Valued Voice

L to R: Dr. Mike Stadler, Dr. Wendy Ledesma, Nadine Allen, Sue Anderson, Dr. Heather Schmidt, Shawn Lerch, Dr. Stephanie SimmonsAs one of the breakout sessions at this year’s Wisconsin Rural Health Conference, a panel on “Caring for Wisconsin’s Caregivers” emphasized that high reliability in health care is built on cultures that actively support caregiver well-being, recognizing it as a foundational driver of patient safety, workforce stability and organizational performance. Panelists included:

• Sue Anderson, Regional President, SSM Health Wisconsin
• Shawn Lerch, CEO, Sauk Prairie Health
• Heather Schmidt, DO, Chief Wellness Officer, SSM Health Fond du Lac Integrative Health
• Wendy Ledesma, MD, Chief Wellness Officer, Sauk Prairie Health
• Moderator: Dr. Stephanie Simmons, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation

Dr. Mike Stadler, Health Workforce Wellbeing Landmark Initiative Champion at the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW), and Nadine Allen, Chief Quality Officer at the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA), opened the session by introducing the landmark initiative designed and funded by AHW, noting that WHA and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation were selected as key partners to lead this work across Wisconsin. As the moderator, Dr. Stefanie Simmons guided a thoughtful conversation across diverse perspectives. 

Panelists grounded the discussion in personal experiences that illustrated how culture is ultimately defined by how organizations support their caregivers, with burnout and inefficiencies directly impacting both care delivery and team effectiveness. This shared “personal why” reinforced that investing in caregiver well-being is central to shaping organizational culture and long-term sustainability. 

Lerch described how Sauk Prairie Health’s commitment to personalized care extends beyond patients to caregivers, embedding well-being into daily operations and leadership strategy. Dr. Ledesma highlighted the importance of transparent dialogue between clinicians and executives, underscoring that lasting change begins with clearly articulated frontline “asks” and evolves through tailored, organization specific solutions.

From a systems perspective, Anderson reinforced that well-being must be approached with the same discipline as quality and safety, integrating it into core organizational frameworks, measurement and accountability structures. Viewing caregiver well-being through this lens ensures it remains central to how culture is built, sustained and measured across the organization. 

Schmidt and Anderson also explored the complexities of scaling these efforts across large health systems, where aligning system wide priorities with local implementation requires both flexibility and trust. They emphasized that strong bidirectional communication is essential to ensuring frontline experiences shape broader strategy while maintaining consistency in values. 

Across all perspectives, panelists expressed optimism about the Caring for Wisconsin’s Caregivers initiative, highlighting the learning collaborative as an opportunity to strengthen a culture rooted in caregiver well-being, accelerate shared solutions, foster innovation and build a more sustainable health workforce across the state.