The Path to the Presidency
Ajith Pai, PharmD, FACHE, has only been president of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne for about a year, but his history with Texas Health Resources goes back decades. Born at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Ajith returned in 1999 as a certified pharmacy technician.
In the years since, Ajith has served in a variety of positions with increasing levels of responsibility, including pharmacy director and professional and support services officer with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman. He attributes his success to having an inquisitive mind and a strong support system.
What did you want to be as a kid, and how did you ultimately choose your career?
I had an early interest in the medical field, but I wasn’t sure what direction that would take. Then a friend who was a physician suggested I become a pharmacy technician to get my foot in the door. That job opened my eyes to all the medications pharmacists have to know about and how their work touches so many patients. It seemed like a great challenge, and a way to serve patients and work with physicians and nurses.
Once I got into the pharmacy role and then moved into more leadership roles, I saw how many other opportunities there are to impact the way we provide care to our communities. As pharmacists, we’re trained to think about the consumer and the costs they incur, and what medication or treatment will help them to meet their goals. And that’s something a hospital president does, too, by focusing on how best we can serve our consumers.
What does a typical workday look like?
I manage our focus as a hospital, seeing that everything we do is aligned with Texas Health’s Mission and is helping us to become a high reliability organization. And of course, I also make sure that the work we do day in and day out keeps us in line with our key performance indicators, those metrics that help us provide safe, quality care. I focus on removing barriers and on making sure our executive team supports our front-line employees in helping them to achieve those goals.
I’m also involved in a lot of groups to connect the community to what we’re doing, listening to their needs and building that trust and loyalty. And I round and meet with the physicians on the medical staff, to make sure we’re providing them the services they need.
What innovative things are you doing at Texas Health Cleburne to focus on consumers?
We were recently highlighted in The New York Times for our use of nitrous oxide in our OB/GYN patients, which is a great example of the innovative approach we take to Consumer Focus. That was the result of a group of nurses who really believed strongly in the quality and experience this would provide our expectant mothers. We have employees who are really excited and engaged, always looking at the available research and trying to create best practices here and provide our consumers with high-quality, reliable care.
You worked your way up. What would you advise employees who want to follow a similar path?
I think you have to be willing to get outside your comfort zone. You also need to be humble in your approach and not go into things thinking you have all the answers. Go in with the curiosity to learn and grow, and never be afraid to ask questions. Having an inquisitive mind has really helped me to be open to other perspectives. And having mentors who are willing to support me along the way, and partners who are willing to teach, has been instrumental. We have such a wealth of knowledge at Texas Health.
What’s something people would be surprised to know about you?
I once appeared in a Texas Health Resources commercial, and it’s still on YouTube (you can see it here).
I also ran my first Boston Marathon in 2013, the year the bombing occurred. My family was there with me, and we were very fortunate to make it out without any injuries. It was very important to me to run it again the next year, and the year after that.
By Robin P. Loveman • Posted July 30, 2019
