Michael Murphy has been Communications Director at Valleywise Health since 2008, where he works tirelessly as a champion for the state’s only public teaching hospital and safety net system of care. In 2022, he joined eight burn survivors and medical professionals from the Arizona Burn Center in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak. The Courage Rising project, sponsored by the Valleywise Health Foundation, raised money for the new Arizona Burn Center and gained national publicity for the health system. Murphy also has been a public health champion as a board member for the Arizona Public Health Association, and formerly served as communications director for the Arizona Department of Health Services. He was named “Best Public Information Officer” by Phoenix New Times in 2008. In his previous life, Murphy was a reporter with The Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette, covering everything from Washington, D.C., politics and the Governor’s Office to an execution at the state prison in Florence.