Summer Internship:Grinnell Regional Medical Center
By: Chris Stamy
Hello! This summer I am working as an administrative intern at
the Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC) to President and CEO Todd Linden. GRMC is located in Grinnell, Iowa and is a
49-private bed, non-profit hospital, which has a medical staff of around 40 physicians, more than
425 employees, and over 200 volunteers. GRMC is an affiliate of the Mercy Health Network (MHN)
which operates under a joint arrangement between the two largest non-profit catholic
healthcare organizations in the United States, Catholic Health Initiative and
Trinity Health.As a dual MHA and MPH in Policy student, interning
for GRMC has proven to be an unparalleled experiential opportunity. My internship began early May when I traveled
to Washington, D.C. to attend the annual American Hospital Association members
meeting. In addition to site seeing around DC, I was able to meet with congressional
staffers with the Iowa Hospital Association and was able to personally meet
Senator Tom Harkin, Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressmen Bruce Braley.
In
addition to the variety of projects I have undertaken, I have been given free rein
to attend any meeting or events that I may find interesting or beneficial. I
have regularly been attending weekly administrative team meetings, weekly VP
meetings, department head meetings, and the June board meeting. I have also
been able to attend a MHN Educational Meeting as well as a MHN Council Meeting. Everyone
at GRMC has been more than welcoming and I truly feel fortunate to have had
this incredible experience.
Hello! This summer I am working as an administrative intern at
the Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC) to President and CEO Todd Linden. GRMC is located in Grinnell, Iowa and is a
49-private bed, non-profit hospital, which has a medical staff of around 40 physicians, more than
425 employees, and over 200 volunteers. GRMC is an affiliate of the Mercy Health Network (MHN)
which operates under a joint arrangement between the two largest non-profit catholic
healthcare organizations in the United States, Catholic Health Initiative and
Trinity Health.As a dual MHA and MPH in Policy student, interning
for GRMC has proven to be an unparalleled experiential opportunity. My internship began early May when I traveled
to Washington, D.C. to attend the annual American Hospital Association members
meeting. In addition to site seeing around DC, I was able to meet with congressional
staffers with the Iowa Hospital Association and was able to personally meet
Senator Tom Harkin, Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressmen Bruce Braley.
Some of the
projects that I have been working on at GRMC include:
- Creating a directory of hospitals within the Medicare Rural Community Hospital Demonstration which was comprised of the hospitals CEO, CFO, the hospitals Senators/Congressman and their respective committee assignments to begin to garner support among the participating hospitals to extend the demonstration. I also found the payment methodology for the demonstration and made recommendations on how GRMC could potentially increase their demonstration compensation.
- Working with the Director of Pharmacy to adjust par levels and the configuration of the hospitals Pyxis machines to reduce the size of the daily fills and the medication expiration rate. I have also been working with the director on a pharmacy redesign proposal that would create a consolidated Chemo/IV room and would increase the work space of the pharmacy.
- Working with the Assistant Vice President of Finance to standardize the process and the information required for submitting unbudgeted capital and employee requests. I have been piloting the process with the interim director of the laboratory.
- Generating a comprehensive strategy to get GRMC patients to sign up for the patient portal to meet meaningful use stage 2 objectives. I have been working with the IT/nursing/marketing/home health departments to create flyers, advertisements, materials to give to patients, and the general process for signing patients up for the portal.
- Conducting market analysis for various services lines within the hospital. I have primarily been investigating the bariatric service line as well as looking for expansion opportunities in other services offered by GRMC.
- Working with the Interim Physician Services Director to create a physician scorecard and various other smaller projects surrounding meaningful use.
In
addition to the variety of projects I have undertaken, I have been given free rein
to attend any meeting or events that I may find interesting or beneficial. I
have regularly been attending weekly administrative team meetings, weekly VP
meetings, department head meetings, and the June board meeting. I have also
been able to attend a MHN Educational Meeting as well as a MHN Council Meeting. Everyone
at GRMC has been more than welcoming and I truly feel fortunate to have had
this incredible experience.
Outside of my internship, I have spent most of my time with
my family as well as training for a couple of triathlons and my very first marathon.
In early June, I competed in the Pigman triathlon and have been training for
the HyVee triathlon as well as the Des Moines Marathon this fall. I was also able
to show some of my talent on the golf course by playing in the annual GRMC golf
outing as well as the IHA Swinging for Scholars event. Although my play has
been rather “hit or miss,” the highlight of my golf game this summer was
sinking a 60 foot putt for an eagle!
If you want to
learn more about my summer internship experience or about GRMC in general feel
free to reach out to me at chris-stamy@uiowa.edu.
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