Building the Team

Cecil Cutting Leadership Award honoree Dr. Amy Gillis takes her greatest workplace pleasure in leading a talented team.

By Lynn Mundell

At Cornell University, Amy Gillis, MD, studied mechanical engineering, eventually landing a job as a research engineer in a New York City orthopedic hospital.

“I found myself drawn to the patient care aspect of my work,” Dr. Gillis said, explaining why she next chose medical school at Harvard University over an engineering PhD.

“I discovered that I liked the physics and engineering aspect of the medicine, and while I almost went into orthopedics, I have found in radiation oncology that I can spend time with and educate my patients about a diagnosis, then follow them long-term.”

After a residency at U.C., San Francisco, Dr. Gillis was recruited in 2008 by Joseph Song, MD, as assistant chief of the new Radiation Oncology Department at KP South San Francisco.

From growing up on a rural New York state farm to her current demanding role as chief of a KP department providing specialty care to members regionwide, Dr. Gillis has traveled very far, very quickly.

Now she has added another accomplishment: Dr. Gillis is the first of several Cecil Cutting Leadership Award recipients this year.

Asked what her next professional move is, though, she references her team of 50 and the patients they care for.

“Our philosophy is to focus on the team but to value every member’s opinion. We each have different ideas and backgrounds; we need to make sure we listen to one another, folding in the good ideas but also offering consistency in our practice and patient care.”

Engineering Patient-centric Care

When Dr. Gillis was recruited, the young physician was also an engineer who saw the opportunity to “build the program and build the vision from the ground up,” interviewing each new hire.

“I have always enjoyed the people the most—whether it is the patients we care for or the staff members who are impacting the patient care,” she added. “The goal is to provide a warm and personable patient care experience. I really like to share that simple vision with other members of our department, and then see that come to life.”

“Technically speaking,” Dr. Gillis said her current role is 80 percent clinical work—her specialty is stereotactic radiosurgery, which focuses high doses of radiation on small areas of the body—and 20 percent administrative. But like most leaders, she is putting in additional time as a leader.

“In order to give the best patient care, it is not only about what I do as a physician but about what our team does. My greatest reward at work is when team members get letters from patients commending them for their care.”

Dr. Gillis said she likes how science such as physics fit into the work, as well as the way that “continuous technology keeps us on our toes at all times.”

She also enjoys her down time. She and her husband have two small children and are expecting a third, yet they’ve never lost their love of travel. (It’s just moderated a bit, supplemented with quieter activities such as walking their dog and cooking together.)

Dr. Gillis said her greatest challenge at Kaiser Permanente was at the beginning of her department’s launch, when they opened their doors to a full roster of patients. “Each team member had to know his or her role while providing the safest, best care and experience.”

She and Marcy Kaufman, the department administrator, have supported that by their “stop the line” policy, in which everyone in the department is authorized to intercede to protect a patient’s safety.

Dr. Gillis said the key to the department’s success has been—and she thinks always will be—communicating.

“That’s how you maintain the positive energy and momentum, and encourage people to hold to the same high standards while continuing to improve.”

“Dr. Gillis has assembled an outstanding team,” said John Skerry, MD, KP South San Francisco physician in chief. “Together, they have built Radiation Oncology into a regional service that’s a shining star for our medical center.”