Four Ideas And One Big Lesson From Spotlight Health

Editor’s note: This article is part of a series of blog posts by leaders in health and health care who participated in Spotlight Health from June 25-28, the opening segment of the Aspen Ideas Festival. This year’s theme was Smart Solutions to the World’s Toughest Challenges. Stayed tuned for more.

I knew I would learn a great deal when I attended the Aspen Ideas Festival Spotlight Health session, “Before the Next Ebola Strikes: Lessons Learned.” I’ve read the perspective of those who have traveled to the hardest hit regions and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) views on how to prevent the next epidemic on Health Affairs Blog. Still, this session included experts whose views I had not yet heard.

I came away with four new ideas from the speakers.

• I learned from Ron Klain, the former U.S. “Ebola Czar,” that the biggest problem in the global response was timing. It’s not so much that we did the wrong things; it’s that we started too late.
• I learned from Tom Kenyon of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the CDC simply did not have sufficient presence in the countries at the heart of the outbreak when it began.
• I learned from Sam Kargbo from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone that dire projections of high death rates and limited treatment options were counter-productive. That conventional wisdom led people with the disease to hide or flee, which exacerbated the spread of the disease.
• I learned from Brian Koll of the Mount Sinai Health System that his hospital received guidance from the WHO, the CDC, the state, and the local health departments, but that their advice often did not line up.

When the session ended, I went up to the stage to say hello to Ron Klain. Ron was a classmate of mine in law school — we even competed against each other in high school speech and debate. Seeking out Ron, I walked right by the other panelists.

When I returned to the office the week after the festival I learned that Tom Kenyon had been named the next President and CEO of Project HOPE, which publishes Health Affairs. Dr. Kenyon starts his new job Monday, September 14.

I said I learned one lesson, and I saved it for last. When you attend a session at Spotlight Health, say hello to all of the speakers, because you never know if one of them will be your next boss!