Relocalizing Health with Dave Chase

Welcome to another episode of Relocalizing Health, the show about reclaiming healthcare and strengthening our communities. I’m your host, Dave Chase, author of Relocalizing Health: Taking Back Healthcare, Rebuilding Communities. Today, we dive into the realities of being a patient in America, a system where too often, getting sick can mean financial ruin, emotional devastation, and feeling invisible.
Our guest, Matthew Zachary, survived brain cancer as a young concert pianist and went on to do something even rarer, turning his experience into a national movement. As the founder of Stupid Cancer, host of the Out of Patients podcast, and cofounder of We The Patients, Matthew Zachary has spent nearly three decades fighting to give patients a real collective voice in a healthcare maze designed to isolate and overwhelm.
In this conversation, we explore what it means when patients stop being statistics and start becoming a civic force, the power of collective activism, and how something as simple as a patient navigator can be the “seatbelt” we all need on our healthcare journey. We’ll talk about fighting denial engines, rethinking industry incentives, and why the revolution in healthcare might just be led by people who never wanted to be activists in the first place.
Let’s dive in.

Timestamps:
00:00 Empowering patient advocacy
05:32 Financial strain of cancer care
09:29 Discussing healthcare affordability issues
12:08 Concerns over AI in healthcare
14:24 Understanding healthcare appeals process
18:20 Understanding patient needs vs. system assumptions
21:08 Discussing product design flaws
23:14 Using nurse navigators for better care
27:11 Discussing civic power in healthcare
31:56 Audrey Tang and gov0 initiative
35:26 Discussing waste in healthcare spending
37:20 Challenging powerful hospital systems
40:02 Discussing Matthew's impact and achievements

Learn More:
RosettaFest 2026 - https://rosettafest.org/
Health Rosetta - http://healthrosetta.org/
Nautilus - https://www.nautilushealth.org/
Kynexions - https://kynexions.com/ 
Dave Chase - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/
Podcast Website - https://relocalizinghealth.com/

Welcome to another episode of Relocalizing Health, where host Dave Chase draws a bold parallel between America’s rural electrification revolution and the grassroots transformation happening in healthcare today. In this episode, Dave Chase unpacks the inspiring story of Iowa farmers who built miles of power lines before they even had a power source, showing how local ingenuity can spark nationwide change. He introduces his “three, two, one” framework, a blueprint where pioneering communities prove what’s possible, their success spreads, and smart policy amplifies the impact.
You’ll hear real-world examples of how forward-thinking communities and cooperatives are reclaiming healthcare, like employer health plans in Wisconsin, a transformative effort in Ashtabula, Ohio, and successful models from Alaska Native tribes. Dave Chase shares actionable steps for employers, cooperatives, and policymakers to join the movement, and unveils his new book, "Relocalizing Health." Whether you’re a healthcare professional, policymaker, or simply passionate about your community’s wellbeing, this episode offers hope, practical guidance, and a reminder that American ingenuity is alive and ready to reinvent healthcare from the ground up.

Timestamps:
00:00 "Farmers' Power Revolution"
04:23 "Cooperatives: Community-Driven Solutions"
09:05 "Localized Care vs. Distant Decisions"
10:10 "From Worst to Best Healthcare"
16:15 "Empowering Community Health Innovation"
17:03 "Transforming Healthcare at Rosetta Fest"
20:18 "Transforming Communities, Reclaiming Healthcare"

Learn More:
RosettaFest 2026 - https://rosettafest.org/
Health Rosetta - http://healthrosetta.org/
Nautilus - https://www.nautilushealth.org/
Kynexions - https://kynexions.com/ 
Dave Chase - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/
Podcast Website - https://relocalizinghealth.com/

Welcome to Relocalizing Health. In this episode, we shine a light on Plainfield, Indiana, a town just west of Indianapolis, where public sector employees like police officers, firefighters, and public works staff were once priced out of their own healthcare. Nate Thorne, assistant town manager, joins us to share how Plainfield broke free from years of rising premiums and shrinking paychecks, fundamentally transforming its approach to employee health benefits.
Instead of accepting sky-high insurance costs as an inevitable “healthcare trend,” Plainfield’s leadership took courageous steps: moving to a self-insured health plan, forging a direct contract with their local hospital, and reimagining benefits so workers now pay zero deductibles and co-pays, with real dollars flowing back into their households. These savings built meaningful new programs like mental health support and childcare assistance, and Nate Thorne and his team are on a mission to show other cities and counties that there is a better way.
Whether you manage a city, run HR for a school district, or just want a behind-the-scenes look at how local governments can invest in their people and communities, this episode brings you the story, the lessons, and the playbook, direct from a Rosie Award finalist, on how to take back control of your health plan and rethink what’s possible for your workforce.

Timestamps:
00:00 Challenges of municipal worker benefits
04:21 Facing rising insurance costs
07:24 Challenge of risk in public policy
11:46 Implementing a Self-Insured Program
16:10 Managing healthcare spending changes
18:07 Cost-saving strategies for healthcare plans
22:02 Creative funding for employee benefits
26:18 Leadership and gradual progress advice
28:52 Challenges in the public sector
32:02 Managing retiree health benefits
35:13 Employee survey results on premiums
37:25 Annual employer gathering details
40:11 Plainfield's health plan changes

Learn More:
RosettaFest 2026 - https://rosettafest.org/
Health Rosetta - http://healthrosetta.org/
Nautilus - https://www.nautilushealth.org/
Kynexions - https://kynexions.com/ 
Dave Chase - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/
Podcast Website - https://relocalizinghealth.com/

Welcome to Relocalizing Health. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, where an organization fighting hunger is revolutionizing health benefits for its employees. Join Dave Chase as he sits down with Amy Lein, Chief Human Resource Officer at Second Harvest, to uncover how this nonprofit broke away from the broken health insurance model, creating one of the nation's highest-quality, most accessible benefit plans.
Learn how every employee at Second Harvest pays zero in premiums, deductibles, and co-pays, translating into real quality of care and tangible support like paid leave and grocery assistance. Hear firsthand stories of transformation as employees, for the first time, can actually afford and access the care they need. This episode is a must-listen for nonprofit leaders, city managers, and anyone who has ever looked at a health insurance renewal and thought, “We can’t afford anything better.” As Dave and Amy reveal, a better way is not only possible, it’s already here.

Timestamps:
00:00 Making healthcare affordable for employees
05:41 Improving employee healthcare access
09:14 The concierge nurse navigator
10:01 Affordable access to top doctors
14:32 How the gift card program works
19:35 Offering paid parental leave
22:37 Having access to quality healthcare
26:07 Rising healthcare costs and solutions
30:02 Vision for what's next
30:43 Creating a great workplace culture
34:38 Wrapping up with final advice

Learn More:
RosettaFest 2026 - https://rosettafest.org/
Health Rosetta - http://healthrosetta.org/
Nautilus - https://www.nautilushealth.org/
Kynexions - https://kynexions.com/ 
Dave Chase - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/
Podcast Website - https://relocalizinghealth.com/

Welcome to Relocalizing Health with Dave Chase. In this episode, we explore what happens when a clinical leader takes health care into their own hands for both their patients and their employees. We'll meet Tim Spooner, a physical therapist who, in 1990, opened a single clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona with the conviction that the right care, at the right time, can transform lives. Thirty-five years later, Tim leads Arizona's largest private PT practice, operates clinics across Arizona and Texas, and runs Solve Global, a company that's reshaping how employers nationwide address musculoskeletal health.
But Tim's story doesn't stop with clinical excellence. Frustrated by skyrocketing premiums, opaque data, and decreasing reimbursements, he set out to redesign his company's health plan from the ground up. In the process, he redirected money typically lost to the old system back into his people, offering benefits like tuition reimbursement, direct primary care memberships, and robust musculoskeletal solutions. His efforts not only earned national recognition but also inspired other PT practices to follow suit.
Today, we'll dive into Tim's journey of leadership and innovation, the challenges he faced, and how his blueprint for change is empowering others to reclaim health care, making it more transparent, effective, and people-focused. Stay tuned as we learn what it truly means to "walk the talk" in health care and why the proof is in the room.

Timestamps:
00:00 How Tim Spooner got started
03:28 Discovering rising healthcare costs
08:06 High hospital markup example
13:14 Regenerative medicine success stories
15:36 Proactive healthcare and early intervention
19:57 Challenges for healthcare professionals
22:48 Transitioning to self-insured healthcare
24:12 Leadership and driving results
26:59 Medical costs and MRI findings
30:43 Navigating healthcare payment models
36:11 Closing advice for key audiences
36:49 Partnering with clinical practice leaders

Learn More:
RosettaFest 2026 - https://rosettafest.org/
Health Rosetta - http://healthrosetta.org/
Nautilus - https://www.nautilushealth.org/
Kynexions - https://kynexions.com/ 
Dave Chase - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/
Podcast Website - https://relocalizinghealth.com/