June Grow With Us Profile: Kim Adkins

We continue our TidalHealth series “Grow With Us” with this June Q/A with Kim Adkins, Senior Director of the Lab for TidalHealth.

It was an interest in helping others and a tour of the lab at TidalHealth Nanticoke that led Kim to the Seaford hospital and a life that has seen her advance through numerous leadership roles.

It’s another of those “full circle” careers that we see so often here, as Kim was not only born at TidalHealth Nanticoke, but she’s also learned that the OB, then, was located where the Lab is now, proving you can come home again!

Monthly, we’ll introduce you to team members, like Kim, who began their career at TidalHealth and advanced in the health system and beyond, and/or who have taken their careers to the next level with significant certifications and achievements.

Here’s Kim’s story, including how it began with that simple tour, why it inspired her, and what she loves most about what she does.

Great to catch up with you Kim and thanks for letting us grab a few minutes of your time. Let’s “begin from the beginning” as they say…where you grew up, where you went to school, your degrees, your life and family now.

I grew up in Seaford and, upon graduation from Seaford High School, I attended the University of Delaware and later transferred to Salisbury University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Medical Technology in 1999. I became a Generalist in the laboratory at TidalHealth Nanticoke and I was able to get my Master of Business Administration in Health Care Administration in 2006. I still live in Seaford with my wonderful husband and children, who are 16 and 12 already!

This is something interesting I learned about you during my research. You always had an interest in healthcare, but not necessarily the “hands-on” part of healthcare. Why is that?

I have always wanted to help others, but it has always bothered me to see individuals in pain. I know with direct patient care you are helping them overcome the pain, and I have extreme gratitude and respect for anyone performing direct patient care, but I wanted to help patients by aiding in their diagnosis, treatment, and disease prevention in another way.

You’re a senior in high school when an invitation from a neighbor would not only change your life but also set your career into motion. Tell us about that.

As a senior in high school, it is very difficult to determine what you would want your career to be. I wanted to do something in healthcare that would make a difference without direct patient care. I had a neighbor who worked in the laboratory who offered to give me a tour of the laboratory, which I am very appreciate of. She directly influenced my career path for the future.

That’s so cool. I try to make sure we honor as many requests for student tours as we can, and you know we always put the Lab into the mix. What was it, for you, that made it so appealing?

I was very impressed with each area of the laboratory on the tour. I noticed that all areas of the lab required extreme skill and expertise, from phlebotomy collection to crossmatching units of blood for patients. They showed me that a day in the laboratory is never the same day. One day you can be working on chemistry analyzers and the next day you can be performing manual differentials under the microscope. The variety of tasks in the lab made it so appealing.

How important do you feel it is for all of us, when we have those opportunities with young students, to be mentors and role models?

It is very important for anyone in healthcare to share their role and to be able to mentor new students and to promote their career. It is important for each of us to help develop the workforce since staffing shortages are being seen all over healthcare, including in the laboratory. It also helps students determine the correct career path for the future.

And at some point, didn’t you end up taking over that neighbor’s role when she retired from the Seaford hospital?

Yes, I did. I became the Microbiology Supervisor at TidalHealth Nanticoke, which was a position she previously held, and then she left the lab and became the Infection Preventionist for the hospital. I became the Infection Preventionist at the hospital when she retired. This role let me see the “big picture” of the function of all hospital departments and helped me work more closely with nursing departments, central service, OR, and many other departments.

We mentioned a full circle career for you in the opening of your story…not only in this IP job but also that “fun fact full circle” that goes all the way back to when and where you were born.

Yes, I was born at TidalHealth Nanticoke, and the lab is close to where OB was back then.

I guess you can say you’ve never fully “escaped” the Lab, Kim, but it sounds like that’s just fine to you. Walk us through the start of your career with TidalHealth, which was then Nanticoke Memorial Hospital.

Yes, I was a generalist tech working in all areas of the lab when I graduated. I then got the opportunity to work in Microbiology and read plates, which I really enjoyed, before becoming the Clinical Leader of Pre-Analytical Processes, where I supervised the Phlebotomy team and techs on specimen collection and processes before the specimens arrive to the laboratory.

It didn’t take long for you to get that leadership role supervising the Phlebotomy team. Was that always a goal…to lead?

No, but when the opportunity presented itself, I had lots of ideas on how to improve operations and engage team members and I decided to apply.

You tell me Microbiology was one of your favorite places to work in the Lab and we’ll talk more about that, but we both understand and appreciate the important role phlebotomists play in connecting TidalHealth with the community.

Yes, phlebotomists are so important because they are the first face of the laboratory, and they provide our first interaction with the patients out in the community. They are extremely skilled and play a huge part in providing excellent patient care!

You eventually work your way to Micro, then a leadership position, and you discover you absolutely love it there. Why?

Microbiology is an area where you get to look at a plate and identify what microorganism is growing on a wound infection of a patient and you know you are going to be able to give the physician an antibiotic that will work to treat the patient’s infection. I enjoyed broadening my knowledge in infectious disease and epidemiology. It was truly interesting!

You gained all this experience in Microbiology, Infectious Disease, Epidemiology and Quality, so the next step seemed logical when you were appointed to manage the Seaford hospital Lab in 2016. How did that all come about?

I enjoyed being the Infection Preventionist for the hospital, but I missed being in the lab. I wanted to help improve operations in the hospital lab and I became the Lab Manager in 2016.

You’re also one of those “hands-on” leaders that I love to talk up and people love to work for. You have not only made it your passion to care for your teams, but you have also insisted on improving every area you have called home. It’s more about leaving it in better shape for the next person than it is your personal gain, right?

Yes, I am constantly trying to improve operations for the lab team members and the patients. It is not for personal gain but for improving healthcare for our community.

Obviously, you didn’t get to where you are without a love of the sciences. How important is it for you to help advance young girls through the STEM process by getting them to take a serious look at the opportunities in science and technology?

Yes, I loved math and science, and it is very important to me to help advance young girls through their STEM process and to look at the opportunities in science and technology since laboratory sciences and technology is always evolving and changing.

You also have your MBA in Healthcare…got that in 2006, as you mentioned earlier. What has that done for your career?

The MBA in healthcare helped me identify strengths and opportunities in each of my roles and helped give me the skills to identify solutions to issues that leadership encounters in each of my roles.

TidalHealth is birthed in 2020, Nanticoke Memorial joins the team, and WHAM, a pandemic! Give me your perspective from the Lab.

The pandemic was very difficult for the laboratory department. I worked through getting COVID testing equipment and reagents for COVID testing during massive shortages. I worked in a drive-through clinic testing individuals and participated in statewide calls to ensure we followed correct processes. The TidalHealth team did an amazing job keeping up with the influx of testing demands during staffing shortages. It is definitely a time I don’t want to relive, but I learned so much through it.

I can’t imagine how tough that had to be in a clinical role, regardless of where you worked. Let’s skip forward to 2023. You’re offered the position of Senior Director of the Lab for the entire system. That must have been an awesome call to get.

Yes, I am grateful to be able to support the health system which takes care of the entire community that includes my family, friends, and neighbors.

What would you like to see next for Lab services as its overall leader?

The lab is continuing to expand outreach services in the community by obtaining more clients for testing and providing more FamilyLab locations. I am continuously looking to improve laboratory operations through new instruments and technology and working to develop our workforce in the laboratory.

Get you out of here on this one, Kim, most important lesson you have learned across the broad spectrum of your career?

Always be adaptable to change because healthcare is always evolving.