Temicka Sylvertooth

My career in healthcare spans 19 years, beginning with a humble start as a dispatcher through a temp company. Initially, it was just a job, but as I continued, I realized that helping people was what I truly wanted to do - being a leader in a non-clinical capacity. I work for a hospital, but my role is non-clinical, which allows me to lead and support others in a different way. Before becoming a director, I worked in home durable medical equipment doing customer service behind the scenes, and prior to that, I spent time in retail and office work, including administrative assistance roles. About 4 years ago, I moved to Texas, which presented a new challenge - leading multiple hospitals simultaneously. Currently, I'm a director overseeing 5 hospitals with a full leadership structure beneath me, including assistant directors, managers, supervisors, leads, and frontline employees. Although my position is strategic rather than operational, I'm a hands-on person who enjoys being in the operations and working directly with my team to make sure things get done. I'm a big team person - my success depends entirely on my team, and I believe there's only so much I can do alone. I didn't follow a traditional path with a college degree in my field. I graduated from National Institute of Technology as a medical assistant but never went that route. Instead, I worked my way up, and I was fortunate to have bosses along the way who instilled in me that you don't necessarily need a degree to be successful in what I do. Hard work and dedication have been my guiding principles.