Another year, another round of RED — a successful one might we add!
This year’s 2025 Reflect, Exchange, Define (RED) Labor Summit brought together healthcare executives and leaders from across the nation for a not-so-conventional, yet fun and insightful, conference at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs.
RED centers on data-driven and impactful conversations about the healthcare workforce, but with a twist. Rather than traditional lecture-style sessions, this conference is built on participation. Attendees engage with researchers, leaders, and peers in real dialogue, asking questions, sharing challenges, and collaborating on meaningful solutions.
This year’s summit was especially successful in fostering connection, community, and critical and creative thinking around today’s workforce challenges.
In this recap blog, we’ll take a quick look at:
- 3 key takeaways from the RED 2025 Labor Summit
- What the RED Labor Summit is
- How to join our upcoming 2026 RED EAST Summit (at The Cloister at Sea Island Resort!)
3 Key Takeaways from the RED 2025 Labor Summit
This year, we rounded up some of the biggest takeaways from our 2025 conference and wanted to share a few of the most value-driven moments!
1. The Power of Connection
Bringing together executives from different areas and departments to share ideas and learn from one another fostered a powerful sense of connection at this year’s event. Our Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Laurie Bertolacci, noted that leaders with different roles, experiences, and insights were able to help each other, share strategies, and genuinely support one another’s success.
“The power of connection and sharing information to help each other across multi-functional areas of executive leadership makes a difference for health systems. Each and every year — this being our fourth — I applaud and celebrate the transparency to engage and share strategies at this unique conference.”
– Laurie Bertolacci
2. Learning from Shared Challenges
One of the most powerful aspects of RED is seeing that you’re not alone in facing complex workforce challenges. Attendees were able to share struggles, exchange approaches, and learn from the real-world experiences of peers across different health systems. This collective problem-solving sparked new ideas and reinforced the idea that challenges are tackled more effectively together.
“I love seeing attendees connect over the challenges they face in their hospital systems, realizing they are not alone, and walking away with strategies and a network to lean on.”– Catharine Schultz, Vice President of Client Strategy
3. Practical, Actionable Insights
RED goes beyond inspirational talks. Panels and sessions provide dialogue, data, and resources that spark real aha-moments. Participants walked away with tools they could take back to their teams and turn into practical, achievable actions. We make all resources, data, and videos available (per popular demand!) because so many participants are excited to share their RED experience with their own teams. Our conference is designed to provide value, inspire change, and leave every attendee with actionable takeaways they can actually put into practice.
“I appreciated the practical and tactical takeaways from the panels. They each left the audience with realistic first steps that could be accomplished when they got back to their facility. It is helpful to have the explanation and results of big projects coupled with ways to understand how to get started down a path should that project match strategic goals.”
– Patrick Halinski, Vice President of Strategy and Solutions
What is the RED Labor Summit?
At its core, the Reflect, Exchange, Define (RED) Labor Summit centers around three fundamental principles: reflecting in a safe space, exchanging ideas and experiences, and defining strategies and solutions together. RED brings leaders from across the nation to gain the latest research and insights specific to the healthcare workforce through a community-and collaboration-centered approach.
Typically, we feature guest speakers with extensive research and industry experience who share their latest findings and expertise with participants. This year, we were thrilled to welcome David Auerbach, PhD, THE leading researcher on healthcare workforce topics, who delivered one of the most anticipated and interactive sessions that our executives loved (Catch a sneak peek below!).
Along with industry-led lectures, RED hosts panel discussions on exciting topics ranging from AI in healthcare to care model redesigns and more. Check out our agenda from this year to see some of the topics covered!
At RED, we stand against the traditional approach to being directly lectured to – so we changed things up. Every session we host encourages active engagement and participation from conference attendees. It’s all about exchanging ideas and learning from one another.
But it’s not all business at RED. We make sure there are memorable, fun, and genuine moments as well. From golfing and pickleball to the Cog Railway, plus incredible lunches and dinners together, these activities help build a strong sense of community among all participants!
How to Join the Next Session (March 2026!)
Missed this year’s RED? Don’t fret! Our 2026 RED EAST is coming up March 1-3, 2026, and we’re thrilled to host it at The Cloister at Sea Island Resort in Georgia. This stunning resort is surrounded by lush acres of coastal beauty, with five miles of private beach. The architecture, amenities, and accommodations are breathtaking and luxuriously elegant. Against this beautiful backdrop, attendees can enjoy activities like Forbes-rated spas, recreational activities, horseback riding, and more.
Don’t miss your chance to join us for inspiring sessions, engaging dialogue, and actionable takeaways. RSVP for the event using the form below.