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

Michelle Marsh has been a member of The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) for many years, joining as a student while studying at Penn State for a B.S. in Health Policy and Administration. Her student member involvement continued into her graduate program at George Washington University, where she received a Master of Health Services Administration. There, she met a group of student colleagues and friends that were involved with ACHE and one of them had taken a healthcare career path to South Florida.

As Marsh weathered the cold winter months in the northeast, she was convinced that Florida sounded like a perfect plan to start her professional career. Marsh recalled, “My husband and I were newlyweds and decided to take a leap and leave our hometown area and move down to South Florida. Being a student member of ACHE gave me the connection and segue to land a great job in healthcare.” She initially worked for Broward Health as an analyst in the Strategic Planning Department, where her director was the president of an affiliated organization of ACHE known as the South Florida Healthcare Executive Forum (SFHEF). That was 26 years ago.

Marsh, who has worked mainly in hospital and healthcare system strategic planning for more than 25 years, said, “Throughout my experience working in healthcare systems, such as Broward Health and HCA, I have gained a diverse knowledge base in the development of hospital strategic and business growth plans, physician business development, and strategic marketing, while managing the ever-changing healthcare landscape.”

After doing that type of work for different companies, Marsh decided to step out on her own. She started her own consulting company, Forma Advisors – doing the same type of work she had been doing in-house, but taking it out-of-house. She acknowledged that being a long-standing member of ACHE “really opened doors from networking, attending events, making connections, and participating in educational programs regularly.”

As founder and president of Forma Advisors, she supports organizations and companies throughout the nation – whether healthcare related, for profit, not-for-profit, foundations, hospitals, systems, healthcare developers, senior care companies – creating the best strategies to build their business growth models in the market. “It all comes back to strategic planning. It simply is defined into three core areas: where are we now, where do we want to be, and how do we get there. Those are the three basic questions, and they provide the fundamentals of overall strategic planning for anyone.”

Owning her company has provided a deeper understanding of ultimate responsibility. “When you’re on your own, you not only need to have a comfort level in your skillsets, but you also need to amp up connections, network, create new relationships, manage current relationships, all while running your own business,” Marsh stated.

Marsh became a board member of SFHEF in 1999 and has been on the board of directors for 26 years since then in various capacities. (SFHEF became the official South Florida Chapter of ACHE about a decade ago.) She currently Chairs the Networking Committee and “makes sure ACHE of SFL provides meaningful opportunities for all members to connect and network at various venues and locations throughout South Florida.” The events run the gamut from a typical happy hour with a speed networking component, to bowling or to a Florida Panthers game.

“These events are where professionals, students, members, and guests can feel relaxed and have an opportunity to talk to a board member or an executive or a colleague, without pressure. It’s a chance to meet people they wouldn’t have typically during work.” Marsh said she likes to come up with unique ideas to make things fun and a little different.

She continued by saying she always promotes the organization to students, undergrads/grads, full-time students or part-time students. “It’s extremely helpful for networking, growing your career, or even just knowledge. I made some great connections, and to this day I attribute some of my growth and my career path to being a member, a board member, and being involved.”

For more information about Forma Advisors or to contact Michelle Marsh, visit www.formaadvisors.com or email michelle@formaadvisors.com.