Brigitte is a highly motivated healthcare professional with over 25 years extensive management experience in the healthcare field, she is a visionary leader. Brigitte is passionate about efficient and high-quality patient care. Brigitte has enjoyed many leadership positions throughout her career in the healthcare industry, including holding the position of Chief Operating Officer in a critical-access hospital. Her personal and professional experiences have taught her the following about herself: She always puts the patient in the center of all that she does. Her instincts are good but she seeks data for her decisions. She stays calm when faced with adversity. She stays focused when making high-impact decisions. She is constantly learning because she never settles. She educates, refines, and drives herself to be a better person. She loves to win, but helping the team to win gives her greater joy.
Achievements: Brigitte’s greatest accomplishment was during her position as COO, when she prevented the distressed hospital from bankruptcy and potentially closing. She implemented a survival strategy, made the difficult but necessary decisions, such as reducing the workforce, ending nonprofitable services, and renegotiating contracts and wages. She upgraded billing and coding to electronic billing, and overhauled the hospital’s Chargemaster (the dictionary of charges used by hospitals), and more. Brigitte helped the board in an affiliation agreement/partnership with a larger organization to ensure the hospitals long-term financial viability.
Professional Skills: Strategic planning, leadership, critical thinking and problem solving, business intelligence, extensive knowledge of healthcare technology, teamwork and collaboration, people management, organizational development, quality, and safety.
Domain Knowledge: Radiology. Brigitte enjoys meeting new people and hearing new perspectives, she can align, lead, and grow teams under her direction.
Brigitte was born in Sontra, Germany. She immigrated to the USA in 1982 and obtained her citizenship in April 1986. Brigitte is a resident of Estes Park, Colorado, for nine years. Brigitte attended the Occupational Academy for Roentgen Technology in Bebra, Germany, as a Radiographer, and became certified with the American Registry of Radiology Technologists in 1989 as a Radiology Technologist. She speaks fluent English and German.
Brigitte will work towards consistent financial stability for Estes Park Health, and consistent high-quality care provided by Estes Park Health. She understands the healthcare industry and its challenges, especially for a critical-access Hospital. Brigitte is honored to invest her time and energy in serving on the board of directors, using her experience, and high level of integrity, and she hopes that her presence on the board will help to move the hospital’s mission on a forward path to success.
