About Chris
No One Claps at Mile 17
Everyone applauds at the starting line and the finish line. I like to focus on the miles in between, where applause fades, fatigue sets in, and real leadership happens. If you’ve ever raced a marathon you know exactly where that hits: Mile 17.
I’ve raced in 17 triathlons, including two full Ironmans (one in Louisville that ended in a Mylar blanket and a finisher’s medal, and one in Idaho that ended in an ER). I know what the middle miles feel like because I’ve lived them — at home, on the race course, on long call nights in the hospital, and in the boardroom. I write about these “middle miles” each week in The Perseverance Playbook, exploring how purpose and perseverance compound over time.
Today I am proud to serve as Chief Physician Executive of the American Hospital Association and President of its Health Research & Educational Trust, working with hospitals and health systems nationwide to strengthen care, improve safety, and build cultures where people and performance can thrive.
Stories That Land
My view of leadership was forged long before the boardroom in the Neonatal ICU. Caring for 500-gram patients taught me that high-stakes transformation rarely comes from a single heroic moment. Instead it comes from nearly invisible, repeatable, persistent systems built by teams who keep showing up when the outcome is uncertain.
Today I help leaders bridge the gap between clinical reality and executive strategy, translating what actually happens at the bedside, the front desk, or the loading dock into decisions made in the C-suite and the boardroom. My work centers on building reliable operating systems, stronger cultures of safety and trust, and compounding performance that turns intention into results, and has been published in JAMA Open and NEJM Catalyst.
I speak regularly on perseverance and leadership, navigating the AI-enabled frontier, and what the middle miles teach us about building things that last. I also serve as an Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University, as Board Director for Mednition, and as an advisor to Vega Health and Concord Health Partners.
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