In her own words: I was born and raised in St. Louis, as were both of my parents, so most of my family members live here, with a few scattered all over the country. My mom worked in the Radiology Department of a local hospital when I was a kid, and I loved going there to see what she did. It helped that I was pretty accident prone (I broke five bones by the time I was 10 years old) and visited a number of times for my own x-rays. Everyone was always so nice and helpful, and I knew as I got older that I wanted the job security and fulfillment that a career in healthcare had to offer.
I have worked in healthcare for more than 15 years, starting in nursing school as a receptionist in an MRI department and then as a patient care tech. In my nursing career, I have worked mostly with the technology side of healthcare. In 2016, I finished my Master’s degree in Nursing Informatics. However, during the pandemic, I had the opportunity to work a number of vaccine clinics, administering vaccines. While it was a stressful time for all, this was a great way for me to help out my colleagues and the community as a whole.
The past 13+ years, I have worked in various roles related to Epic. These include training, building and project management. While I have not been involved in direct patient care in a number of years, I enjoy getting to see the impact made to patients, families and team members through other avenues. Making sure everyone has what they need to help those we are caring for is important to me. This past year, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, so I have spent more time on the “patient” side than ever before. Navigating all of the questions and unknowns was difficult, but the experiences and contacts I was able to lean on during this time have been invaluable.
I love to travel, bake, watch STL sports and generally anything that has me laughing with friends and family. I have one dog, Dublin, who is a 10-year-old Lab/beagle mix. He has short legs and a lab body and loves to sleep and eat. I try to go as many places as I can, at least one new place a year. My goal is to visit all 50 states within the next five years – I have eight left. Christmas is my favorite time of year, and my goal is to make the house looks like Santa’s Workshop every year – so if you see me with glitter stuck to me, it’s a hazard of the environment.
I am excited to start this next chapter with WUSM!