Take Me to Hoag

What makes Hoag different?
 
In this episode of Take Me to Hoag, Board Chair Robert Brunswick explores the "secret sauce" behind Hoag's nationally recognized care: a culture where philanthropy fuels innovation, empowers physicians and enables teams to deliver a truly connected patient experience.
 
Joined by OB-GYN Dr. Lisa Karamardian and patient Hanneke Sohnen, the conversation brings Hoag's privademic model to life through a powerful story of collaboration, compassion and exceptional care. From donor-funded innovation to seamless coordination between specialists, discover how community generosity helps Hoag combine the expertise of an academic medical center with the personalized experience of a community hospital.
 
Because at Hoag, the greatest innovations aren't just found in technology; they're found in people.

In this episode, Hoag Board Chair Robert Brunswick sits down with Kathy Azeez-Narain, Hoag’s Chief Digital and Customer Innovation Officer, to explore how digital innovation and AI are reshaping the patient experience.
From improving access to care to ensuring safety in high-stakes environments, Kathy shares how her team is building solutions that put patients first — including a new approach designed to connect people to trusted care, faster.
Together, they discuss what’s real, what’s hype, and what it takes to bring meaningful innovation into healthcare.

When a physician becomes a patient, the experience can change everything. In this episode, Dr. Allyson Brooks, Executive Medical Director of Hoag's Women’s Health Institute, shares her deeply personal journey of receiving cancer treatment at Hoag — the same health system where she has spent years building programs designed to care for women in life’s most defining moments. From the shock of diagnosis to the vulnerability of sitting in the infusion chair, Dr. Brooks shares with Hoag Board Chair Robert Brunswick what it means to experience care from the other side — and how that perspective is shaping the future of women’s health. Together, they explore leadership, healing, and the profound trust involved in allowing others to care for you.

What draws nationally recognized leaders in digestive health and cancer care away from top academic medical centers? In Episode 2 of Take Me to Hoag, Board Chair Robert Brunswick sits down with Dr. Kenneth Chang, executive medical director of digestive health, and Dr. Steven Grossman, executive medical director of cancer, to explore why they chose Hoag and what they’ve been able to build since arriving. From “science meets hospitality” to faster access, fewer barriers, and a culture designed to move ideas to patients quickly, this conversation reveals why Hoag’s model is different — and why it’s working.

In our debut episode, host and Hoag Hospital Board Chair Robert Brunswick sits down with Hoag President and CEO Robert Braithwaite to explore what truly sets Hoag apart in a landscape increasingly dominated by “big healthcare.”
From his early days as a Hoag intern to leading one of California’s most respected nonprofit health systems, Braithwaite shares how Hoag’s secret sauce comes down to three essentials: Exceptional talent, cutting-edge facilities, and a culture rooted in compassion.
Together, they discuss how Hoag attracts expert physicians from across the country, makes bold decisions, and builds new facilities—like the innovative Hoag Health Center in San Clemente—based on community input, not corporate mandates.
Through it all, Hoag continues to grow while preserving the warmth, agility, and humanity that make people proudly say, “Take me to Hoag.”