Tell us about your role. 

My title is Vice President of Corporate Support Services which was created in 2021 to streamline support services to our field and central office associates. In this role, I lead three functional areas: supply chain, compliance support, and the program and project management office. Our supply chain services include contracting, purchasing, expense management, reporting, and credit card programs. Our compliance support services include policies, processes, and guidance to ensure that client sites maintain a continuous state of survey readiness. In 2022, I began leading our program and project management office, which guides strategic projects for Medxcel. Our focus is expanding, and our team is going through a transformation as we begin to build programs including change management, field services technology, and methods to integrate and utilize our technology tools.
 

What brought you to your current role?

My degree is in marketing with a minor in psychology, and I had big plans to go into corporate buying for the fashion industry. I fell into supply chain by accident about a year out of college. From there, my career progression could be summed up as, “Hey, here's a problem that you know nothing about, would you like to fix it?” — and I’d say “sure”. Often, that entailed a collection of broken processes or a void where a process should exist. I love to learn new things, so the best way to keep me engaged is to give me something I don't know anything about and let me figure out how it works, and how to improve it. I found my way to Medxcel in 2015, when I joined as a contract manager to create the contract management team. Since then, I’ve had opportunities to expand my horizons by leading compliance and the project management office. I thrive on change and making things better for the end user.
 

What are your main responsibilities?

My primary role is to support my teams. Although I am the leader by title, I play a support role. I have fantastic leaders who work with me and I let them lead the day-to-day, while letting them know I am here to help remove roadblocks, to figure out how to get over, around, under or through challenges, and to work with my peers and our executive leaders on strategy.
 
I continually listen to learn how corporate support services can best support field operations, and the support areas of the business. Everything that my teams do is designed to support that work, making the jobs of those service divisions easier. We ask, “What do you need in order to be able to do more, in less time, more efficiently, and more cost effectively?” We really work to understand their needs and then build teams, programs and processes that facilitate the work of our associates.
 
This year I’ve been helping my teams focus on how our internal customers perceive us. When we arrive on site or contact others in the organization, I want people to say, “Oh, thank goodness you’re here” instead of “Oh, you’re here again” or “What do you need now?” I want them to be excited because they know that we are here to make their lives easier. Our teams are embracing that vision.
 
It can be challenging because our responsibilities include driving accountability and providing guardrails to reduce risk to the organization. At times, that requires saying “no” or asking people to do something differently, which can be hard to hear. We strive to find the right balance and to be helpful allies, even when we have those hard conversations. We want to offer alternative solutions and then walk down that new path with them, removing obstacles and fixing broken processes.
 

How do you and your teams adapt to industry changes?

I’ve been in healthcare for 12 years but continue to learn new things all the time. There’s always a new challenge to be faced, especially during and after the pandemic. I consider these challenges to be opportunities to learn and grow our talents and our skill sets. In my experience at other organizations, employers don’t always support that mindset.
 
At Medxcel, we’re a relatively young company and we’re learning and adjusting as we mature. It’s so nice to be surrounded by people who are enthusiastic about their work. We all want the organization to grow, from our leaders to front-line associates, so we roll up our sleeves. We do whatever needs to be done and that’s an unusual culture.
 

How does Medxcel support associates in their career development?

My job as a leader is to help my teams see the impact that their work has every day, whether they work at Central Office, at home, or in the field. We ask each associate to own their professional development and to ask for help, tell us what they want to learn, or what career path they’d like to pursue, and then work to facilitate those things with them. Medxcel offers so many ways to support that, including tuition reimbursement, certification offerings, online courses, hands-on training programs, and so much more.
 

What would you say is the best part of your job?

I love so many things about my job. Most of all, I love the people here. It’s awesome to be surrounded by others who want to build, grow and transform things, because that’s not the culture everywhere. Many organizations struggle with change, and I love that our culture supports transformation and evolution; it really recharges me. I have fantastic teams and leaders who push me towards excellence. Our work here is fun, but to me it’s the people who really make a difference.
 

How does the work of your teams impact patient care?

This question is really personal to me. I've always loved what I do at Medxcel, and I feel like I make a difference. But in 2017 and 2020, I was a patient in one of the facilities we support. I was heavily pregnant and very ill both times and then my babies were born and spent time in the NICU. Suddenly my children and I were the patients in the beds. I saw what the nurses, doctors, administrators, and clinicians do to support patients, knowing that what Medxcel teams do gives them the time and space to care for patients and create healing environments. I walked out of the hospital even more committed to ensuring that all I do results in making it easier for hospital teams to do their work, so every patient feels as supported as I did.
 

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

When working in supply chain I have been asked to procure goose removal services and also to purchase a swan for a hospital site. You never know, one day we want to get rid of all the geese and the next day we need to add a swan to a lake. It reminds us that even seemingly small things like adding beauty to an environment or rescuing baby ducks from a hospital roof are all important to those we serve.
 

What would you say to someone considering working at Medxcel?

I absolutely recommend Medxcel. I’m always trying to recruit people because I love my job and the people here. When I find good people, I want them to come to Medxcel so they can contribute even more to the greater good. It’s hard to explain what is so special about Medxcel, but we just have a “roll up your sleeves and get it done” mentality. I know that I can go to anyone in the business and say I need help with something, and they’ll immediately jump right in to assist. It doesn’t matter who or where they are in the organization, or what they have going on. They’re going to want to help and that’s awesome.

Is there anything you've learned during your time at Medxcel that you didn't expect?

I have grown a lot as a leader. I'm a fundamentally different leader now than I was when I came to Medxcel in 2015, and that is because my leaders, peers and teams have given me grace to make mistakes, to grow and learn, and I try to extend that same grace to those around me. As I look at Medxcel and the people I’ve worked with for years, it’s amazing to think of where we are now compared to five, six, nine years ago. Our growth — personally, professionally and as an organization — has been incredible.