I am honored to be sitting here today with

with my friend and mentor, Bernie Kershner.

the first ever recipient of the Sloan

Program Alumni Achievement Award.


The award is to recognize

a distinguished alumni of the Sloan program


for giving of their time


and to support the Sloan program and its students.


also has been a significant influence on the healthcare industry


and been recognized for their distinguished career.

In setting up this award it was extremely important


for the Sloan Alumni Association Board

to select the first recipient to be someone


whose achievements and accomplishments


set a standard for the award going forward.


Bernie, you are an admired and respected graduate of the program.

and also a distinguished member of the healthcare industry.

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it is a privilege to have this opportunity

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to recognize your many accomplishments

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and to express our gratitude for your years and your service

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to Sloan, its students, and fellow alumni. Congratulations.

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thank you very much Aaron. I am

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genuinely humbled and honored. I could

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think of so many alums either who

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preceded me or graduated subsequent to

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my graduation who in my view would be far

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more qualified to receive this

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acknowledgement so it affects me deeply

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and I'm honored and proud to be the

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first recipient of this award

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We couldn't think of anyone more deserving.

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Can you tell us a little bit, what inspired you to start

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your career in the healthcare industry?

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that was largely a family decision my

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my father was a was a surgeon

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and at a very tender age I would

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accompany him when he made his rounds at

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the hospital and then he would often

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take me to see his post-op patients when

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he made house calls. my father was a

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throwback and believed in making house

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calls back then and I went along. I'm not

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going to say lovingly but I went along.  was

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eager to just see the interaction

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between my father and his patients and

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quite candidly um that was a factor in

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my decision to go into healthcare. my

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early thought was to perhaps be a

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physician and then I spent one summer

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when i was still an undergraduate i'm

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working in a hospital and realized then

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that my interest really lay more in the

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administrative side and less in the

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clinical side and then having made that

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decision the process with led me to

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do to Sloan was that it was an obvious one

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to me. I wanted one that offered a a more

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meaningful academic experience not just

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one a year. it also was housed in a

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university whose resources were

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extensive and expansive and I think the

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Cornell program offered met those

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requirements in spades on both scores so

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it's a very worthwhile move on my part

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You talk of all these moments you remember

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with your father, growing up, and getting into healthcare

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and the value of Sloan. And as you think about

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about those seminal moments,  post Sloan,

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those transformative times,  what are some of the things that stand out to you

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that let to the career that you had, so distinguised.

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well the model that inspired me was

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was my dad and he only have being a

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typical general surgeon he only had one

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way of doing things and that was

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obviously either his way or or no other

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way. in his way invariably was the right

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way and the right way in his view was

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both the ethical way the moral

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way and the right way for the patients

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involved. so I think if I had a singular

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moment, It would be hard to carve out but if I had

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a singular moment it was when I moved to

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Connecticut and set about the task of

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opening up my first freestanding

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ambulatory surgery center and that was back

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in the days when there were no

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regulations, no licensing requirements, no

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accreditation but I knew from my

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background, and I knew based on things

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that were important to me that there was

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only one correct way to set up the first

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facility in the State of Connecticut and

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that was to be above reproach so

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that even though there were no

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regulations even if there had been we

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would be able to meet and surpass any

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requirements that anybody would impose

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on us and that model has stayed

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with me throughout my career and as I

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began to open up surgical centers across

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the country and frankly even in China

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where I had an opportunity to do some work

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that was still the pervasive mindset

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that drove me to behave the way

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I've always behaved when doing business.

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I wanted to be able to not just make a

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mark but really affect people's lives

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qualitatively as well as quantitatively

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and being able to reach out and set the

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standard for care where there had been

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no previous standards was both a

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wonderful opportunity.

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it was an opportunity and I viewed it as

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a responsibility at the same time as the

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very early pioneers in that field to be

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able to demonstrate the value and the

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worth of this new modality one

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that I think has stood the industry in

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very good stead.

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Clearly, in this post-reform era, it has been

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it has been a staple for healthcare going forward.

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and it is amazing to think that what you did

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years ago and how it has impacted healtcare today. Congratulations.

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Thank you very much.

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So if you think about... we've current students

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that are sitting out there, getting ready to enter the industry

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what would you say to them?

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I continue to believe strongly in

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healthcare. it is a wonderful and exciting field

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loaded with opportunities. opportunities

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not not just in traditional employment

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but to strike out and pursue new

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ventures what with gene splicing and all

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kinds of other approaches; genomics and a

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variety of opportunities to carve out

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new administrative and business

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opportunities. I think it's a wonderful

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field to pursue and I would

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encourage any young person who wanted to

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feel ... who is not afraid of hard work

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and wanted to pursue something that

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would have the ability to make them feel

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genuinely good, i would encourage them

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all to as much as possible strengthen

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their communication skills both verbally

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and in writing but I think in any field

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of endeavor, the ability to

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communicate effectively is critical to

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any success and I think having the

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opportunity to use those skills to

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inspire people inspire the clinicians

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you work with inspire board members and

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I think a lot of attention in the future

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needs to be paid on dealing with board

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members of health care facilities not

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just because of transparency but the

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boards bear the responsibility for

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setting the vision and seeing to it that

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there was appropriate execution so I

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think the responsibility is doubly on

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their shoulder

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and I think they have to remember that

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they're running a specialized endeavor

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not just their typical business that they

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may have left behind. this is a unique

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opportunity to be special about what

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you're doing and to look forward with

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great pride in what you've accomplished

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and I think not a lot of people view it that way.

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Interesting. As you think about lessons. you talk about lessons that you've

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probably learned throughout the years. Are there things that you want to say to them

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about lessons that you have learned that you think would benefit them going forward

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well, don't be afraid to ask

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many questions there's no such thing as

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a stupid question when you're starting a

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career and when you get to that point

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where you're employing people always

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employ people that are brighter than you

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who are not afraid to challenge you not

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afraid to say no to you if you come up

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with something that they don't think is

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workable or appropriate. you don't want

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to just hire somebody like a best friend

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because he is the best he or she is the

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best friend if all things going to do

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was agree with everything you say then

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they're not doing themselves any good

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and they're not doing the institution

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any good. I think you need to be able to

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challenge every idea that comes up

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whoever sponsors the idea and then to

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evaluate it with great skepticism and

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great  passion and passion is

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a word that when I used to lecture

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the students I always use it a lot.

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passion is something that has to be

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genuine you can't create an artificial

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passion about what you're doing but

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it helps if you can feel awfully good

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about what you've chosen to do and

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let that translate into an emotion that

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helps drive and guide you at the same time.

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As you think about that emotion, you think about

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prospective students are also out there, what is the value of Sloan to prospective students?

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I think the present value of Sloan is

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very much what it was when I was a

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student. where it's located, I think

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it's positioning, the kind of academic

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rigors of its program, i think it's

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wonderful having an opportunity to

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access different components throughout

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the university. i think is very important.

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i would encourage students to do that

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one of the things that meant the most to

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me during my days my early days as an

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alum was the time that I spent with

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students and going up to campus and

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meeting with them and getting to know

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them and establishing a mentoring

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program. I think everybody can benefit

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from the mentor including the mentors

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themselves and I think it's a wonderful

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opportunity because that kind of

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interaction.

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Bernie, it is because of those activities

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that you are so loved in the Sloan program.

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You did all of those things years ago and

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today we're trying to replicate...probably not to the same degree as you were able to do it

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but I hope you realize how much you are deserving of this award

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and how much the Sloan program appreciates everything you've done.

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myself, as I said, you're a mentor of mine, you're a mentor to so many.

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Congratulations to you!

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Aaron, thank you so much really it's a

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genuine honor and I'm humbled to be the

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recipient of the inaugural award it

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means so much to me and I thank you

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and the board for this vote of confidence.

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you