Project Manager and Senior Clinical Analyst, Department of Pediatric Cardiology

 Here is what Deborah's nominator had to say about her:

 "Deb is an exceptional analyst that has gone above and beyond to help organize the systems within the Pediatric Heart Center. She is a minority as an African American Woman in the IT world and she embraces that challenge and demonstrates expertise and outstanding organization!”

  - Angela Collins, Assistant Unit Director, Pediatrics Interventional Cardiology

 Deborah's Bio:

Deborah is a Project Manager and Senior Clinical Analyst for the Department of Pediatric Cardiology, where she serves as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion, implementing training opportunities for the team and ensuring departmental initiatives consider issues relating to equity and bias.  She drives quality improvement processes by identifying opportunities, diagnosing issues, and recommending and documenting solutions. Deborah has been in the medical field for 12 years where her passion for patient advocacy and health equity is the driving force of her life work. She honors participation, leadership, and expertise arising from many sources and life experiences to identify health challenges and develop lasting solutions. She encourages openness and authenticity to communicate our struggles and collectively heal and progress.  Deborah earned her Master's in Public Administration with an emphasis on Healthcare Administration in 2013 and shortly thereafter moved to the Bay Area to join the UCSF team. She serves on the Social Justice Committee for the UCSF Black Caucus.   

Do you have a favorite song?  

Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings - I believe that we need others to support us in our journey and those people are the real heroes of our success.  I couldn't be the person I am today without the support of many people along the way.    

What’s on your reading list? 

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right (The author reveals what checklists can do, what they can’t, and how they could bring about striking improvements in a variety of fields, from medicine and disaster recovery to professions and businesses of all kinds). 

If you could go anywhere for a day, where would you go?  

To Hungry Valley SVRA where there are 19,000 acres of terrain and over 130 miles of scenic trails making it the second largest OHV park in California. 

What brought you to healthcare? Can you tell us about your professional journey? 

I wanted to be a part of developing a culture of health equity. I first started working in the hospital, in a department where Walmart awarded $50,000 for the newborn hearing program. The Walmart Foundation, through its California State Giving Program, afforded the Medical Foundation to purchase three hand-held hearing screeners. The devices would help the medical staff test the hearing of the more than 2,700 babies born at the hospital each year through its Healthy Hearing Program.  I was personally responsible to setting up the carts, testing and training the medical staff to make sure we were ready for our grand opening day.   This was a huge contribution to heatlh equity as we implemented universal screening, rather than targeted screening, which ensures that every baby will be screened and that those with permanent congenital hearing loss can be identified and treated immediately.  I was finally able to help families like my parents who both taught at the Georgia School for the Deaf in Cave Springs GA. 

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