First Year Trip to Des Moines

By Sharese Van Sloten

On November 14, the first-year HMP class had the opportunity to get out of the classroom and travel to Des Moines to learn about healthcare from Central Iowa healthcare executives. The speakers shared information about their organizations, their personal career paths, the healthcare field, and other important things to know, as we begin our careers in this fast paced field.

Bill Leaver, CEO, UnityPoint Health

Our day started with speakers from the two leading hospitals in the Des Moines area, Unity Point Health System and Mercy Medical Center.  Bill Leaver, the President and CEO of Unity Point Health System, started the day with a great speech about the future of healthcare and what it takes to be successful in this field. His message shared key points about achieving success in healthcare. To be successful, a person must be willing to take risks, to “think big” and look beyond the hospital, and be able to demonstrate their ability to change problems into success stories.

Following Mr. Leaver’s speech, David Stark and Tom Mulrooney, both alum of our program, hosted a question and answer session. David and Tom answered questions about situations they have encountered in their careers, resumes, and work/life balance.  Their advice about what to do during the first month of a new job was especially helpful, in which they reinforced the importance of learning the business and building relationships with people we will be working with.  A presentation by Joe LeValley from Mercy Medical Center and lunch with alumni rounded out the morning’s activities.  Many students enjoyed hearing about what Mercy Medical Center offers their patients and their employees, as well as conversing with alumni over lunch and learning about their career experiences.

David Stark and Tom Mulrooney

In the afternoon, our class had the opportunity to put our knowledge to the test. Based upon what we learned from the day’s speakers, we were tasked with creating a memo that described the current healthcare system and what the future of healthcare looks like.  Each group presented their memo to our new CEO (played by one of our professors). Out "new CEO" was new to the healthcare environment so this challenged our groups to create a memo that could provide a person without any prior healthcare knowledge a complete understanding of the healthcare industry.  

Joe LeValley, Senior Vice President, Planning and
Advocacy at Mercy Medical Center Des Moines

Other afternoon activities included presentations from alumni working at Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and two physician group practices. Hearing about healthcare from the perspectives of people working in insurance and group practice was one of my trip highlights. Our day in Des Moines concluded with an alumni panel and reception.  The alumni panel provided great insights about internships and fellowships, the importance of creating a self-brand, and how the MHA program prepared them for their healthcare careers.

Our day in Des Moines was very enjoyable as we were able to converse, in person, with Central Iowa executives and learn more about healthcare from their varying perspectives. It was great to hear their real world stories and how our MHA program prepared them to be successful.  As a class, we are all very thankful to the presenters for taking the time to share their insights with us and we look forward to using their advice as we progress in our careers.

Current Students eating lunch with alum Kent Lehr.