Tell us about your role and responsibilities as Director of Operations.

When I came into this role, it was a bit of a blank canvas, evolving into a focus on national strategic initiatives, leading the implementation and local impact of those initiatives. My role bridges the corporate office and field operations, understanding how we can best support the field, ensuring our initiatives are well received and deliver value.
 
I also assist with the facilities assessment process for new clients, when we analyze the condition of their buildings and help them understand the worth of their assets, their risks, pain points, and the efficiency opportunities we can assist with. 
 
I often find myself in the role of a coach. The conversations I have with people are less about me telling them what to do, and more about listening. “How would you do this? Have you thought about this?” I also  provide insight and perspective to other departments on how initiatives might land in the field, exploring any ramifications we may not have considered.
 

Describe the path you took to arrive in your current role.

I grew up in Arizona. My high school job was at a tire store, and I eventually worked in their corporate office while attending Arizona State University. When I graduated, they were opening stores in Nashville and asked if I’d like to help open stores out there. So I moved to Nashville, where I met my wife. An opportunity arose for me to work with our church, and I worked at our local parish and then the diocese. In my late twenties we started a family and I really began thinking about what I wanted to do with my career. My wife was a nurse practitioner and, as it turned out, I met a Medxcel leader at church. He asked me to come work for Medxcel, given my business background so I joined Medxcel as a facilities manager in Nashville.
 
I was lucky to be surrounded by excellent mentors and next-generation leaders at Medxcel. I had so much support. After a few years I was promoted to facilities director, and eventually to my current role, which is what I’ve always aspired to. I wanted to make a national impact and get involved with big projects. I’ve been blessed to be in this position for almost two years.
 

What is the best part of your job?

I’m driven by curiosity, which is why I got so excited about this role. There’s always a new stone to overturn in healthcare facilities management. With operations, there’s always a chance to get pulled into something new. I think the agility and diversity of our teams is exciting because we can just pivot and jump right into new projects. There’s never a dull moment.
 

How would you describe the culture at Medxcel?

My favorite part about the culture of Medxcel is the innovative spirit and also being part of a growing, young company. You know that term “Fail fast?” – it refers to the ability to take calculated risks in search of innovation without losing sight of our primary goal. I don’t think there’s anyone who’s been here, who wouldn’t understand what our primary goal is. Even as strategies or priorities shift, they remain within our overall framework. I would say the constant evolution and adaptation is my favorite part of our culture.
 

Which of Medxcel's Core Values do you feel is most important to your role and why?

Reverence resonates with me the most, tying back to what I mentioned about being mindful of our main goal. From a Core Values perspective, I define reverence as honoring, showing appreciation and gratitude, showing reverence for how we got started and for our mission. Reverence for why we’re here leads to appreciation. We almost take it for granted that we’re part of this beautiful, unique experiment that has the potential to be amazing.
 

How does your work and the work of the operations team impact patient care?

We support the efficient, effective delivery of patient care by providing safe and comfortable healing environments. While we’re not direct caregivers, any time we work on the physical environment — whether through landscaping, managing fire systems, or implementing a work order for the facility — we support effective care delivery. It comes back to that reverence for our mission and the people we serve, ensuring we’re deploying our resources effectively, adding value and not delaying or negatively impacting patient care.
 

What's the most unusual thing that's happened to you during your time at Medxcel?

When I was a manager at a hospital site in Nashville, we found a crack in the seam in a room, which was on an operating room (OR) floor. Given the OR schedule, the only time we could conduct repairs was at night. We went in at night to make the repair and found that when the room was renovated into an OR, they’d missed an important step, removing the concrete floor. So at 8:30 p.m., the contractor calls me and says, “Hey, we’ve just discovered concrete and the only way I’m getting through it is with a jack hammer.” I told him to do what he needed to do.
 
The next morning, I heard about the jack hammer starting the night before “out of nowhere,” impacting patients on the three floors below all night. I realized the implications of what I had approved the night before and felt like an idiot. I felt so bad. I talked to my manager, who advised me to go to the morning huddle meeting, apologize, and be ready to receive my lashings. I knew I deserved it.
 
I went into the huddle, took the microphone and asked, “Who was impacted by the jack hammer last night?” I saw hands go up and knew it was completely my fault. I told them I’d do whatever service recovery they needed and someone said, “I want you to go to every single patient who was impacted and apologize to them.” I apologized to 32 patients that day. The next day, I was recognized at the huddle for performing the service recovery. One clinician leaned in and said, “I don’t know anyone else who would mess up as badly as you did and then get celebrated for it the next day.” I learned that everything we do impacts patient care, and I also learned the value of a heartfelt service recovery. I have kept those lessons in mind ever since.

What would you say to someone who asks you if you recommend working at Medxcel?

I’d recommend working at Medxcel if you are innovation minded — willing to adapt, curious and embrace experimentation. We have risen to some really cool challenges. I don’t know anybody who shows up like Superman to challenges better than we do. Many folks in our industry are quick to say “That’s not my job.” It’s fine to have healthy boundaries but when there’s a serious problem that we can help solve, we lean into it. Someone with that curious, problem-solving mentality will do well at Medxcel.
 

Can you speak to the training and development opportunities Medxcel offers associates?

I don’t know of a single scenario where someone articulated what they wanted to pursue that Medxcel hasn’t supported them. I think that’s one of our biggest strengths. Medxcel helped me pay for my MBA. I want to pursue some new certifications and always receive full support. It’s always “Absolutely, go get it.” That’s one of the cooler things about working at Medxcel that more people should take advantage of.
 

What is one thing you have learned in this role that maybe you didn't expect?

I didn’t understand the interdependencies of our work when I started. I’ve learned that everything everyone does impacts other teams in some way, and I’ve really learned the meaning and value of cross-collaboration. It’s important to lean into the fact that we all need each other, and we each have something to offer. The great thing about Medxcel is when there’s a need, issue or project that needs input, everyone jumps in and collaborates to figure things out.