Lauren Pinney (MHA '22): University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics - Staff Operations

Hello from Iowa City!

This summer, I have been fortunate enough to work at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC) under the direct mentorship of Melissa Whisler, Chief of Staff. She and her team have been incredibly welcoming and have helped show me what a Chief of Staff does, which I have come to learn, is a lot! I have been able to work on projects that meet both the departmental and institutional needs and range from identifying strategic capital investments to analyzing department metrics and reporting out trends. Overall, my internship experience has helped me learn about the department and institutional perspectives and how to navigate each side to meet our goals.

With the range of operational and strategic work that Whisler and her team are a part of, I have been able to interact with different sides of healthcare; however, due to the nature of the work, many of the things I worked on this summer are confidential. Therefore, I can only provide the larger themes of some of the projects I was involved in. This includes working with data within Press Ganey and tableau to provide department analyses and recommendations for improvement, creating a business proposal for an expansion of a service line, populating a list of capital and operational requests, and providing recommendations on which strategic purchases should be made, and producing educational materials to define metrics for our institutions five and 10-year goals.

Along with my project work, I have also been fortunate enough to attend several rounding opportunities, noon seminars, and training sessions throughout the institution. These have ranged from seeing how our volunteers support the hospital to having conversations with nurses and Clinical Department Administrators. Most recently, I was able to attend Compassionate, Connected Care (C3) training, provided by our office of the patient experience. This was a great opportunity that helped remind me of the reasons why I chose to work in healthcare and how my indirect involvement with patients can make a difference in their overall experience. I am also looking forward to shadowing opportunities later this summer, where I will spend time with social workers in transplant services and learn more about our hospice program.

Outside of work, Iowa City has been a great place to spend my summer. I have enjoyed going to Bingo night with my fellow interns, attending community events like the annual Iowa City Block Party, making weekend trips to see friends and family in Chicago, and of course, spending time with my pet bunny, Peaches.

I cannot believe how fast this summer has gone and how much I have learned. I owe a thousand thank yous to everyone I have had the joy of working with this summer. I have been truly blessed with an unforgettable experience!

Best,

Lauren Pinney

*A Note From The Editor*

If you would like to keep up with Lauren, you can find her here on LinkedIn!