Administrator to Know: Jennifer Hunara of Surgery Center of Allentown

Jennifer Hunara (Surgery Center of Allentown, Allentown, Pa.). Ms. Hunara is the administrator of the Surgery Center of Allentown (Pa.). The multi-specialty center opened in April 2007 with five operating rooms and 25 staff members. It has grown to become one of the largest surgery centers in Pennsylvania with seven ORs and more than 55 staff members. The center is a joint venture between 27 physicians and the Ambulatory Surgery Centers of America.

Ms. Hunara has been with the center since its inception and came on six months before its opening. Her prior roles were as the executive director of surgical services for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, and the business manager of perioperative services for Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network. Both of these jobs have provided her with the skill set to be successful in her current role. 

Ms. Hunara lauds her management team as critical to the success and growth of the center. "We've all been in it together since the beginning," she says. "Each of us brings different strengths to the table, which makes us an incredibly cohesive group. Getting the privilege to work with these three individuals everyday makes this the greatest job I have ever had and makes it possible for our center to run as well as it does."

Ms. Hunara also notes the "Commitment to P3" program designed by management and staff, which focuses on the center's dedication to its three customer groups — patients, physicians and personnel. "It was an effort in culture building," she says. "We sat down as a group and discussed what we liked and didn't like from our past jobs, and from that made a commitment to be different in how we looked at service to our customers."

Part of Ms. Hunara's management philosophy is that in healthcare, your job cannot become routine, because not only is every patient different, but surgery is often an emotionally tense process for a patient to go through. "We have developed an exceptional team that truly cares about what they do and goes above and beyond every day for our patients," she says. As a result, the center consistently has a high rate of patient, physician, and staff satisfaction.

Ms. Hunara foresees see continued growth for her center through the addition of new procedures and working with new physicians. "Every person who works at our center has an impact on a person’s health and quality of life," she says. "I am proud to lead a group that practices this philosophy everyday and does it while smiling and having fun."

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