Pamela Sutton-Wallace, MPH has led within some of the nation’s most complex academic health systems, including in her current role as President of Yale New Haven Health. As a non-clinician, this has required her to learn as much as possible about the needs of physicians and nurses, establish meaningful dyad and triad partnerships, and base relationships on trust and common purpose. “It’s always been important to me as an administrator to see myself in service to those who provide the care . . . my responsibility is to make the lives of those who are providing care easier.”
In this Accelerating Physician Leader Impact episode with host Michael Anderson, M.D., Sutton-Wallace reflects on a career shaped by serendipity combined with purpose—pivoting from political science to public health, then advancing to broader roles that honed her ability to solve problems at scale. Career advancement was defined by purpose and impact: “Disavow yourself of chasing a title. Instead, what is the work you want to do?”
In their conversation, she distills crisis-leadership lessons from COVID: clarify what’s known, stress-test assumptions, and be ready to course-correct as facts change—while calling for cross-stakeholder collaboration to tackle the interdependent challenges of U.S. healthcare. Looking ahead, she finds hope in “small wins” that add up for staff and patients, and closes with timeless counsel on team building: “Hire people who complement your leadership style, not people who replicate it . . . bring the team together with different skills and make music together in a space of professional safety and trust.”
