By Lois Thomson, South Florida Hospital News, for ACHE of South Florida

Paul Hakimata is a problem solver. Hakimata currently works in Precision Care at the Molecular Genetic Pathology Lab at Memorial Regional Hospital South and is also a principal investigator for the Memorial Cancer Institute and Florida Atlantic University collaborative. As a specialist in molecular genomics, he explained, “What we do is very complex testing; we look at the DNA and RNA of patients, and we look at mutations and try to match targeted drugs to them.”

He said those in the lab try to determine what the mutations mean, and the information then goes into databases where the drugs are listed, and are matched with the particular drug – if one is available. “My role is to implement new tests, develop protocols to troubleshoot, and streamline the turnaround time.”

Hakimata pointed out that normal turnaround time is about 30 days, whereas most other lab tests are done in a day. “As a field we’re far behind, but simply because it’s very complex and the work flow itself is very difficult. I come up with strategies to streamline so the patients can actually get their medications faster. That’s something I took on myself, and it influences everything we do.”

Because he likes to problem solve, Hakimata enjoys this work and admitted, “I get bored very quickly if every day is the same thing, so I let my team focus on what they do best, and let all the problems come to me so I can enhance my team’s performance.”

His current work wasn’t Hakimata’s first choice. “I’ve been in this field for 25 years now, always in research, but right after my wife’s passing (nearly 10 years ago) I decided to move into the clinical world to see where I could help.”

While working in this new area, Hakimata decided to study for his MBA in 2019, because he wanted to move into leadership. “I saw there’s a need for leadership in this particular field, because this field is so different from everything else.”

An additional bonus while studying for his MBA came when he was auto-enrolled into becoming a member of ACHE, the American College of Healthcare Executives. He recalled that he went to one of the networking events, and one thing he noticed when comparing that event with others he had been to was, “It’s a very friendly group of people, everyone is open to talk with each other; you feel like you’re a part of family. That was unique to me, because I never experienced that anywhere.”

Hakimata also appreciates the opportunity to interact with others in all areas of leadership. He said you have a chance to talk with people from every area that touches healthcare, even those from other entities or departments, for example, those who provide valet parking. “People don’t even think about how valuable that is for patients. And there are the people who run insurance companies, or the electricity providers – they are involved in making sure hospitals run with all the electrical requirements.

“It’s very different from running a shoe store. There, if the power goes out, you close for the day, no one is truly affected. In healthcare that’s not possible, everything needs to keep going 24 hours a day. There are so many people involved in healthcare who are ancillary, so you get a really good picture of the complexity.” He said one of his goals with ACHE is to talk with people and better understand their work to help him develop understanding for how to navigate his own healthcare system.

Hakimata also said he would absolutely encourage others to join ACHE because he believes the education aspect is becoming more and more important. “People will join a networking group or professional entity to not only make connections, but also to understand what people do – to learn the particulars of everyone’s job and learn from them, and provide help. You need to give back.”