Meet our 2021 Healthcare Heroes
In partnership with the Roseman University of Health Sciences, Utah Business is proud to honor those who have made it their mission to improve the state of health in Utah during our annual Healthcare Heroes event.
Lisa Bagley
Nurse Administrator | Intermountain TOSH (The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital)
Lisa Bagley has been a nurse with Intermountain Healthcare for over 30 years and has been the nurse administrator at TOSH for six. TOSH provides premier, comprehensive orthopedic and spine care along with sports performance and sports medicine services. TOSH played a huge role in early Covid vaccination efforts by providing a vaccine clinic where thousands of doses were administered in a smooth and efficient drive-thru process. Bagley loves working at TOSH, where the atmosphere promotes a healthy and very active lifestyle.
Jake Bowen (not pictured)
Administrator | Holladay Healthcare Center
2020 was a challenging year for all, and the Holladay Healthcare Center was no exception. The year’s unforeseen and perplexing challenges forced the team at Holladay Healthcare Center into a proverbial refiner’s fire, with a heat so intense that, at times, it caused even their most seasoned and confident leaders to question themselves and their abilities for the first time in their impressive careers. Though it was a year of many tears, crippling fears, and soul-searching gut checks, 2020 was also a year rife with examples of selflessness, stoic determination, and innumerable heroic acts of bravery by the staff at Holladay Healthcare Center. This journey was and continues to be a beautiful thing for Bowen’s team to experience. They count themselves fortunate to be a part of such a fantastic group of people who love and protect the residents they serve.
Kavish Choudhary
Senior Director, Inpatient and Infusion Pharmacy Services | University of Utah Health
Kavish Choudhary is a senior director of inpatient and infusion pharmacy services at the University of Utah Health. Prior to his current position, Dr. Choudhary held roles in the pharmacy supply chain and various operations positions in the inpatient, retail, infusion, and ambulatory settings. University of Utah Health provides cutting-edge and compassionate care for a referral area encompassing Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and much of Nevada. A hub for health sciences research and education in the region, U of U Health touts a $408 million research enterprise and trains a majority of Utah’s physicians and healthcare providers at its colleges of health, nursing, pharmacy, and schools of dentistry and medicine. With more than 20,000 employees, the system includes 12 community clinics and five hospitals. U of U Health is recognized nationally as a transformative healthcare system and regionally as a provider of world-class care.
Pamela Clark
Infection Preventionist | Lakeview Hospital
Pamela Clark has worked at Lakeview Hospital for 40 years. This past year, Clark worked tirelessly to support Lakeview’s staff. She spent time with Covid patients and families to ensure they received the care they needed and provided education and support. Clark was instrumental in sharing her expertise, knowledge, and skills to improve the quality of care experience and patient care outcomes. Education is extremely important to Clark, and she spent time researching new developments to ensure staff were always up-to-date with the latest information and ensured that patients received the very best experience the hospital could offer. Although they were not allowed visitors, Clark always looked for ways to help Covid patients connect with their families and bring comfort.
Catherine Cone
Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Assessment | Roseman University College of Pharmacy
Dr. Catherine Cone is an associate professor of pharmacy practice and the assistant dean for assessment at the Roseman University College of Pharmacy. Dr. Cone has furthered her love for teaching, research, and service in this capacity and implemented numerous assessment-related quality improvement projects, the college’s strategic plan, and accreditation requirements. Since 2015, Dr. Cone has published research at Roseman, written and edited chapters in textbooks, taught critical thinking skills and other pharmacy skills to students, and served the pharmacy profession and Utah community. Recently, Dr. Cone organized faculty and students from Roseman to team up with the Davis County Health Department to vaccinate individuals against Covid. Together, the Roseman team vaccinated approximately 5,000 people. As mass vaccination clinics plan for a third round of immunizations, Dr. Cone will organize Roseman faculty and students again to help serve the community.
Vicki Drent
Director of Clinic Operations and Continuing Education | Roseman University College of Dental Medicine
Vicki Drent is the director of clinical operations and continuing education for the College of Dental Medicine at Roseman University, a non-profit, private institution of higher learning. With significant challenges facing the healthcare industry over the last decade, Drent relies on her 30+ years of experience, expertise, and network within the dental community to complement the curriculum developed by the leaders and teaching faculty of Roseman University. These developmental skills and collaborative efforts ensure that the healthcare providers of tomorrow enter their professions with the highest level of confidence and the functional ability to further progress safe and best-practice standards in this complex and ever-changing industry. Drent’s leadership roles span an impressive range from patient care to manufacturing. For the past three years, she has served as the administrator of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry MaxiCourse and the Utah Academy of General Dentistry.
Spencer F. Eccles
Chairman and CEO | George S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation
Through decades of leadership, advocacy, and generous philanthropy, Spencer F. Eccles has enriched the quality of healthcare for individuals and families throughout Utah and the Intermountain West. The recent naming of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah—coupled with the directing of $110 million to enhance its medical education programs and facilities—spotlighted his ongoing passion to ensure the best in healthcare for his fellow citizens. As chairman and CEO of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and chairman or trustee of four other Eccles family foundations, he has led the way in contributing more than $300 million to address Utah’s health and wellness-related needs. For nearly 40 years, Eccles has also served as a trustee of Intermountain Healthcare, including service to the Primary Children’s Hospital Foundation, fostering his affection for the children and families it serves, and his generous support for its facilities and programs. In 2005, Eccles and his late wife, Cleone, made a landmark personal gift for the University of Utah’s Health Sciences Education Building, and his family’s continuing interest in healthcare led to their leadership and support in 2015 for the construction of the American Cancer Society’s Salt Lake City “Hope Lodge.” Both personally and professionally, Eccles has touched the lives of countless individuals in Utah communities large and small. His deep commitment to the health and wellness of all Utahns has made a profound and lasting impact on healthcare in our state, especially for those most in need.
Kathy Field
Registered Nurse, Family Birth Place | Ogden Regional Medical Center
Kathy Field is a registered nurse who practices at the Family Birth Place at Ogden Regional Medical Center, where she and a team of physicians, midwives, and other professionals assist families throughout the birth process. The Ogden Regional Medical Center is a cornerstone of Northern Utah, offering invaluable medical expertise gained from 75 years of delivering exceptional patient care. Field cares for women during normal, problematic, and unusual pregnancies, providing information, guidance, and hands-on clinical care. Field has been doing this for more than 40 years and was recently awarded The DAISY Award—one of ORMC’s highest honors in nursing—for her help with a surrogate birth. She estimates that she helps with 10-12 births per week, which amounts to more than 20,000 births over the span of her career!
JoAn Hunt
Nurse Manager, Medical-Surgical Unit | St. Mark’s Hospital
When Covid hit, JoAn Hunt led the transformation of the St. Mark’s Hospital’s Med-Tele unit into a Covid-only unit in just a weekend. At one point, the 34-bed unit had 32 Covid-positive patients, but Hunt’s ability to lead on the frontlines did not waver. As a fierce advocate for her team, Hunt ensured that all her staff had the proper personal protective equipment, resources, and training needed to confidently care for these patients and even created a special changing room with a shower for colleagues. When visitor restrictions were heightened, Hunt collaborated with the palliative care nurse to implement an iPad concept for FaceTime calls with family to enhance communication. As a testament to her frontline dedication, during the peak of Covid, patient experience scores on her unit improved by 16 percent for overall rating of care.
Blair Kent
CEO and Administrator | Intermountain Medical Center, Intermountain Healthcare
Blair Kent is an experienced and innovative healthcare executive. His approach to healthcare focuses on the human aspect—humans caring for other humans—and he places great emphasis on personal and extraordinary patient and caregiver experiences. Intermountain Medical Center is a Level 1 trauma center and the flagship hospital in the Intermountain Healthcare system.
Fred Lampropoulos
Chairman and CEO | Merit Medical Systems, Inc.
Fred Lampropoulos has been in the medical device industry for more than 30 years. After serving as the chairman and chief executive of Utah Medical, Lampropoulos founded Merit Medical Systems, Inc. in 1987, where he currently serves as chairman and CEO. Lampropoulos has invented and holds more than 200 patents on devices used in the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of cardiac, peripheral, gastrointestinal, and pulmonary conditions. He is also highly involved in his community and serves on many boards. Lampropoulos is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology and CEO of the Year. He was inducted into the Utah Business Hall of Fame. Lampropoulos is a former special forces officer and an honorary colonel in the Utah National Guard. He holds several honorary doctorates, including a doctorate in business administration from Westminster College in Salt Lake City.
Todd Lobato
Disability Outreach Manager | American Heroes Project and Chairbound Sportsman
Chris “Todd” Lobato was born and raised in the Salt Lake Valley. In 2011, Lobato pulled over to assist a car that slid off the road in snowy conditions and was rear-ended by another vehicle driving 75 mph. Lobato provided first aid to the driver of the vehicle that hit him—as well as care to the driver and passenger who had originally slid off the road—though he sustained career-ending injuries. Lobato eventually joined the American Heroes Project and Chairbound Sportsman, through which he takes veterans, first responders, and Gold Star families out on the water. Lobato modified his ATV to allow individuals who use wheelchairs to be taken out into fields pre-stocked with pheasants, allowing them to hunt like they used to before they used a wheelchair. Whether Lobato is volunteering for the American Heroes Project or Chairbound Sportsman, he feels he gets a lot more than he gives.
Amanda McCoy
Intensive Care Nurse and Educator | Mountain View Hospital
Since she was young, Amanda McCoy believed she should always work hard to be a force for good and positive change in the world. She fell in love with nursing and the opportunity it gave her to help improve and change lives 20 years ago. As the intensive care unit educator at Mountain View Hospital, McCoy works to improve and enhance her coworker’s environment through teaching, chairing the Professional Practice Committee, and excelling at any other project she is asked to do. Early in the pandemic, McCoy worked alongside her chief nursing officer to create and implement a new buddy nursing system to enhance patient care, decrease employee burnout, and create a safe environment for all patients and nurses in every unit. She and her ICU director also worked alongside and closely with their staff to ensure they were staying emotionally and physically healthy.
Torri Metz, MD, MS
Associate Professor and Vice-Chair for Research | Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Utah Health
Dr. Torri Metz is a maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist and the vice-chair for research at University of Utah Health. She is also the medical director of labor and delivery at University of Utah Hospital. Over the past year and a half, Dr. Metz has worked to ensure the safety of mothers and babies delivering at University of Utah Hospital during the Covid pandemic. At the hospital level, this has involved ongoing modifications to clinical care protocols. At the community level, Dr. Metz’s work involved educating her patients and other pregnant individuals about the risks of Covid in pregnancy and the importance of vaccination during pregnancy. In addition to her work locally, she is leading a national study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development examining the effects of the pandemic on pregnant individuals with Covid, and all people are experiencing pregnancy during this challenging time.
Jennifer Mitchell, PhD
VP, Clinical Strategy and Innovation | The Children’s Center Utah
Dr. Jennifer Mitchell is a licensed clinical psychologist and an infant mental health specialist at The Children’s Center Utah. She has two decades of experience working with children who have experienced trauma and is trained in multiple evidence-based treatments for young children. She joined The Children’s Center 10 years ago to prioritize and advance secure relationships between caregivers and their children. Dr. Mitchell has advanced the day-to-day clinical work of The Children’s Center Utah throughout her tenure, and her adaptive leadership is now being utilized for systems-level change in her role as VP of clinical strategy and innovation. Dr. Mitchell is also leading the organization’s efforts to facilitate increased support for providers within the mental health field through consultation, training, and supervision and promotes comprehensive training in early childhood mental health for all providers working with young children.
Dr. Mark E. Moritz
Podiatrist | Salt Lake City Podiatry
Dr. Mark Moritz is a podiatrist at St. Mark’s Hospital, where he’s worked for 22 years. He’s served in the Navy for the past 40 years—in Beirut as well as Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm—and is still going strong. This past year, he was called upon by the surgeon general to be the task force commander for Covid testing early on in the pandemic. He is the first podiatrist to become an admiral in the Navy. Dr. Moritz continues a healthy practice serving the Salt Lake City community. He likes to brag that he has some of the best patients a physician could ever ask for. “I now treat the sons, daughters, and grandchildren of those I started with,” he says. “What a great honor that is!” Dr. Moritz enjoys senior care and treats all pathology of foot conditions in his private practice.
Mark Olsen
Facilities Manager | Intermountain Healthcare
Mark Olsen is the facilities manager at the Intermountain Healthcare medical center in Murray, Utah. From the time Utah’s first Covid patient was brought to I-MED until now, the facilities team has worked hand-in-hand with almost every department in the hospital to create a safe environment for patients, staff, and visitors. Most facilities are not designed to care for large numbers of patients requiring negative pressure rooms, and a number of changes had to be made to limit the spread of the Covid. Negative pressure rooms and large negative pressure areas were created to care for patients. HVAC systems were modified, large filter banks were installed, and temporary walls and exhaust fans were installed. Thanks to great teamwork throughout the facility, Intermountain Healthcare has served many who suffer from the effects of Covid while still caring for those they typically see.
Paul Peterson
CEO | The OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center
Paul Peterson started his journey with OCD and anxiety 14 years ago when he saw his wife and children struggling with those same disorders. While looking for treatment methods, he stumbled upon the International OCD Foundation and their writing on evidence-based exposure therapy. Peterson found that the world’s most renowned treatment centers used this therapy with great success and learned there are few true specialists in the world, which was not acceptable to him. Peterson has dedicated his life to ending the silent suffering of those who live with OCD and anxiety, forming The OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center to help do so. On its first day, TOATC saw six clients in a tiny, cramped office. Six years later, they now have the capacity to see 212 clients between two new offices every day and 130 employees helping the cause. A third TOATC office is in the works, and he has no plans of stopping there.
Dr. Nicki Roderman
Chief Nursing Officer | St. Mark’s Hospital
Dr. Nicki Roderman has been the chief nursing officer of St. Mark’s Hospital since January 2019. She oversees clinical care at all levels of the hospital. With a clinical background in quality and patient safety, critical care, and leadership, Dr. Roderman has the skills and expertise to lead her team to excellent clinical and quality outcomes while maintaining high nurse engagement and retention. Though the past year’s challenges were many, she successfully led her team through the pandemic while maintaining excellent outcomes and a stable workforce. With quality care and patient safety at the forefront, Dr. Roderman partners with the medical staff and clinical team to drive innovation and care at the highest levels for the community they serve.
Dr. Andrea Wallace
Associate Professor | The University of Utah College of Nursing
Resources like housing, food, transportation, and social support often contribute more to health outcomes than the care delivered in clinical settings. Dr. Andrea Wallace, a University of Utah College of Nursing associate professor, aims to move health services beyond simply describing the impact of social determinants of health to developing means of using social determinants to improve the quality of health care services and patient health outcomes. Across multiple projects with hospitalized, Covid-tested, and emergency department patients, Dr. Wallace and her team of collaborators focus on implementing patient-centered strategies for assessing social resources during health care visits, empowering health teams to incorporate patients’ social resources in their decision-making processes, and connecting patients with social resource needs to services in their home communities.
