No matter the tasks before her or the titles she has held, Holly Ramsdell says the success she has enjoyed during a three-decade career at the medical school can be attributed to her desire – her mission – to brighten the day for her co-workers, her friends, her family, anyone she meets.
“I really enjoy being around people and that is a large part of my life,” said Ramsdell, WMed’s Director of Community Affairs. “It is a given that I feel better if I smile and, maybe, make someone’s day a little better. A smile, a hello, why not?”
Ramsdell said her positive attitude and zest for life are sustaining her as she battles – and receives treatment for – an aggressive form of bladder cancer that has resulted in her taking medical leave from her duties at the medical school.
The health difficulties prevented Ramsdell from attending the medical school’s annual Service Awards Luncheon in May during which she was honored for her 30 years of service to WMed. However, Ramsdell’s absence did not go unnoticed by WMed’s founding dean, Dr. Hal B. Jenson, and other medical school leaders who visited with Ramsdell at her home and presented her with her service award.
“The strength of the medical school is, after all, in the people who are here — such as Holly," Dr. Jenson said. "Her expertise and devotion to the medical school makes it rewarding for the rest of us to collaborate with her. Her personality and attitude makes it fun to work with her.”
“WMed has been really good to me,” Ramsdell said. “It really touched my heart that they came to the house to present my award. I had really been looking forward to that 30-year mark and I was so disappointed that I wasn’t able to be at the luncheon so it really, really meant a lot to me that they would do that. I’ll never forget it.”
During her time at WMed, Ramsdell said she has been amazed by the growth she has witnessed since her first day on the job in September 1988. At that time, she was manager of Physician Billing for the Family Practice residency program at the Southwest Michigan Health Education Center (SMAHEC), a predecessor to the medical school.
In that role, Ramsdell took part in opening the Midtown Medical Center and the eventual transition from SMAHEC to the Michigan State University Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies (MSU/KCMS). She also assisted in making the clinics operation one of the first to institute electronic billing.
In 1994, Ramsdell became the assistant clinics administrator for MSU/KCMS and worked to manage all aspects of bringing together several residency programs that were a part of the institution’s overall growth. Later, she became the clinics administrator and oversaw all clinic operations at the medical school’s Oakland Drive Campus. She also was a part of a team that worked to ensure the clinics became accredited by the Joint Commission in 2004.
When the accreditation process was completed, Ramsdell became Director of Business Operations for the clinics and continued overseeing Joint Commission accreditation and managing the back-end clinical business operations of billing, managed care and phone staff. She also worked closely with Tom Zavitz, chief financial officer at MSU/KCMS and, later, the medical school's former associate dean for Administration and Finance, on development of contracts with insurance companies and optimizing clinical revenue.
In 2014, after the medical school’s W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus opened in downtown Kalamazoo, Ramsdell moved into a new office and a new role as Director of Community Affairs. Since then, she has worked with Dr. Cheryl Dickson, WMed’s associate dean for Health Equity and Community Affairs, on several initiatives, including Active Citizenship, a 17-month rotation for first- and second-year students at WMed that exposes them to community service and enhances their understanding of the the social determinants of health.
She has worked with Dr. Dickson to birth the Early Introduction to Health Careers (EIH) pipeline programs at WMed. Ramsdell has been a member of various committees charged with organizing health equity conferences for physicians and other health professionals, among other duties. She also is working with WMed's Office of Development to develop the medical school's alumni program.
“It’s been fascinating and fun to watch the medical school grow, to be a part of something that has benefited so many students and residents, and the community,” Ramsdell said.
Her cancer diagnosis marks Ramsdell’s third bout with the disease in her lifetime. She admits this time around “is the most scared I’ve ever been” but she remains steadfast in her determination to beat cancer, to keep living and return to a job at the medical school that she loves.
“I’m thankful for what I have and thankful for my career at WMed,” Ramsdell said. “I would say that you have to treasure every day that you have, and you have to live for today. My goal is to come back to WMed but I can’t think too far ahead.
“What keeps me going is the fact that I have learned that you can’t look back and you can’t look too far into the future,” she added. “You have to be thankful for the moment you’re in.”