Health Management Alumni

"I currently work as a Research Assistant at KU School of Medicine Wichita in the Department of Population Health. It took me awhile to find my niche within public health, but it has been a wild, fun adventure.

During the COVID-19 pandemic I had the honor of serving the residents of Sedgwick County as an emergency preparedness professional with Sedgwick County Health Department. I served in many different roles and tackled so many problems during the pandemic I never would have imagined myself doing before. The duties and accomplishments I am most proud of in my career so far are planning, coordinating, and managing mass testing and vaccination sites for Sedgwick County and another private company.

The class that has stuck with me the most was cultural competency in healthcare. It expanded my perception of health and how it is affected by the intersections of culture and race, and prepared me to be conscious of these intersections as I stepped into my career.

A strength of the program at WSU is that it offers exposure to many different aspects of the public health field. Considering this fact, my advice would be to explore as much as you can. If you have even a vague interest in a public health topic, I would see if you can gain any experience with it. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t find that one issue that sparks your passion– there’s many places to start and your path may take plenty of twists and turns along the way."

"I currently serve as an Employee Benefits Consultant for HUB International and also am the Owner of the Orangetheory Fitness studios here in Wichita. As an Employee Benefits Consultant, I help my clients achieve their Human Capital & Business Goals. I do this by developing an Employee Benefits Strategy that maximizes the investment businesses make in their most valuable asset, their employees. As an Orangetheory Fitness Franchisee, my purpose is to provide an atmosphere for our members to be healthier, my team to be stronger and to build a community that thrives. We do this through our science-backed, technology-tracked, coach-inspired group workout that is designed to produce results from the inside out.

Following my graduation from the Health Management Program in 2010, I went on to earn my MHSA and MBA. My career path has been everything, but linear which is why this program was so beneficial in my professional development. It provided me with the foundational skillset and knowledge that I could pursue the many career opportunities made available to me in the healthcare industry. I’ve been involved in so many community initiatives and attribute my time at Wichita State for opening those doors for me!"

To learn more about my journey, connect with me on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobwayman/

"I have been working in the pharmaceutical industry for about 7 years now. Day to day, I interact with Doctors, PA’s, NP’s, nurses, MA’s, staff and pharmacists. I love my job because I feel like the medications I promote can really make a huge difference for patients and their families. Biology, chemistry and epidemiology really prepared me for the scientific part of my job. At each company, I have learned a wealth of information- For example-  how Synapses fire, drug interactions, brain chemicals, vesicles, neurons, pharmacology, clinical study information and basic anatomy and physiology.  My favorite class in the Health Management program was Epidemiology with Professor Drassen Ham. My favorite class outside of my major was the Native America studies course. COVID times were scary and Epidemiology truly equipped me to understand how diseases spread around the world (or even in normal day to day medicine)!  The Health Care Management program really prepared me from the biological and scientific aspects- all the way through community and statistical points as well.  

My advice for students is to study hard and really dive into ALL aspects of the health community. There are a wealth of areas that this degree allows you to work in!"

"I entered the field of long-term care as an Administrator for a 54-bed skilled not-for-profit nursing facility. In the years following, I became Director of Operations for Foundation Properties and oversaw the operations of nine communities, which ranged in services from Assisted Living, Alzheimer’s Care, and skilled Rehab Services. During that time, I have led efforts to renovate some of the properties, as well as over saw a major addition to one of their assisted living communities, Marquis Place in Elkhorn, NE. I most recently over saw the the newly developed 84 bed Regent Park Rehabilitation and Healthcare which is one of Wichita's newest CCRCs."

"I am the System Privacy Officer for Hutchinson Regional HealthCare System in Hutchinson, KS.  The System is comprised of Hospice services, a DME supplier, the Hospital, Horizons Mental Health, and Chalmers Cancer Treatment.  As the Privacy Officer my role is to establish a program geared towards educating and training staff on the importance of HIPAA, create and develop meaningful policies and procedures, and monitor/ audit the organizational compliance.  I earned my Bachelor in Health Services Management and Community Development from WSU. This program laid my foundation to move ahead in my career and provided insight to the many other areas and ways to work in the Healthcare industry.  One of the lessons I learned was in regards to the importance of working together and eliminating the silos.  To this day I provide a picture of that in my education and training materials.  For each of us to accomplish our roles and be successful, regardless of the position we hold, everyone has to work together like the cogs in a watch."  

"I am currently the Project Financial Analyst at the University of Kansas Medical Center. I work with and support our project managers who oversee projects related to facilities, construction, and architectural design for the campus. This includes financial analysis, project setup and closeout, and any project related financial transactions, including procurement, accounts payable, work order setup, etc. 

I want to foremost say that the professors in my program continuously advised me throughout the program, helping me determine a path that best suits my skills. When I became a public health major, I was exposed to a group of leaders and public health workers who had a level of passion and empathy I have never experienced in academia. Not only did these professors, advisors, and the department help me get my degree, they became a support system that set the foundation of my career. I think of them often and the lessons that have been instilled in me and will most certainly stay with me for a lifetime."

"I am a 2018 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Wichita State University where I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Management. Currently, I am a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator at Medicalodges in Oxford, KS. My day to day activities consists of making sure the residents have a safe home-like environment to reside in. This environment is maintained through a method called quality assurance and process improvement. For example, if someone falls we want to find out why they fell and what can be implemented to prevent it from happening again. As an administrator of a nursing home, you can deal with problems on a large scale such as evacuating your building because a water pipe burst or writing a publication notification to the local newspaper about the current situation of the residents, staff, and families due to the global pandemic. In health management, you can also incur small problems like a toilet being clogged or a resident’s light being out. This brings me to one of the most important things in any health management degree which is that if you want to be successful you might have to do things outside of your comfort zone that others won’t do or don’t want to do. WSU has taught me genuine connections are instrumental to your success whether they help you land a new job or are a shoulder to cry on. The best advice I can give to any health management major is to show up, work hard, and be kind. It is so simple but it works!"

"I am currently the Events Manager at Ronald McDonald House Charities Wichita. The Health Management program taught me to really look at our community in a bigger picture, not to be so closed-minded, or to the textbook about working with different populations and the medical community. I learned so many wonderful things from learning to believe in myself and take chances of different experiences to learning leadership skills from my sorority Alpha Phi helped excel me in our student HEALTH origination in the HSMCD Program. My favorite classes included Global Health Issues where I learned how public health is viewed all over the world and how different cultures look at health care in different ways. I also really enjoyed my program planning class that taught grant writing, I have used this skill many times in my career in the non-profit world. Public speaking was another class that truly helped me where I am today, part of my role is to go out into the community and speak about all of the great things that Ronald McDonald House Charities Wichita does for our familys and the ways individuals can get involved and volunteer. I truly love being a SHOCKER!"

"My role is Chief Financial Officer at Sumner County Hospital District No 1 in Caldwell, KS. I handle all financials from monthly balance sheets, profit/loss statements, monthly statistics, check register, etc.. which I prepare, analyze and present to the Hospital Board and Hospital Finance Committee on a monthly basis. I also prepare the Capital and Operational Budgets which are present to the Hospital Board and Finance Committee for approval. I manage and edit our Hospital Chargemaster to ensure services and chargeable supplies reflect our Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield incentives as a Critical Access Hospital (CAH). Being a CAH, there are many regulations we must follow to keep our designation which creates a crucial role in my job to stay up to date on any regulations/rate changes/etc.. to be in compliance. Our financials are audited annually along with the filing of our Medicare Cost Report. Much of our revenue and reimbursement is directly from Medicare and a huge part of my analysis of financials is ensuring specific expenses are allocated correctly to increase our reimbursement.

I graduated from Wichita State University with my Health Service Management and Community Development degree in 2015. The variety of courses in the program really sets a path of multiple opportunities in the healthcare field for individuals and I am very grateful for the knowledge I received."

"I currently work at Rock Regional Hospital in Derby Kansas as the Risk & Quality Coordinator. We just opened in April 2019. In my role as the Risk & Quality Coordinator I assist in the development and implementation of the hospital-wide Risk Management Program, consistent with regulatory and standard setting agencies. I am directly responsible for the collection, input, analysis, and reporting of patient data, including patient safety and risk mitigation activities, CMS quality reporting, and BORM reporting. I serve as the “Risk Manager” and facilitate education issues to influence collaboration between physicians, employees and the hospital. I interface with quality management, physicians, and staff to provide relevant data enabling identification of practitioners/practices that may not meet the standards of care according to The Joint Commission, Federal, and State guidelines.

The Health Management program at WSU provided me with all of the information I needed to be successful in my role. It also lead me to obtain my masters in healthcare administration which I graduated with this year."

"I graduated from the Health Service Management and Community Development (now called Health Management) program in the fall of 2016. Since then I have had the opportunity to wear many hats. I started off working in an FQHC as a Patient Care Coordinator working directly with the providers to coordinate needed care for patients, after excelling in that position I was offered the role of Clinical Support Manager in charge of all non-clinical support staff. While in that role I had the opportunity to learn a lot of things which led me to become the EMR and Corporate Compliance officer working on things like quality measures, safety precautions and acting as the EMR super user. In June 2019 I had the wonderful opportunity to become a Practice Manager in the Wesley HealthCare system. In this role I have operational oversight of about 30 staff members as well as collaboration in our partnership with the KU school of Medicine including 14 Faculty and 27 Physician Residents.

I have really enjoyed the freedom and unique skillset that my degree has allowed me. As you can tell from my own work history, there are so many opportunities out there – the sky is really the limit!"

"I received my Bachelors degree in Health Service Management and Community Development in 2012, and I currently serve as a Student Services Coordinator at The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. In this role, I am responsible for coordinating events and activities for medical students. Activities I coordinator range from wellness activities to Match Day.

The strong foundation Public Health Sciences helped develop has benefited me throughout my career and helped me discover my passions and diversify my talents."

"After graduation I began working at The Arc of Sedgwick County as the new Outreach Coordinator. Our mission here is to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). In my role as the Outreach Coordinator I am responsible for fundraising, volunteer coordination, and social media marketing for The Arc. Since starting this position in August 2020, I’ve had the opportunity to broaden my skills in areas such as grant writing, graphic design, and management of databases. I have also had the opportunity to learn more about the needs of the IDD community as well as the services currently available to them.

My experience in the Health Science and Health Management programs at WSU has truly helped shape me into the person I am today. Instructors such as Dr. Ham and Tara Nolen had a huge impact on how I approach problems that affect disadvantaged populations in our community. My advisors, instructors, and peers taught me how to serve the people in my community with empathy, dignity, and passion."

"After graduating in the Spring of 2019 with a B.S. in Health Services Management and Community Development, I began serving Kansas as a Public Health Associate at Wichita State University’s Community Engagement Institute. I also started graduate school at the University of Kansas and am SUPER close to completing their Masters of Public Health program with a focus in epidemiology. I’m looking forward to graduating in May 2021 after (hopefully) successfully defending my Capstone. 

Looking back, I think one of the most helpful HM courses I took at WSU was Health Communication. Now more than ever, the way Public Health professionals communicate with the public MATTERS, and I feel fortunate to have learned about its importance before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Outside of the major, I enjoyed learning about my leadership capabilities in Leadership and Self and Society. That course helped me learn about myself and discover the values I hold dear to my heart.

Because of the skills and concepts that I learned as a student of the HM program at WSU, I entered the MPH program at KU with a level of confidence that has helped me thrive as both an MPH student and new public health professional. As concepts and topics were introduced in that program, I recalled exploring them in the HM program and was able to expand on their importance in the classroom setting. As a Public Health Associate, I work on many projects that revolve around social determinants of health and correcting inequities in my role at the Community Engagement Institute as a Public Health Associate. I’m beginning to learn that my passion lies in using data to tell stories about public health, which coincides with my optimism about the collective raised awareness about issues that have been historically ignored.  

The HM program at WSU fostered my need to learn and grow in this field. It encouraged me to think about how systems play into our daily lives and be more open-minded about alternative perspectives. The most significant piece of advice I have for current PHS and HM students is to be willing to learn on the go. Engage with your peers and professors, raise your hand,  and don’t be afraid to be wrong, because there is no such thing as failure, only lack of trying."

"I am currently a senior office Administrator at Hanger Clinic. This is a company that services patients who are in need of prosthetic and orthotic devices. This offers patients the chance to empower their lives. My position is overseeing the front office staff both in Wichita and Hutchison. Making sure we are customer service driven and helping patients in a timely manner. I also work directly with the clinicians to figure at the best ways to help patients and get it done as quickly as possible. I also deal with insurance, acquiring any authorization needed or financial needs prior to patients leaving with their new device. 

My undergrad at WSU has really help set me up to succeed in this field and my overall goal, to help in the community in any way possible. It is a great program."

"I am currently working as a Supply Chain Director for a local hospital in the Kansas City area. I work with clinicians and supporting departments in the hospital to accommodate supply and equipment needs for patient care. This includes leading a Supply Chain team that take care of point-of-use rooms within the hospital. I also work with our hospital leadership team to analyze supply expense and savings initiatives.  I enjoyed the health management program at WSU because it gave me a wide spectrum of healthcare that I have been able to apply in my current role.  The experience of the variety of healthcare courses helped me develop leadership skills that I am able to use today when approached with a challenge."

"I graduated with a degree in Health Management and Health Science with a minor in Public Health. I am currently working at the Sedgwick County Health Department and it has been an incredible journey so far.

I was hired on as the Public Health Specialist doing quality improvement, but a few months later, I was a part of the COVID-19 response. I played many different roles during the pandemic and gained invaluable experience. Some roles I had were: Deputy Planning Chief, working at the testing site, doing contact tracing and disease investigation, and assisting with the implementation of a new electronic health record.

After working in Covid for a year, I moved positions within the Health Department and I am now the Maternal and Child Health Outreach Specialist. I am working on building relationships within the community to bring more awareness to our Healthy Babies program.

My degrees from WSU have helped me immensely during my time at the Health Department. My Health Science degree has given me an understanding of medical terminology and basic understanding of the human body and health overall. My Health Management degree has provided me with the knowledge of the management aspect of clinics and other basic business practices. And finally, my Public Health minor has given me the tools on how to prioritize prevention over reaction.

My time in the Health Management program was very enjoyable. I liked having smaller class sizes because it gave me the opportunity to build relationships with my classmates and professors. I never felt like our classes were purely lectures, instead they were engaging and made it easier to learn and understand the concepts. All of my professors were not only teachers, they were mentors. They desired to see their students succeed and truly cared about us. I still keep in touch with most of them today! And as for my classmates, I am proud to say that I am working with several of them  at the Health Department. Our relationships started in class, but have quickly grown.

I’m very thankful for my time at WSU and I strongly recommend the Health Management program to all!”

"I currently work at Select Specialty Hospital as Director of Business Development located within Ascension Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita.  We are a 48-bed critically illness recovery hospital providing post-ICU care. I lead the business development and admissions efforts for the hospital. I oversee a team of Clinical Liaisons and Admissions Coordinators in developing and nurturing professional relationships with physicians, discharge planners, payers and other clinicians in acute care hospitals. 

I graduated from WSU with a Bachelor in Health Service Management & Community Development in May 2015 and an MBA in December 2018.  Speaking to my bachelor's programs specifically, this really gave me guidance on the changing landscape of the healthcare system that our country currently operates in. The reason I picked the healthcare field was that I did not want to work a monotonous 8-5 job. Every day I wake up, the healthcare sector is drastically changing, especially during the COVID pandemic. The program educated me on our current system, as it stands today, and compared us to the way healthcare is provided in other developed countries around the world. This has assisted me in constantly looking at innovative ways to become and remain a successful healthcare organization, constantly focused on providing exceptional quality of care to as many patients as we can."

"I just graduated with my Doctorate in Physical Therapy. I've accepted two part-time positions where I will be able to pursue my interest in pediatrics. I currently treat kids and babies for gross motor delays, plagiocephaly, and torticollis. I have plans to become pediatric pelvic floor certified where I will be able to also help kiddos with urinary and bladder issues! My favorite part about what I do is having the ability to offer non-pharmacological and less-invasive options to help children move and feel better. 

The Health Administration program allowed me to explore and get a better understanding of the business, insurance, and financial side of healthcare. I was able to meet and network with individuals from local companies and really understand all the amazing resources Wichita has to offer. Although it was a little difficult switching from an administrative mindset to a clinical one, I would still highly recommend this program to other aspiring physical therapy students. It was a really unique way for me to "get my foot in the door" in the rehabilitation world!"

"I graduated with a double major in Health Management and Health Science in 2019. I began working at the Sedgwick County Health Department of June 2020, there I worked as the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Planning Assistant and was promoted to the Public Health Planner a year later. I helped organize and operate the COVID-19 Testing clinics during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and helped my team develop the Sedgwick County COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. I got to set up and operate multiple vaccination clinics across Wichita, and later worked to improve the Health Department’s Emergency Preparedness Plans for all biological incident responses. 

I recently started my role with the American Red Cross as the Disaster Program Specialist of South Central and Southeast Kansas in February 2022. I support my region by maintaining emergency management relationships in 21 counties, managing a team of 70 volunteers, providing free community education programs to clients of all ages, and helping respond during large and small scale disasters. I worked to provide relief to clients who were impacted by the April 29th, 2022, tornados in Andover and Sedgwick County, the Reno County Wildfires, and several large apartment fires in three counties.

The WSU Health Science and  program allowed me to see all perspectives of health, not simply the clinical perspective, while also providing me the foundation and confidence to be a voice of public health in any setting I am in. I am grateful for my experience at WSU and the work it has led me to today in emergency preparedness."

"I graduated from WSU in July of 2019, with a Bachelor's in Science in Health Services Management and Community Development. My internship was completed at the Sedgwick County Health Department under the FMIR/Healthy Babies Programs. This internship made Maternal Child Health my passion, and it is the reason I chose this career field. After graduation I started working with the Sedgwick County Health Department as the Enrollment Specialist for the Healthy Babies program and was in that role from February 2020 to March 2022. During my time there, the COVID-19 pandemic struck; and as you can imagine, the burnout was real. But, just how Dory from Finding Nemo sings" just keep swimming, just keep swimming", there is hope.

Currently, I work as a Maternal Community Health Worker for a pilot program under the Kansas University School of Medicine's Lifting Young Families Towards Excellend program. In this role, I get to help expectant mothers navigate the healthcare system; all while performing the role of a doula. In contrast to other CHWs role, my job includes a more hands on approach. I really enjoye getting to work with mothers and babies, to achieve better birth and health outcomes in Sedgwick County. I have always wanted to work with babies, and this job is very rewarding because of it."

"I’ve been working in the health insurance industry as a medical underwriter for 5 years now. I currently work at one the of top risk management leaders in the country, Berkley Accident and Health. Throughout my time at WSU, I never thought I would land in the insurance industry. I imagined something more along the lines of working inside hospitals, long-term care facilities, etc. The Health Management program allowed me to learn the ins and outs of our healthcare system from a business perspective, which eventually introduced me to the world of health insurance. In 2017, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Services Management and Community Development with a minor in Aging Studies. I believe this program provides its graduates a variety of different career paths involving healthcare, and adequately prepares them for whichever direction they want to go. With that being said don’t be afraid to explore different career avenues in healthcare because as I mentioned earlier, I never thought I would land in the insurance industry but I absolutely love what I do and wouldn’t change a thing."

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