June 27, 2024

When did you join UTHealth Houston? What brought you here?
I joined UTHealth Houston in November of 1998. I spent 8 years in banking, prior to coming to UTHealth, and I was looking for a large organization that could offer many growth opportunities without having to change employers. My friend, Barbara Bourne Morris, had been at UTHealth, for a number of years, with the Post Award Finance Team, and she recommended me for a position on the FASTeam (Financial Administrative Support Team), within the department of Financial Resources, at UCT. The more I learned about the institution, the more I was convinced that this was the place for me.

Tell us about your work history here.
I started off on the FASTeam, within Financial Resources, as a senior support specialist, where I learned all about our travel, procurement, and HR processes, all within our old mainframe systems, TUFIMS and BPPS! I spent a short time in Capital Assets, and in May of 2001, I moved over as part of the initial group, now known as the SDR Team, that was put together to help centralize the submission of HR transactions, within PeopleSoft, across the institution. I spent four years on that team, with the last 2.5 years, as the manager.

From there, I moved over to the Department of Surgery, as a senior financial analyst, under Julie Page, when she was the interim DMO. This department’s administrative and financial infrastructure needed to be rebuilt, and I was ecstatic to be a part of that new foundation. I had never worked in one of the schools, so I learned many, many new things (such as, what “RVU” stood for), and really feel, to this day, that my experience in that department was truly the most formative of my career here at UTHealth. Working in Surgery really opened my eyes to the clinical world, and UTHealth’s contribution to the community. After three years, and upon Julie moving to her role in the Dean’s Office, I was asked to step in as interim DMO. I ultimately accepted the role on a permanent basis and spent the next 5 years, working with the six division chiefs and the chairman, Dr. Andrassy, to help find ways to support the faculty in their endeavors to start new programs, maintain and grow existing ones, and ensure that our funding levels met the challenges.

During the last year of my time in Surgery, Andrew Casas (Sr. VP of UTHealth and COO of the practice plan), started updating everyone on a new program, called DSRIP (Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment). This program was part of the Texas Medicaid transformation waiver, and the program incentivizes hospitals and other providers to improve access to care and how care is delivered, targeting Medicaid enrollees and low-income uninsured individuals. As the start date of the program became closer, and it sounded like there was no real infrastructure (yet), to manage it, I felt like my background with HR, financial reporting, and my experience within the Department of Surgery might lend itself well to assist with that set up. I applied for the director, reporting and business analysis role, under Andrew, and assumed that position in September of 2013.

The first couple of years of that position were actually spent in a shared capacity between Andrew Casas, and Julie Page in her associate dean role. For Andrew, I set up and managed all of the financial reporting and budgeting, for DSRIP, as well as the new Network Access Improvement Program (NAIP), as part of the Healthcare Transformation Initiatives Team (HTI). I also managed all of the administrative functions, for the group (HR, procurement, travel, inventory, etc). In addition to these functions, I saw myself as a built-in consultant to the group. I had already been at UTHealth, for a while, and many on that operational team were newer, and I helped them navigate the institution and assisted with contacts and processes. For Julie, I continued to be involved in Medical School reporting, and was the “keeper” of the Memorial Hermann AFA file. As the Medicaid programs grew and flourished, Julie took back her MMS-related activities, and I became 100 percent dedicated to the HTI programs.

Over the course of the first three years, it was all about growth, to allow for the Medicaid expansion. Funding from these programs allowed the institution to set up eight new free-standing clinical locations (Greens, Heights, International District, Victory, Rosenberg, Beaumont, Sickle Cell Diseases, and Jensen), and expand services in a number of existing, primary care sites. All of these sites meant a lot of hiring, and a lot of purchasing! Not only did I build up my team, but the HTI team (lead by Sahar Qashqai, associate vice president-quality and strategy) expanded its leadership team and staff to meet the demands of operationalizing the metrics and completing statewide reporting. The collaboration among HTI, UTP Operations, Medical School clinical departments, and leadership was paramount to make this a success. As I look back on those early years, I am so happy to have been a part of such change in healthcare and the impact it had on our patients. Even today, HTI still funds just under 400 FTEs, dedicated to the continued success of the expansion, albeit, under a different program, called Texas Incentives for Physicians and Professional Services (TIPPS).

In the spring of 2018, the chief business officer role for UT Physicians became vacant, and I was asked to serve in an interim role. By September of 2018, I had accepted that permanent role under Andrew Casas. In this role, where I still serve today, I oversee budgeting, financial reporting, and cost management for the UTP Core departments. At a practice plan level, I oversee HR activities related to clinical titles and have responsibilities relating to purchasing/expenditure compliance, contracting, conflict of interest, proforma creation, and any other business-related functions relative to the practice. I continue to oversee HTI budgeting, financial reporting, and administrative functions, although, not in such a granular level.

What are you most proud of accomplishing?
First and foremost, I am proud to be a wife to my husband, Brad, of 22 years, and mother. Watching our two children, Paige (20), and Cam (13), grow and flourish will always be my crowning achievement. From a work perspective, I think I am most proud that I’ve been successful in making the most of the opportunities given to learn/grow and succeed. I do not have a formal education, so even though I’ve always been a hard worker and very dedicated to my job, I never imagined I would be in the role I have today. I’ve had several great mentors over the years and people who gave me opportunities to prove myself, and I couldn’t be more thankful and appreciative. I like to say that I am the poster child for opportunity at UTHealth.

What do you enjoy most about your work?
Well, I am a numbers person at heart, and anybody who knows me knows I love my spreadsheets! I really like laying out all aspects of a project and seeing the story told in a nice, concise summary. Being able to put something together and step back and see the final product is very rewarding. I also like that I am in a position where I get to interact with many people on a regular basis. Sometimes we are working toward fixing a problem, and sometimes we are looking for a path forward for a new initiative. Either way, it’s never boring, and that makes it fun!

Why have you stayed?
I celebrated my 25^th anniversary last November, and I stay because I really love it here. I’ve been very fortunate to work for people that have always made me feel valued and appreciated (Julie Page, Dr. Andrassy, and Andrew Casas, to name a few). I love the relationships that I have formed over the years; all of the bonds that were formed. Most of the big things in my life have happened while working here, both good and bad. My work family has celebrated with me when I got married, built my first house, and when I had my kids; they also supported me when I lost loved ones. Plain and simple, I love the history that I have here, and I feel fulfilled.

When you are not at work, how do you spend your time?
I love spending time with my family. I love to dance, shop, plan parties, and travel! My favorite thing to do is plan vacations. I love picking locations and researching everything there is to see, and do, and deciding if I want to go there. I love planning every detail. I have several trips ready to be taken — just waiting in the wings. My family never knows where I might be dragging them next!