Summer Internship: Parkridge Health System
By: Jared Lesher
Outside of work I
have been enjoying life in Chattanooga. I joined a Crossfit gym my first week
here and have made some great friends through the various events they hold at
the gym. Also, the outdoor activities in Chattanooga are virtually unlimited.
The city is surrounded with mountains with numerous hiking trails and rock
climbing activities. Also, I will be white water rafting in the coming weeks on
the same course used for the 1996 Summer Olympics. I have also been lucky
enough to travel to Nashville for CMA Fest and other activities with my MHA
classmates and some of our alumni.
Parkridge Main Campus
|
Hello from
Chattanooga! I am spending my summer as the administrative intern at the
Parkridge Health System in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Parkridge is a five hospital
system and part of the TriStar Division of the Hospital Corporation of America.
Parkridge Health System is comprised of Parkridge Medical Center, Parkridge
East, Parkridge Valley, and Parkridge West. The best part of my internship so
far has been my ability to move between every facility and interact with all
the leadership. I have also had the ability to observe the clinical processes
at many of the facilities. For example, in my first week at Parkridge East, I
observed a robotic surgery which used the da Vinci Surgical System. Also, I
have observed a partial night shift in the emergency department.
Some of the projects I have been involved in include a
division-wide staffing analysis to determine potential opportunities for improved
efficiency within individual departments. This project has included a large
amount of data analysis and is beginning to roll into communications with Chief
Staffing Officers (CSOs) at each of the facilities to discuss potential
opportunities and the potential “story” behind each one. Also, I have been
tasked with analyzing the major moveable assets at Parkridge Valley, our
behavioral health facility, to determine if the assets have been disposed of
materially, but not within the accounting system. The benefit of this audit
will be decreasing the overall property tax for this facility which could have
a positive impact on the EBDITA. Finally, I was recently tasked with running a
cost analysis for a service line at the main campus. Originally, this project
was to simply cost out the two services performed in the service line. However,
as with many projects, the scope has grown to analyzing the entire service line
to determine how it should be modified, either within the facility, or by
moving forward in a partnership off-site with the local surgery group that
offers the services.
The Tennessee River at dusk as seen from downtown Chattanooga
|
Comments
Post a Comment