Name and How Long in the industry:
My name is Alison Robinett. I started in healthcare as a dental assistant and one girl office 1979. (Oh, I am dating myself).
Short Background:
I transitioned to Baxter Travenol Labs before they became just Baxter when they had a division that did Home Healthcare, DME equipment and offered home ventilation services. I had a couple of other jobs before going to work for Philips Healthcare/Multivendor Services (Acquisition of AllParts Medical) in 1998. They decided in 1999 to move our office to Atlanta. I went to work for ReMedPar and while I was there found out Philips was moving their Corporate MVS office back to Nashville and I reapplied for a position in 2004. I held many roles in 18 years with Philips, I was a virtual site manager for MVS sites with no onsite manager and handled all the core returns for MVS. I was promoted to team lead for the parts ordering team and promoted to Sourcing Manger for MVS Parts. I managed all the part repairs that were outsourced. I was asked to sit in on our ISO certification audits and help take notes and work with the quality team and really enjoyed the rigor of the process. In 2022 I made the decision to take the position of Quality Manger at Legendary Supply chain, going back to work for my original boss at Philips to assist in their ISO certification project.
Key Milestone:
There have been many milestones along the way. Being promoted to Sourcing Manger gave me many opportunities to work with vendors and make sure we were getting the best sourced parts we could and set expectations for quality, delivery and communication. I learned a lot and made some great relationships. Being asked to participate in ISO audits opened my eyes on how to make sure you have a quality program and follow that program. Starting with a position working directly with the engineers in the field helped ingrain that all we do has a domino effect that ends with a patient. That patient could be my family member, but they are someone’s family. I will never forget that. It has reshaped how I think about quality.
Any Roadblocks:
There are stumbling blocks for sure, but we decide if they are roadblocks with how we deal with them. We can stop, we can detour, we can choose to tackle them, we can also ask for help. As women we sometimes think we must do it all on our own. If we ask for help, we shouldn’t be in our position. We can’t appear weak. Well, that was my roadblock. I started when women didn’t get many leadership roles or opportunities.
What makes a good leader:
I have learned a lot from some great leaders. One of the best things I was told by one of those was they always hired people smarter than they are so that we can continue to grow. Smart, right? This same person also told me if you don’t like change, you might as well get that rocking chair ready. With change comes growth, with growth comes knowledge, knowledge for what works and what doesn’t and when it doesn’t, how do you deal with it? You change! Leaders walk with you through it all and dig in when needed to “Lead” you through “IT”.
Advice for other women in HTM:
Don’t give up. There are so many opportunities. If you don’t like what you are doing today, there are so many different jobs in the field. If you don’t like servicing equipment, there is sales, there is procurement, there is quality. Find what works for you, but know what you do matters.