Karyn Baum

Background

About Karyn Baum

My passion is change! I have worked in education, quality improvement, transformational change, and healthcare administration for over 15 years. I am currently the inaugural Chief Transformation Officer for Essentia Health, which provides care in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I'm also an Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, teaching in the Executive MHA program. I have had a variety of leadership roles in healthcare, from serving as Interim CMO at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Associate CMO, and at the system level as Vice President of System Clinical Operations at Fairview Health Services. I led the development of the Minnesota Critical Care Coordination Center (C4), the statewide patient placement and level-loading process launched in response to COVID. As an educator, I led the development of an interprofessional teamwork course for students from six health professions at the University of Minnesota. I also served as the Director of the University of Minnesota TeamSTEPPS Training Resource Center, an AHRQ-funded site which trains clinical staff in an evidence-based teamwork curriculum designed to improve patient safety for over a decade. I've been fortunate to travel throughout the United States and internationally including Japan, Iceland, and China to speak and train others in this critical area of patient safety. I've led many quality improvement projects as the Medical Director of the Medical/Surgical unit, the Medical Director of Utilization Review, and the Executive Medical Director of Care Transitions and Patient Flow.