Public Risk Management

Public Risk Management is PRIMA's podcast series on the practical side of risk work in the public sector. Recent episodes follow a consistent frame. Shonda Ragland, PRIMA's Senior Director of Education and Training, opens by naming the topic and the guest. Taequann Gilbert, PRIMA's Education Coordinator, then moderates, asking a single specialist a run of direct questions. The guest does most of the talking. The guests come from where the work happens. Brian Lutlow, Executive Vice President at Alternative Claims Management, says a driver who hits an organization's vehicle owes more than the physical damage, loss of use included. When that driver has no insurance, he points to asset searches and to a sharper question: were they running an errand for a company whose coverage might apply? He also flags claims involving ambulances and fire trucks as more complicated than the typical case. Tracy Lemus, a National Catastrophic Medical Consultant at Midwest Employers Casualty, explains that a burn to the face can affect breathing, and that scar tissue over fingers, elbows and knees can restrict movement. That is why she stresses treatment at a burn center. Ty Ford, an Information Security Officer at ValKit, speaks from about four years of stress-testing AI. He calls it another tool, one that can lose track of an earlier exchange and still hallucinates, and he would not hand it critical decisions without oversight. Larry Zaccari, Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management and Chief Security Officer at Stony Brook University, places AI guardrails and intellectual property next to a harder reputational question: what higher education is worth as the federal landscape shifts. Eunice Gutierrez, a Vice President at Amerisys, tells risk managers to ask their TPA for examples of adapting to a client's strategy, to share key performance indicators and to hold regular strategic sessions. She adds that culture in that relationship is about more than demographics. Patti Renike, Director of Claim Consult and TPA Relationships at Midwest Employers Casualty, argues for easy access to help, from employee assistance programs to trauma-informed counseling, and for making it normal to seek help early. Across these episodes the subjects include fleet claims, injured employees, AI governance, vendor oversight and threats facing higher education. The tone is plain and instructional. Much of the advice comes as questions a risk manager can take to a vendor or a claim file. The sign-offs point to PRIMA's website, webinars and blogs, so the podcast is one part of a wider education effort. For a first listen, 'Budget Relief From Vehicle Collisions' shows how a routine incident can become a question of recovering money.