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Patrick Willett, PA-C, MDSc, Drawn to Professional Independence at AP Health

Posted on August 7, 2023

After 10 years working as a Physician Assistant (PA) with different physician groups, Patrick Willet, PA-C, DMSc, decided he wanted to be in an environment that offered professional independence and growth- that is what brought him to AP Health.

Early Attraction to Healthcare Field

Growing up in Maine, Patrick knew he wanted a career in healthcare from an early age. After shadowing his family physician PA, as well as practitioners in other fields, he decided to pursue a career as a PA because of the capability to explore multiple specialties and opportunities, a characteristic incredibly unique to the APP field.

Patrick received a master’s degree from Keiser University’s PA program and took a job working for a physician group where he focused on orthopedic surgery and pain management.

“My first job gave me the opportunity to get experience in the clinical world, then slowly get my feet into the OR,” Patrick says. “I fell in love with the surgical pathway; I enjoyed the postoperative care, rounding in hospitals, and was able to transition away from more of the clinic work.”

Patrick then went to work for a large orthopedic group, serving in a pool of PAs. There, PAs rotated duties for clinic, rounding and surgery. The ratio of physicians to PAs required on-call duties every six days and weekends every six weeks.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot of weekends being on call, but it was literally 24-hour coverage Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which became overwhelming,” he explains.

His next job was working directly for an individual physician in more of a one-on-one relationship. In that role, he and the physician shared clinic, rounds and call.

“That job offered more responsibility, but the hours were long and only got longer,” Patrick recalls. “I was in a salary-based structure, and after a while, I looked at the number of hours and the late nights I was working and felt undervalued. Career growth is very important to me, and I started feeling like my growth and compensation were plateauing.  This is when I decided to go back to grad school. I felt like PAs were underrepresented in healthcare leadership positions, so I wanted to enhance my opportunity to grow.

Patrick earned a doctorate in healthcare administration and leadership from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in Provo, Utah Not wanting to completely leave clinical medicine, he found an opportunity at AP Health that provided the right balance. At AP Health, Patrick is our Director of Clinical Services, specifically for the Palm Beach region. In this role, he oversees the day-to-day operations in the ORs, manages the team of providers, and helps seek out new opportunities for business development and growing our market in that area.

“There are certain weeks when I’m in the OR 3-4 days because of coverage needs, but my main role is to make sure our people are positioned properly, our surgeons are happy, and our hospital customers are satisfied with the services they receive from us.”.”

Patrick Likes Professional Independence Offered by AP Health

“As part of my job, I get to talk to a lot of practitioners who are considering coming to AP Health,” Patrick says. “One of the biggest things I hear is that they are being burned out in their current positions. They’re overwhelmed from covering clinic, the OR and call. They hate coming home at night and doing two hours of EMR, making sure their notes are complete and reviewing labs. They feel like they are being asked to work harder and harder, yet they are stuck in a salaried position with often unattainable productivity bonus structures. This usually happens after about six years in the profession.”

Patrick says what they find attractive at AP Health is the transparent compensation and benefits structure that gives the practitioner more control over their work and life.

“It’s kind of an ‘eat what you kill’ approach,” he explains. “If you want to work more and make more money, we have that. If you need to dial it back for whatever reason, we can accommodate that. If you want to focus on certain specialties, we offer that, as well. The pay structures and bonus structures are very straightforward and appealing.

“I think advanced practitioners, especially those with some experience, are looking for the kind of professional independence that we offer,” Patrick says. “They want to have more say in how their life and work are structured. Having that independence avoids burnout and improves retention. I know that my mental health has improved, and my stress levels are far better than they were before, as I feel more in control of my personal and professional ambitions. I hear the same from practitioners who have joined AP Health.”

Finding Efficiencies in Operations Doesn’t Require AI

By Katelyn Nordby, AP Health Operations Manager

Posted on June 8, 2023

It seems like everyone in healthcare is looking for AI to be a silver bullet to improve operations and increase profit margins. While the power of AI will be transformative, there are opportunities to leverage technology to improve performance with tools that are available today.

At AP Health, we recruit, manage and bill advanced practice providers, primarily for hospitals’ surgical operations. That includes a lot of moving parts and players. My operations team handles provider credentialing, enrollment, coding, billing and encounter reconciliation. So, if it has to do with getting somebody into an operating room or what happens after they’re done there, that’s our wheelhouse!

The heart of our technology stack is our proprietary LogistiSx platform. LogistiSx started as a case management scheduling app but is now a full practice management solution that enables us to scale the business and increase efficiencies in virtually every area. While it doesn’t incorporate AI yet, we’ve achieved business goals by leveraging technology with a traditional focus on operational efficiency and productivity.

Streamlining Repeated Tasks in Credentialling, Onboarding and Scheduling

Finding advanced practice providers and getting them ready to work in an OR requires a lot of repeated tasks. Recruiting, credentialling, onboarding and scheduling involve multiple people and departments. We’ve moved all these tasks into our technology platform, creating a central record, along with tasks for our new employees and team members. We’ve significantly reduced emails and documents going back and forth and are able to get providers ready to work in the OR more quickly and more efficiently. And when we go to schedule a provider, only those eligible to work a particular case are shown to the schedulers. So, if a provider isn’t credentialled for a particular hospital or is on vacation, they won’t appear on the list of possibilities for the schedulers. Our efforts have improved the work life of both managers and providers, and have made us more efficient as a company.

Automating Functions to Improve Performance

We’ve taken a similar focus on process improvement when examining our coding, billing, and reconciliation functions. To get paid for the work our providers do, we need to have the correct billing codes, submit the claim and reconcile any discrepancies or errors. Having the correct billing codes is key to our getting paid – and we like getting paid. We have online access to some of our customers’ systems, so we can easily get the appropriate codes. For others, we built automated tools for code requests. Our system has a dashboard that lets us see where if information is missing and allows us to address it immediately.

We’ve taken a similar approach to our billing process. We built functionality into the system to identify billing discrepancies that may come up. We can then work to resolve any issues in our billing queue almost in real time, and before they might cause payment delays. The transparency our technology brings to the process results in our getting paid better and faster. 

Effective AI Will Require Process Focus

Our success in leveraging technology to improve operations is the result of our focus on process improvement. We continually examine how we perform our daily tasks and look for ways to improve them. And we focus on those areas where process improvements can make the biggest impact for the company. I believe the same approach will be required for AI to deliver the operational performance and margin improvement that everyone anticipates.

Matthew Blakemore, PA-C: a Wandering Path to Medicine

Posted on April 4, 2023

Originally from Arkansas, Matthew Blakemore did not start out with a goal of pursuing a career in healthcare. He explored jobs in several other industries, including over-the-road trucking, radio broadcasting, construction, and restaurant management. It was not until he was preparing to become a firefighter/EMT that he was told by his family doctor he should consider becoming a Physician Assistant (PA). The thought stuck with him when he was graduating EMT training, the economy went into a severe recession and firefighters were being laid off by the dozens.

The recovery was slow, so he began looking for ways to maintain his credentials before they would expire. After considering other options, Matthew decided it would be the best long-term solution to get his degree and become a PA. He completed his bachelor’s degree in just three years, and then enrolled in Nova Southeastern University’s PA program in Fort Myers, graduating in 2016.

“Following graduation, my first PA job was with an exceptionally busy orthopedic practice in Missouri, where, unfortunately, it was the constant case of overbooked and understaffed,” Matthew says.” I was working 10 hours a day either in the clinic or in surgery, then had to do several hours of patient notes at night before going back early the next morning.” This workload quickly caused burnout and he left the practice to return to Florida.

After taking a brief hiatus with a job outside of healthcare, Matthew took a job in a busy Bariatric & General Surgery Practice in Fort Myers. “I got to learn robotics there, which was great for my career development,” Matthew says. “However, I was supporting four surgeons, had office hours, rounds, and a full workload of inpatient wound care in a separate hospital. I usually ended up working 80-90 hours a week, so, needless to say, the same kind of burnout started to set in.” He left the practice in August of 2020 and signed on with AP Health the following month.

Matthew Finds Balance at AP Health

At AP Health, Matthew works at Holy Cross Hospital and multiple facilities in the Memorial Health System. He assists in a variety of surgical specialties, including orthopedics, bariatrics, GYN, L&D, and neurology.

“I do a little bit of everything, and I like that my job varies,” Matthew says. I may do colorectal surgery one day then bariatrics the next and some orthopedics here and there. I like doing something different every day and being able to advance my skillset.”

“The work-life balance is also much better here,” he says. “I have more time with my wife and kids and get to leave work at work. There’s no coming home after a long day and having to dictate notes for hours at night. Here, I get up in the morning, go to work, scrub in, do surgery, scrub out, and I come home to spend time with my family.

“I also like that we’re essentially paid hourly instead of a set salary,” he explains. “If I work extra, I get paid extra. In my previous roles I would be working plenty of overtime but not getting paid for it, so that fact that we get paid for what we work, makes me feel valued as an employee.

“I say this all the time: this is an absolutely fantastic job and a great place to work,” Matthew says. “It’s even better as a second or third job in your career, because you’ve had the experience of working in the office, doing rounds, being on call and all the paperwork of a typical PA job. Once you have done that, you really appreciate how you are able to work at AP Health.”

Surgical Volume Key to Margin Recovery for Hospitals By Greg Flanagan, COO

Posted on March 21, 2023

Last year was the worst financial year for hospitals since the start of the pandemic, according to Kaufman Hall, with half of all hospitals reporting negative operating margins. For many, 2023 doesn’t look much better, with cost pressures from staffing remaining high and reimbursements from payors stagnant, or even declining. As a result, hospitals are looking to increase the volume of one of its few profitable revenue sources: surgery.

Hospitals without access to capital face significant challenges and are cutting jobs, and reducing or eliminating service lines in an attempt to return to profitability. Those with access to capital are expanding surgery departments, adding new suites and outpatient surgery centers. However, increasing the physical capacity is just part of the challenge to increase surgical volume.

Hospitals need to attract physicians to their ORs.

Most surgeons have privileges at multiple hospitals. So, if their patients’ insurance is equal at more than one facility, the surgeon can assign that surgery to the hospital of his or her choice.

So, what factors determine where surgeons decide to operate?

  1. Surgeons want the best environment and equipment. Whether that means ease of access to the surgical suite, proximity to office and parking or the availability of robotics technology, surgeons want an OR that enables them to operate efficiently and effectively.
  2. Surgeons want blocked OR time. If surgeons are going to steer volume to a facility, they want the OR to be available so they can schedule and perform surgeries efficiently.
  3. Surgeons want great surgical staff. They want the patient to be positioned and prepped properly, the trays of tools they use set up the way they like them, qualified staff to assist and close and the room to be turned quickly for the next procedure. Excellent surgical staff not only make it easier for the surgeons to do their job, they increase the productivity of the OR which directly benefits the physicians business.

While any hospitals can make the capital investments to provide an efficient OR and offer surgeons the time they want to perform surgeries, the key differentiator for many facilities is the quality of the staff in the OR.

Hospitals have a difficult time recruiting and retaining top notch surgical staff, especially certified surgical assistants (CSAs). They recruit for a wide variety of positions and the universe of CSAs is very small, so unless you are focused on hiring the limited number of professionals in that area, it can be a tough task. Managing those professionals to maximize productivity without burning them out takes a concerted and ongoing effort. Surgical schedules change on a daily basis. When a hospital has in-house staff, those changes often result in either reduced productivity from underutilized staff or overworking of providers that ultimately leads to turnover.

At AP Health, we’ve built our business with a focus on providing staff to assist in a variety of surgical specialties. We have a deep bench of advanced practice providers and CSAs who we can deploy in near real time to meet the changing surgery schedules. Our model, which we’ve honed over the past eight years, has enabled us to staff ORs in dozens of hospitals and surgery centers.

We relieve the hospital of all the burdens of staffing surgeries. We take responsibility for all recruiting, credentialling, scheduling, management, and billing of surgical assistants. And, because we focus on productivity and efficiency, our hospital clients spend less. For one client, we’ve generated savings of more than $7 million since they partnered with us.

While partnering with AP Health seems like an obvious option for hospitals seeking to grow profitable surgical volume, some system-wide policies designed to reduce costs can actually prevent them from doing so. “No new contract” policies that are intended to reduce outside costs are limiting innovative approaches staffing that would increase profits.

In addition to providing hospitals with a more efficient surgical staffing solution, AP Health helps hospitals differentiate themselves from the competition by providing staff that surgeons want to work with. Given a choice of otherwise equally equal facilities, surgeons will steer their patients to the one with staff that help makes surgery run more smoothly and increases their productivity. As a result, OR staffing can play a key role in increasing surgical volume and as a result, provide a path to profitable operating margins.

In Response to significant growth in South Florida, AP Health promotes John Torres

Posted on February 6, 2023

February 6th, 2023, Fort Lauderdale, FL – AP Health: Advanced Practice Surgical Partners, a private practice comprised of Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), has continued to grow and expand its’ healthcare services in the South Florida market. AP Health provides acute care clinical services to hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, offering service line coverage with highly trained APPs to perform Surgical First Assisting, pre-operative patient evaluation and management, and post-operative inpatient care in ICUs and surgical floors.
AP Health recently signed an agreement with Broward Health, a leading health system in Broward County (Fort Lauderdale) where it will be providing its’ services at four of their hospital facilities. To accommodate this growth, AP Health has promoted John Torres, PA-C, to Senior Vice President of our South Florida Market. Torres has been with the company for eight year and has a proven track record of managing and growing a team in the Fort Lauderdale market.
“I am genuinely thrilled at the exponential growth we have seen in the South Florida area and cannot wait to see where it goes. John Torres knows this industry inside and out and is the perfect person to lead our South Florida market” says Founder & CEO, J. Toby Gray.
Also joining the team is Patrick Willet, PA-C, who will be working in our Palm Beach market under Torres as our Director of Clinical Services, Palm Beach. Willet will focus on growing the Palm Beach Country market for AP Health. Willet has 10+ years’ experience as an orthopedic Physician Assistant.

AP Health Earns Great Place to Work Certification™ for Third Year in a Row

Posted on January 26, 2023

Nashville, TN — AP Health is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place to Work® for the 3rd year in a row. The prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at AP Health. This year, 86% of employees said it’s a great place to work – 29 points higher than the average U.S. company. 

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation. 

“Great Place to Work Certification™ isn’t something that comes easily – it takes ongoing dedication to the employee experience,” said Sarah Lewis-Kulin, vice president of global recognition at Great Place to Work. “It’s the only official recognition determined by employees’ real-time reports of their company culture. Earning this designation means that AP Health is one of the best companies to work for in the country.” 

Founder & CEO, J. Toby Gray says, “We are thrilled to be Great Place to Work-Certified™.   Employee culture is a top priority for us, and we value what our employees think about the company. We owe our continued success to our team of dedicated employees at AP Health and celebrate them for all they do to earn this recognition.” 

“This is our third year as a company participating in the Great Place to Work® program and the feedback we gain each year is incredibly valuable,” says COO Greg Flanagan. “We actioned categories that had room for improvement and the results of this year show that. We continue to put employee satisfaction at the forefront of AP Health and our employees think so too.” 

According to Great Place to Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to find a great boss at a Certified great workplace. Additionally, employees at Certified workplaces are 93% more likely to look forward to coming to work, and are twice as likely to be paid fairly, earn a fair share of the company’s profits and have a fair chance at promotion. 

WE’RE HIRING! 

Looking to grow your career at a company that puts its people first? Visit our LinkedIn Career Page for more information. 

About Great Place to Work Certification™ 

Great Place to Work® Certification™ is the most definitive “employer-of-choice” recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience – specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place to Work-Certified.  

Cardiac Surgery Requires Increasingly Skilled Team

By Dan Teller, PA-C, Vice President of Cardiac Services

Posted on December 8, 2022

I started my career in cardiac surgery nearly 40 years ago. The advances that I’ve witnessed in terms of procedures, medicines and machines have transformed the nature and the effectiveness of the cardiac OR. While we still have heart and lung machines in the OR that pump and oxygenate blood, the technical sophistication of an operation has increased dramatically. The result is that more patients not only live but return to their normal lives much sooner.

In the early 1980s, the average cardiac surgical patient was intubated for 24 hours and then spent three days in the ICU. If they did well, they went home about a week later. Today, that patient is only intubated for four hours, are up and walking on day one and go home typically on day 4 or 5.

Back then if you had a complicated heart problem, the only device that was used was the intraaortic balloon pump. While we still have them, they are used much less frequently because we have so many more tools in our arsenal. We used to do frequent surgical aortic valve replacements, which requires opening up the chest; However, those have been essentially replaced by transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVRs), which are less invasive and offer faster recovery times.

Similarly, endoscopic procedures to harvest a vein for use in bypass surgeries have also made those procedures less invasive. We used to open up someone’s leg to get the needed blood vessel through a long incision and now it is done through a couple of small incisions. Today, we’re more aggressive about complete arterial revascularization and endoscopically remove the radial artery in your arm through a small incision by your wrist.

Advances in medicines have also improved outcomes and the quality of patients’ lives. Historically, you could count the medicines we had in our arsenal on one hand; now we have dozens, and they keep getting better. For example, it wasn’t that long ago that statins, aspirin, and Beta blockers were not a standard drug for heart disease. Now they are prescribed by your primary care physician and have helped stave off surgery for thousands of patients.

Of course, the devices and machines that enable these advanced procedures have and continue to evolve as well. Many people have heard of the ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machine due to the pandemic because it provided oxygen to the blood of severely challenged COVID patients. Those machines are placed by the cardiac teams on staff. We also have a variety of devices such as the left atrial clip which reduces stroke risk in atrial fibrillation, as well as left and right ventricular assist devices (LVADs) (Impella) to assist the heart in pumping blood.

Advances Require Increasingly Sophisticated Surgical Staff

As cardiac surgery has become more advanced, the surgical staffing role has also become more challenging. The skills needed have become more complex such as vent management, intubation, chest tube insertion, central lines and vein harvesting. While school provides a foundation, there is so much more to learn and skills to be developed for cardiac surgery that schools simply don’t provide. There is ongoing CME to keep up with the latest information. The device companies frequently have small seminars to keep us refreshed in the latest information on their devices.

At AP Health, we staff the cardiac surgery programs at three hospitals in South Florida: Holy Cross Health, Jupiter Medical Center and Bethesda Hospital. These are major cardiac surgery programs on the forefront of cardiac care. To serve our customers, we have a program to develop staff.

Not every practitioner comes to us with the same skillset. They might have surgical experience but have never worked with an ECMO. Or, they have may have worked in cardiology, but never done endoscopic graft harvesting or worked in the ICU.

We give our practitioners the knowledge and experience they need to be successful in an advanced and complex cardiac surgical program. Some of this comes from training by the manufacturers of the machines and devices we use on a daily basis. Some of it is on-the-job training where I, along with other staffers, share our knowledge and help them develop the skills needed.

After 40 years, I still love working in cardiac surgery. It has been rewarding to witness the advancements made and to continue to develop my skills to improve outcomes for the patients in our care. I also enjoy working with younger practitioners so that they will not only be successful today, but in the future as new procedures, medicines and devices continue to advance the treatment of coronary disease.

Cardiothoracic Surgery is a Passion for Irina Gruboy, PA-C, PhD

Posted on October 14, 2022

“I can’t think of doing anything but cardiac surgery,” says Irina Gruboy, PA-C. “It is my true passion in life because we take people into the operating room and about three or four hours later, we change lives for the better. It is so gratifying knowing that you are part of something so monumental for them and I think it’s absolutely incredible.”

Irina developed her passion for cardiothoracic surgery while in PA school. “I originally thought I would go into OB/GYN, but I had a conversation with a senior resident that changed my mind,” she explains. “We talked about how wonderful the heart is and how incredible it is to be one who can fix it. That’s when I caught the ‘bug’ for cardiothoracic surgery as I call it and knew that’s what I would be doing.”

A native of Odesa, Ukraine, Irina emigrated to the U.S. in 1989. She earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and physician assistant studies. She then acquired a master’s in advanced physician assistant studies and a PhD in healthcare administration.

Irina joined AP Health in July 2021 and works in the cardiac OR at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale.

“I’m involved clinically in all aspects of care, from pre-op to post-op,” Irina says. “But the operating room is my happy place. I get to work with great surgeons, do a lot of coronary bypass surgeries, and valve replacements where peoples’ lives depend on us. I also love teaching and mentoring younger practitioners. I always tell them, ‘Your success is my success. And if you surpass me in your career, it will be my success once again.’”

Irina Found a Home in Florida and AP Health

In joining AP Health, Irina moved to South Florida and left behind more than 20 years working as a cardiothoracic PA for hospitals in the New York & New Jersey area.

“My primary reason for moving to Florida was to be with my daughters, who are both in the area pursuing medical degrees,” Irina says. “A friend who had recently joined AP Health told me about a position there, so I checked it out and made the move. I’ve been very happy with the team here.”

“Clinically speaking, my job is not that different from previous positions I’ve held. What is most different is that this company is led by (CEO) Toby Gray, who is a PA by trade, which I think makes a difference in how people are treated. The leadership team makes it clear that they care about every single person on an individual basis.

“For example, if there’s something I’d like to speak with my manager or even Toby about, I’d have no problem shooting him a text message and saying, ‘If you have a second, I’d like to chat.’ And in less than five to 10 minutes, I get either a text response, or more likely, a direct phone call back to me, and that is priceless. No matter how good I have been and no matter how many years I have put into other institutions where I’ve worked, I doubt that I would be able to get a CEO on the phone within a 10-minute timeframe.”

Irina says that while no company has been immune to the staffing challenges over the past year, she thinks the company has been as flexible as possible in creating a work/life balance for employees.

“By its nature, heart surgery is unpredictable, so schedules can be crazy,” she says. “But the leaders of the company have shown a great deal of appreciation for extra work and dedication. They have come through for me and my coworkers and have supported us along the way. I feel like they are on the front lines with me and the rest of the group to make things happen while working to create a balance of work and lifestyle.”

“I think it all comes down to the leadership here and the culture they have created,” she continues. “It’s fair. It’s appreciative. It’s understanding. Once again, it’s run by people of our own kind. They may not wear scrubs as much as I do anymore, but they have been in the trenches. That is a big difference, because they understand the essence of the day-to-day operations and they can better distribute both managerial aspects of the work as well as day-to-day assignments with people that work here. They have become a work family to me.”

Denis Karchebnyi Finds Opportunity, Advancement at AP Health

Posted on July 18, 2022

Four years ago, Denis Karchebnyi was Chief of Orthopedic Surgery and the Head of Technology at a leading hospital in Moscow, Russia. Today, he is Manager of Clinical Services at AP Health.

“I graduated at the top of my class and was trained at one of the best research institutes in Moscow,” Denis says. “I had a nice job, but I decided to come to America to do what was best for my family. I didn’t have time to take all the exams to be licensed as a doctor in the U.S.; however, it turned out that surgical assisting was the perfect match for me to continue my career in the medical field over here in the states.”

After several visits to America; Denis, his wife, their three children and their dog came to the U.S. for good in 2019. He started working as a surgical assistant to an OB/GYN surgeon and later joined AP Health in 2020. He quickly became a popular assistant to surgeons in a variety of specialties, including labor and delivery, plastics, OB/GYN and orthopedics.

Building Strong Relationships with Surgeons

“I understand what it’s like to be a surgeon,” Denis explains. “Like everyone, surgeons can have very different personalities and different ways they like to work. You must understand that, but also realize that whoever the surgeon is, your role is to make their jobs easier and make them more successful.”

AP Health has been implementing what Denis does intuitively into its Surgeon Relationship Management (SRM) program. As part of the SRM program, the company has been gathering information on the preferences of the surgeons it works with and then provides that information to all of its practitioners. As a result, all AP Health practitioners are armed with information that enables them to better serve the surgeons and build stronger relationships with them.

For Denis, building those stronger relationships includes staying on top of the latest technologies and tools. Recently, when a robotics vendor was coming to the hospital to introduce some new robotic surgery equipment, Denis researched it ahead of time and gave the surgeon he works with an overview of the advances. As a result, the surgeon learned about the technology more quickly and was able to be more efficient in the operating room. He also knew that he could rely on Denis to know how to use it.

One of the surgeons Denis assists most is Dr. Daniel Chan, Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at Memorial Healthcare System. They have performed some marathon surgical sessions together. Recently, they completed 10 hip and knee replacement surgeries in one day. Dr. Chan recalls, “I appreciate my awesome surgical assistant Denis for helping me close 10 hip and knee replacements that day. Teamwork makes the dream work.”

Promoted to Manager of Clinical Services

While Denis is a popular surgical assistant, he was recently promoted to Manager of Clinical Services. In this role, he helps manage the day-to-day operations at Memorial Regional Hospital, Memorial South, and Cypress Creek Surgery Center. That includes scheduling nearly 20 surgical assistants and matching them to the right surgeon and surgery across multiple facilities each day.

Mentoring, Developing Employees

While managing surgical assignments and working in the OR make up the bulk of his new job, Denis enjoys helping surgical assistants develop their skills and advance their careers. He exemplifies the AP Way, which is a commitment to looking beyond the job at hand and working to make improvements to the team and to the value it provides to surgeons and company as a whole.

“I was working with one practitioner who wanted to learn more about orthopedic surgery,” Denis explains. I taught him some things and directed him to some resources where he could learn more. He made great progress, so I assigned him to an orthopedic surgery. At first the surgeon was resistant, thinking the practitioner was too inexperienced. I told the surgeon to just try him out and let me know afterwards. He called me later and said, ‘You were right. He was great.’ I am very proud of him.

“I love the company and I love my team,” Denis says. “I get excited by surgical assistants who want to learn new things. I enjoy helping them, whether it’s showing them a particular kind of suture or providing resources to help advance their knowledge in a particular specialty.”

“We have a lot of great talent here,” Denis says. “I’m happy to be doing what I can to make us even better.”