Supply Chain Director of Deployment Readiness
Advocate Aurora Health
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Comments from Carl Meyer, executive vice president, The Wetrich Group:
Lisa Fohey brings a positive attitude and an inquisitive mind to the job every day. She works proactively to identify opportunities for savings and or improvements that will benefit the patients, outcomes, staff, supply chain and bottom line. She is highly skilled at bringing people together, can be tactical when needed, and has a very strategic outlook on what she and the department she leads are working to accomplish.
- Advocate Aurora Health at a glance: Formed in April 2018 by the merger of Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care, the system serves nearly 3 million patients annually in Illinois and Wisconsin at more than 500 sites of care.
- Year joined Advocate Aurora: 2018
- Born/raised: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Degree(s): BS in business, Mount Mary College, Milwaukee; MBA from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- First “real” job out of school: Ward clerk (now known as health unit coordinator) at what was then called Milwaukee Children’s Hospital, and phlebotomist at the adult hospital across the street.
Some prior work highlights:
- We launched a new MMIS just two months prior to Y2K. The pressure to deliver on time and to adapt to new technology created a team bond that has stood the test of time.
- It’s incredibly rewarding to collaborate with clinical teams to deliver the best and safest care for the kids of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Children’s Hospital/Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Supply Chain has helped achieve the CHW vision that “Wisconsin kids will be the healthiest in the nation” with tactics including the launch of a value analysis program, consistent communications regarding substitute items and conversions, and our drive to keep the clinicians at the bedside.
- I am so grateful to have been active in the supply chain group of Children’s Hospital Association. The members bring a level of supply chain expertise and innovation that has been inspiring!
A key mentor or event in your life:
- The director when I started in supply chain, Dick Dooley, was a pioneer in bringing supply chain support to the bedside. Even as far back as 2002, we were ahead of other hospitals in terms of taking on the movement of supplies at the nursing unit level in order to keep the nurses at the bedside.
- Joni Rittler, vice president of supply chain at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, has led by example, sharing her successes and learnings generously with me and others. She is an innovator, and an amazing team builder.
- Gary Colpaert, now the vice president of clinical and support services at Froedtert Hospital, inspired me to think of supply chain in a broader sense. I’ve always felt connected to those who do clinical work, thanks in part to the six years I spent on a clinical unit. Gary helped me take that empathy and turn it into productive conversations with the clinical staff. He taught me to fully understand my customer’s workflow to design solutions that deliver what they need. This is particularly effective when what they thought they needed (and asked for) wasn’t the best solution.
- I am thankful to all of my AHRMM (Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management) colleagues who share their knowledge at the annual conferences and in forums.