In 2001 Joe entered a leadership position with Monmouth Ocean Shores Hospital Service Corporation, more commonly known as MONOC, as the Clinical Coordinator for the paramedics. The responsibilities included clinical management over 100 paramedics and mobile intensive care nurses while ensuring all providers remained properly credentialed. As Clinical Coordinator, Joe was responsible for monthly clinical meetings with a panel of 13 physicians where case reviews occurred, and benchmarks to measure compliance was established to ensure the highest quality of care was being delivered. The delivery of high-quality care and achieving superior benchmarks were of significant importance to Joe which resulted in him becoming a paramedic educator for Ocean County College. He was quickly promoted from educator at the program to a leadership title of coordinator where he reshaped the program. Under the leadership of him, the program boasted a 100% success rate of all candidates who were endorsed to take the National Registry of EMT’s and Paramedics exam.

In 2004 Joe moved from clinical leadership to operational leadership and was tasked with reorganizing five individual companies into a unified organization. The process of reorganization opened numerous process improvement potentials which were achieved by leading a collaborative change process. The dissimilar management teams were brought together to discuss all processes each company used and to identify best practices from each company. The practice of streamlining all processes into a best practice model allowed for an appreciable management-labor hour savings which allowed managers to focus attention on other key projects. The identification of staffing versus demand mismatch was identified which was demonstrating a loss of revenue and delivery of sub-par service. Under Joe’s leadership, an extensive evaluation of historical demand was studied while also having an eye towards identifying anomalies. The staffing hours had been realigned to match demand which resulted in increased client services availability as well as a reduction in unit staffing hours which drove improved revenue recovery.

Operational performance was a key discipline under Joe’s leadership so that optimum performance would occur that drove fiscal responsibility. Collaborative teams were formulated that included operations, communications, clinical, fleet services, and finance so that all aspects of the organization were represented. Patient care records were identified as a performance inhibitor which resulted in the transition from paper charting to electronic medical record process. Key performance metrics were identified, and a daily tracking tool was developed that ensured accurate reporting. Weekly Joe hosted a collaborative meeting with all departments within the organization where all key metrics reported on, problematic issues that occurred, and process improvement strategies were developed. When areas of concern were identified a process change would be introduced with continued monitoring and reporting of the issue at the weekly meeting.

In 2005 Joe was recruited as a site reviewer for the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS). Ultimately Joe attained the title of Team Leader with CAAS and is responsible for the deployment and management of field site review teams. Since beginning with CAAS, he has completed over 100 site review inspections of the nation’s premier mobile health services and ensuring compliance with the standards of CAAS. CAAS has developed a standards revision committee that Joe is a participant of so that his expertise shapes the nation’s standards.

In 2013 Joe’s leadership team in his operational responsibilities was determined to have attained superior performance which allowed his focus to be shifted to the communications sector of the organization. The move to communications was predicated on his leadership capabilities and his strong technology background. The communication center was a secondary public safety answering point with two 911 trunk circuits managing a total of 12 911 lines. The communication center was configured with 15 stations which were upgraded to facilitate radio and phone communications. Operational resilience was the cornerstone of Joe’s leadership approach so that service will be unencumbered in the face of any natural or manmade disaster. The communication center hosted 18 emergency/administrative lines that were transitioned from POTS to VOIP to ensure operational continuity in and out of the building.

Management of numerous two-way radio systems was managed under Joe’s direction. The communication center maintained two VHF simplex systems, two UHF multicast systems, one UHF simulcast system, and one digital mobile radio UHF system. The communication center also maintained six additional local resource radio channels that utilized either a rooftop antenna or remote tie lines using RTNA circuits or IP circuits. The original desktop interface was a Ztron console that was upgraded successfully to a Telex interface offering greater redundancy and ease of use for the users. Redundancy was a crucial process required to maintain operational efficiency and all technology was improved to incorporate secondary processes. To provide high-quality service to the field staff and operational management radio channels were cross patched with a ROIP service to further increase operational resiliency.

Joe’s understanding of technology afforded great progress in the delivery of service, but his greatest passion was the training of staff which supported his belief that educated staff provides superior service. An education committee was formulated with the vision of markedly improving all communication specialists to the highest level. The education committee provided annual updates to polices based on operational input and entered into daily, monthly, and annual training. The ability to ensure operational resilience was tested weekly in both announced and unannounced drills where various components became compromised or the center’s structural integrity was compromised. The agency originally provided medical call screening using the state protocols until transitioning to the International Academy of Emergency Dispatchers (IAED) protocols. The educational processes that were put in place, along with real-time coaching and daily shift briefings allowed staff to flourish. The staff of the communications center endeavored to prove their commitment to excellence by pursuing, and ultimately earning the coveted title of Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) awarded to only top performers from the IAED.

In 2019 the Specialty Care Transport (SCT) division was placed under the leadership of Joe in addition to his responsibilities within the communications division and deployment management. Process improvements were put in place following surveys of SCT staff that identified equipment and training issues that were hampering division performance. The fleet of SCT vehicles was systematically evaluated for mechanical soundness and improvements were implemented for ease of caregiver equipment storage. Medications and products that expire were evaluated for the frequency of use and a process was developed to reduce the needless waste of items resulting in cost savings without impinging on care. Leadership and staff worked collaboratively to understand the under appreciated costs of operations and implemented cost-saving measures which were driven by staff leaders to save money. Flexible scheduling models were implemented which increased staffing satisfaction while also improving coverage against a fluctuating demand. Education of staff was again the cornerstone of Joe’s leadership approach which resulted in SCT staff rotating monthly to a university-level CVICU and an operating room for primary care responsibilities to ensure clinical proficiency.Name & Bio