I was finalizing a book manuscript and navigating what my realtor called “the most complicated closing” of her career when the latest Commons Healthcare episode went live. The timing couldn’t have been better.
Reporter Danny Funt profiled Rick Berke, STAT’s co-founder and executive editor, tracing how the newsman built the leading healthcare and life sciences publication.
Learning about STAT’s investigations into corporate behemoths sure put my worries in perspective. But what I appreciated most was how the episode grappled with a question central to so many healthcare careers:
What happens when an organization’s mission crashes into its business demands?
Now to the newsletter.
The lawyers didn’t mince their words. An investigation into Purdue Pharma could land STAT on the losing side of a court case costing tens of thousands of dollars.
“We were brand new,” Rick told us. “I thought, really, is that responsible for STAT to take on Purdue Pharma this early in our being?”
On the one hand, I’d want to speak truth to power. Isn’t that STAT’s mission?
On the other hand, I’d want to protect the business. Didn’t employees need their salaries to, you know, live?
Decisions like this aren’t easy. But the story of how Rick and the publication broke some of healthcare’s biggest news—even when it cost millions in lost ad revenue—shows how to succeed when you face a similar quandary.
Journalism and healthcare are alike for the right and wrong reasons.
Both serve a higher calling. Reporters seek the truth. Clinicians care for patients.
And both industries are under crushing financial pressure. Over the past few years, about two newspapers shut down each week in America. Hospitals haven’t fared much better. Between 2010 and 2025, more closed than opened. About 43 percent of surviving hospitals are losing money, according to Kaufman Hall.
It’s not surprising, then, that mission collides with business in both industries.
We’ve seen what happens when greed wins in healthcare.You don’t have to think far back to name someone who prioritized profit over patients.
Then there are stories of personal sacrifice. Consider the hospital in Fairfax, Okla., profiled in The Washington Post. Debt was mounting, supplies were dwindling, and some employees hadn’t been paid in 11 weeks. But the team kept caring for the community. Someone had to.
In a perfect world, this wouldn’t happen. Health systems would be overstaffed and flush with enough cash to meet every need. But in the real world, deciding how many people to put on the floor, what drugs to stock, and which services to provide calls for complex moral calculus.
Leaders across healthcare, from payers to med tech manufacturers, face similar challenges.
When they do, I suggest looking to STAT.
Rick’s story gave me the distinct impression that STAT’s mission and value proposition are wound into its business. They’re inseparable.
When Rick approached his co-founder and funder about the potentially costly investigation into Purdue Pharma, the directive was clear: Go for it.
STAT went on to break an important story. And then it broke another, and another, and another. Just last week it published an investigation into Epic, a leading electronic health records vendor.
While these pieces don’t always please advertisers, they’re STAT’s biggest subscription drivers. “It can pay to stick to your principles,” was how Commons Healthcare host Tom Castles put it in the episode.
That philosophy can work in healthcare, too. Look at Rochester Regional Health in New York.
The nonprofit health system banned the common, aggressive tactics for collecting unpaid patient bills—such as lawsuits, liens, and wage garnishment—KFF Health News reported.
Taking a softer approach, Rochester Regional Health simplified financial aid applications, offered interest-free payment plans, and helped people enroll in insurance. The organization said this built trust with the community without hurting the bottom line.
Doing things ethically, it turns out, can mean doing things better. As Rick said:
“I don’t have any interest in commodity.”
Listen to our episode on Rick Berke of STAT here.
All the best,
—Mark and the Commons Healthcare team