Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Subject: Team of the Month for November 2023
RECOMMENDATION:
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Honor the Information Services Department (ISD), Health Information Technology (HIT), and Medical Center IT Services (MITS) as the Team of the Month for November 2023 and authorize the President of the Board to sign the commendations.
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BACKGROUND:
The Team of the Month program was established in September 2018 to recognize and honor County teams who consistently demonstrate an outstanding level of performance.
Our Team of the Month for November 2023 include team members from Information Services Department (ISD): Robert Connal, Kim Pijma, Ana Maria Postelnicu, Anthony (Tony) Yuson, Bill Keating, Bill Margach, Bryan Lowry, Chris Kay, Dan Morriss, Daniel Gee, Darryl Frederick, David Littrell, Debra Finch, Erik Larson, Garry Navarro, Ghyas Ahmed, Jeremy Ambrose, Jimmy Mahrer, ,JT Neville, Kiflom Gebretatyos, Leslie Lemke, Limin Song, Maggie Rangel, Martin Wong, Michael Dong, Omer Mohammed, Ricky Villarin, Tat Lam, Truyen Tran, Warren Villagonzalo; Health Information Technology (HIT): Aditi Verma, Alex Ramirez, Archana Paravastu, Aung Tun, Brian Gibson, Cecilia Diaz, Chethana Jois, Eddie Lau, Elissa Li, John Deloney, Jonathan Reed, Joseph Del Aguila, Khosrow Yeghiazarian, Nagesh Setty, Nelson Tan, Richmond Appleton, Sophia Cheng, Tamara Wright, Virginia Di Paola; and Medical Center IT Services (MITS): Brian De Lucia, Dante Panugaling, James Burrows, Joseph Hunter, Lisa Behravesh, Lisa Tso, Muna Panday, and Nereyda Gonzalez.
DISCUSSION:
In the early morning hours on September 11, 2023, an outside agency performing repair work, mistakenly cut a fiberoptic cable belonging to the County. This conduit was a critical connection to many important County systems affecting essential services various departments provide to the public.
The teams set-off on trilateral paths to work with stakeholders outside of County control to fix the primary conduit, begin a series of communication to those impacted, and deliberate alternative solutions. It was impressive to listen to the teams on the numerous support calls, providing status updates, testing, and providing constant feedback throughout the outage.
The teams worked tirelessly to get systems up and running. They were resilient and determined. When one solution did not yield the results they expected, they quickly learned from it and moved on to the next one. They were able to ensure the installation of the new fiber in a time frame that was far shorter than that originally quoted by the vendor. At every turn, they acknowledged the important work for the community and how important it was for them to get the County systems online.
The teams worked 24/7, together, to get the job done. Individuals were committed to keeping their patients safe and providing the best care they could regardless of which systems were available. There was incredible patience and collaboration with units sharing information, supplies, and whatever else could possibly help. “We got this” was perhaps the phrase heard most during this time. This is a testament to the exceptional, collaborative, teamwork between ISD, HIT, and MITS.
Our County is fortunate to have ISD, HIT, and MITS as an outstanding Team.