Speaker 1 0:03

Welcome to the healthy matters podcast with Dr . David Hilton , primary care physician and acute care hospitalist at Hennepin healthcare in downtown Minneapolis, where we cover the latest in health healthcare , and what matters to you. And now here's your host, Dr . David Hilton.

Speaker 2 0:20

Hi everybody. And welcome to the healthy matters podcast. I'm Dr . David Hilton. And today I've asked my good friend and also an internal medicine doctor , Megan Walsh to join me and to give you an inside look at what it's like to practice medicine at a big hospital in this country, Dr. Walsh and I, and that's probably the last time I'm gonna call her Dr. Walsh because I can barely do it with a straight face . Now you can call her Dr. Welsh, but , uh , this is Megan . Uh , I've met her, I don't know, 25 years ago, something like that when we were doing residency and I talk a lot, but I've got rival in that. Megan talks a lot as well. And so I've asked her to come on the show and help me out and talk about , uh, some of the, some of her perspectives about being a practicing doctor. So welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. Good to have you. So Megan is an internal medicine doctor like me. We're sort of the, we're sort of the cerebral doctors, I think aren't we? The detectives, we're the , we're the detectives. Yeah . I met you some 20 years ago. You're now you're, you're kind of a big deal. Now. You're the chief academic officer at the ha , but I remember back about 20 years ago when you were , uh , like you came over from the hinterlands of, of Oshkosh

Speaker 3 1:29

Or somewhere. True .

Speaker 2 1:30

Yes. You got it . Tell us how you got to H

Speaker 3 1:32

Through a long and winding road. Um, so when I was in medical school, which is at Madison, I in Ru all over, but what I, you

Speaker 2 1:41

Didn't get into the university of Minnesotas that the problem? So you , you had to go to a place that would take you like Madison. You know,

Speaker 3 1:47

We just , uh, you know, camp Randall. I couldn't get outta my

Speaker 2 1:50

Head, I suppose. I suppose if you had to go to a substandard medical school, that's a pretty good one.

Speaker 3 1:55

And , um, I interviewed all over, but what I loved, I loved the twin cities. I thought that it was a great dynamic urban environment would which , you know, had a ton of culture and fun. I think at that point I was thinking I'd get to do things , uh , outside of work. Um, I didn't quite realize that , uh , resident, you know, which is the training after medical school meant that you literally were living in the hospital, which yeah .

Speaker 2 2:19

Yeah . You remember that? So we, I remember, I remember like my first day in the job I came in to of the hospital and, and I called Julie, my wife, and I said, so I'll see you tomorrow night at like dinner time . And it was seven in the morning. So cuz back then, oh yeah, we spent the night and we worked like these crazy long hours, 30 hours, 36 hours in a row. What were we

Speaker 3 2:39

Thinking? I know . Well, I think you only realized how of that was , um, by getting away from it. Right. I mean, I, I, we needed to change the hours that residents work. I mean, it's true. We'd go in at six 30 we'd round on patients care for patients maybe admit all night long and then we would , uh , see patients again the next day and yeah. Get home at 8:00 PM. And that was the next day it was. But we had breaks in the day. Do you remember the , um , malts at night at

Speaker 2 3:10

Midnight, the cafeteria opened up at midnight just

Speaker 3 3:13

For us. Yes. It was like a one hour, maybe midnight to 1:00 AM with a there blender and the cafeteria worker and she would make smoothies for us and we would all gather it didn't matter your specialty, the surgeons and the internists and the ER docs. And we'd come together and have our smoothie and sort of connect and then go back to our, you know, various tasks. Um, but that was so key. I think that we had the , those little connected pieces throughout the day and the night that I think probably built our camaraderie in a way in our friendship, that sort of, you know, we still have even 20 years later. Yeah.

Speaker 2 3:51

Even to this day, I think some of our closest friends are some of those friends we had back in medical training. I think that's probably where you learned to finish my sentences.

Speaker 3 3:59

I believe that's where you learn to interrupt me.

Speaker 2 4:02

<laugh> yeah . <laugh> uh , it is kind of a funny thing because , uh , like we'll go home to our families or whatever. And I don't think our, our , the other loved ones in our lives can barely keep up with the fact that we kind of talk over each other and we interrupt each other and finish each other's sentences. I think that might come from spending 90 hours a week together. Oh yeah . Back when we were residents. So you're now the chief academic officer at HCMC. Mm-hmm , <affirmative> the big county hospital in downtown Minneapolis. Is it have things changed in medical training a little

Speaker 3 4:30

Bit since, oh , it , those days, I mean, there's a lot more , um, regulation appropriately. So around fatigue and the hours you can work safely. Um, and I still think we have even further that we will go in the next 20 years, but we've done a lot there. We there's been a lot of change around diversity within training programs with a real goal of reflecting the population you serve, which I think is so important , uh , much more training on quality and safety than we had you and I were in residency. Um, and I, you know, I really believe that we are training today's doctors to be tomorrow's workforce , um, in ways that are intentional and I think impactful. Um, it is such a great place to be in, in healthcare is in medical education. We're

Speaker 2 5:19

Gonna talk about that a lot more in this episode, we're gonna to talk a little bit more about what it's like to practice at a hospital, but I'm also gonna ask you to reminisce with me a little bit about some cases that meant a lot to you. And I haven't asked you what you're gonna tell me about, but I know that a little bit later in the show, you're gonna give us just a little taste of, of, of what it's like , uh , to practice and I , and I think it's gonna be a fascinating chat. So I'm looking forward to that in the meantime, I'm gonna grab a smoothie and we'll be right back.

Speaker 1 5:48

You're listening to the healthy matters podcast with Dr. David Hilton , have a question or comment for the doctor, feel free to reach out to us by emailing healthy matters@hcmed.org . Or give us a call at six one two eight seven three talk that's 6 1 2 8 7 3 8 2 5 5 . And now let's get back to more healthy conversation.

Speaker 2 6:12

Oh, Hey, we're back. I'm talking to Megan Walsh , who is the chief academic officer and an internal medicine physician at Hennepin healthcare in Minneapolis. Thanks for being here, Megan . Thanks for

Speaker 3 6:21

Having me. So

Speaker 2 6:22

If you could reminisce for me just a little bit here today, now that you've been at the hospital for some 20 years, tell us something memorable from your time here. Tell us about a patient that you've seen that sticks with you.

Speaker 3 6:35

Well, I have a , I have a memorable patient story. That's my favorite patient story. Um, as far as , um, most impactful, it still just brings a smile to my, to my face. When I think about , um, this case, we admitted a lady who was just this amazing , um, put together 90 something. I mean, she, I swear her hair was done every morning. She was so , um, just articulate and poised and thoughtful and just , um, dignified. And she came in sick. Um, she had a pretty severe heart condition and she'd outlived everyone. She'd outlived her friends, she'd outlived her family. She really , um, had sort of one close person in her life. At this point. She'd never had kids. Her husband had died 25 years prior and she'd spent decades and decades in the twin cities . Um, she was working at the old Dayton back in the day. She sort of was , um, you know, as she said, wearing my go-go boots during glorious Steinem's, you know, years, she came to Minneapolis at some point , um, there was some club above Daytons at some sort of club only for men. And apparently wait a

Speaker 2 7:49

Minute in , in the Daytons and downtown and the upstairs a guest , oh, I've been , you know, see , I grew up here. I remember it well, but I don't remember the men's there was a place where you could get the best popovers in the history of the world and you sat there, but it was more like a , a , a stoic restaurant type of place, I guess it

Speaker 3 8:05

Wasn't like a men's club. Well, originally I , I understand that it was men only. And , uh, she said Gloria Steinem came and burst through the doors to say, Hey, women are allowed here. And so she told the story and it was just, she had people laughing. She had people coming see her in her room that she'd never met, you know, just because she was such this contagious personality. And , uh, and she said, you know, she was really sick and, and we didn't think that she was gonna survive to leave the hospital. And , uh, she said, I really only have two wishes. And my first wish is I want a good, rare stake for Manny's, which is the steakhouse in town, which I've never been to, but apparently it's quite good. It's super good. It's still going. And , uh , my second wish is I would like to parrot with a beautiful Italian red and , uh, and so the, it sounds lovely, man . It does. And , um, and she really, she didn't wanna be, you know, she had no other big checklist. She was trying to sort of meet as far as these are my last wishes. And , uh, so I, you know, I took the story and we, we left and we went to see other patients and I'm walking down the hall and I hear this just clinking of glasses and laughter. And I thought I smelled alcohol and I came in the room and the, the palliative team was in there, particularly the palliative , uh , physician, the faculty doc. And , uh , he brought in his finest, Italian red from his wine cellar . And , uh , someone else a nurse had brought in a Manny steak and she was just grinning ear to ear. And she had this glass of wine and she had this beautiful steak and had the whole team, no one from her home life, because there really, she didn't have , uh , much , uh, as far as friends and family remaining, but we were all in there and we all toasted and she told stories and we laughed and she ate her steak. And , uh, and she died that night and it was the most beautiful end.

Speaker 2 9:54

Did you know that , that she was nearing the end of her life? Or did you know that she was that close?

Speaker 3 9:59

We knew that, I mean, as much as any of us can predict this, we knew that she was gravely ill and , um, we, it was a heart rhythm problem. And so really that could happen anytime , uh, to this day. I think she sort of had all the things that she asked for. She had this community at her bedside, she passed on her stories. She had the, you know, dish she wanted to eat. And , uh, it was, it was a pretty awesome, it's a

Speaker 2 10:27

Privilege. It's a privilege. What we get to do is being at the at people's lives when they're at their toughest times, their most tragic times, they're sad times. Sometimes they're happiest times when you, you that's like this privilege to be around at the end of someone's , uh , of life here. And , and I wonder how many people get to, well, frankly, get to die like that. Well,

Speaker 3 10:49

And it's also rule break . I mean, there are strict rules who has alcohol in a hospital, right. And I know stake for someone with a heart can, the thought was, you know, that could actually make her worse. And I think what it did for me is it flipped this sense of what's important and not what's the matter with you, but what matters to you and just having permission to be in that space was pretty awesome. How about you? Well,

Speaker 2 11:12

So it's funny. I didn't, I , I didn't realize what you were gonna say about that person because it's really similar to mine was a while ago. Um, I remember a similar one and I hadn't thought of that till just now, but I , there was an older adult, you know, an old is a different story when you're in medicine, we would say like, if you're 60, 70, you're not old. Mm-hmm , <affirmative> , you're not there . But when I say older, I don't know , she was probably in her late eighties or nineties. And she was in our ICU. If you remember the old you and the , which is no longer there at our hospital, cuz they moved it. But I remember that she was , uh , she was also nearing the end of her life and she was also alone. Um , everybody had pre-deceased basically. And, and she, I was, I think I was an intern or resident and, and, and she was, she was a poet. She, that was what she did with her life. And she had this, this thing sitting on her, a , a notebook sitting on her, on her nightstand. And, and I realized she didn't have anyone left in the world. And she said, that's my book of poetry. And I said, could I read those to you? And you know, it sounds all sappy now, but I did, I read some of her own poetry to her and she did also not leave the hospital. I mean, she died. I dunno if it was that night, but that time. And so it reminds me of the times that we get to be , uh, uh , with people at those poignant times of their life, the last goodbye. Exactly. I've had a couple that, you know , uh , I remember sometimes , sometimes they're a little , uh , uh , a less gratifying. I had one guy who was just, he was a little down and out guy. He was, you know , kind of a portly guy and, and he was, had heart failure and he had like 35 things wrong with him . And I was asking him, like you do , uh , what do you do for a living? And he said, well, I'm a R about <laugh> <laugh> so do you know a R about there's not any seriously? Do you know what a R about

Speaker 3 12:55

Is ? I , I probably couldn't define it with the exact terminology. So here's a guy,

Speaker 2 13:01

I didn't know what it was. And I go, oh, you're , you're , you're a , you're a R about . And you know, and what is that? And he goes, and I can't even repeat some of the things he said. He said, yeah , pencil headed geek it's in FN circus, crown, or something like that. And I don't even know what it was and some , and I'm sitting there and I just started laughing. I said, I'm sorry, dude. I didn't know what arou about was. And so , uh, um, uh , this guy's given me a lecture on what life was like, like in the traveling circus is or something. So I remember that guy. So we, we have some , uh , some poignant times, and then we have some others where people just tend to put us right there . I have a RO

Speaker 3 13:39

About like story, which was yes, which was , um, entering a room of a patient that I'd been taking care of all week. And he was pretty confused and a little Ory. Um, and our whole team came in and, you know, it's, it's all the of students and residents and faculty and we're all in there. And he, he just did not like that. There were so many people in his room and he said, everybody, everybody out, I want you all out of this room now. And then he goes quiet and said, but the pit bull can stay. And we all looked at ball . We all looked at each other, like, what do you mean? What do you mean? What do you mean the pit bull? And he pointed to me and I was like, yeah, you know, he , he and I had a connection and it was odd to tell you the story, but to know that it was a total compliment , that he was just sort of one letting giving me permission to remain. But the pit bull was exactly, I'd been having hard conversations with him. And he said it in a way that was angry to the Dean. But to me, I could tell it was out of total love.

Speaker 2 14:34

Exactly, exactly. It is a compliment in that case, you know, did you have any rough ones during COVID? Cuz I have one , uh , a patient situation that , um, it just brought it home to me and I , and I don't think I'll ever forget this guy and this one was more recent, you know, and again, it's, it's a , a , a story of a guy who, who was in a rough spot, but I'm having breakfast with this guy. I mean, literally he's eating like French toast. This was just about a year ago. He's eating French toast and he's sitting up, he looks as good as you and I do right now. And he's feeling pretty good and he's Hey doc, this is pretty good French toast. And, and he makes an off the cuff comment to me about , uh, am I gonna get through this? Okay. You know , he had pretty bad COVID, but he was as, as people get, when they have this, they're talking to you, they look pretty good. Their numbers on the monitor are terrifying to their doctor, but he felt pretty good. Hey , I'm not gonna die. This am I gonna , and I , and I have to be honest, I think I lied to him . I said, no, you're gonna be okay. I think you're gonna be okay. And that was at breakfast and he die by lunch and, and, and so to be there at the last times of people's life like that. And, and I I'm wondering at the end of life stuff, how much do you tell your patients about what you really know or do you just try to, do you tell them like, like the , the woman that you had, you having stake with her, did, did she ask you, or did you like have any, any sense for, for , um , what she needed needed at the end of her life?

Speaker 3 15:59

Well, I mean, how much do I really know? Because

Speaker 2 16:01

I think I told the guy what I thought he needed. I thought he needed some hope right there, even though I thought he's probably not gonna make it.

Speaker 3 16:07

I th I , uh, first would any conception that we actually can predict, you know, when mm-hmm , <affirmative> , when the end is we can see sort of all the signs are pointing towards getting sicker, but as far as really, what does that mean? I am no better. My crystal ball is no shinier. Mm-hmm <affirmative> now than it was 20 years ago as a brand new intern, or even as a medical student. So I think that's the first piece is, as I tell people, honestly, is none of us has sort of the inside scoop on, on sort of this condition in you. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I can tell you the data I have and my best evidence and my best guess, but ultimately our goal right now is to make each day and minute and hour or year the best it can be. And I think those are the convers that are more impactful and in true connection. And I also think it's important for those caring for the patient to also have these conversations when something unpredictable like that happens , um, because it's really hard to you can't help, but carry that home or, you know, carry it into your, you know, work week in a week or a, or maybe even a decade later, it comes back.

Speaker 2 17:16

So shifting gears a little bit, you're the chief academic officer mm-hmm <affirmative> at our hospital. Yes. What do you do? What does that mean?

Speaker 3 17:24

So we're a teaching hospital. So we have a lot of learners from medical students to residents, which is the, between three and seven year , apprent it that all , uh , doctors do , um, to perfect the craft. Um, and I oversee that and learn that learning environment for physicians, physicians in training physicians in practice, like you, I oversee the continuing education that is offered to you to continue to keep your license. And then more broadly looking at a whole health system as a learning institution. So, you know, how do we teach and train whatever your role in the hospital in the most respectful way that actually adds value , um, to the job you do every day . So I don't

Speaker 2 18:08

Wanna go to a hospital where they're practicing on me. Have you ever heard

Speaker 3 18:10

That? Oh yeah. A ton. What do you say to people? I can't imagine not going to a hospital. That's a teaching hospital. I mean, there's so much curiosity and teaming. I mean, I, I, one of my favorite cases is , um, one of my favorite detective cases and I have many cuz that's what gets me to bed in the morning. Um, it was this lady who , um , presented with really high blood pressure and she came in and she, and I was the teaching attending. So I was the faculty member and I had a whole bunch of learners. I had a senior resident and two interns and a medical student and each had talked to her and gotten history. So the patient, she says, why do I have to tell my story or four times? And what I'd say to that is cuz every time we learn something new mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> and sometimes the way I asked it, or , um, the, maybe the type of question that is asked that wasn't asked previously actually drives you to a diagnosis or potentially the best treatment out there. And so this lady had high blood pressure and she'd had a bloody nose or something and she was admitted for that. And so the medical student went in, talked to her and got a bunch of detail. And then the residents went in and got some detail and they came back and they said, you know, she has a bloody nose. She has high blood pressure. Each of these were individual problems, high blood pressure, bloody nose, oh, on her potassium was low and they were recommending a treatment for each of these things. Well, it just so happens when I heard it present that way. I thought, you know, there is one condition, there are many conditions that could cause this, but I thought there's gotta be something unifying here. And so I went to meet her after learning all the stuff that my team had told me. And I asked her a few other questions. And then I asked her one last question, which I is, do you eat black? Liris oh my goodness. And she broke out laughing and , and I , and

Speaker 2 19:57

I'm right now supposed to know what it is, can

Speaker 3 19:59

Remember you're you're and uh, and she said , um, well only the good stuff. And I said, that's exactly the problem. And I said, I think this is a rare condition that comes from eating black Liris or , or the chemical in black Liris being gly horizon . And it can cause high blood pressure and low potassium. And so she was getting a bloody nose from the high hyper hypertension. And , uh, and I of course was jazz . I mean, the only way I knew to ask the final question was cuz all these residents and med students had taken me to this place. If I'd been at the bedside, I might have also done each individual problem. So I go running back to the team room, you know, and I open the door and it's, you know, whatever slam it. Oh , can you stop slam open the door ? Yes . Did I know what it is ? Oh my God, you guys, you wait 20 years to really make a de you know, break a case like this one. Exactly. And the patient was thrilled. She threw out all of her black, actually, she didn't throw out her black Liris . She had her husband bring it and wrapped it in a box. And I came to work the next week and I had a present at the front desk and it was all of the black Liris from

Speaker 2 21:01

Her kids who likes black. I can't even say it. Who likes black Liris anyway, it's nasty. Oh , she were you right though? Was that it? I was right you

Speaker 3 21:09

Right . She stopped the black Liris her high blood pressure went away. Her potassium improved. I saw her two months later for another reason. And uh , what's the it's completely , it's the lyin, the chemical found in black licorice , which is a root and lyin is gly sugar. And then rise is root . So it's like, it stems from this idea of , um , sugar root and it binds to , um, where I should say it mimics a hormone that we all produce called aldosterone. And so it forms a disease entity, which is like having too much aldosterone,

Speaker 2 21:42

You know, what's funny. The first thing I've known, what you've just said in there is aldosterone. You know, it's the one medical thing in there. I don't know anything about the black, the , the S scourge of black licorice . Okay. So should people be afraid of eating black licorice

Speaker 3 21:54

Too much of it? Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 21:56

Yeah. So doesn't happen . So, okay. But that's detective work, right ? Is detective work , can it help that you had all those learners there to keep beyond Gar ,

Speaker 3 22:03

Everybody asking a question, everybody seeing something different, but

Speaker 2 22:07

The kids are lazy. Aren't they, you know, the millennial kids these days, you know, they don't wanna go into work. They don't wanna learn, you know, what do you say to

Speaker 3 22:16

That? I say they have an amazing , uh, amazing breath of fingertip knowledge. And by that, I mean, any question that we have to ask, they know the exact resource and pull it up in a second. I mean, medicine is changing so quickly. Mm-hmm <affirmative> that whatever you and I memorized in 2001 is helpful as a base, but it is not sufficient to kind of do all the things we need to do. And so they are digital natives. They are really fast and efficient in the computerized systems, but that also means it opens this door, all that inform that , you know, I mean, we, I guess, were taught back in the day that you memorized it and then you regurgitated it and their ability to sort of synthesize and grab information from all over the place is pretty incredible.

Speaker 2 23:01

It is incredible. You know, I think that we had to memorize a lot, but then I , um, every future generation of doctor has to, there's more and more to learn. And you just simply can't remember you. And I both know there's an old venerated cardiologist at Hennepin who , uh, um , well there's a lot of work or anywhere or anywhere. And I , I used to joke with him, you know, ACE, his name was Ainger and, and I said, well, I think you only had to learn aspirin. And he said, pretty much. I mean, okay, you're having a heart attack here . Here's an aspirin to bed rest for like a month. And we'll all cross our fingers. That's pretty much what cardiology was back in the day. Now there's eight jillion things that people have to remember. So I was kidding when I said that the kids, these days are lazy. They're awesome. The future of doctors are awesome. They just have a , such a , an enormous amount of information that they have to learn now. So you , so what's

Speaker 3 23:49

Your advantage ? What do you think the advantage is of a teaching hospital?

Speaker 2 23:52

Well, I think it keeps us on our toes. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, and I think it's the most rewarding part of, of what we do being at a teaching hospital, because you don't get complacent. You don't , um, you don't wanna get by the medical student and not have a clue what's going on. And the smartest person in the room is often the medical student, because they've been studying out books and, and learning intensely while we've been doing all of our other things and to have , uh , a group of learners and future doctors around us keeps me on my toes. It keeps me , uh, on top of the latest and mm-hmm <affirmative> . And , and I know that you and I are both committed to doing the latest in science and it also , uh, it , um, I think it makes me a better person , uh , a better doctor, if you will. When I have some 25 year old , who, who points out something that the way I've been doing it for years, and especially on issues of like racial justice and, you know, for of the longest time we talked about kidney function based on race. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, if you're a black person or a not , or a not black person, you , we gave D that's not right. Your kidneys are your kidneys regardless of, of your racial makeup. And it was a med student who kind of led that charge. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So you guys have been talking about race related to kidney function for all these years, and that's not even legit. And so, you know, sometimes the next generation gives us more to think about them than , than , than what we have before I let you go. You know, you and I, I wanna talk a little bit, not in a ton of depth, but the , this pandemic over the last two years, so you and I, and another guy, his name is Dan hoodie were the executive leaders of, of our hospital here in Minneapolis. And it kind of hit us a little bit off guard. And we spent almost every single night at the end of the day, remember, we'd sit in my office almost every day or your office or Dan's office and say, okay, now what , what new fresh thing is gonna hit us today , uh, about this pandemic? I hope you'll come back on a future episode of the podcast. And I want to talk about that a little more. Do you remember December 18th? Do you remember what happened on December 18th, 2020 ? Do you , it was a big day.

Speaker 3 26:00

Can I check my phone? Yeah,

Speaker 2 26:01

You can check your phone. It's the day the vaccine showed up or it's the day we started him . And do you remember that scene in the hospital? In the , that was

Speaker 3 26:10

Pretty awesome. Yeah, it was really incredible. There was more joy in one space than I'd seen in a year.

Speaker 2 26:18

Right. We had been just slogging through, you know, at the, you know, just like exhausted every day . How can we get this hospital through this? How can we get our commute through this whole COVID thing? And then the vaccine showed up and I think we had thousands of our employees all lining up to get them on the first

Speaker 3 26:36

Day. Yeah, it was pretty incredible. Yeah. I also think that , um, going through COVID as a team, not only us as friends, but even just being in environment where we weren't home watching the news and seeing the distress, but being there and being able to be with other people every single day was better, was a better way to sort of navigate that world, even though we were right in the cross . Right . How much , how much

Speaker 2 27:04

Were you home over the pandemic? Like not at all.

Speaker 3 27:07

Hmm . I mean, I , uh, it , I was never not thinking about work because we were never in a , I mean, we'd never been in a situation like this where we truly didn't have a , a playbook where we were really , um, doing things is the best we thought we could, but we didn't really have a treatment plan. We didn't have , um, you know, a whole , uh, several decades of data and information to guide us around diagnosis and treatment. So, I mean, that was, you know, that pulls the rug out from under your , have

Speaker 2 27:39

You ever had a disease for which you didn't have a textbook to go to or you couldn't Google it online ? We were flying by the seat of our and helpless too. Yeah . We just felt that way. And I remember that day , uh , as our employees, it was like this party atmosphere for the first time in, in a whole year, December 18th, 2020. And we gave out thousands of vaccines that day. And at the end of the day, it was a Friday. I'm almost sure it was a Friday. Maybe it wasn't, but anyways, it was December eight teeth . So I guess I could look that up. Huh. And at the end of the day, the crowds had thinned out. These are all our employees. We had the chief of cardiology standing next to a food service worker. Mm-hmm <affirmative> because we did things in a county hospital sort of egalitarian way. We didn't say, okay, all the doctors get you shots first. And then all the nurses, we just said, everybody, everybody, all human beings,

Speaker 3 28:23

When people waited, you remember that they waited hours potentially for their shot, depending on the time. And

Speaker 2 28:28

Then at the end of the day, they were down to the last vial, the last one of 'em . And , uh, you and I both rolled up our sleeves. We got our shots and we were the last two out of the hospital that night. And I think I went home. I think I maybe poured myself a little bit of a nice little glass of scotch and I like toasted the world. And then I broke down. I thought , oh my gosh, this is just like catharsis. So , uh, I hope you'll come back on the podcast. And I want to talk more about the pandemic and, and , and give, give listeners a little , uh , some thoughts about what that has meant and what the future of healthcare might look like. I think that'll be a good show and I wanna thank my good friend internal Edison , Dr . Megan Walsh for , uh , being with me today on the podcast.

Speaker 3 29:09

Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2 29:11

So the healthy matters podcast is not just me and my guests talking. We also want to hear from you. This is an interactive show where we're gonna address your concerns. We're gonna hear your stories and we're gonna address your medical questions, whether they be how to stay healthy or how to get healthy. There's lots of ways you can be in touch with the show. First, call us, leave us a message at 6 1 2 8 7 3 . Talk second, drop us an email. Healthy matters. HC med.org . That's healthy matters@hcmed.org . Third, you can always follow us on Twitter at Dr. David Hilton and last the website. It's easy to find@healthymatters.org. All one word. Can't wait to hear from you . You maybe we'll be talking about your question on a future show. Thank you for joining us tune in for our next episode and be well, everybody.

Speaker 1 30:07

Thanks for listening to the healthy matters podcast with Dr. David Hilton, to keep up to date with the latest in healthcare and your health, subscribe to this podcast, wherever you get your podcasts for more information on healthy matters or to browse the archive, visit our@healthymatters.org . And if you have a question or comment for the doctor, email us at healthy matters, HC M E d.org , or give us a call at six one two eight seven three . Talk to catch all the latest from Dr. Hilton and the healthy matters podcast. Follow us on Twitter at Dr. David Hilton. Finally, if you enjoyed this podcast, asked and would like to support us, please leave us a review and share the healthy matters podcast with your friends and family. The healthy matters podcast is made possible by Hennepin healthcare in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and engineered by John Lucas at highball executive producers are Jonathan Camuto and Christine Hill. Please remember we can only give general medical advice during this program. And every case is unique. We urge you to consult with your personal physician. If you have more serious or pressing health concerns until next time, be healthy and be well.