Plumbing, poetry and punk rock: Inside Dr. David Priest’s vision for the future of quality leadership

Dr. David Priest will tell you that he has the coolest job in the world — and he says it with the kind of humor and heart that instantly makes you believe him.

It’s not that his role as chief safety and quality officer at Novant Health is easy. Far from it. The days are filled with decisions that shape lives, safeguard care and push the boundaries of what a modern health system can do. But for Dr. Priest, that’s exactly the point.

“Healthcare is this incredible blend of science and human touch,” he said. “You get to impact the patient in front of you, and all the people like them who’ll come after. That’s why it’s the best job in the world.”

He doesn’t say it to be sentimental. Dr. Priest is an infectious disease physician by training, a pragmatist by nature and a quietly relentless optimist. What makes his job the coolest, he insists, is the constant tension between the measurable and the meaningful — the “plumbing and poetry” of leadership.

From compliance to creativity

The CQE role, Dr. Priest said, has evolved far beyond compliance. It’s become a creative enterprise — one that demands imagination as much as measurement.

“In the past, safety and quality were often about checking boxes,” he said. “Now we’re being asked to be innovators — to use creativity and collaboration to solve the hardest problems in healthcare.”

At Novant Health, that creativity comes to life in unexpected ways. There’s the HeRO Playbook, a living operating system for safety and quality that distills complex goals — from clinical variation reduction to health equity — into accessible tools for every team member. Dr. Priest calls it a unifying “north star” for the organization. Even the board of trustees has adopted it, embedding safety and quality into every decision.

And then there’s the storytelling — Dr. Priest’s favorite part.

The infection prevention team’s “Urine Chronicles” video series, for instance, transformed the dry topic of catheter-associated infection prevention into a witty, cinematic campaign that people actually wanted to watch.

“We have this incredibly talented nurse, Chris Jones, who directs them like short films,” Dr. Priest said. “They’re hilarious, but they’re also educational. Who wants to click through another e-learning module when you can watch something creative and memorable?”

For Dr. Priest, this is leadership through joy — a recognition that engagement is born from energy, and culture grows from curiosity.

The annual event where quality rocks

If the “Urine Chronicles” demonstrates the playful side of Novant Health’s quality culture, the annual Safety and Quality Symposium proves just how far Dr. Priest is willing to take it.

Each year, the event transforms from a traditional meeting into an experience that blends science, art and rock ’n’ roll. There are themes — curiosity and creativity will take center stage for the upcoming symposium — and keynote speakers who range from sports legends to philosophers. There are custom-designed concert posters, complete with hidden “Easter eggs” that nod to the organization’s priorities. And then there’s Salma the Safety Llama, Novant Health’s unofficial mascot, who this year was depicted firing neon laser beams from her eyes.

“I love the intersection between medicine, art and music,” Dr. Priest said. “When we make the symposium fun and visually creative, people remember it. They connect emotionally to the work.”

Plumbing and poetry

Dr. Priest borrows his favorite leadership metaphor from Stanford sociologist James March, who said leadership is equal parts plumbing and poetry.

“Some people are great plumbers — they make things run. Others are great poets — they inspire. But the best leaders do both,” Dr. Priest said. “You can dream big, but you also have to get your hands dirty.”

That philosophy drives the balance between vision and realism that defines his day-to-day work.

“You can’t push an organization to perfection overnight,” he said. “Both people and systems have a limit to how much change they can handle. The key is steady progress — celebrating the good while keeping your eyes on great.”

This pragmatic optimism shows up in how he rounds at facilities across Novant Health’s 19 hospitals. He listens. He asks deceptively simple questions like, “What’s driving you nuts right now?” And when nurses or clinicians share frustrations, he follows up — even if the fix is small.

“It’s about proving you’re not just listening; you’re acting,” he said. “That’s how you build trust — one conversation at a time.”

Equity, curiosity and human connection

Dr. Priest’s optimism isn’t blind to the challenges facing healthcare. Workforce strain, technological disruption and shifting reimbursement models all weigh heavily on systems like Novant Health. But he sees opportunity within the tension.

One example is health equity, which he defines as “gap closure” rather than abstract principle.

“When you focus on eliminating performance gaps, everyone’s care improves,” he said. “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

And that data-driven curiosity has led to surprising insights. For instance, the Novant Health team recently found that some of the system’s lower mammography rates were among Asian women, and some of the lowest chlamydia screening rates were among white patients.

“Those findings challenge assumptions,” he said, “and that’s the point.”

It’s the same curiosity that fuels his broader philosophy.

“I think the best physicians are philosophers, too,” he said. “If you don’t keep learning, reading, listening to music, connecting patterns — you lose the joy that makes you good at this.”