In episode 19 of Solving What’s Missing in Healthcare, we continue our Constructing With Care series with an in-depth conversation on how health systems can strategically plan capital investments amid today’s challenging environment. From rising labor and material costs to suppressed patient volumes and volatile supply chains, healthcare leaders are being forced to rethink how they prioritize, phase, and finance projects.

Host, Leslie Tullio is joined by:

• Curtis Skolnick, CommonSpirit Health

• Jonathan Bykowski, Array Advisors

01:10 – Market Pressures & Capital Planning How rising costs, suppressed volumes, and community needs are reshaping capital investment strategies.

04:07 – Aligning Projects to Strategy Balancing opportunity costs, phasing investments, and ensuring long-term alignment with vision.

05:19 – A Disciplined Process A structured approach to project evaluation—balancing ROI, infrastructure, and mission-driven goals.

06:26 – Consultant Perspective The role of consultants: distilling complexity, simplifying data, and focusing leadership conversations.

08:33 – Stakeholder Engagement The outline for a collaborative, non-dictatorial approach that balances leadership, end users, and external partners.

10:42 – Culture, Politics & Listening The reality of political dynamics in hospitals, the role of active listening, and facilitating C-suite dialogue.

13:35 – Objectivity & Empathy Leading with dispassion, objectivity, and understanding frontline realities.

14:22 – The Role of Data How predictive modeling and simplified synthesis help health systems solve root problems, not symptoms.

18:07 – From Data to Predictive Tools Efforts to triangulate data, search for “single sources of truth,” and explore AI-driven decision support.

21:01 – Closing & Takeaways The future of predictive analytics in healthcare capital planning—and the search for tools to balance strategy, ROI, and patient care.

Quotes:

Curtis Skolnick

“We’re making decisions about how to care for the next 100 years of patients. That takes strategy, not speed.”

Jonathan Bykowski

“If hospitals are the trauma bays for community health, then strategic investment is the triage.”