Higher Education CoP Jan 2021: COVID- Bed Tower

Abstract:

As December 2019 turned to January 2020, Valerie and Pat were methodically working through the project management steps to build a new Bed Tower on the Duke Hospital campus, and then COVID hit.  While most of us were sent home to work, the Bed Tower team was thrust in the middle of the mandate to open the lower floors of the new Bed Tower to serve as a COVID inpatient area to accommodate this new pandemic that was growing exponentially.  Join us for an interactive session to hear about the project challenges Val and Pat faced in opening a Bed Tower a year ahead of schedule in a way that is contrary to all the government construction occupancy rules and regulations.

Learning Objectives: 

Attendees will learn about how to manage:

• The immediate and ever-changing aspects of:
  • Scope
  • Risk
  • Schedule
• Dealing with the resource, procurement, and vendor changes in terms of fast-tracking everything
• The communication and planning to keep leadership involved and aware

Speaker Bios:

Pat Kenney is a Project Manager with DHTS Strategic Site and Clinical Initiatives Team, joining DHTS in March 2020 at the start of the COVID Pandemic.  Coming from over 15 years of project management within the banking industry, he was clearly and quickly educated on how DHTS acted in providing health services to our community.  He knew then this was where he needed to work.

He is originally from Phoenix, AZ, and moved to Holly Springs, NC in 2011.  Married for 26 years to Dunnell (RN soon to be at Duke in February), they have two children: son is Riley who is 18 and a freshman at Campbell University majoring in Biology with hopes of attending Medical School after undergrad and daughter Carolynn, 15 sophomore at Holly Spring High School.

He was an NCAA athlete who played Division I football for Memphis State (tight end) and signed a free-agent contract with the Denver Broncos. 

Val Eatmon is currently the Senior Manager for the DHTS Strategic Sites and Clinical Initiatives Team and also serves as the Vice President of the Duke Health Military Association.

She enlisted in the Navy right after high school in Michigan and learned how to weld and work as a medical transcriptionist.  This time taught her some of the most important things in life including how to show up at work, wear the appropriate uniform of the day, and become a good employee and teammate.  After four years of active duty, she earned a BS from Southern Illinois University in Workforce Education.

All of her work since then has involved computing in some capacity.  She has been associated with Duke either as a vendor or an employee for nearly thirty years.  This year, she earned a Masters in Management and Clinical Informatics from Duke, and will honestly say that Duke is just as phenomenal as an educational institution as a healthcare system.

When not working, she likes to be with her twins and husband, run, lift weights, and read.  Her twenty-year-old son just enlisted in the U. S. Navy and we are very proud!  Her daughter is a chemical engineering student at the University of South Carolina.   It’s Val’s sincerest desire to inject energy and humor into everything she can while giving back to others and her community.  Her goal is to support Duke’s mission to provide world-class healthcare.  She also endeavors to support military veteran's issues including job opportunities, recruitment, growth, and outreach.

This is a joint event between NCPMI Higher Education Community of Practice (HECoP), and the Duke Project Management CoP. The event is free and open to anyone interested in project management.

Notes:

1. This event is a WebEx-Only event
2. After registering and upon approval by the host, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the session. Please join the session shortly before 12:00 pm.