2022 Advisory Board Affiliate Seat Candidate
Cory Turner, CMRP
Senior Director Healthcare Strategy
Tecsys Inc.
Montreal, QC
Describe the reasons why you would like to run for the Advisory Board.
As a lifelong healthcare supply chain professional and active AHRMM member since 2013, I believe that the AHRMM organization has proven itself time and again to be a vital component of a supply chain leader’s growth. From the annual conferences to webinars to networking with fellow leaders, AHRMM has given me unprecedented access to knowledge that has helped me grow as a professional. I feel that having a seat on the Board is the next step for me in my journey; not only to be able to continue learning, but to help inspire the next generation of SC leadership.
Describe why you are a good candidate for this leadership role.
I have had the extraordinary opportunity to work across several aspects of healthcare supply chain, with each role and responsibility affording me new insights that forge my appreciation of why supply chain is such a fundamental cog in care delivery, both on the provider side and vendor side. It is not an uncharted path I have taken; several supply chain leaders have reaped the benefits of applying provider side experience to vendor-side insights. Though I hope to highlight how I have used that opportunity to elevate the role and function of supply chain as I believe AHRMM does at scale.
On the provider side, I have hands-on experience with pharmaceuticals, RCV dock, forklift, all the way up to serving as Director over a fully automated distribution center. Having assumed such diverse roles on the operations side of the business, the challenges and frustrations on the floor are tangible to me. These experiences have given me the insider perspective into what it takes not only to lead a diverse supply chain workforce but also to be able to partner with clinical staff and vendors across the continuum.
Now on the vendor side, I can appreciate supply chain from a whole new lens; one that affords me the opportunity to compare and contrast how health systems and IDNs operate around the country, to learn from the aggregate and share that knowledge across collaborative groups. While my role on the vendor side is to proffer my expertise so that the software and solutions we deliver to the market reflect the needs in the industry, I have found a great deal of fulfillment in sharing my lessons learned with audiences outside of that mandate, in what I hope contributes to the national healthcare supply chain dialog in a meaningful way.
These experiences, as well as a strong work ethic and a belief in the power of collaboration, equips me to be able to think from both sides of the fence and be a definite asset to the Board.
Describe where you see health care evolving, and what you see supply chain’s role being in those future models.
It would be impossible to characterize the changes underway within healthcare supply chains without making reference to the pandemic, but Covid did not create problems that were not already inherently architected into our supply chains; rather, it stress-tested a fragile system that fundamentally relied on predictability.
Healthcare has always been an incredibly fast-paced environment, but with mergers and acquisitions as commonplace headlines, larger and more complex distribution networks becoming the norm, and financial leadership putting pressure to preserve margins despite mounting labor costs, supply chain is busting at the seams. We have reached a critical point where old paradigms are no longer sustainable; transactional supply chains are going the way of the dodo bird in favor of more connected, strategic and intelligent systems. We are at a point of transformation in the industry, and AHRMM’s part in shaping how the next generation of healthcare supply chain looks like is so important to the evolution of the function.
At the heart of that evolution is how we intend to leverage the systems of data that are intersecting clinical care and operational support services. This ultimately can go many directions, but we need to get better at harnessing the tremendous amount of information that we have access to and turning it into business performance that has patient care as its beacon.
We as supply chain leaders are poised to play a pivotal role that can change the face of healthcare. The second largest cost to a healthcare organization is supply, and we have total control and visibility into it when we apply the right strategy, technology and most importantly, leadership. Just imagine the homerun we could hit if step up to the plate ready for the next fast ball. I am confident that inside the AHRMM collective we have the best and brightest talent ready to face the challenge of remodeling healthcare from within; we just have to be prepared to embrace the risks and adversity head on and not let the rate of change outpace our capacity to modernize the value we bring to our organizations.
How will your leadership and vision strengthen AHRMM?
In my career, I seek to always grow and learn from others, and be a listening leader. Having risen through the supply chain ranks by ‘drinking through the firehose’ from within a hospital setting, I owe a debt of gratitude to AHRMM’s mission to educate and guide professional development so that tomorrow’s supply chain leaders can carry the torch of supply chain excellence. The resources and expertise that AHRMM has championed are second to none, and I believe that they have been foundational to my appreciation of the profession as a strategic patient-centric arm of the healthcare continuum. At its core, I believe in the mission of AHRMM, and the immense value it brings to those who use it to collaborate with peers in our shared mission to strengthen the practice and strategy of supply chain.
At the same time, I have found myself defending the relevance of AHRMM to a newer generation of supply chain leaders. While it confounds me why this wealth of insight and resource breeds anything but praise, any contribution I can make to helping AHRMM continue to inspire tomorrow’s supply chain leadership would be a privilege. Key to this, I believe, is to tap into an element of my leadership style while at the helm of a Distribution Center: Servant leadership. By engaging and listening, sharing the dais, and lifting others up to reach their potential, I believe we all achieve more. All of us can learn from each of us, and I believe that in the healthcare supply chain, this statement is perhaps truer than in any other field as we are led by a mission of service.
Ultimately, I believe AHRMM is a critical asset to fulfill any healthcare supply chain mandate, whether on the provider side or vendor side; as such, I feel I can support all that AHRMM stands for with every fiber of my being. I am an advocate for its mission and membership, a student of its education and values, and a believer in its strategic goals.
AHRMM is foundational to the development of supply chain leaders, as the voice for advancement through true relationships, and growing the impact that we have as leaders. We have an opportunity to drive the future of healthcare supply chain to achieve even more than ever before by refusing to be stagnant and fail. My leadership and support of others will not only foster these efforts for others, but will strive to further the reach that AHRMM has for all supply chains—not only the large IDNs of this world.
Background
Active member of AHRMM for 9 year(s) (Total number of years as AHRMM member 9)
Years in healthcare: 25
Years worked in the healthcare supply chain profession: 25
Years worked in current position: 2
Number of direct reports: 0
Number of employees in your department: 27
Describe your current position and responsibilities:
I have the distinct opportunity as the Senior Director of Healthcare Strategy and Product Marketing for Tecsys Inc.
Tecsys is an end-to-end solution provider of supply chain technology that equips the Healthcare enterprise for growth. In my role I serve as the Healthcare Supply Chain subject matter expert for Marketing as well as the liaison for the Sales team. I am heavily involved with growing our education and thought leadership content not only for our team but for the industry in its entirety.
Service
List service to local chapter and to AHRMM national, including all committee/task force involvement, and whether you served as a member or as chair, within the past 5 years.
- AHRMM Education Committee 2015-2016
- AHRMM Member since 2013
- Local SCSHMM since 2013
List Annual Conferences, Leadership Training Conferences, and Thought Leader Summits attended, including dates and locations, within the past 5 years:
- AHRMM Conference 2017, 2018, 2021
- Thought Leader Summits 2017 & 2018
Service to professional associations or community organizations to which you belong, including all committees, whether you served as a member or as chair, the year(s) of service, any elected offices held and the year(s) held:
I am heavily involved in our church in several ways. Also, my wife and I have served as a Foster Resource family through the Miracle Hill organization for many years.