Meet Truly Ambitious Director of Physician Assistant Services Thomas Bily
March 2020
This blog is part of a series highlighting Northwell Health’s Advanced Clinical Providers (ACP). Each Northwell Health employee was nominated by their leadership as an individual who exemplifies a Northwell Health value.
Throughout his career with Northwell, Thomas has participated in many ACP system initiatives and covered for other clinical services wherever there was a need. While working as a critical care PA at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC), he began to volunteer for both clinical and non-clinical responsibilities including becoming a PA clinical preceptor. This was his first opportunity to have an administrative role within the department and it provided him with skills he needed to help him succeed such as coordination, effective communication and organization.
Along with being a PA clinical preceptor, Thomas participated in a critical care microsystem workgroup at LIJMC. These workgroups help improve quality of patient care alongside collaborative workflow. The opportunity helped him further mold his communication skills while building on his ability to take ownership of group projects.
Most recently he’s led the re-design of the Northwell Health ACP Surgical System Orientation. The new orientation was designed to provide a surgical ACP or registered nurse first assistant with the skills and knowledge needed to enter the periOperative environment. “Leading this redesign gave me my first opportunity to lead and collaborate with other ACP leaders in the health system outside my building,” says Thomas.
As Director, Thomas was proud to work with the surgical PAs to develop a 24/7 surgical PA service at Plainview Hospital. “This was a measurable change in culture within the department of surgery at Plainview Hospital. There is more collaboration and education within the department as well as improvement in the quality of care we bring to our patients.”
Alongside his work at Plainview, he has the opportunity to be a part of an excellent surgical and orthopedic team at Syosset Hospital. He enjoys working with each ACP individually to lead them through their careers in any way possible, believing it’s an essential leadership trait to mentor and support your team.
The advice he gives them? “There was a quote that was told to me once that I truly believe in, ‘if you’re always comfortable in what you are doing you will never grow.’ This is what I live my career by and share it with others whenever I can.”
An avid gym go-er, and photographer, Thomas stays just as active and well-rounded in his life outside of Northwell. For him, success is all about finding new ways to inspire himself and others to achieve their best. “Northwell Health has provided me and many other ACPs with opportunities for growth in our careers. Work hard, never be complacent, place yourself in unfamiliar situations, and look for opportunities to be visible throughout Northwell. Believe in yourself and the opportunities will follow.”
If you’re Made for working with a team of exceptional ACPs, explore our opportunities here.
Northwell Health Labs provides career growth for lab technologists
March 2020
When Nathan Howell first started working at Northwell Health Labs in 2016, he accepted a position as a lab support associate after graduating college. Since then he’s grown his career working in our automated lab, becoming a lab technologist and specializing in Chemistry, Special Chemistry, and Serology.
For Nathan, Northwell Health Labs was the perfect start to his career to get the well-rounded experience he needed to grow as a lab technologist. “I’m glad that I made the leap to work in the automated lab straight from school because it’s an opportunity to work alongside an incredibly skilled and knowledgeable staff and to grow exponentially as a younger technologist,” says Nathan.
And working in the automated lab, Nathan enjoyed being able to continue learning thanks to the diversity of departments there. “I’ve had the opportunity to gain experience in everything from specimen processing and accessioning, to quality control validation and assay correlation, as well as extensive instrument maintenance and troubleshooting,” says Nathan. “The scale and depth of which I have learned these skills is something that can only be obtained here at Northwell.”
Northwell’s automated laboratory is a 101,000 square-foot facility with the largest Roche automated line of its kind in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world. This provides our clinical laboratory team access to the state-of-the-art equipment they need to help physicians deliver life-saving results to our patients.
With over 30 million tests performed at our 23 hospital-based labs and centralized laboratories, Nathan is able to gain experience with a variety of cases he might not see anywhere else. “Abnormalities or diseases that are typically very rare – such as 1 in 100,000 or 1 in 500,000 to even 1 in 1,000,000 – become more common. There’s something new to be seen and to learn on an almost day-to-day basis working at Northwell.”
Beyond developing his own career, working behind the scenes as one of healthcare’s “unsung heroes” is also extremely rewarding. “I take a lot of pride in knowing the work that I do and the care I put into the instruments that run our specimens has a direct impact on this lab’s ability to provide quick and accurate patient care,” says Nathan. “The level of detail and care that goes into our process to ensure we’re providing the best patient care possible is something that is unmatched anywhere else.”
Are you Made for making a big impact on a microscopic level? Join our clinical laboratory team today.
