Tell us about your role as VP, Operations.
As much as I love to work with my hands, I don’t try to get into the nitty gritty of the daily tasks. I really like solving puzzles, but I see my role as more of a mentor. Communication is key to everything we do. I spend time with my team, helping them see different perspectives, especially as it pertains to communication. Knowing how to effectively get their message across to their team and our clients is more important than the words themselves.
A mentor told me early in my career, “If you’ve seen one hospital, you’ve seen one hospital”. Each facility is unique, and the same applies to individuals. Part of my role is adapting the way I communicate with each member of my team.
Describe the path you took to arrive in your current role.
I began my career as an estimator for a countertop manufacturer, before getting into residential construction. I enjoyed working with my hands, building houses and putting on final finishes. Working construction during Wisconsin winters was challenging, and I remember shoveling snow out of the way so I could build. I knew I couldn’t do that forever, and a family friend suggested that I become a boiler operator. I got my boiler’s license and became a boiler operator at a hospital in Wisconsin, my first step into healthcare. While there, I finished my bachelor’s degree.
As I was about to transition to supervisor, a mentor asked, “Are you sure this is what you want?” Being young and a bit naïve, I had no doubts that I did. That was the beginning of our mentoring relationship, and he guided me through what it meant to be a healthcare leader. Anytime there was an emergency, I’d try to jump into the deep end of the pool to assist the team, and he’d pull me back. Once the event was over, we’d talk about what happened. I realized that I overlooked opportunities to educate my team because I was too caught up in the details. It helped me see the bigger picture and guided me into my leadership. I feel like it’s my mission to give that back to everyone on my team.
I later transitioned to regional director over all our Wisconsin client locations with responsibility for facilities as well as planning, design, and construction. Most recently I was promoted to VP, Operations for the regions of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
How do you collaborate with other areas of the business?
We collaborate to provide a safe and well-maintained environment for great patient care. When our facilities leaders receive notification of an upcoming regulatory survey, compliance support immediately reaches out, asking if they need anything. We partner with our planning, design, and construction team as well as our energy experts who have an engineering background. For capital requests, resource directors, planning, design, and construction, and energy teams come together to put the best case forward for client approval. It’s a planned, seamless process.
Our focus is on the infrastructure of the building, as well as the clinicians that work so hard caring for patients. Prior to a recent survey, our Wisconsin regional director pulled together a Medxcel team representing facilities management, safety, and compliance support to round the site and identify opportunities for improvement. Then months later when the survey was underway, the teams came back together as that support structure, serving the hospital as one team. Daily interactions with the nursing staff and senior leadership are very important during a survey. We make sure they have everything they need to answer questions that they only get asked once every three years. The hospital greatly appreciates seeing the entire team come around in those situations.
How would you describe the Medxcel culture?
From my perspective it’s all about teamwork, from the facilities team maintaining the hospital to the compliance team that comes in ahead of surveys to the safety partnership. It builds a cohesive team with a unified sense of purpose.
How does Medxcel support you and your teams with training and development opportunities for career growth?
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to go to a verbal judo training with a couple Medxcel peers. Understanding how it applies to law enforcement, then crossing it over into the work we do in healthcare was so valuable. It’s solving a puzzle of how people think and what motivates them, and I really enjoy that challenge.
Project Brilliant is a new Medxcel training course that allows us to better understand the different styles of leadership. It received great feedback, and I was excited other leaders were able to participate in the course.
How does Medxcel support your personal well-being?
There’s great passion behind work-life balance within the organization. Being a family-centered person, I’m appreciative of Medxcel’s generous PTO that allows me to focus on those activities. I feel supported by my leader and peers that offer to cover for me when I have planned time off. It’s good knowing we have that team collaboration.
How does your work impact patient care?
Everything we do impacts patient care. If we didn’t do what we do every day, clinicians couldn’t care for the vulnerable patients in our hospitals. It’s our job to make sure we take care of the facilities so they can take care of the real business, which is people. Something seemingly simple can mean the world to a patient, whether it’s fixing an HVAC to keep the room comfortable or repairing a television that’s not working correctly. These small things are huge annoyances for a patient who, quite frankly, would rather not be in a hospital.
We also consider patients’ perception of the building. If it is well-maintained on the outside, they know they will be well taken care of inside the facility. Maintaining manicured lawns, trimmed shrubs, and color coordinated flowering plants all increase trust in your hospital and level of care.
How do you feel Medxcel impacts the communities we serve?
It’s just phenomenal to see how much Medxcel wants to give back to the community. When I was a regional director, we’d take part in monthly community involvement. We adopted a stretch of highway to maintain, picking up garbage and making sure it looked nice. A few times we came together to pack bags with essentials like lip balm, toothpaste, and soap for the homeless. We have team members that put flags in the veteran cemeteries for Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day as a nod to families who have lost loved ones. The maintenance team pulls together gift baskets and donates toys to the local women’s shelter during the holidays. Giving back to the community doesn’t have to be a huge investment. Simple things can make a big difference.
What is the best part of your job?
I love working in healthcare, which is evident as I’ve been in the industry for over twenty years. I cherish the opportunity to talk with people and help them see different perspectives, as well as mentoring them and watching them grow. That’s the joy I have in my role here at Medxcel.