Posted 10/15/2017 08:42 pm ET

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“I want to start a truly transformational dialogue about health disparities in Philadelphia, and in this country. It’s criminal that there is a 20-year gap in how long you live, depending on your zip code. We need to give today’s babies, of different colors and different backgrounds, every opportunity to live into the 22nd century.”

Yitzi: Thank you so much for doing this with us! What is your “backstory”?

I started out as a disk jockey, actually, and I’d still be doing that if I hadn’t gotten fired. I was “Little Stevie Kent” in Philadelphia (my middle name is Kent). So, I applied to medical school and the admissions director was really excited to admit “Little Stevie Kent”. Then I became an obstetrician in Allentown, PA and I would still be doing that if I hadn’t decided to look at healthcare in a very different way. As you can see, what’s gotten me from a radio DJ to being a university and health system president is taking a no limits approach. And if I have to upset a few people to create transformation of healthcare delivery, I’m willing to do that.

Yitzi: Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading Jefferson?

It’s fun to be a CEO and president in Philly, where I walk into a room and someone says, “OMG, that’s Little Stevie Kent!”

Yitzi: Can you describe what Jefferson does?

Jefferson helps individuals have a better future, either through education, research or healthcare delivery. Our main academic hospital, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, is ranked #16 in the nation and at the same time, we’re committed to giving you access to our care “wherever you are.” Because we are so focused on the future of students and patients, we also care deeply about the future of our communities. If you care about students and patients, you must care about racism, health disparities and poverty – all of which create these unacceptable disparities in both higher education and healthcare.

Yitzi: What do you think makes Jefferson stand out? Can you share a story?

What’s amazing to me is that 193 years ago, we were the first medical school that thought it was a good idea for medical students to see patients during their med school years, and not wait until after med school to “practice.” And today, in JeffDESIGN’s Vault, we have medical students learning design and thinking as if they were at a start-up and rebuilding the patient experience in totally new ways.

Yitzi: None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?

In a general way, my patients – I’m not talking about the baby patients, but the mommy patients. This is not just another doctor visit. This is their life and we better not forget it. The second would be Steve Jobs – that whole concept of thinking about what will be obvious in ten years and starting to do it now. He saw a mobile, digital lifestyle, and I see a mobile, digital healthcare. And my three kids. I have three kids that tell me what they think. They keep me young, because they make me think about healthcare for their kids and for generations to come.

Yitzi: How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I want to start a truly transformational dialogue about health disparities in Philadelphia, and in this country. It’s criminal that there is a 20-year gap in how long you live, depending on your zip code. We need to give today’s babies, of different colors and different backgrounds, every opportunity to live into the 22nd century.

Yitzi: What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became CEO” and why?

1. You should always have 5 people under you who are sure they could do your job, and 3 who are right. Get the smartest available athletes, and don’t worry about the hierarchy.

2. You can’t be viewed by what happened this month. You have to be viewed by 10 years from now. We just merged our academic health center with a design university, and people are still puzzled. Ten years from now, when design thinking is the core of the revolution in health, that won’t be puzzling.

3. You have to be a filter on yourself. I’ve been used to being the creative guy, but as the #2. When you’re CEO and the #1, you can’t just throw creative ideas out because people think that’s an order.

4. Being a CEO is politics. You have to decide who has to be behind you. You have to shake a lot of hands, and kiss a lot of babies.

5. Taking a no limits approach is the right way to go, especially when you’re in an industry where the old way is definitely not working.

Yitzi: Is there a person in the world, or in the U.S. whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, or I might be able to introduce you.

Yes, President Donald Trump. I’d really like to say, “You don’t get it. You want to be the disrupter-in-chief? There’s no better place to start than in healthcare. But just don’t play around with a $1.00 to pay for a $1.25. It’s time to be the healthcare disruptor.” It’s clear the Republicans don’t get it. And the Democrats don’t get it. So, I’d love to have that five minutes to just get that through and he could either kick me out of the office, or say, “You know, that’s not a bad point.”

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