Special Episode Celebrating Relocalizing Health - The Book: The Textile Plant That Cracked Healthcare Before Anyone Was Watching - Phifer Inc., Alabama

Special Episode Celebrating Relocalizing Health - The Book: The Textile Plant That Cracked Healthcare Before Anyone Was Watching - Phifer Inc., Alabama

Welcome to a special series within Relocalizing Health as we count down to RosettaFest in Nashville, July 29 to 31. Each one of these is a quick look inside the book and the communities that inspired it. Real places, real numbers, real people who decided to stop waiting for someone else to fix healthcare and just built something better themselves. If you don't have your ticket to Nashville yet, go grab it at RosettaFest.org [https://rosettafest.org/]. This is where the people in these stories will actually be in the room with you. Here's more about today's special episode Phifer Incorporated is a family-owned manufacturing company in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. About 1,200 employees. They make aluminum, fiberglass, and polyester screening — the window screens in your home, the sun-shading fabric on your lawn furniture. They are also the last remaining made-in-USA manufacturer in their category. And they figured out something most Fortune 500 companies still have not figured out about healthcare. This episode is the story of Russell DuBose, VP of HR at Phifer, who refused to treat healthcare like a force of nature he could not touch. He looked at the glide path the company was on in the mid-2010s and saw a future where benefits became unaffordable to the plan and the people on it. So he did what any manufacturing leader would do. He treated it like a supply chain problem and applied the same lean six sigma rigor he would to any production deficit on the factory floor. What followed was a seven-year roadmap, a zero-cost-share on-site clinic, direct contracts with the best providers, a transparent pharmacy, nurse navigation, scholarships for employees' kids, summer enrichment programs, childcare support for working families, and five straight years of essentially flat healthcare spending. The Plan Grader score went from 37 to 74. Retirement readiness climbed more than 20 points. And then a benefits decision at a screen manufacturing plant in Tuscaloosa turned into a national voice. Russell testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on ERISA and chairs the Alabama Employer Healthcare Consortium, helping spread the model to other employers across his region and state. If a 1,200-person manufacturer in Alabama can do this, the excuse that you are not big enough stops being a reason. It is just a story we tell ourselves. Russell DuBose is a co-leader of the Employer Track at RosettaFest 2026, July 29 to 31 in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland. He will be in the room. So will the playbook. Key Takeaways: * Phifer Inc. is the last remaining made-in-USA manufacturer in their screening category * Russell DuBose reframed healthcare as a supply chain problem and applied lean six sigma rigor to it * The 2017 read of The CEO's Guide to Restoring the American Dream gave him the blueprint * First Plan Grader score was 37 out of 100. Most employers start between 5 and 17. * The Phifer Cares Clinic opened in 2019 with zero cost share for advanced primary care. Within months it was running at 88 percent daily capacity with 58 percent of eligible members actively using it * Five straight years of flat healthcare spending through inflation and high-cost cancer claims * Savings reinvested: scholarships for employees' kids (100-plus students to college), summer enrichment for hundreds of children, eliminated pharmacy co-pays for 1,700-plus patients, childcare support for 250-plus working families * Plan Grader improved from 37 to 74 * Russell testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on ERISA * He chairs the Alabama Employer Healthcare Consortium Resources Mentioned: * Health Rosetta Plan Grader: healthrosetta.org * Nautilus Health Institute: open-source tools and frameworks * Relocalizing Health by Dave Chase: pre-order on Amazon now * RosettaFest 2026: RosettaFest.org [https://rosettafest.org/]— Russell DuBose is a co-leader of the Employer Track Learn More: RosettaFest 2026 - https://rosettafest.org/ [https://rosettafest.org/] Health Rosetta - http://healthrosetta.org/ [http://healthrosetta.org/] Nautilus - https://www.nautilushealth.org/ [https://www.nautilushealth.org/] Kynexions - https://kynexions.com/  [https://kynexions.com/ ] Dave Chase - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/] Podcast Website - https://relocalizinghealth.com/ [https://relocalizinghealth.com/]

Redesigning Health and Wealth in Our Communities

Welcome to Relocalizing Health. In today’s episode, host Dave Chase sits down with Kevin Bayuk, a partner at Lift Economy and a pioneer in redefining how communities can thrive by redesigning local systems. With over 20 years of experience questioning why wealth leaves local communities and how to rebuild systems that circulate, compound, and benefit all, Kevin Bayuk shares his journey from Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur to advocate for regenerative enterprise and bioregional self-reliance. Together, they explore the root causes of ill health in society, including the “loneliness epidemic,” and discuss the vision and practicality of economies and healthcare systems that put well-being, community connection, and ecological thriving at the center. Through stories drawn from permaculture, multi-stakeholder co-ops, and innovative healthcare models like direct primary care, Kevin Bayuk and Dave Chase challenge business-as-usual approaches and invite us to imagine what is possible if we reclaim agency over health, wealth, and the future of our communities. Whether you’re leading a business, a school district, or simply curious about holistic approaches to community health, this episode will inspire you to see that the tools and models for transformation already exist; you just have to look a little closer. Timestamps: 00:00 Early Silicon Valley entrepreneurship 06:04 Rethinking healthcare and wellbeing 10:01 Imagining a future economy 13:42 Community-focused motivation and cooperative structures 15:52 Workers owning the farm 18:40 Community-owned farming cooperatives 21:48 Direct primary care model explained 24:52 Community-driven profit reinvestment 29:01 Structural flaws in healthcare systems 33:37 Anna O'Malley's community medicine circles 35:28 Story of health intervention success 39:14 Future of Work and AI Automation 42:20 Slowing down for sustainability 46:00 Closing thoughts and action steps Learn More: RosettaFest 2026 - https://rosettafest.org/ [https://rosettafest.org/] Health Rosetta - http://healthrosetta.org/ [http://healthrosetta.org/] Nautilus - https://www.nautilushealth.org/ [https://www.nautilushealth.org/] Kynexions - https://kynexions.com/  [https://kynexions.com/ ] Dave Chase - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/] Podcast Website - https://relocalizinghealth.com/ [https://relocalizinghealth.com/]

Trust, Compassion, and Results: The Rosen Way to Better Healthcare

Welcome to Relocalizing Health, the podcast about taking back healthcare and rebuilding communities. In today’s episode, host Dave Chase sits down with Kenneth Aldridge, the long-time clinical leader at Rosen Medical Center in Orlando, Florida. Together, they explore how Rosen Hotels has built the nation’s longest-running and most comprehensive employer-sponsored advanced primary care model, one that delivers exceptional outcomes for a diverse workforce, including a high percentage of high-risk pregnancies, while spending less than half the national average on healthcare. Kenneth Aldridge shares stories from nearly three decades of transforming care: from breaking down barriers to access for associates from third-world countries, to innovative programs like free transportation, on-the-clock appointments, medication support, and comprehensive case management throughout pregnancies. The conversation goes deep into the practical steps that have built lasting trust, improved health outcomes, and freed up resources for broader community well-being, including scholarships and neighborhood revitalization. If you’re curious about what a truly high-performing health system looks like, how love and common sense can upend toxic industry norms, and why Rosen’s model is being replicated across the country, this episode is for you. Join us as we reveal the playbook behind America’s healthcare “OGs” and offer hope for clinicians, employers, and communities everywhere. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to Relocalizing Health Podcast 06:17 Supporting employees with healthcare access 07:38 Helping patients manage diabetes 12:43 Creating a pregnancy management program 13:22 Prenatal care and pregnancy support 18:43 Bringing medical services in-house 21:13 Concerns about healthcare quality and costs 23:53 Rosen Medical Center health services 26:59 Commitment to supporting patients 31:51 Healthcare system challenges and solutions 35:09 The rewarding challenge of hard work 36:43 Reducing waste in healthcare spending Learn More: RosettaFest 2026 - https://rosettafest.org/ [https://rosettafest.org/] Health Rosetta - http://healthrosetta.org/ [http://healthrosetta.org/] Nautilus - https://www.nautilushealth.org/ [https://www.nautilushealth.org/] Kynexions - https://kynexions.com/  [https://kynexions.com/ ] Dave Chase - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave/] Podcast Website - https://relocalizinghealth.com/ [https://relocalizinghealth.com/]

Cancer Survivorship and the Push for Collective Patient Power

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

From Farm Lights to Healthcare Heights: How Cooperatives Solve America's Toughest Challenges

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