Radiating Goodwill

By David West
June 15, 2018

If you read our blog or follow us on social media, you’ve probably noticed two important facets of our culture—we value employee quality of life and we are engaged in our community. For me, these two dynamics are intertwined, as working at Equinox affords me margin that makes it possible to support my wife in the work that she does in our community.

Shortly after we got married, Jule started medical school. Residency followed and then kids, and life has never really slowed down. After a few years in private practice, Jule joined the faculty at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine and University Medical Center.

In this role, Jule is continuously engaged in the two things she cares about most - providing health care to the underserved and teaching the next generation of doctors how to better care for those who have been marginalized by political and social structures that impair health.

Through an academic-community partnership with Neighborhood Health Downtown Clinic (a Federally Qualified Health Center), she provides primary care to people in Nashville experiencing homelessness. While some patients fit a certain stereotype (sleeping in cars, on benches, or encampments around the city) many others are temporarily homeless—living in shelters or half-way houses as they return to society from incarceration, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, or a devastating life event.

For almost every encounter Jule has with a patient in the clinic, a medical student or resident joins her. Each of these patient visits becomes an opportunity to teach both the clinical practice of medicine (taking a patient history, making a diagnosis, assessing lab results and tests etc.) as well as the complex social issues impacting patients living on the margins (lack of transportation, limited access to medicines, physical and mental vulnerability, etc.).

When she’s not in the clinic, Jule is still involved in teaching. Three times a year she teaches a four-week medical school class on community health care. In the class, Jule works to equip students to effectively address predictors of poor health on an individual level, and to engage health care systems in ways that promote meaningful change. Finally, four weeks a year she cares for patients in the hospital, leading an in-patient care team that includes medical students, interns, and residents.

Not only does Jule do a lot, but she does it very well. In the last few years, she has been inducted into the Medical Honor Society (AOA), was named to the Vanderbilt Academy for Excellence in Teaching, and received the F. Tremaine Billings Faculty Teaching Award. Last month, at a ceremony for graduating medical students, it was announced that Jule had been selected by the senior class to receive the Leonard Tow Humanism award and be inducted into the Gold Humanism National Honor Society.

Although I don’t get to see her at work, over the years, I have heard many stories from students, patients, and doctors about the work Jule does. They all say the same things—Jule loves her patients and cares for them with great compassion and she is a gifted teacher who inspires learners.

Jule is constantly busy and in motion—over the course of a week she will move between multiple clinic sites, offices, classrooms, and the hospital. Her work is emotionally demanding as well. Many of her patients are very sick, and most carry an overwhelming burden of poverty, oppression, addiction, and violence. Caring for them takes a great deal of time and energy.

As Jule’s vocational work has evolved and expanded, our daughters have grown up and are now in high school. As every parent knows, that too is a full-time, all-hands-on-deck, emotionally consuming responsibility.

So where does Equinox fit into this? While I love my job and would never consider doing anything else, being fully present and intentional in trying to raise my daughters well is far more important to me. While I think the work we do at Equinox is important, and doing it well matters, I recognize that there is a qualitative difference between selling software and saving lives.

And that’s the beauty of Equinox. Over the years Byron and Wayne have worked hard to create a culture that honors families, provides flexibility, and encourages balance. For me, this means scheduling meetings and trips around our girls’ activities, so I can be there when Jule can’t make it. It means having the flexibility to run an errand or help Jule out when a clinic day runs long. And, it means having something left in my tank at the end of a workday to hear Jule talk about the difficult cases she saw that day.

I’m not a saint, far from it, and I’m not trying to say I’m always a perfect husband or father. But, I do know that working at Equinox gives me more margin than many of my peers, and some of that extra time and energy goes to supporting my family and especially Jule in the work she does. I think this is what Byron and Wayne had in mind when they started Equinox—treat those around you well and the effect will repeat and multiply, like ripples on a pond, radiating goodwill far beyond its initial source.

About the Author

David West is Executive Vice President of Equinox Information Systems. David oversees the company’s sales and marketing team, develops the company’s long-term strategic plan, and works directly with the company’s hundreds of customers across the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia. When he is not making sales calls or updating spreadsheets, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing basketball, and serving his community through his efforts at St. Bartholomew's Church and One Voice Nashville. To learn more about Equinox, its products, and the people who power them, visit www.equinoxis.com or call (615) 612-1200.