Matt Mathew- UCHealth (MHA '26)

Hello from Colorado Springs! 

This summer, I had the opportunity to complete my administrative internship with UCHealth in their southern region, based in Colorado Springs. UCHealth is the largest health system in Colorado, made up of 14 hospitals across the state. The southern region includes six of those hospitals, and I spent most of my time at Memorial Hospital Central, which is the flagship hospital in the region. Memorial is Southern Colorado’s only Level I Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center and was recently ranked the #1 hospital in Colorado Springs and tied for #3 in the state by U.S. News & World Report. It was inspiring to see UCHealth’s mission of "improving lives" come to life every day through the work of incredibly dedicated teams.

Over the 12-week internship, I worked on a variety of projects across four service lines: Neuro & Spine, Trauma, Cardiovascular, and Oncology. My main focus was on process improvement, which gave me the chance to dive into work where change could make a big impact in a short amount of time. I worked closely with my preceptor, Erin Smith, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the southern region. Erin was an amazing mentor, and I learned a lot from her leadership and wealth of experience driving strategic initiatives and operational planning across diverse health systems.

The core project I focused on was with the Neuro & Spine team. We looked at how to reduce delays and billing issues with spinal braces for elective spine surgery patients. As a region, we were spending three times more than necessary on braces, so we built a new process to help patients get evaluated faster and streamline them through the clinic all the way to surgery. In Trauma, I helped outline a proposed expansion of their administrative structure to better support the growth in acute care services. For Cardiovascular, I developed a proposal to offer health screenings to Colorado Springs police officers. And with the Oncology team, I helped launch early steps in a denial prevention education with clinical leaders .

Outside of the day-to-day projects, I also got to visit 11 other hospitals across the UCHealth system, observe a Da Vinci robotic surgery, learn how to flip rooms in the Emergency Department (ED), and connect with leaders from all over the region. I also completed Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training and an Introduction to Project Management course alongside 14 other interns across the system. On my last day, I was lucky enough to spend the morning with our Chief Medical Officer (CMO), David Steinbruner, in the ED to grow some of my medical knowledge and build more of that understanding to how it connects with the administrative work.   

Outside of work, I made the most of living in Colorado for the summer. My girlfriend, Hannah, was able to spend the summer with me, and we took full advantage of all the outdoors had to offer. We drove up to the summit of Pikes Peak, hiked the Manitou Incline, and explored tons of trails around Colorado Springs and surrounding areas. We spent weekends checking out local coffee shops, trying new restaurants, and making trips up to Denver. We even took a trip to Salt Lake City to visit my classmates, Alena and Caroline, making for another fun weekend. The access to hiking, nature, and mountain views throughout Colorado was incredible. Being able to explore a new state together made the summer even more special.

Overall, this internship was a huge growth experience for me. It gave me the chance to step outside the classroom and apply what I’ve learned in real-world settings, while also pushing me to enhance my skills. I gained a much deeper understanding of how healthcare operations and leadership work at the system level, seeing firsthand the impact strategic decisions can have on patient care. I'm incredibly grateful to have spent the summer with UCHealth, surrounded by people who are passionate about improving lives. I’m leaving this experience with not only a different way of thinking, but more confident, curious, and motivated to keep growing as a future healthcare leader.