Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Hope And Healing: The Power Of Empathy In Healthcare

Intermountain Healthcare
"It's important to recognize the humanity in everybody."

Surgeon Shane Lewis, MD, finds that listening to patients and learning more about who they are makes his work more effective and more satisfying. He and his wife, Dixie, share memories of one surgery patient, an 80-year-old Vietnam vet, who was worried about his wife at home alone. 

Dr. Lewis and other clinicians personally checked on his wife and made sure she had what she needed, which helped the patient have a better outcome. “If we operate from a space of empathy, I think we give far better care.”

Support for programming on Utah Public Radio comes from Intermountain Healthcare, a Utah-based not-for-profit system of 23 hospitals, 160 clinics, 2,400 employed doctors and advanced practice providers, a health plans group under the name SelectHealth, and other medical services.