Peak Performer: Lupe Ruiz

As a leader, there are many times that you will hear the grievances of staff, but very little is said about the positive changes leaders try and implement. We recently had a staffing reduction, which is uncommon for the Health Plan and the system. Following the change, staff had to learn tasks that they previously did not complete. This involved cross-training in multiple areas, taking on daily tasks to support leadership and training current staff for which she is the subject matter expert. Assisting in maintaining our standard operational processes, Lupe graciously took over a task that was assigned to a team member that transferred departments. In leading this task she has offered suggestions that have been beneficial to the department and has further expanded her knowledge as a utilization review specialist III. When asked to train on an additional area or to train someone new she did not hesitate to share her wealth of knowledge with others. Additionally, she went above and beyond by thanking the leadership team publicly for their process improvement efforts.

​Lupe is our training guru. She has been instrumental in onboarding new staff and supporting current staff with questions. When answering questions, Lupe always answers based on factual resources and not 'what may be right'. When a process is not addressed in standard operating procedures, she will bring it forward with potential solutions and offers feedback. She is a great resource for our team.