SPOTLIGHTING MEMBERS

How SHSMD Rising Stars are Making a Difference

When Lisa Crockett, MBA, DBA, was helping the Society for Health Care Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) create its Rising Star recognition, which is awarded annually to members under 40 years of age, she didn’t imagine that she would win the award several years later.

“SHSMD had a Leadership Excellence Award for those who were later in their careers, but we recognized that we didn’t have something for early careerists who deserve to be recognized for the incredible work they are doing,” Crockett says. “I was volunteering on one of SHSMD’s committees that was tasked with developing the award and was able to work in partnership with other SHSMD volunteers to help design and implement the award, as well as select its first recipients.”

As vice president of strategy and planning for Providence near Seattle, Crockett leads the strategic planning process for the third-largest health system in the country. She also oversees an internal group of certificate-of-needs experts who help guide system leaders and act as the single point of contact with key stakeholders in states that have such requirements, she says.

“At the heart of my work has always been this strong calling to make a difference for others and for the patients and families in our community who desperately need care,” Crockett says. “That has driven a lot of the career decisions I have made.”

She was a 2016 recipient of the organization’s Rising Star Award, which since 2014 has been presented to one or more members who work in healthcare strategic planning, marketing, public relations, and communications and physician relations.

“It was incredibly humbling and gratifying to be selected for the award and recognized as someone who has a lot of leadership potential,” Crockett says. “It was a testament that I’m doing a lot of the right things, and it was affirmation that I needed to continue to move in that direction.”

Important Validation

Recipients of the 2022 award will be recognized during the SHSMD Connections Annual Conference, September 11–14, in the Washington, D.C., area.

Nominees must be SHSMD members younger than 40 years of age, as of Sept. 11, 2022, who have worked in strategy for a health care provider for at least two years.

Winners are selected based on several criteria: strategic work that has benefited a health care organization; engagement in professional service, including relevant community service; potential for leadership based on participation in professional and/or community organizations; and innovative use of marketing, public relations and/or planning techniques.

“I think the big thing it did for me was to validate that I was doing something right in health care and eliminate any imposter syndrome I may have felt,” says 2017 honoree Julia Yoder, MBA, the director of public relations and marketing at Brookings Health System, in South Dakota.

Yoder spent the bulk of her career in business-to-business marketing for a technology manufacturer based in eastern South Dakota. After 14 years, she moved on to her current role at Brookings Health System, a nonprofit, city-owned system that includes a 49-bed hospital and a 79-bed skilled nursing home.

“Health care is so vastly different and has so many regulations to learn and keep up with,” Yoder says. “However, the core marketing and public relations principles I learned from both my professional experience and my education still transferred to the healthcare industry and helped me make an impact for our organization.”

Both recipients said winning the award helped open doors both professionally and within SHSMD. For example, Yoder is now a board member of the School of Communication and Journalism at South Dakota State University — her alma mater — and has been asked to present on marketing topics for SHSMD and other organizations.

Crockett, meanwhile, has been elected to the SHSMD board of directors after spending several years on the organization’s committees and chairs.

“It certainly wasn’t too long before I was continuing to ascend through other leadership opportunities within the organization,” Crockett says. “They recognized that I had potential and continued to give me opportunities to serve on various councils and committees — to be able to co-chair and lead those groups — and ultimately then moving me on to the board.”

Yoder encouraged members to nominate themselves for an award, especially those who work in smaller departments like hers.

“When you’re in a small department, chances are no one else really knows what you do and what your results and accomplishments are except for yourself,” Yoder says. “And while it may seem awkward to toot your own horn, it’s OK to do that once in a while. If for no other reason, do it so those who you work for — who may not necessarily be marketing or strategy experts — realize and understand your value.”

Crockett agreed, and encouraged members to nominate others who they believe should be recognized for the strategic work they are doing.

“I see that with a lot of our Rising Star recipients. They are the ones who we continue to tap because we see that they have so much potential and so much to offer to the society. They really are that next generation of strategy leaders,” she says.

Learning More

Lisa Crockett

 Terri Flood A. Katz Mitchell Shusteris Julia Yoder

 

This article features interviews with: 

Lisa Crockett, MBA, DBA
Vice President, Strategy and Planning 
Providence

Julia Yoder, MBA
Director, Public Relations and Marketing
Brookings Health System


Image credit: istockphoto.com/May Lim