I am a healthcare leader working at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, TN as the Sr. Director of the Integrated Operations Center and Telehealth for the system. I have worked for Methodist since 2005 where I started at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. I started as the director for Le Bonheur's Pediatric and Neonatal Critical Care transport program, Pedi-Flite. As this program grew, I was asked to create a dispatch center which became the Le Bonheur Transfer Center. The Transfer Center is the hub for all acute transfers for patients into the hospital and a model for what eventually would become the integrated operations center for the system. I was also asked to assist with running the operations of the emergency department and ultimately was made the administrative director for emergency services for the hospital with responsibility for the transport program, transfer center, emergency management and the emergency department.

While the administrative director of emergency services the department accomplished many exciting goals including achievement of a left without being seen rate below 1% and we crossed 90,000 annual visits for the emergency department. The transport program grew to 4 bases and the transfer center grew to requiring 4 operators at peak times. Growth of the transport program and especially the addition of remote bases create significant increases in referrals to the organization and improved market share in the secondary and tertiary referral area.

As telehealth began to grow significantly, I was asked if I was interested in changing course and develop a telehealth program for the hospital with the intent to grow the program for the health system. I implemented the telehealth infrastructure for the health system and developed multiple workflows which were utilized to see patients both domestically and internationally. In addition telehealth enabled patients in rural areas to access subspecialties they would otherwise have to travel to Memphis for at the hospital's outreach clinics.

When the system decided to centralize the transfer center and bed control functions for the adult hospitals, I was promoted to the senior director of this effort and system telehealth operations. The integrated operations center (IOC) manages all beds for the five adult hospitals within the system as well as all incoming transfers and direct admissions. In addition, we coordinate all patient transportation needs for ambulatory, wheelchair, ambulance and helicopter needs for patients.