Administrator to Know: Carolyn Evec of The Surgery Center at Beaufort

Carolyn Evec, RN, CNOR (The Surgery Center at Beaufort, Beaufort, S.C.). Ms. Evec is the administrator at The Surgery Center at Beaufort (S.C.). The multi-specialty center is a hospital-physician joint venture and specializes in ENT, general, GI, GYN, ophthalmology, oral surgery, orthopedics, pain management, podiatry, urology and plastic surgery. Ms. Evec has been with the center for eight years, and, under her leadership the center has been accredited by AAAHC.

Prior to coming to The Surgery Center of Beaufort, Ms. Evec opened a surgery center in Missouri and served as the nurse manager at that location for 2.5 years. She has 30 years of nursing experience and primarily worked in the OR. She has held various management positions including director of surgery, director of medical and surgical services, vice president of patient services and director of rural health clinics.

Ms. Evec has helped improve efficiency at her center in many ways. "With the help of the staff, we developed an ordering system for supplies that now involves all of the staff and eliminated a part-time staff position," she says. "We now order supplies two days a week, and it takes only about an hour to complete the process."

Additionally, she worked with the business manager to reorganize the business office and implement new practices that reduced the number of days in A/R from 100 to 43. She worked with the clinical and anesthesia staffs to help pre-op and the PACU run more efficiently and to reduce the number of day-of-surgery cancellations.

Regarding her favorite aspect of being an administrator, Ms. Evec says, "I love the privilege and challenge of being involved in all aspects of the operations of the center.  Coming from a clinical background, I have really enjoyed learning and being responsible for the business side of operations as well. I enjoy the fact that every day is different and that I have the ability and support of the medical staff to effect change when needed."

Most of all, Ms. Evec enjoys working with her staff at the center. "We have a great team — one of the best I’ve ever worked with.  They provide outstanding care to our patients and physicians and at the same time have fun doing it," she says.

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