Claribel, who works at Keck Hospital of USC, has a unique ability to see how every detail of process and workflow impacts patient care. She is always curious about how other departments organize their work to find new ideas that could be translated to the internal medicine clinic. She is in perpetual pursuit of improvement.
Recently, a different department developed a workflow that Claribel thought might be useful for her own clinic. No one else in internal medicine was even aware of the change, but Claribel contacted the other department and found out all the details. She then adapted it into a new care coordinator guide that not only improved the internal medicine clinic processes but could also be shared across specialties in order to better define the role of care coordinators more broadly. If there is a better way to do something, Claribel wants to know all about it, then adapt it to her own practice and share it out. Change is never easy, but Claribel isn’t afraid of that hard work because it means better health and wellbeing for her patients. She excels at asking the right questions, at building knowledge and cooperation. Because of this, she is also an essential resource for new hires, helping to orient staff to the clinic.
In her drive to be of service, Claribel has gotten certification in Spanish language interpretation and is now working on her ambulatory nurse certification. She steps up in her personal life as well, as when she volunteered building houses in Peru. She has endless energy and enthusiasm for improving people’s lives.