Summer Internship: Medical City Fort Worth

By: Ryan Callahan (MHA ’18)

Hey there everybody!

This summer I am interning at Medical City Fort Worth. Med City is a part of the North Texas division of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), which consists of 10 facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex as well as two in Oklahoma. My facility is a 320-bed, acute care facility that offers diagnostic and treatment services, including cardiac care, neurosciences, oncology, orthopedics, kidney and liver transplant and emergency services. It is also serves as a level one Primary Stroke Center. The hospital is located in the medical district of Fort Worth, where five hospitals exist within a few blocks of one another.  This creates a highly competitive market for patients and for staff recruitment.

My preceptor is the COO, John Corbeil, who is an alumnus of the University of Iowa MHA program. Shortly after my arrival the CEO left, making John the interim CEO. John believes that a successful administrator must understand how the hospital looks and works through all employees’ eyes. This has given me the opportunity to shadow and work in almost every department of the hospital so far. I have spent time in accounting and finance, turning over rooms with environmental services, and observing a few surgeries in the OR. These experiences have solidified my sense that everybody is on the same team, working toward the same goal of high quality patient care.

During my internship I have been exposed to a vast variety of departmental and hospital-wide problems and solutions. The facility is currently expecting a Joint Commission audit and has been preparing furiously for their arrival. This has allowed me to be a part of a lot of quality-focused work including rounding on floors and strategic planning.  I have also worked very closely with the interim CNO on nursing issues as well as a project to analyze metrics that impact nursing unit success. I will soon begin a project with the interim OR director on process improvement, surgeon recruitment and volume expansion.

Outside of work I have really enjoyed my time in the DFW area. Both cities are incredibly fun and offer a large variety of things to do. From happy hours with surgeons and coworkers, to top golf, the zoo or learning to 2-step, I am rarely bored. The people here are some of the most welcoming and friendly I’ve ever met.