University of Utah Hospital Site Visit

On Friday, December 4, 2009 FHLA members visited the University of Utah Hospital. We met with COO, Quinn L. Mckenna, and toured some of the hospital facilities.

Mr. Mckenna shared with us his career path prior to becoming the COO. It included 10 years of consulting and previous COO roles with Salt Lake Regional Medical Center and the University of Washington in Seattle. He explained to us that as an academic medical center, the University of Utah Hospital needs to balance three distinct areas: patient care, research, and teaching. He encouraged us to gain experience and exposure to the industry where ever we can. He said that when hiring he looks for “. . . people who make a difference not just people who hold a position.” Mr. Mckenna was very open in fielding our questions about health care reform. He thought that with some of the new proposals there would be more work and less compensation, but at the same time he was upbeat about it and looked forward to the challenge.

The tour of the hospital included a trip to the emergency room (a planed trip). The facilities were physically impressive as was the system explained to us, which treats emergency patients. We were also able to view the bed board system and learn how the hospital keeps track of patients and the availability status of the rooms in the hospital. These behind the scene opportunities provide great insight to us as we continue to learn more about careers in health care administration.