences. The Becker’s brand is now an empire, covering every facet of the industry. And the energetic man behind the brand is a respected healthcare lawyer whose real purpose and passion is connecting people and ideas.

Anne has known Scott for years. Yet in this conversation, they cover new ground about his life’s journey and ongoing aspirations. They talk about all the advice he didn’t get. About his mentoring of a young Barack Obama. And even about the lesson he once learned about yelling in the office.

• 02:16 Building Becker's Healthcare
• 05:11 Family and Upbringing
• 08:11 Law School, Early Legal Career and Leadership
• 18:30 Launching the ASC Newsletter
• 19:56 Interviewing Fascinating Personalities
• 23:00 Learning from Celebrity Interactions
• 27:36 Developing Leaders and Building Teams
• 30:20 Lessons from Mistakes and Life Experiences
• 32:17 Staying Active and Avoiding Regrets
• 33:16 Characteristics of Effective Leaders
• 34:32 Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wonder what makes great leaders tick? Well then welcome to season two of the Backstory, where each conversation is a case study in authentic leadership. Throughout her career in healthcare consulting, Anne Hancock Toomey has encountered some truly impressive leaders. Here, she sits down with them, digging into their journeys, who they are and how they lead.

The backstory is about humanizing respected leaders who are visionary, sharp, self-aware, and fiercely committed, who lift others up, own their mistakes, and share credit freely. They're not perfect, but they are genuine, and that's where greatness lives. Last season, we featured executives from top healthcare organizations across the nation, plus some investors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders.

This time we're looking at healthcare and beyond. We'll kick it off with media mogul Scott Becker. Other episodes will feature a sports hero, a Guinness World record holder, the CEO of the fastest selling consumer wearable company, among others.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the capstone episode of Season One, Anne Hancock Toomey interviews healthcare entrepreneur and...her dad! Kenny Hancock is CEO of Lync Health Partners. Hancock shares his journey from working his family's small-town hardware store in Kentucky to a successful career as a serial entrepreneur in healthcare. He talks about how early setbacks in a high-pressure sales role motivated him to keep pushing and succeed, setting him up for a professional lifetime of finding ways to solve big challenges. Hancock reviews the highs and lows founding and leading companies like OrthoLink, Surgical Alliance, Meridian, and Lync Health Partners. He emphasizes the importance of relationships, authenticity, and risk-taking. Anne and Kenny also delve into the personal and familial dimensions of their journey, offering valuable insights into leadership and life lessons.

• 1:36 Family Values and Lessons
• 6:02 Growing Up in Russellville, KY
• 15:24 Transition to Healthcare and challenges in medical device sales
• 19:54 Moving to Nashville and New Ventures
• 21:16 A Life-Changing Decision
• 28:30 The Formation of Lync Health Partners
• 30:15 Reflecting on Mistakes and Accomplishments
• 32:58 Leadership Insights and Personal Reflections
• 35:51 Lightning Round and Closing Thoughts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Backstory, host Anne Hancock Toomey interviews Dr. David Miller, President of University of Michigan Health and incoming Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs of University of Michigan and CEO of Michigan Medicine . Dr. Miller shares insights from his career as a urologic cancer surgeon and member of the leadership team at a large academic health system. He discusses his Michigan roots, the influence of his parents, and and the surprising role the CEO of Dow had on his journey from practicing medicine to taking on significant administrative roles. The conversation delves into his leadership philosophy, which emphasizes honesty, humility, visibility and enthusiasm. Dr. Miller also talks about balancing his clinical practice with his executive responsibilities. As a physician and executive, he is well-placed to talk about the importance of earning and maintaining trust from colleagues, team members and the public.

• 2:05 Early Life and Influences
• 4:46 First Job and Lessons Learned
• 8:25 College and Medical School Journey
• 9:31 Choosing Urology and Career Path
• 13:50 Transition to Administration
• 17:30 Balancing Clinical Practice and Leadership
• 19:43 Upcoming Role as CEO
• 22:36 Addressing Trust in Healthcare
• 27:19 Family and Personal Life
• 30:04 Leadership Insights and Advice
• 34:43 Lightning Round and Closing Remarks

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Backstory, host Anne Hancock Toomey sits down with the Global Head of Healthcare for Blackstone, Ram Jagannath, to trace the path that led him from a childhood as a first-generation American to the upper echelons of finance and healthcare investing.

Jagannath shares how his formative years shaped his perspective, weaving through early influences, first jobs, and pivotal experiences—none more striking than his time working in a Croatian refugee camp with Bosnians displaced by the war.

From navigating Wall Street to surviving the stock market crash and exploring a career in private equity, Jagannath unpacks lessons on why intellectual curiosity and purpose matter as much as strategy. And in a fast-paced lightning round, he gets personal – family, golf and a little love for Taylor Swift.

• 4:20 First Jobs and Early Lessons
• 11:44 College Years and Discovering Fulfillment
• 13:28 Life-Changing Experience in Croatia
• 20:09 Transition to Finance and Wall Street
• 22:42 Discovering Private Equity
• 25:10 Journey into Healthcare Investing
• 30:29 Founding a New Firm and Personal Loss
• 34:52 Leadership Qualities and Values
• 39:14 Lightning Round: Personal Insights

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Backstory, Anne Hancock Toomey sits down with Ric Ransom, CEO of University of Missouri Health Care, for a conversation that covers everything from comic books to crisis leadership. Ric’s journey started in Birmingham, Alabama, in a home filled with big personalities and even bigger aspirations. He carved out a career that spanned law and healthcare administration, helping guide major health systems like Baylor Health System (now Baylor Scott & White Health), Prisma Health and UW Health along the way.

Known for his ability to build strong teams and steer through uncertainty, Ransom unpacks lessons on resilience, communications and the influence of formative leaders – starting with his own father. Plus, he shares his approach to staying sharp (spoiler: it involves exercise and a good graphic novel).

Come for the conversation about his first job as a telemarketer, stay for the lightning round where Ransom talks about his introverted side, his go-to stress relievers and what’s on his reading list.

• 02:15 Early Life, First Jobs and Leadership Influences
• 09:21 Journey Through Education and Career Beginnings
• 11:27 Transition to Healthcare Administration
• 17:13 Leadership Philosophy and Crisis Management
• 20:54 Challenges and Surprises as a CEO
• 23:49 Learning from Mistakes
• 29:07 Staying Healthy and Hobbies
• 30:07 Effective Leadership Traits
• 35:55 Lightning Round

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://megaphone.fm/adchoices