Personal Narrative: A Career In Healthcare

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My most recent professional experience afforded me the opportunity to open Georgia’s first net-new hospital in almost 20 years on April 1, 2015 in Braselton, Georgia. Working within the Northeast Georgia Health System has further cemented my quest to serve as a healthcare executive. In 2006, I was first introduced to healthcare operations while working as a Human Resource Specialist in the Indiana Army National Guard. Throughout my professional career I have been involved with several operational projects which add depth to my growing knowledge base. At this point in my career, I am seeking a formal, structured training program, that will groom me to work within hospital and clinic based operations as a strategic operational healthcare leader. …show more content…
Yet over time, focusing solely on solving problems as they emerge carries the risk of being caught unaware when problems of larger scales strike and persist. One needs to adopt a systematic and systemic approach whereby every component of the healthcare system is considered in a pro-active fashion for all occasions. Expending substantial energy on putting out small fires blinds one to anticipating future problems. Early in my career, as a Human Resources Specialist, I became familiar with this firefighter mentality which was frequently adopted to solve immediate pressing issues. For instances, while participating in a health event to review and process over 300 soldiers for deployment, my team was notified one week prior to the health event that we needed to update medical and financial records for 300 soldiers. Due to this short notice and lack of communication between the HR and clinical teams, the event was not a success and the entire event was spent attempting to solve small sporadic issues. From this moment, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare operations because I want to improve the integration of teams and improve their operational …show more content…
We aim to ensure that leaders and staff are ready to provide the best patient care by discussing Safety, Methods, Equipment, Staffing and Supplies (S+MESS) and if support is needed, appropriate staff is allocated for the highly matrix Northeast Georgia Health System. I am no stranger to allocating resources to project activities especially if there is a deficit of knowledge or talent. As a First Lieutenant, Human Resources Manager in the Army National Guard, I have had the privilege of leading 200 + complex Human Resources projects. Throughout the span of my 9 + years serving, I have learned that – along with strategic planning for continued development for operational competitiveness – careful management of resources (employees, financial, product, skills, technology and information) lead to the path of mission success. Within the healthcare field, organizations face an engorged challenge to accurately employ resources, improve care and lower