Alumni Spotlight: Kendra Worthy
Kendra Worthy graduated in Spring 2018 with her MHA and a Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics and Analytics. Currently, she is the Business Manager within Atrium Health’s Central Division Strategic Operations department. In addition to managing data and reporting for senior leaders, Kendra supports performance improvement initiatives and projects led by executive leaders, the Lean Department, and the Quality Department.
Outside Atrium, Kendra is very active within GCHEG, the Greater Charlotte Healthcare Executives Group. She first became involved with GCHEG while an MHA student. Once graduated, Kendra networked with the previous chair of the Outreach and Communications committee to learn more about opportunities within GCHEG. Kendra is currently serving as the Vice Chair of the Outreach and Communications Committee, and will become the Chair of the committee in 2020.
Kendra noted, “Being involved with GCHEG, either as a student or a full-member, brings opportunity to network and learn from healthcare professionals with various experiences, niches, and skill sets!” GCHEG also offers mentorship programs, scholarships and resources to obtain an FACHE. Kendra mentioned that GCHEG is always open to accepting new committee members. Benefits of joining the board include demonstrating leadership capabilities to the over 600 members in the NC chapter and networking and building relationships with various healthcare leaders.
As a student, it can seem difficult to be involved with GCHEG with the scheduling conflicts of work and class. Kendra expressed that when she was a student, she attended meetings that didn’t interrupt work or school. Usually, this amounted to 1-2 meetings per semester. Kendra said, “Even though I couldn’t attend every meeting, I still wanted to be involved outside of school. After networking and meeting one of the members of the Outreach and Communications Board, I became more involved with posting their events of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.”
Kendra advises current students that joining GCHEG and attending meetings can help provide direction and insights. Getting involved not only boots one’s resume, but brings students into a community that allows them to learn from other healthcare professionals with various experiences, tenure, and specialties.
GCHEG hosts a monthly networking event / Happy Hour on the 3rd Thursday of every month in addition to a monthly skype call to provide more information about the chapter to potential members. Interested students and alumni can become more involved with GCHEG by joining a committee (click here)