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.

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. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adriana Kotchkoski (MHA '24): Nihon Keiei Consulting Group

Image
Konnichiwa from Japan!   As I sit down to write this blog post, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and accomplishment as I reflect on my time as an intern at Nihon Keiei Consulting Group in Osaka, Japan. This summer has been nothing short of remarkable, offering me a unique blend of professional development and cultural immersion that I will cherish forever.   During my time at Nihon Keiei, I had the opportunity to engage in in-depth research and analysis, creating comprehensive market profiles for the healthcare sectors in the Philippines and India. These profiles laid the foundation for strategic expansion plans, and it was an honor to present my findings and recommendations to a senior consultant during insightful one-on-one meetings. These interactions were not only professionally enriching but also allowed me to witness firsthand how strategic decisions shape the course of an organization's growth.   One of the most rewarding experiences during my internship was t...
Read more

Devante Davis (MHA '24): UCHealth - Southern Region

Image
Hello my name is Devante Davis I am going into my 2 nd year as an MHA student at the University of Iowa!    I am currently interning at UCHEALTH southern region in Colorado Springs, and UCHEALTH mission statement is to Improve lives through providing quality care. My preceptor is Andrew Ritchie the Chief Operation Officer of the UCHEALTH southern region. He great a developing talent while unlocking hiding potential within his interns, and fellow! My favorite project was evaluating what the rest of the world is doing to recover from this global nursing shortage. Summarizing the data and be a part of creating a valuable plan to implement into the UCHEALTH southern region. A few other fun events I attended were the pikes peak annual racing event, viper’s baseball game, the incline!  
Read more

Naudya Chhuon, UIHC Accounting and Financial Services (MHA '25)

Image
This summer, I had the opportunity to be a part of the Finance and Accounting Services team (FAS) at the University of Iowa. My internship allowed me to better understand what it is like to work in finance and accounting, especially within the healthcare industry. From managing a vaccination clinic project to tackling financial models, I got to contribute to some and be a part of some fun projects. One of the highlights of my internship was being the go-to person for all things related to the HPV vaccination clinic with the Population Health team. This project provides Shoes for patients under 13 years old who obtain their 2 nd  dose of the HPV vaccine. I found myself at the center of communication between four different teams, which meant I got to lead meetings, and make sure we were all on the same page. Our big event is coming up in the second week of August, and I am proud of how smoothly everything has been running so far.  Another big part of my summer was getting my han...
Read more