This is Tom’s last week on Linkedin and other work-related social media. He wrote me this note and asked me to post it.

Adding something of my own to the note below, it was great to work with him. We wrote an entire trade-bestselling book together, Cracking Health Costs, without ever meeting until it was published. He was disruptive before disruptive was a thing, and was the first champion of Centers of Excellence, back when everyone else thought they could save money by just “doing wellness.”

Dear Al,

As I am retiring from the industry today, I would like to ask you, as my best friend in healthcare, to post this note and send thanks to the many people who have also been great friends and supporters through the years.

First, at Walmart, I’d like to thank Sally Welborn for rolling out our Centers of Excellence model before it was a “thing” – during a time when everyone wanted employees to “do wellness” instead. I would also thank Adam Stavisky for taking it to the next level at Walmart.

And while we are on Centers of Excellence, thank Dr. Fred MacQueary and Dr. Alan Sparrow and especially Dr. Mary Bourland at Mercy Hospital in Springfield for avoiding so many unneeded and harmful spinal fusions. They are the classic Center of Excellence.

Next, special thanks to Leah Binder for the great work that Leapfrog Group does, and for introducing us. Without Leah there is no Cracking Health Costs, and that book launched my post-Walmart career. And thank you for graciously allowing my name to go first even though you did most of the writing.

So many other people to thank and support that I am only going to mention a few and hope they tell the others. Sandra Morris, Scott Haas, Mark Kendall, Rick Chelko, Paul Levy.

If you would like to write Tom a nice sendoff, please don’t do it in the comments here. Instead, go to linkedin https://bit.ly/3xRvxIB so all the comments can be in one place.