In today’s healthcare landscape, operational excellence is no longer a back-office concern—it’s a frontline differentiator. As hospital systems navigate labor shortages, reimbursement pressures, and ever-increasing regulatory demands, the healthcare operations manager is emerging as one of the most crucial, misunderstood, and rewarding leadership roles in the industry.
In this week’s episode of The American Journal of Healthcare Strategy Podcast, I sat down with Justin Hernandez, Operations Manager for Quality Training and Development at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Justin brings a unique perspective: he leads Environmental Services (EVS), Linen, and Patient Transport at one of the largest academic hospitals in Philadelphia, managing over 300 staff across multiple campuses—all before finishing his bachelor’s degree. His journey from retail management to hospital leadership offers essential insights into the real-world skills, strategies, and mindset shifts that today’s executives and aspiring leaders need to thrive.
Whether you’re exploring a pivot into healthcare operations or sharpening your leadership edge, this conversation cuts through the jargon and shines a light on the nuts-and-bolts realities—and opportunities—of the field. Let’s break down why now is the time to consider a future in healthcare operations management.
Healthcare operations managers orchestrate the systems that keep hospitals running efficiently. They’re responsible for overseeing essential non-clinical departments—such as EVS, linen, and patient transport—ensuring safe, clean, and smoothly functioning environments for both patients and staff.
In Justin Hernandez’s words, the role is “overseeing about 300 staff members across two campuses…a large challenge, but one that draws on people management, data analysis, and long-term strategic planning.” Beyond the scope of any single clinical service, the operations manager focuses on:
Workforce management: Hiring, training, scheduling, and supporting large teams (sometimes unionized, often diverse).
Logistics: Coordinating the flow of supplies, equipment, and patients to minimize bottlenecks and maximize patient satisfaction.
Data-driven decision making: Tracking KPIs like room turnaround times or transport delays and responding with continuous process improvement.
Interdepartmental collaboration: Acting as the connective tissue between clinical, administrative, and support services.
Justin puts it simply: “The biggest thing we move is people, right? The biggest thing we kind of track is the turnaround time—how quickly we get a patient out of here. We make the best part of the hospital experience, which is leaving, as good an experience as we can for our patients.”
Bottom line: The healthcare operations manager’s impact is both invisible and indispensable—every discharge, every clean room, every timely transport reflects their work.
Many of the best healthcare operations leaders didn’t start in hospitals. Justin Hernandez, for example, spent 16 years in retail management before stepping into healthcare, and credits this experience with his success. “There’s a lot of translatable skills that really serve me well in my current role…people management, data analysis, sales—applying that over to healthcare, helping build your strategy and your long-term vision.”
Key transferable skills include:
Urgency and resilience: “Less-than-desirable hours in retail translate well into healthcare…and working with a great sense of urgency at all times.”
People leadership: Retail’s focus on customer service and employee engagement is directly applicable to leading frontline hospital teams.
Analytical thinking: Retail managers track sales data; operations managers monitor room turnover and patient satisfaction.
Adaptability: Comfort with change, ambiguity, and learning on the fly—essential in both industries.
The real-world result: When Justin’s team at Jefferson took over from an external vendor, they cut patient room turnaround time from 127 minutes to 68 minutes—a 46% improvement.
Direct answer: A background in industries like retail, hospitality, or logistics can be a surprising advantage in healthcare operations, as long as you’re willing to learn the clinical context and adapt your skills.
This question cuts to the heart of the “gatekeeping” debate in healthcare leadership. No, a bachelor’s degree is not always required to break into or advance within healthcare operations management—especially if you have frontline experience, certifications, and strong results.
Justin is living proof. “I don’t yet have a bachelor’s degree…I’m working on it. So many people say, ‘I can’t get into healthcare until I have a bachelor’s or a master’s,’ but you have your Green Belt certification, you don’t have your bachelors, but you’re working on it. How did you work your way up to this manager role? Did you show them, based on your performance, that you could handle it?”
His path:
Start at the ground level: Be willing to “step back” for long-term gain; learn the basics.
Deliver results and make them visible: “Produce high results, show that to the right people.”
Invest in yourself with certifications: Earning his Lean Six Sigma Green Belt set him apart.
Build relationships with mentors and leaders: More on this in the next section.
Justin sums it up: “It can be really uncomfortable…you gotta show that work you’re doing…make sure you’re highlighting yourself to hopefully get more of those opportunities.”
For non-traditional candidates: Performance, certifications, and networking can substitute for formal credentials, at least in operational leadership.
Mentorship isn’t just for those in MHA programs or on “traditional” tracks. In fact, the best mentors may be only one email—or one awkward lunch invite—away.
Justin describes his relationship with Joe Anton, Senior VP of Operations at Jefferson: “Joe is a guy you could take at his word. He would always say, ‘Reach out to me, let me know what you’re working on.’…Once a quarter I’d go down to his office at Methodist, and we’d do lunch, and just talk through a myriad of things.”
How to build these relationships:
Take the initiative: Reach out with a specific question or ask for advice.
Set a recurring touchpoint: Quarterly lunches or coffee chats build a real relationship.
Be open about your goals and challenges: Authenticity builds trust.
Reciprocate: Share your progress and express gratitude.
“There are people that are going to be willing to invest in you, but you have to show that you’re ready to invest in yourself and put the work in.”
Key takeaway: Don’t wait for a formal mentorship program—just ask. And remember, today’s conference acquaintance may be tomorrow’s COO.
Healthcare operations managers inherit broken systems, messy data, and high expectations. Justin’s initial hurdles were familiar to anyone in hospital support services:
Lack of historical data
Antiquated systems
Siloed departments with competing priorities
His solution? “One of the things that we did was…use the resources, leverage what we have from within the department…get multidisciplinary committees in place, reaching out to your nursing leadership and your other clinical stakeholders, getting into a room and really meeting.”
Actionable strategies include:
Build multidisciplinary teams: Identify “the right people to help you solve those problems…people invested in it themselves.”
Start fast, learn fast: “A lot of the time in healthcare, we can have paralysis by analysis. Sometimes the key is you just have to start fast, make your mistake quick, learn, and then adjust.”
Embrace feedback: “The organizations that reported more issues were more successful over the long term than the ones who glossed over them.”
Share your wins—and your setbacks: Communicate results across departments to reinforce shared goals and learning.
In summary: You don’t wait for the perfect data or system—you build it, collaborating across silos and using early mistakes as the foundation for future wins.
Effective operations leaders strike a balance between pushing for results and listening deeply to stakeholders. Justin is candid about the learning curve: “Let me be the first one to tell you—there have definitely been times where I have come on too strong.”
Best practices for operational leadership:
Make time to listen: “The best leaders listen, understand the challenges from others’ points of view.”
Encourage honest reporting: “The organizations that reported more issues were more successful over the long term.”
Build trust: Develop a track record so that feedback and strong direction are seen as helpful, not punitive.
Get comfortable with tough conversations: “You’ve got to be willing to have the tough skin, be willing to hear some feedback about yourself that may be true.”
The art is in knowing when to push and when to pause. As Justin notes, “If you have the kind of relationship and the kind of track record with your team that they can listen to you and not take it as a point of offense…that’s where you’re going to be really, really successful.”
To advance from supervisor to manager to director and beyond, you must make your impact visible. Justin emphasizes:
Regular check-ins with supervisors: “You’ve got to be able to really speak through the changes and how you got there and how you’re going to sustain those things.”
Be relentless about getting face time: Even if you have to reschedule, make it happen.
Share results with other departments: Leadership meetings, email recaps, and data dashboards ensure credit is given and learning is spread.
Stay active on LinkedIn: “There’s a huge community out there looking to share experiences with like-minded individuals.”
Be of service: Focus on contributing, not just self-promotion.
For Justin, leveraging multi-disciplinary committees not only solved operational issues but also gave him a platform to highlight his contributions across the organization—a best practice for any aspiring leader.
Healthcare operations management isn’t just about logistics; it’s about making patient care possible. Justin sums up the mission: “Ultimately, the first thing you want to know when you go into the hospital is: when can I leave? We make the best part of the hospital experience, which is leaving, as good an experience as we can for our patients.”
With labor costs rising and patient expectations growing, U.S. hospitals are relying more than ever on operations managers who can:
Optimize throughput and reduce length of stay
Improve patient satisfaction and safety
Lead change across clinical and non-clinical teams
Bridge the gap between strategy and execution
And as Justin’s career shows, the best candidates don’t always fit the standard mold—they build their own track record, cultivate networks, and solve problems others overlook.
The path into healthcare operations management is open wider than most believe. You don’t need a healthcare pedigree or a perfect resume. You need grit, adaptability, and a willingness to lead from the ground up.
As Justin Hernandez’s journey at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital illustrates, “You’ve got to show that you’re ready to invest in yourself and put the work in—so that others can meet you halfway.” Whether you’re a frontline worker with an eye on advancement or a seasoned executive searching for new impact, the operations manager’s toolkit—rooted in service, data, and relentless curiosity—remains one of the industry’s most valuable and undervalued levers.
Actionable insight: If you want to break into healthcare leadership, start by solving the problems others ignore. Build relationships, document your wins, and be “relentless in your role.” The systems you help create—and the people you support—will tell the real story of your leadership.
