New to the U

Good morning!

Is it just me, or have you felt a welcome nip in the air as you walk onto campus recently? Fall is almost here, and with that, the excitement of classes being well underway and the hope that this pandemic, while not over, will continue having less of an impact on Mississippians’ health and on our operations.

Distribution of the Pfizer booster is going well. Hundreds of employees and students have already received a booster with more than a thousand scheduled through the rest of the month.

Boosters are voluntary, but the Mississippi State Department of Health provides a list of occupations – health care worker being one of them –they recommend receive a booster dose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends them for people who have certain medical conditions or are 65 or older. I encourage you to get your booster if it has been at least six months since getting your second Pfizer dose. Click here to make an appointment.

In addition to considering a COVID-19 booster, I want to remind everyone that open enrollment for elective benefits is active. You can review what you are currently enrolled in and make any desired adjustments now until the end of October. To learn more, visit this webpage.

We’ve got some new faces among us in critical roles that, in a manner of speaking, will help us to “keep the machine running” and allow us to fulfil our core missions as smoothly and effectively as possible. Their critical leadership is important as we keep sharp focus on the day-to-day operations, especially those that complement our direct patient care.

• Kamron Lachney, chief revenue cycle officer, reports to Nelson Weichold, chief financial officer. Kamron has a strong background in revenue cycle leadership and operations and most recently served as the West Florida Division vice president of revenue cycle operations for AdventHealth. Kamron will lead our revenue cycle unit to reach Epic’s best practice metrics while sustaining our culture of accountability and employee engagement. He has extensive knowledge in assessing, sponsoring and operationalizing programs and services in revenue cycle and financial services with more than 20 years’ experience in health care operations.
  
  
  
  
• Steve Omli, executive director of financial planning, also reports to the CFO. Steve most recently worked at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando as assistant dean of finance. Steve is an experienced finance leader in academic medicine and will provide leadership to the budget and decision support teams. He will focus on ensuring that financial reporting, budgeting and management information provide meaningful and actionable data to leaders. He will also work in conjunction with management to identify opportunities to improve UMMC’s profitability, develop a long-term financial plan and align that plan with our new Five-Year Strategic Plan, UMMC 2025.
  
  
  
• Kimberlee Daniels, chief operating officer for the Adult Hospitals, reports to Britt Crewse, Adult Hospitals CEO. Kimberlee most recently worked as interim chief of ambulatory operations for the University of Virginia Medical Center. Kimberlee leads all ancillary services, ranging from radiology, laboratories and respiratory therapy to support services that include food and environmental services. Kimberlee’s top duty is focusing on performance excellence to ensure our hospitals are running efficiently and effectively and able to provide the best patient experience possible.
  
  
  
  
• Penny Gilbert, chief of coordinated care, reports to Britt as well as Guy Giesecke, Children’s of Mississippi CEO. Penny most recently worked as the transitional care enterprise director for the University of Kentucky HealthCare. Penny provides strategic oversight and directs all operational activities related to coordinated care, utilization review and patient placement for the Jackson campus hospitals. Penny collaborates with provider leadership to facilitate patient throughput, coordination of care and associated documentation.
  
  
  
  
  

In addition to these new additions to our leadership teams, searches are ongoing for a chair of the Department of Radiology and a chief nursing executive for the health system.

Before I sign off today, I’d like to put in a plug asking for your help to get UMMC on the honor roll – Epic’s Honor Roll to be exact. And in this case, being on the honor roll can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings on our Epic bill. If you’re an Epic user, I ask that you use the chart search tool when needing to find information, whether something specific in a patient’s chart or something related to a certain condition. Chart search can save you time and clicks. To learn more about this useful option, click here.

Let me thank each and every one of you again for the heart you’ve shown as we navigate this historic time at the Medical Center. You have pivoted and been creative in making efficient use of limited resources. Our students have adjusted to a new clinical experience at times and the need to be safe in their school buildings. The Medical Center is the state’s leader in achieving A Healthier Mississippi, and that journey continues no matter what challenges we face and overcome.