In this thought-provoking episode, host Lee Scheinbart interviews Dr. Sheri Mancini, surgeon, physician advisor, U.S. Navy veteran, and author of Healthcare as Infrastructure: A Constitutional Approach to Reform. Drawing on more than two decades inside the healthcare system, Sheri challenges leaders to consider whether healthcare has drifted away from its fundamental mission—and what it would mean to treat healthcare as essential national infrastructure rather than ordinary commerce.

Lee and Sheri explore the tension between mission and margin, how financial incentives shape everyday operational decisions, and why CMOs are uniquely positioned to recognize institutional drift. Using examples from the operating room and beyond, they discuss resource allocation, physician incentives, stewardship, and the responsibility of physician executives to advocate for change. Dr. Mancini ultimately challenges CMOs to put on their “mission goggles” and examine where financial pressures may be pulling their organizations away from the communities they exist to serve.