One Team - Sarah Harris

• By Jordan Pape
• December 20, 2018

 How long have you worked for TTUHSC?

I have worked for the TTUHSC for 6.5 years. I started in Human Resources and moved to Provider Payor Relations-Faculty Recruitment in 2015. 

 
What is your role at TTUHSC? 
I am currently the Director of Faculty Recruitment and Enrollment. I work with the School of Medicine departments in Lubbock and Amarillo to recruit, onboard, and retain the best physicians in the nation. I oversee the enrollment team who are fantastic at enrolling all of our new providers into all of the insurance plans. I help the enrollment team with tracking of the data, but they are the ones who really make the difference.
 
What’s your favorite thing about working at TTUHSC? 
The willingness to help each other, students, patients, and the Lubbock community. In the highest of life’s moments and the lowest, the HSC community supports its own.
 
What about your job excites you the most?
I feel like my job gives me a lot of autonomy and the ability to fail without serious repercussions. The ability to fail sounds like an odd thing to say, but if we aren’t failing, that means we likely are not getting out of our comfort zone. The HSC administration trusts me to lead new projects and supports my ideas, even if they are a little bit out of the norm.
 
How do you see the TTUHSC Values being implemented every day within your department at TTUHSC? 
The Provider Payor Relations department is a highly functioning team. We don’t always agree and we don’t always succeed, but we work together to provide the best experience for each other, HSC staff & faculty, and our patients. Our team has put in the work to empower each other and to communicate effectively despite barriers. I am proud to be on the PPR team.
 
What values do you see most across the campus? 
As a faculty recruiter, I often have candidates from all over the world who are in Lubbock or at the HSC for the very first time. My candidates always tell me how genuine and kind the staff and faculty have been during their visit. While walking around the building, it is common to see a staff member assisting a patent to a clinic and going the extra mile to ensure the patient is satisfied. The HSC staff and faculty are kindhearted and go above and beyond to live out our mission and values.
 
Why is creating a sustainable values-based culture important to TTUHSC? 
When I ask my candidate’s what they are looking for in a new position, an answer I hear often is a “positive and collaborative culture”. A sustainable values-based culture guides employees to action. Values are not just words on a wall, they are a reminder of how to treat others. In healthcare, the people(patients) in our building are often in some type of physical or mental pain. As healthcare professionals, we are held to a higher standard to ensure our patients have a great experience and to make their pain a little less.