How did you become an executive in the health care industry? Did you always have an interest in health care?

Ellie: I knew since I was 14 years old that I wanted to become a doctor. I loved the idea of helping people maintain their health and supporting them to recover from illness, particularly children. It felt like a meaningful life, so I set out on the long and challenging road to become a doctor. After my residency, I set up a private pediatric practice with a colleague and enjoyed every minute of it. After almost a decade in private practice, I was persuaded by a friend to interview for a job in managed Medicaid, where I discovered that my work could have a broader reach through a population health approach. I transitioned to a pediatric medical director role in a Medicaid managed care plan. This opportunity gave me a better understanding of Medicaid, the business aspects of health care and new ways to better serve premature and medically complex newborns. In 2003, I left this role and founded ProgenyHealth.

Sherry: As a young girl, I thought about being a doctor, perhaps because my mom was a nurse, and I really admired that she was taking care of people every day. I did not follow the traditional route of completing my undergraduate degree right after high school; instead, I went to college part-time and worked full-time. I was fortunate to work for a few Fortune 100 companies, offering excellent training programs that led me down a business path. Since I’m a bit of a technology geek, I decided to pursue Microsoft accreditations, which led to my certification as a database administrator, systems engineer, and systems administrator. Eventually, I was hired by a start-up company, formed through a joint venture between Florida Blue and Humana, which turned into a fantastic growth trajectory for my career. While I didn’t take the true technical path and didn’t pursue medicine, I was able to leverage my skills and appreciation for caring for people to advance through the company and develop my leadership abilities.

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are critical to the wellbeing of post-NICU babies. What’s one barrier to health equity among newborns that the general public may not be aware of? How can our industry combat that problem?

Ellie: When I founded ProgenyHealth in 2003, there was no coordinated or focused effort in the industry to holistically manage SDoH issues for newborns and their families. We addressed this challenge by making these concerns an integral part of our case management program. One of the biggest barriers our team continues to address today is access to health care services. Barriers such as transportation and education about immunization and routine pediatric visits, must be addressed, so all newborns have access to necessary health care services. Our industry can address this problem by providing the necessary case management support to help families overcome these barriers, so they receive the healthcare services they need, and have the opportunity to lead a healthy life.

Sherry, you joined the ProgenyHealth team as President about a year and a half ago – enough time to get settled! What’s one recommendation you can give to WBL members welcoming a new addition to their leadership teams to ensure a smooth and supportive transition?

Sherry: My recommendation when welcoming a new leader is to immediately immerse them in the operations of the business. They need to know the people delivering the product/service offering, what each job entails, what challenges they face, and what it “feels like” to be in their roles. New leaders will be far less effective and could make the wrong decisions without a clear understanding of what the front lines of the business are doing each day and how they can best support the team. For example, all of our new executives shadow our clinical care nurses and case managers, as well as our utilization management and case management associates. What they learn from those shadowing sessions is invaluable and quickly advances their knowledge of our business.

Ellie, how has your success as an entrepreneur influenced your corporate board search and service?

Ellie: I currently sit on three boards and find the best fit for me are organizations looking for a board member with experience in growing and successfully scaling innovative ideas to solve a problem in the marketplace. I encourage businesses to give innovative entrepreneurs a chance to prove what they can do to benefit their business and those they serve. The boards on which I currently serve are focused on education, entrepreneurship and non-profit work, areas about which I’m passionate.

ProgenyHealth is known for approaching problems in the NICU creatively and from all angles. How do you foster a culture of innovation among your employees in a highly regulated and risk-adverse industry?

Sherry: Innovation can come from any person, at any level in our company but you need to build a foundation of trust. Employees need to feel comfortable offering ideas with the knowledge that management is listening. I heard a phrase years ago called the three C’s of trust. At that time, it was described as a principle consisting of Character, Competence, and Consistency. I always thought there was another C missing: Communication. If you have the foundation of those four C’s in place, with Communication being a critical aspect of trust, you’ve begun to maximize the likelihood that your employees will want to innovate and share their ideas/perspectives. During “All Hands” meetings, which include every employee at ProgenyHealth, we provide significant transparency into how the business is doing, our key areas of focus, our progress relative to annual operating priorities, and what growth looks like for ProgenyHealth. This foundational information helps to inform our employees and hopefully “spark” ideas that they can share. 

It’s been a difficult year for organizations in the healthcare industry. What 2020 accomplishment are you most proud of?

Ellie: For me that’s easy. I am so proud of my team at ProgenyHealth. The pandemic changed how we all conduct business almost overnight, and our teams did not miss a beat. As a matter of fact, they doubled down and worked harder because more and more of the families we serve had an increased need for case management support. We also knew hospitals were overwhelmed with COVID patients, so our teams made sure they were there to support hospital-based teams in any way they could along the front lines of the crisis. I remain so grateful to work with such a great team who are fully engaged each day in their important work at ProgenyHealth.

Sherry: It has indeed been a difficult year for many industries, especially healthcare. I am most proud of my colleagues at ProgenyHealth. The resiliency and competence of our team is unquestionable, and we’re on track to achieve the vast majority of our operating priorities by the end of this year. This is an incredible accomplishment, given how quickly we had to adjust our work processes, respond to the overall impacts to the industry and support our employees who were personally affected. 

Personally or professionally, what might the WBL network be surprised to know about you?

Ellie: I am very passionate about our work at Progeny, but also realize as I get older that balance is so important. I try to make some time for personal pursuits. In the last year and a half, I have found time to regularly exercise several times a week. I feel so much better doing so and I have kept it up! I also enjoy music, having played both piano and flute as a younger woman, so my husband and I try to catch concerts at musical venues as much as we can.

Sherry: Such a great question!  I think most people assume that if you’ve attended a top tier university or if you’ve ascended to a certain level in a company that you travelled an easy path.  That was not true for me. After graduating high school, I moved out at age 17, supported myself with a full-time job, and paid my own way through my undergraduate degree, eventually moving on to complete an MBA at Duke University. I did not do all of that alone. I had an amazing support system along the way, including my husband, colleagues and friends. It has been a beautiful journey and included people who believed in me and expressed their support. Their faith in me was so empowering and fueled my efforts to continually improve and press on despite challenges.