Nicolas Girard (HCM)
Veterans Affairs San Diego Health System, La Jolla, California
Weekend hiking in southern California
Career goal:
Executive-level hospital administrator (e.g. CEO, COO, CCO)
Internship Outline:
This was a two-pronged internship- 50% of time spent rotating through 25+ services throughout the hospital, including SCM, Engineering, Environment Health and Safety
- 50% of time spent working on individual projects, including helping establish and run the Smoke Free Workgroup to assist in transitioning the VASDHS campus to smoke-free status by October 2019
- Performed patient and employee volume data analysis to understand the issue of insufficient parking at community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC)
Value of the experience:
- As someone who has only had medical experience in a small, private dermatology practice, working in a major health system was overwhelming.
- The amount of coordination, bureaucracy, and logistics that is required to run a hospital is truly staggering – and it amazes me how well the VASDHS does it.
- I have never been in an environment where every employee seemed so committed to their job and duties.
- My most memorial experience was the Honor Walk. I was able to participate in this ceremony and it was incredibly powerful. When certain veterans pass away, a memorial is performed. Employees and even other patients will line the hall and put their hands over their chest or at salute. A gong will be struck while words of gratitude are spoken. The veteran will be wheeled through the hall, accompanied by family, to the morgue. Even after death, the VA does all that it can to honor its veterans.
Nicolas Girard - Veterans Affairs San Diego Health System
Staying organized:
A: Map of health system; also copied information into Quizlet cards; improves appearance of professionalism when you know your surroundings
B: Organizational chart; shows all key stakeholders in various services and who they report to; facilitates the process of contacting appropriate individuals with questions, comments, concerns
C: Abbreviations list; hospitals are about efficiency, and using abbreviations saves time; it’s important to know them or meetings can quickly become meaningless
D: Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card; losing or forgetting this causes significant issues and loss of productivity; need to determine what system works best for you for remembering important items
Adapting to the Environment
Earthquake retrofitting was installed many years after the original construction of the VASDHS. It can protect structural integrity from 7.2 strength earthquakes. Asnew technology is developed and the environment (natural and synthetic) changes, it is necessary to adapt to it and improve it
Standardization and the Snowball Effect
These are all signs from the VASDHS campus. They contain incorrect, outdated and/or conflicting information, and all have different graphical layouts. When codified procedures and designs are not implemented and maintained, small discrepancies can snowball into large issues. This variation in design and language will make the VA’s transition to a smoke-free campus more difficult.
Weekend hiking in southern California