12 - Interview with Ron Philips, Senior Vice President of Human Resources - Retail and Enterprise Modernization CVS Health

Ron Phillips is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources - Retail and Enterprise Modernization CVS Health and esteemed board member of TLD Group. CVS Health is currently the largest pharmacy health care provider in the U.S. with approximately 300,000 employees located across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Currently number 5 on the Fortune 500, CVS has been a champion of integrated healthcare with nearly 10,000 retail pharmacy locations, 1,100-minute clinics, and through the acquisition of Aetna in 2018, 23million medical benefits members.

Ron is a unique specialist in the art of strategy, collaboration, and interpersonal skills, and he intertwines these skills in everything he delivers and achieves. Known for his innovative approach, influence, and emotional intelligence he has successfully delivered innovative human resources, change management, process improvement, and business results for the last 25 years.

In this timely episode Ron and Tracy discuss the challenging waters that healthcare and HR leaders navigate as they steward their organizations though the COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread expression of anguish around the killing of George Floyd, police brutality, and pervasive systemic injustices affecting people of color. They then apply the competencies of Health Ecosystem Leadership to envision a better more just future for healthcare and chart a path forward.

Show Notes- Ron Philips

1. Before taking a step forward it is critical that healthcare leaders be disciplined in exercising self-care and ‘refueling’ to avoid feelings of overwhelm and paralysis from exposure to prolonged disruption and crisis.
2. As HELM leaders it is important to acknowledge that when navigating challenging conversations not everyone will be coming from the same place, however leaders cannot let fear prevent them from opening the dialog at all.
3. HELM leaders must take the time to understand the inequities they seek to address, the histories behind those inequities, the barriers to breaking through them, and the perspectives of those impacted by them. While symbolic organizational gestures may carry meaning they must be backed by concrete action.

4. Structural inequities are baked within the US healthcare system and result in disproportionality negative health outcomes for Black Americans and those of lower socioeconomic status. Conversations that are beginning to take place right now where people are beginning to ask fundamental questions about systemic racism and demanding change are important to ultimately move the needle.
5. A more equitable future for healthcare requires organizations to not only internalize and operationalize an equitable patient-centered mission, but to also step across boundaries to explore the impact that sectors such as housing, transportation, education, and more have on access to and quality of care. And begin to form meaningful long-term partnerships and policy advocacy coalitions to drive change.