PVAHCS Welcomes New Health Care System Director Ms. Sharon Helman

Veterans Health Administration sent this bulletin at 03/04/2012 10:16 AM EST

New PVAHCS Medical Center Director Ms. Sharon Helman Shares Her Leadership Vision: “Veterans Are Our Focus”

by Paula L. Pedene APR

PVAHCS Public Affairs Officer

 

When a Veteran asked Ms. Helman what she was doing for herself, she replied, “I’m a mother of five, wife to a disabled Veteran and they keep me busy.”  But the Veteran persisted, “No, I didn’t ask you what you were doing for them, I asked you what you were doing for you.”

           That question made her think and she took it to heart.  What was she doing for herself?  After all as a hospital director, mother and wife, what time was left?  So it was after that game of hoops where a disabled Veteran in a wheelchair could beat her, she started doing something that would help her improve her personal health.    She decided to take up running and she’s never looked back.

           “I started out with just one mile, and then I worked up to a few and then I thought, I wonder if I could do a marathon?  She did and she’s been competing in marathons ever since.  Her most recent 26.2 mile run was as entry #261 in the PF Chang Rock and Roll Marathon.  She says that running gives her time to think, clear her head and it allows her to enjoy some of her favorite treats like Snickers and Diet Coke.

          Her five kids, Serena, Courtney, Austin, Larissah and Kiersten have dubbed her “Marathon Mom” and they celebrate with her each time she completes a race and brings home her medal.  She says, she’s a slow runner and tends to end up in the back 40 of a race field, but that’s OK because for her it’s about completing the race and doing something for herself to keep her promise to a Veteran.

           She may be a slow and steady runner, but when you look at her VA career the slow and steady ends.  She’s been on a fast track for more than 20 years.  She entered the system in June 1990 as a GS-4 Program Specialist. She admired her director Gary Rossio at the VA San Diego Health Care System and decided then, that would be the job to shoot for.  She pursued her college degree and then her masters while raising her children.  Then she landed her first VA leadership role in Roseburg, Ore. as Associate Director in March 2005.  From there, she worked her way up from lower complexity level hospitals to one of the most complex VA hospitals in the country, the Hines VA Hospital in Chicago. 

           At Hines her responsibilities were about as huge as the campus, which spans 142 acres.  She was in charge of the medical center, the blind rehab center, the spinal cord injury center, and other VA support services.  In just two short years, she took the Hines facility from a deficit of $14 million to a balanced budget and along the way improved both patient and staff satisfaction scores through her empowering leadership style. 

           “Veterans are why we are here.  I live and breathe this mission. Each day, I renew my promise to take care of our Veterans and to give them the best care we can."

           The cold weather and the high cost of living had her take a leap for the job as director at the Phoenix VA Health Care System. She is the first female director since PVAHCS opened its doors in 1951 and she is one of 44 female directors nationwide. 

           Her first day on the job at Phoenix (Feb. 27) she held two meetings with supervisors to share her leadership vision for the future. “I base my decisions on three things, first is it good for the Veteran, second is it good for the staff and third is it good for the family-mine and our VA family.  If we can answer yes, then I know that this is the best thing we can be doing.”

           Her second day on the job (Feb. 28) she held three meetings with more than 500 attendees.  First she acknowledged the VA employees who were Veterans and thanked them for their service.  Then she reminded everyone that it is “By the grace of God that our Veterans came back after their service to our country.  Since they were willing to take a bullet for us, for our freedom, it is now our duty to give them the best care we can.”

       She also shared other beliefs…

     “This is about how we care for our Veterans like we care for our own family.”

      “I am your team; we are all in this together.”

     “What I expect of you, I expect of myself.”

     “I want you all taking risks, because when we do we succeed as a team and if we fail, we fail as a team, since we are all taking these risks together.”

     “There are solutions to every problem.”

       Helman is excited to be a part of the Phoenix VA team, where she knows much work lies ahead. 

“I know there is a parking problem, and I know we’ve had issues with our fee base care, and I know that we’re growing like crazy—we’ve added 20,000 new Veterans to our facility in just the last two years, but I’m excited to see what we can do to work on this together. 

         There is much to look forward to.  Within her first 90 days she’ll visit at least four community clinics; she’ll conduct a Veterans Service Organization and Congressional Staff briefing; she’ll handle two Congressional visits; she’ll celebrate her son’s 12th birthday; she plans on writing heartwarming weekly messages to share her life with staff; she’ll visit areas of the hospital and meet with patients, and the list goes on. 

           Perhaps the best way to summarize her initial Town Hall meetings in setting the tone is to leave us with the thoughts she used in closing at each of her presentations to staff….

           “The Veterans are why we are here.  I live and breathe this mission.  The Veterans are always the focus.”