I officially started as Vice Chair for Clinical Operations on January 1, 2022, but I wasn’t able to truly spend time in my Northwest Tower office until March. Since then, it has been quite a ride in the hotseat, and a lot of variety in my days.
I still take five to seven overnights at Progress West Hospital as part of my clinical work, and occasionally help out at Barnes West County. I try to be in my office on Tuesdays which means I will be non-clinical, post call, or taking call that night.
Here is a typical Tuesday for me:
5 am — Catch a 6 to 7 mile run around Forest Park with my training group. I find it gives me a sense of accomplishment early in the day and sets a positive tone. After a quick clean up in the Kaldi’s bathroom, I’m off to the office to check-in with the staffing boards and reply to emails from overnight.
Dr. Avidan hosts the weekly Vice Chair Meeting on Tuesday mornings. We give updates for our respective areas of responsibility, and discuss Departmental issues. It is quite the impressive group and humbling to hear about our accomplishments and innovations in education, research, clinical work, and wellness of our Department members.
The remainder of the morning, I will have meetings with faculty members, business directors, Division Chiefs and CRNA leadership, hospital administrators, and trainees. We have many committees that are responsible for the running of our enterprise, but I like to set up meetings just to meet the people in our Department. If I haven’t met you yet, please set up some time!
For lunch I may grab a sandwich and soup at Farmstead. If Dr. Avidan is available, I’ll grab lunch with him so we can have a casual catch up.
I make a habit of visiting a clinical location when I am at BJH. You may see me getting lost at CAM, SLCH, PVT, or BJH South, so please point me in the right direction! If I am not headed to Progress West for the evening, my meetings are usually done by 5pm.
I’ll pick up my older daughter after sports practice and let her drive home. I like making dinner for the family once a week, as long as they don’t mind pasta, or something cooked on the grill.
Even though I am home, there are many people in our department still working across our many locations, which gives me extra appreciation for the time I can spend with my family. This knowledge motivates me to think about what I can do the next day to help our clinicians perform at their best and get satisfaction from the wonderful work they do.