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This is the strategist in brief for September 11th, 2025 for this week's key market dive. The Strategy Catalyst team has distilled our favorite takeaways on health systems strategic planning based on a dozen member submitted plans and a lively webinar discussion in late August. Two thirds of the submitted plans highlighted service line expansion as a primary strategy for revenue growth and diversification with women's health, oncology, and cardiovascular care as the most frequently mentioned focus areas. While some systems are planning on shorter timeframes in response to policy risks and market shifts, other systems see the value in longer timeframes with more transformative goals. Culture is a top workforce priority, but investment in recruitment, retention and physician alignment is often more tangible and urgent. Some health systems are expanding into new markets and neighboring states to diversify their policy risks. Moving on to our market scan. Sycamore Partners closed its$10 billion acquisition of Walgreens and announced plans to split the retailer into five new independent companies. Retail primary care disruptors like Walgreens are posing less of a competitive threat to health systems than previously expected. Rival disruptors like CVS and UnitedHealth might find more success by leveraging the payer sides of their businesses. Cigna's new$3.5 billion investment in shields could complicate health systems, existing specialty pharmacy partnerships with a former Walgreens subsidiary. The post breakup companies will be more focused businesses. They will lack the potential for synergies with other parts of Walgreen's Former healthcare Empire. Debt from the leveraged buyout could also create new financial pressures. Moving on to other news. Hospital associations, home care providers and other provider groups are lobbying for their share of a new federal$50 billion rural health transformation fund. While the fund is ostensibly meant to offset the financial effects of Medicaid cuts for rural hospitals, some experts expect the program will be geared towards broader investments in rural. F presenting a united front. With home care operators and other rural providers could give health systems a more compelling pitch to state policy makers who often view larger health systems claims of financial distress with skepticism. That concludes this week's edition. Be sure to check out the full version on the web@hmacademy.com. Thanks for listening.