Starting with Why and Building What’s Next | Issue #26
At last year’s ACHE Orlando Cluster, I had the chance to revisit Simon Sinek’s Start with Why – a talk many of us have seen, but one that tends to land differently depending on when you encounter it. For me, it sparked a necessary moment of reflection not just on where Core Clinical Partners is today, but on why we exist in the first place.
From the beginning, we’ve talked about process improvement as the foundation of what we do. And that remains true. Core was built on the belief that if you fix the processes, you improve everything – efficiency, outcomes, and experience. But as we’ve grown, it became clear that our old mission statement – compassionate care through true partnership – explains how we operate but doesn’t fully capture why we do it.
Of course we provide compassionate care. That’s table stakes in healthcare. What truly sets Core apart is something deeper. We don’t just support care delivery – we fundamentally change it. By stepping into complex environments and partnering with hospitals to drive meaningful transformation, we elevate quality, strengthen systems, and create lasting impact for the communities they serve.
That realization led us to evolve our mission statement.
Our new mission statement – transforming care through true partnership – clearly reflects the impact we aim to have. It speaks directly to the work happening every day across our organization, both in the field and behind the scenes.
Our vision evolved alongside it. While our previous vision emphasized leadership through innovation and collaboration, our new vision pushes us further: To be the most trusted hospital partner, empowering our clinicians and teams to deliver exceptional care and enduring value.
The connection between the two is intentional. When we succeed in transforming care, we earn trust. When trust is established, everything else follows.
THE RIGHT PEOPLE, IN THE RIGHT ROLES, AT THE RIGHT TIME
As part of this evolution, we’ve made an important leadership transition that reflects both where we are as a company and where we’re headed.
Over the past several years, Jessica Long, MHA, has played a critical role in building and strengthening our operational foundation as COO. From developing scalable systems to helping guide us to national recognition on the Inc. 5000, her impact on this organization is undeniable.
But as we looked ahead, it became clear that the next phase of Core’s growth required an intentional focus on big-picture planning and creative solutions for the future. >Jessica’s strengths as a visionary, communicator, and culture-builder made the path forward obvious. Transitioning her into the role of Chief Strategy Officer created the space for her to focus on what she does exceptionally well – thinking creatively about how we scale, how we bring on new business, and how we continue to evolve in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
As Jessica put it, “I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built on the operations side, but this transition allows me to think more expansively about where we’re going. It’s about creating the space to focus on growth, innovation, and the strategies that will define our future.”
At the same time, I am excited to welcome Matthew Stapleton, MBA, RN, as our new Chief Operating Officer. Matt brings a unique and valuable perspective to Core, with decades of experience spanning clinical care, hospital administration, and physician services. As a former flight nurse and healthcare executive, he understands our business from every angle. More importantly, he understands the environments that our clinicians and partners navigate every day.
His leadership will be instrumental as we continue to strengthen our operational excellence while preparing for what’s ahead.
BUILDING FOR SCALE, NOT JUST FOR TODAY
This past quarter marked an important step forward in our operational maturity. Across the organization, we’ve been intentional about building the systems, teams, and capabilities required to scale sustainably, strengthening our foundation so we can serve our partners with greater consistency, speed, and impact. Key advancements include:
- Reimagining our Clinical Optimization Group: We expanded and elevated our internal consulting capabilities to deliver more consistent, data-informed performance improvement across our partner hospitals – driving measurable outcomes while deepening operational alignment.
- Implementing a centralized CRM: We established a single source of truth across Operations and Recruiting, improving visibility, reducing friction, and enabling more coordinated, disciplined growth across the enterprise.
- Revamping our Recruiting function: We strengthened a retention-first, relationship-driven recruiting model while improving pipeline transparency, accelerating speed to hire, and reinforcing longterm workforce stability.
- Advancing our RCM capabilities: We continued refining processes, leveraging analytics, and aligning clinical and financial performance – optimizing reimbursement, reducing variability, and creating stronger economic outcomes for our partners.
Taken together, these efforts reflect a company that is not just growing, but maturing – building the infrastructure, teams, and capabilities needed to scale effectively.
A CLEAR VIEW INTO 2026
Why does the distinction between vendors and partners matter so much? Simply put, because partnership drives performance.
Our Hospital Medicine group has successfully integrated various models to optimize practices for our clinicians, leading to impressive results across our partner hospitals. By implementing targeted strategies, we have reduced the length of stay by nearly a day, increased transfer acceptance by 99.2%, and saved one health system almost $100 million.
At Core Clinical Partners, we welcome scrutiny of our partnership approach. Our growth, including our recognition on the Inc. 5000 list for the third consecutive year, our status as the Fastest Growing Company among the top 40 middle-market companies in Georgia (ACG Fast 40), and my recent honor as a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Southeast Award, stems directly from our unwavering commitment to authentic partnership.
That’s the power of partnership—and it’s what every hospital deserves from their physician services group.
I welcome your thoughts on this topic. You can reach me directly at brobinson@coreclinicalpartners.com.
Boykin Robinson, MD, MBA, FACHE
Founder and Chief Executive Officer