OSU Health Care Heroes: Heidi Holmes

Monday, July 27, 2020

OSU Health Care Heroes is a series highlighting those from the OSU-CHS community who have gone above and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve their institution, community and state.

What is your role here at OSU-CHS and how long have you been here?
I am Interim Assistant Vice President of Information Technology. I oversee the Information Technology teams and Health Information Technology at OSU-CHS and OSU Medical Center. I have worked at OSU-CHS for about 12 years,
 
What do you enjoy about working at OSU-CHS?
I have always admired CHS’ mission, vision and culture. I love the fact that whatever I do at CHS is for the greater good. I’m passionate about technology and the great things you can do with it, and having the opportunity to do what I love at a place that truly strives to improve health in Oklahoma is very motivating. The other reason is the people. The people at CHS are one of the reasons why I love it here so much, I feel they are my extended family.
 
In what ways has your role and responsibilities grown and changed due to COVID-19?
During this time, everyone has had to think outside the box and focus their attention on what was critical. COVID-19 allowed my team and I to assist others in setting up their work environment at home. On the clinical side, we have had the opportunity to assist with setting up new system platforms, I.T. processes and customizations in the systems being used. These projects would have taken months to work on and many were completed in a matter of days or couple of weeks.
 
How did you step up to meet these new challenges?
I tried to help in every aspect I could, with deployment of technology and systems needs, but also assisting with new processes and efforts that were implemented in a very short time. Nowadays, technology is essential to our business so we can continue to be efficient no matter where we work from. From setting up our COVID-19 call center and the process and training for it; rolling out an interface so we could perform COVID-19 PCR tests; assisting in the development (from a system perspective) of the swab pods; providing timely reporting; and coordinating deployment of technology and training for testing efforts at other Oklahoma A&M colleges.
 
What did you learn about yourself, your co-workers and your workplace, OSU-CHS, during this time?
I have always loved being part of OSU-CHS but during this time, I confirmed the reason why I love this institution, and it is due to the way our leadership cares for the staff, faculty, students and for the community. I feel CHS appreciates and worries about every individual and truly strives for serving the underserved in Oklahoma. OSU-CHS leadership stepped up for the community and with innovative thinking and fast decision making and execution, we have been able to help Oklahomans during these difficult times.
 
I love challenges as I see them as opportunities to grow. We were presented with opportunities on a daily basis during this time. In I.T., you always have to think outside the box but COVID-19 brought a new way of thinking. Desperate times call for desperate measures— initially, I had to say this phrase to myself and my folks until it was something my team and I engraved in our brains. From my team and other coworkers, I learned we have an outstanding team that will come together and get the job done no matter what. Our CHS community is resilient and I couldn’t be more proud and thankful for them. I feel COVID-19 has changed many aspects of our personal and professional life, and I feel it has made us get closer to each other despite the social distancing.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu