SLV Health Adds House Supervisors as New Leadership Roles

A new term has been floating around San Luis Valley Health. “House Sups” is an abbreviation for “House Supervisors” and is a new role for nurse leadership at SLVH. These nurses manage patient concerns, bed placements, scheduling, and communication between shift changes. This role comes with different responsibilities and a bit of a learning curve, according to the Chief Nursing Officer, Robert Bean. “I am so proud of the team members who have stepped up to take on this role,” commented Bean. “In healthcare delivery, there are certain challenges that we face, but having the overarching goal be patient-centered satisfaction, it wasn’t difficult to get on the same page.” House Sups manage activities in both the Regional Medical Center in Alamosa (Level III for trauma care delivery) and Conejos County Hospital in La Jara (Level IV). Both hospitals have emergency departments, inpatient care, swing bed, and inpatient surgery recovery, which includes therapy and discharge planning. In addition to the regular ICU at RMC, there are now additional negative pressure rooms to care for COVID-19 positive or suspected patients. “We have additional challenges working within a pandemic, such as visitor restrictions and the additional need to track our personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies,” added Bean. “Having the House Sups provide summarized twice-daily reports to leadership has helped communicate exactly where issues might be so we can consistently plan and prepare in order to improve the patients’ experience.”

When asked about their new role as House Sups, Brian Garcia replied, “I am enjoying the new role. Every day brings a new challenge or something new to learn, which I really like. I signed up for this role to get my ‘feet wet’ in a leadership role while also being able to jump in and help with bedside care and keep up my nursing skills.” Garcia added, “I feel that teamwork and communication have increased between departments with this position. We have nurses that are more open to floating where they are needed, such as between OB, surgery, the Emergency Department, and the inpatient unit. A result of this is that these nurses learn about other departments, and they obtain a better understanding and respect for them.”

When asked about the vision from CNO Roberta Bean, Garcia commented, “I feel Roberta has brought some great changes to the organization and will continue to do so. She has the experience from larger hospitals, and knows how to tailor that experience to make the changes for our rural hospitals!”

L to R, three of the eight SLVH House Supervisors, Ana Vega, Sarah Alonzo, and Darrick Garcia. Not pictured are Kelly Bleakney, Andrea Griego, Bryan Garcia, Taryn Ruybal, and Daniel Sours.