Kristen Podein has become the driving force behind Corewell Health’s Consolidated Service Center SKU Optimization Program, an ambitious initiative to reduce system SKUs from over 12,000 to 8,000. What began as a tactical supply chain project has grown into a transformational enterprise-wide effort that unites sourcing, clinical and operational teams around shared goals.

Her leadership bridges silos by implementing centralized governance, developing stocking criteria, and fostering clinician-friendly communication. She has also prioritized resilience and adaptability, stepping in to cover multiple workstreams during staffing transitions while keeping progress on track.

The impact is already clear. By 2025, the program achieved a $4.1 million reduction in inventory levels and secured $500,000 in annual savings through Distribution Service Agreements. Space utilization at CSC West improved significantly, and clinical teams now benefit from standardized products that ensure consistent, high-quality patient care across locations.

Podein’s work represents more than cost savings. She is building a people-centered culture of collaboration and transparency, where frontline input guides decision-making and continuous improvement. By aligning supply chain standardization with clinical pathways, she ensures the initiative supports both operational efficiency and care delivery excellence.

Her vision and execution exemplify the Spend Management Visionary spirit: transforming complexity into clarity, uniting people around shared value, and setting Corewell Health on a sustainable path for future growth.

Shabnam Gaskari has broken new ground in bringing advanced therapies to pediatric patients. Recognizing the absence of infrastructure for cell and gene therapy (CGT), she built a comprehensive framework that balances innovation, access and sustainability. Her model integrates three pillars: clinical and financial evaluation, patient identification and contract-to-payment lifecycle management.

The results are transformative. By standardizing workflows and streamlining approvals, she cut sourcing timelines by over 50% and improved therapy approval times by 40%. Early payer and manufacturer engagement reduced institutional risk and enhanced budget predictability. Most importantly, her work has directly enabled timely access to curative therapies for children with ultra-rare, life-limiting conditions.

What makes her approach unique is its clarity and replicability. She turned what had been fragmented, ad hoc processes into a centralized, multidisciplinary model that aligns genetic screening, payer contracts and financial modeling. This reduces administrative burden on clinicians, speeds patient access and ensures therapies can be delivered sustainably.

Gaskari’s leadership during the early adoption phase of CGTs has set a gold standard for readiness in pediatric care. By uniting clinical, operational and financial teams, she not only opened doors for groundbreaking treatments but also created a blueprint that other health systems can follow. Her innovation ensures that life-changing therapies are not just available, but accessible and sustainable for the future.

Under Chad Hatfield’s leadership, pharmacy at UC Davis Health has evolved from a support service into a strategic engine for institutional growth. He oversees nearly 700 professionals across 13 pharmacies, clinical services and a nationally recognized residency program. Over five years, he grew pharmacy’s revenue to more than $1 billion annually, with five-fold expansion in specialty pharmacy alone.

His vision has reshaped infrastructure — building a Shared Service Center that includes a 20,000 sq ft automated home delivery facility, infusion suites and a warehouse now seen as industry-leading. Hatfield also navigated extraordinary disruption during a catastrophic flood in 2019, when UC Davis lost sterile compounding capacity for four months. His decisive leadership enabled continuity of care at a 600-bed trauma and children’s hospital, preventing patient transfers while achieving safer, more efficient long-term workflows.

Financially, his renegotiation of the UC Health wholesaler agreement saved the system an estimated $140 million over five years. His newest achievement — the 80,000 sq ft Pharmacy Shared Services Center — centralizes procurement, expands infusion and specialty care, and sets a model for scalability across the UC system.

Hatfield’s hallmark is integration: aligning clinical, operational and financial strategies so pharmacy becomes central to patient care and system resilience. His work has made UC Davis pharmacy not just a department, but a driver of institutional excellence.

Jim Francis has redefined what supply chain leadership can mean in healthcare. At Mayo Clinic, he oversees more than $5.6 billion in annual expenditures across supplies, purchased services and capital, ensuring both operational excellence and financial stewardship. His vision extends beyond Mayo: as a co-founder of Captis, LLC, he built a sourcing network that now represents over 300 hospitals and $10 billion in purchasing power. He also helped launch a national nonprofit initiative focused on tackling drug shortages across the country.

Francis’ approach blends innovation with foresight. He anticipated gaps in resiliency by helping to establish a national collaboration aimed at strengthening supply chain continuity—work that proved essential during global disruption. His leadership has earned Mayo Clinic a place in Gartner’s Top 25 Healthcare Supply Chains every year since 2009, with “Masters Class” recognition since 2018.

Looking ahead, he is advancing digital transformation through AI and predictive analytics, embedding sustainability into sourcing decisions, and investing in workforce development. Francis’ work not only secures Mayo’s supply chain today but also prepares the field for tomorrow—setting an enduring standard for collaboration, resiliency and patient-centered value.