John Cruz — portrait, direct gaze on a dark ground
john-cruz.co

John
Cruz

Nurse, quality and safety specialist, systems mapper

I map how the kidney care system actually works — and make it understandable to the people inside it.

The Pillars

Every Seat

I've worked nearly every tier of dialysis — technician, nurse, charge nurse, manager, medical-device sales, and now quality and safety. Moving through those levels is what let me see the common denominators: the same problems wearing different clothes depending on where you're standing.

Make It Understandable

I like solving problems, and I like making complicated things understandable. Most of what's broken in this system isn't hidden — it's just illegible.

Show the Work

What I publish is my interpretation of how the system works, shown openly so it can be corrected. That's part of the point, not a disclaimer.

Working as Designed

The outcomes aren't accidents. The system produces exactly what its incentives are built to produce — so I read the design, not the people. Most of the harm isn't anyone being wrong; it's everyone optimizing locally for the part they can see.

What I'm Building
The Access
LIVE

A public atlas of how the U.S. dialysis system connects: care, money, regulation, and accountability. Built so the people inside it and the people governing it can see the same picture.

→ the-access.co
The ESRD Atlas
STAGE 1 CLOSED · VIEWS PUBLISHING

The verified dataset underneath The Access — 47 entities, 62 relationships. One data model; every plate is generated from it, so the map and the data can never drift apart.

Quality & Safety, Peritoneal Dialysis Program
CURRENT ROLE

An academic medical center. Governance architecture, quality infrastructure, and survey readiness for a home-dialysis program.

The Path — eight seats, seven ampersands
Technician Nurse Charge Nurse Manager Device Sales Quality Safety The Map

Fifteen years. I didn't specialize down one lane — I went across. That line is the qualification.

The Plates

Twelve views of the U.S. dialysis system.

Each one started as a question I couldn't find a straight answer to — what happens to a patient, how the money moves, when everything's due. Three to start with:

The Crossroads What actually happens to a patient at the start. The Money Flow Where the dollars start and where they land. The Regulatory Year-Wheel Every federal deadline, on one dial.

All twelve live on The Access — each generated from one verified dataset, each carrying its sources and the date it was last checked.

→ Explore all twelve at the-access.co
What I'm Writing
The Map
THE ESSAY

The long-form read: how the U.S. dialysis system actually fits together, written from inside it.

→ the-access.co/essay
Get in Touch

Write to me.