Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey
Co-founder and CEO Whole Foods MarketWhen asked about his views on the U.S. health care system at the HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition in Orlando on Monday, John Mackey didn’t hesitate to express his dissatisfaction and disappointment.
He emphasized that despite the size and cost of the industry, patient outcomes in the U.S. lag far behind other countries.
“Our population is very sick,” McKee said. “If (the healthcare system) has a higher purpose to help people, it’s failing.”
This HIMSS22 The Executive Summit opening keynote was moderated by Christopher Ross, Mayo Clinic Chief Information Officer and HIMSS Board Member. The conversation covered everything from McKee’s career at the organic grocery store to his approach to eating (he’s vegan) to his post-retirement plans.
During their conversation, McKee emphasized that he pays little attention to medically-informed diet and lifestyle changes, even though these changes can have a profound impact on a person’s health and longevity. He also hinted that maybe, just maybe, something would be done about it.
Mackey plans to retire from Whole Foods on Sept. 1 after 44 years at the company, which he established at a store in Austin, Texas. But he didn’t spend much time in retrospective mode during the meeting. Instead, he seemed eager to share what’s coming next while bemoaning the state of the U.S. healthcare system.
He spoke throughout the session about how patients often take medication or undergo procedures to treat symptoms of health problems. But, he said, little has been done to help people make radical lifestyle changes to address major health problems facing Americans, such as heart disease.
“Why don’t we have clinics to help people change their diet and lifestyle so they can reverse or prevent disease? It’s shocking,” he said. “There is a huge entrepreneurial opportunity here. I have to do something about it. This will be my next career after Whole Foods. “
Ross didn’t hesitate to get McKee to keep his word.
“Is this an announcement?” Rose quipped.
“No, that’s not an announcement,” McGee shot back. “But I’m going to do something. So stay tuned. There will be an announcement eventually. “
McKee is a proponent of “conscious capitalism” and seems to walk the talk. Since his early days at Whole Foods, when he was still figuring things out from a business perspective, he has described his commitment to achieving goals, not just profitability.
“We’re just a bunch of hippies selling food to other hippies,” Mackey recalls when the company started. (Whole Foods was founded in 1980 by Mackey and Renee Lawson Hardy.)
A venture capitalist who declined to invest in the business told McGee at the time that the market was small. But it turns out that there is a natural and organic food market and supermarkets specializing in that area, he said.
“At the time, America was increasingly leaning toward ultra-processed foods — the kind of junk food that really ruined America’s health,” he said.
Fast forward to 2022, and McKee outlines how the American public is paying the price for embracing this way of eating and living a sedentary lifestyle. But instead of discussing it as inevitable, Mackey emphasized the possibility of meaningful change. He discusses his lifestyle choices and how healthy living allowed McKee and his wife to forgo any prescriptions.
While acknowledging that dietary patterns are difficult to change, he’s also quick to talk about solutions.
After teasing his possible second career, McKee described Whole Foods’ own program to help employees adopt healthy lifestyles and make dietary changes. Its purpose is to provide employees with the tools to initiate change that may ultimately reverse or prevent chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.
Employees must apply for the one-week intensive immersion program. Those who experience it are medically supervised and receive intensive education and help to change what they eat and become active.
“A generationWhat happened in just one week is remarkable,” he said.
Mackey did not say whether his post-Whole Foods career would in any way offer such programs directly to consumers (not just for employees). But he again stressed that if American medicine is not up to the impactful task of helping people transition to healthier lifestyles, then outsiders will.
“I do think we’ll see new business models emerge,” he said. “If the healthcare industry doesn’t want to do this because it doesn’t pay enough, then you’ll see entrepreneurs innovating around it. “
Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
