Ensights Magazine

Tavarres Jefferson

Alumni Profile: Tavarres Jefferson '09

Kirby Wiley '10
The passions and professions of our alumni reflect the lasting impact of our school’s Mission statement.
Read on to see how three Ensworth alumni are facing current challenges and opportunities. We interview Tavarres Jefferson ’09 about the effects the pandemic has had on his Executive Residency Program at HCA.
A 2009 graduate of Ensworth, Tavarres Jefferson has been working for HCA for the past six years. He earned his Masters of Business Administration at Trevecca and his Bachelor of Business Administration from MTSU where he was a two-sport scholarship athlete. Tavarres is currently in the Executive Residency Program for HCA at MountainView Hospital in Las Vegas.
 
Tell us a little bit about your role at HCA & about the Executive Residency Program. 
I am currently an Administrative Resident and in an Executive Residency Program that trains and prepares you to be a future hospital executive within HCA. This program includes rotational exposure to key healthcare functions, physician relations, labor and staffing analysis, and benchmarking and cost-saving analysis. My role as a hospital administrator is to help manage all operations within the facility.
 
What is a typical day like for you?  
A typical day for me always starts with rounding and touching base with my direct reports. For example, Respiratory Therapy is one of the four departments that I oversee at MountainView Hospital. During this Respiratory Pandemic, it is essential to have constant communication with the Director and bedside therapists to make sure they have everything they need to do their job at the highest level of care for our patients. After rounding, I look over all of the daily metrics that we need to hit for the hospital; this ranges from productivity with labor-management metrics, quality of care metrics, and patient experience surveys. Hospital Administrators support all aspects of the hospital’s operations, monitor and track trends to improve processes or celebrate successes. Providing exceptional care for our patients is the most important thing, and that care can be at any time of the day. That means that I need to be available 24/7 to make the best decisions for our patients.
 
How has your schedule/job changed since the COVID-19 pandemic?   When COVID cases first rose, I found myself at the hospital more often than not. I have spent a lot of time implementing new social distancing guidelines amongst our staff and advocating for the needs of our frontline employees and their patients.
 
What’s been the most challenging thing for you?
The most challenging thing has been just the unknown of COVID-19. Is there going to be a second, third, or fourth wave? Does everyone have the proper protective equipment they need to stay safe while treating patients who might have the virus? I spend a lot of time preparing for all scenarios, just to be ready.
 
What have you been surprised by? 
I have been surprised by just how contagious the virus is and how quickly it can spread without a mask or practicing social distancing.
 
What have you learned?  
I am learning that adversity brings out your true character. Our leadership team has been tested during this time, and I am impressed with our CEO’s ability to keep the staff remaining calm, informed, supported, safe, and overly communicating on any changes or updates that could occur. It is teaching me how to become the leader that I want to be.
 
From the pandemic to the death of George Floyd, and the broader debate over police brutality, how have all of these current events affected you personally? 
Wow, well, the timing of everything happening at once for a black man who works in healthcare has been a little overwhelming. On one hand, the most important thing when I go into work is to make sure my staff is taken care of. That way, they can give the patients the best outcome, quality, and experience as possible. On the other hand, being a black man and having to manage the feelings of pain, fear, and grief that comes from incidents like the killing of George Floyd while also doing my job can be difficult. It has been tough, but unfortunately, George Floyd is not the first incident of an unarmed black man being killed by a police officer. However, his killing happened during a global pandemic where people are out of work, and there are no sports, festivals, or really any distractions, which has forced everyone in the world to look at it. I feel this could be a huge turning point for America because people who didn’t realize there was an issue are now sympathizing with many Black Americans, which is great. 
 
The theme of this edition of Ensights is ‘opportunity.’ How do you think people and communities can use these challenging times as an opportunity to grow? Between COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a challenging time for everyone in all communities, and it is an opportunity for all of us to grow. I like to find the good in every situation, including this one. If you are out of work, it may be a time for you to pursue that passion you always wanted to do. If you have children who are home more than usual, it’s a great time to teach them to give kindness and love to everyone they come in contact with, no matter their ethnicity. If you were unaware of the history of African Americans and how the country got to this point, it’s a great time to educate yourself on it. Have some open dialogues, listen, ask questions, in the words of Ensworth “Search for Truth.”

Ensworth Background

What ‘house’ were you in? Vitality
 
What activities were you involved in? Football, Basketball,  Track, Soccer, Story & Song Festival.
 
What do you remember most about your time at Ensworth/ favorite memory? What I  remember most about Ensworth is how close the ’09 class was. We were one of the first graduating classes at Ensworth, and it felt like we helped build the school. My favorite memory is my peers selecting me to give our graduation speech.
 
What is the most valuable thing you learned during your time at  Ensworth? To get out of my comfort zone and to build relationships with people that didn’t have a similar background to myself.
 
Favorite teacher? David Whitfield
 
Favorite class? Spanish 1 (Eva Lea)
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