Announcement: Intend Health Strategies Is Winding Down
Dear Friends of Intend,
We are sharing some bittersweet news: After 14 years of transforming the U.S. healthcare system with a return to a human-centered approach to promote collaboration, equity, and outcomes, Intend Health Strategies will wind down its operations in late December 2024.
Why?
In 2010, a grassroots effort to revitalize primary care at Harvard Medical School led to the founding of Primary Care Progress, currently known as Intend Health Strategies. When we started this work almost a decade and a half ago, the topic of healthcare provider burnout was hardly spoken about, and even less understood. We made it our mission to deeply listen to the stories and experiences of clinicians around the nation, and we are proud of the thought leadership Intend Health contributed to deepen our collective understanding of moral injury and healthcare provider burnout.
Through listening to your stories, we came to recognize the need for an approach to unite healthcare workers with each other, and reconnect with the sense of purpose that drove many of us to our professions. The quest to find this type of approach led us to Relational Leadership, a leadership development program that starts with cultivating authentic relationships as the first step to creating change. Relational Leadership complements an understanding of clinical and community health innovation with an appreciation for the full breadth of human interactions needed to achieve that connection.
While our dedication and passion for the mission of Intend Health and Relational Leadership as a holistic solution to addressing the root cause(s) of burnout and moral injury remains as strong as ever, we recognize that to best carry forward this mission into its next chapter, a new model is warranted.
What's Next?
As we prepare for the next phase of continuing to spread the Relational Leadership model as an antidote to provider burnout and moral injury, we are excited to see the work move forward through our partners and clients.
We want to thank all of you who have supported and collaborated with us. We would not have been able to accomplish all that we have without your passion and commitment. We are proud to be part of this movement.
As we pass the torch to our partner organizations, we will be cheering you on. We hope all of you will join us, and continue your collective passion and commitment to this movement.
With deep appreciation and gratitude,
The Intend Health Strategies Team
After 14 years of transformative work in healthcare, Intend Health Strategies is closing at the end of 2024.
"These moments, of taking what you learn to work more effectively, make Relational Leadership powerful. It's not just theory. It's practical language, practical tools that you can quickly try on for size.”
Cally Johnson
Director of Operational Excellence, OCHIN
"Thank you for inspiring a generation of future docs to become primary care physicians. I definitely felt like I had a community during medical school."
Shani Truong
Family Medicine Resident, UC Davis San Joaquin General Hospital
"In a healthcare system fraught with silos and computer screens, we need the human voice — a personal connection — now more than ever. That's the work of Intend Health."
Matt Lewis, PhD
Strategic Consultant
"The leadership skills, relationships, and perspective I have gained through my involvement in Intend Health have shaped the clinician, educator, and leader I am today."
Kyle Turner, PharmD
University of Utah
"I think the collaborative work that Intend Health does to recruit bright, energized, resilient, diverse, and compassionate primary care physicians all over the country will be even more impactful. Intend Health's efforts will be a big part of the solution to mend our ailing primary care infrastructure in the coming years."
Peter Meyers, MD, MPH
Family Physician, Minnesota Community Care
“A big impact that Intend Health has on me is it makes me more humble, kinder, more intuitive, a better listener, and I’ve been able to teach the skills I’ve learned to others. All of this makes me a better team member, and I think that that's integral to what Intend Health teaches — we need high functioning teams to provide the best care.”
Student Action Network Participant
“So far, my experience in this Relational Leadership course has been THE highlight of my leadership journey. This program exceeded my expectations. I have been sharing the content with my colleagues who are also inspired by it. Thank you for making the world a better place one Relational Leadership course at a time.”
Relational Leadership for Clinician Leadership Program Participant
OCHIN
"This year, there's been so much change with COVID, with work, with everything. But I feel like the PCP Student Action Network has been that constant that I could always just count on. And my favorite part is that no matter how stressful work was, no matter how stressful the year was, whenever it came time for a PCP call or any PCP anything, it's always something that I look forward to."
Student Action Network Coach
“Over 100 members of the UNC community have participated in our Relational Leadership Institutes … one word stands out for me in our evaluations — regardless of whether cohorts met in person or via Zoom — and that word is transformative."
Josh Hinson, MSW, LCSW
Assistant Professor University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work
“I participated in RLI [the Relational Leadership Institute]... and my world has not been the same since. The community that I’ve gained at RLI has been extraordinary. Being part of RLI means being connected to a diverse, interdisciplinary community that breaks down the walls that are typical in academic medicine.”
Katie Gradick, MD, MHS
University of Utah
“Relational skills are particularly important right now because they’re rooted in people, with the fundamental assumption that we are good and have common values. If I can approach with unconditional positive regard and build in psychological safety, who knows what we can accomplish, despite the chaos around us.”
Lexy Kliewer, LCSW
Oregon Health and Science University
“Relational Leadership is what keeps me going. When I feel overwhelmed, stressed, down, I turn to members of the Relational Leadership community for support and resilience. We genuinely care about each other. We put ‘people first,’ truly, in our work together.”
Sarah Smithson, MD, MPH
Assistant Dean for Clinical Education University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
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