Melinda Papen, RN, MSN
Senior Consultant
Melinda has served in executive leadership positions throughout her nursing career, most recently as Vice President of Patient Care Services for a Pacific Northwest based hospital health system. Melinda was previously Director of Hospice and Palliative Care at two large programs and launched home infusion services at two organizations. Melinda brings real-world front line experience, with her clinical background starting in the Intensive Care Unit. Throughout her career she has worked in numerous settings including medical-surgical, public health, inpatient I.V. therapy, home infusion, home health, hospice and palliative care.
In addition to a strong operations background and keen business acumen, Melinda has led strategic planning efforts to reflect people and processes, financial stewardship, customer engagement, growth and access, patient safety, and quality. Melinda’s strong understanding of nursing workflow and Lean methodology brings a structured approach to process improvement.
As a nursing leader, Melinda has been involved with collective bargaining agreements for greater than 20 years, serving on the negotiating teams for the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), and the Service Employees Bargaining unit (SEIU 1199NW).
Melinda has served as a board member of the Washington State Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Oregon Hospice and Palliative Care Association.
Other noteworthy accomplishments include:
Financial Stewardship:
· Implementation of a Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) in response to a federal regulation, ultimately reducing medication expense by approximately $800K/annually.
· Turning loss into profit of approximately $1.5M over 2 years by correcting revenue, expense and staffing benchmarks.
· Reduction of hospital agency use by 44% over a 7-month period.
· Maintenance of a positive annual margin throughout the Covid pandemic without loss of positions.
People & Processes:
· Multiple data-based analyses of process improvement opportunities, including ER to floor admission time reductions, ultimately effecting throughput.
· Use of LEAN methods to reduce waste and eliminate redundancy.
· Building strong teams by listening, supporting and offering career coaching to direct reports.
Customer Engagement:
· Identification of opportunities for improvement and supporting staff to develop patient satisfaction score action plans. Maintaining Hospital “Likely to Recommend” score at or above the 90th percentile.
· Recognized in Becker’s Healthcare as one of 10 hospitals in Oregon who excel in the “Nurse Communication” domain.
