By Kendra Ramada
SCAHRM Membership Committee Chair
My career in Risk Management began 5 years ago (give or take a few months) and it has been a wild ride since Day One. People ask me all the time what I do for a living and my response is inevitably some version of “it’s hard to describe and no two days are the same.” It’s what I love most about my job – I am constantly learning and evolving because the problems I help solve every day are also constantly evolving.
All that being said, there does come a time where you hit a plateau in your Risk Management career. Patient brought a cat to the hospital and it’s running around and swatting electrical cords? No problem, Risk’s got you. The police are here and they have a warrant for a body cavity search and want the medical team to do the searching? Hang on, let Risk talk to them. A Jehovah’s Witness has leukemia and wants “everything done” but is refusing all blood transfusions and the team isn’t sure what to do next? Risk can help. The problems evolve and every day continues to be different but something happens as you grow in your Risk Management career. YOU change and adapt and become someone who can problem solve in minutes. Hit that plateau where solving problems feels like something you can do in your sleep (knock on wood) and it comes time for the next challenge.
I hit this point roughly 3 or so years into my career as a Risk Manager and began looking for ways to develop and grow. I loved my job and knew I didn’t want to go anywhere, but I also didn’t want to become complacent. Enter SCAHRM! I volunteered to assist on SCAHRM’s Education Committee and loved the opportunity to give input on speakers and content that I thought would benefit my fellow Risk Managers. I also got to know some of my colleagues across Southern California and really enjoyed picking their brain and (full disclosure) “borrowing” some of their ideas for implementation at my own hospital. After 2 years on the Education Committee, I was invited to join the Board and I jumped on the opportunity. This was exactly the growth and development I had been looking for (and not to mention, it gave me an opportunity to spend time with colleagues whom I really enjoy!)
I am now 4 months into my tenure on the Board, where I get to lead the Membership Committee. I have some lofty goals for the year, including getting us up to 350 members (dream big, as they say) and making SCAHRM an active voice on social media to help drive recruiting and retention efforts. SCAHRM (to my knowledge) has been a “word of mouth” organization – its members join because their supervisors, colleagues, or coworkers tell them it’s a good organization to be involved in. In order to reach more members, I would like to build more of a brand presence for SCAHRM and go beyond word-of-mouth. This is where social media, targeted email campaigns, and leveraging our existing network comes into play. I know there are a lot of folks out there who are new(ish) to the Risk Management field and hungry for opportunities to grow in this new career that they love so much. I am hopeful that I can use my time on the Board to find those people and get them involved with SCAHRM…who knows, they could be the newest Board members in a year or two!
P.S. If you’re interested in joining the Membership Committee and want to help us grow, email me at [email protected]. I would love to chat!
Kendra Ramada has a decade of legal experience in both the government and healthcare fields. Currently, she works as a Litigation Manager in the Risk Management Department at UC San Diego Health, a position she has held for three years. Prior to working in Risk Management, she worked in educational compliance and for the State of NJ in the Attorney General’s Office. Kendra obtained her Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami and her Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall University. She passed the bar in 2010 and gained her CPHRM in 2019.