Season 3 Episode 8 – Zero harm starts at the top: Leading safety at scale

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In this episode of PG Pulse, Tejal Gandhi, MD, MPH, sits down with Steve Markovich, MD, President and CEO of OhioHealth, to explore what it really takes to make Zero Harm 24/7 an operating discipline, not just an aspiration. 

Drawing on his experience as a physician, health system CEO, and former Major General in the Ohio Air National Guard, Steve shares how lessons from aviation, military readiness, and high reliability shape OhioHealth’s approach to safety, culture, and performance. 

They discuss why safety must be owned at the CEO and board level, how standardization reduces avoidable variation, and why psychological safety, learning systems, and daily leadership behaviors are essential to sustaining progress. 

The takeaway: organizations that lead on safety build it into the bedrock of how the system works.