We’re celebrating ASHE’s Healthcare Facilities and Engineering Week by spotlighting some of our own facilities and engineering heroes. We interviewed Leroy Barnett, an Implementation Project Manager who helps customers implement FSI’s CMMS to their hospitals and facilities. His team oversees the whole CMMS implementation project and is one of the first teams that our customers interact with when implementing FSI’s CMMS.
Learn more about what he loves most about his job, get some insight into what he does every day at FSI, and hear about his woodworking skills.
Tell us a little bit about your background.
Well, my name is Leroy Barnett. I’m an Implementation Project Manager here at FSI. Before FSI, I held a lot of jobs at OU Medicine. I was a general technician, a supervisor, a manager, then the CMMS manager. I have worked a lot with regulatory compliance. We actually started working with FSI after vetting seven or eight other systems. I liked the implementation process with FSI, and I got OU Medicine set up well. So I thought maybe there’s a place for me at FSI. And that's how I got here.
What is your current role at FSI?
Implementation Project Manager.
When people have gone through the sales process and decide to choose FSI, they get assigned an implementation project manager. We have a kickoff call, get a brief introduction to everybody. I explain to them the flow of the process from now until we get them up and live.
We have weekly calls. One of the things I'm best at, because I was once in their shoes, is putting them at ease. Getting them to where they're comfortable and keeping the process flow steady without feeling rushed. That's where I get with every customer I've ever worked with.
By that second-week call, we're on a first-name basis. The conversations become more casual and comfortable every week and not just strictly business. They understand I’ll help them with every part: how they can get the information, why that information is important, etc.
I’m always available for my customers.
What do you enjoy the most about your job?
Working with the customers, seeing the outcome of all the work that we did through the implementation process, and watching them use our CMMS. A lot of the people that get assigned as the CMMS manager at a hospital are office administrators or assistants that don’t always understand what everything does. Once we finish the implementation and finish training them, they have a better grasp of the CMMS and why it’s important. I love seeing that they know how to use the system after I'm done with them; it’s one of my favorite parts about the job.
I know it sounds corny, but even when I was at OU, the whole aspect of what we do is focused on patient safety. Everything that we do is all the infrastructure behind the scenes at the hospital, things that get done to make sure everybody's safe.
We make sure the generators are going to run properly, make sure all the airflow in the hospital is good, all of that stuff. It's basically all about patient safety.
I just enjoy what I do. I like working with people. I like knowing that my job keeps people safe. I am right where I want to be.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I'm just an ordinary guy. I don't skydive or anything like that. But my hobby is woodworking. I do it all for my family, nothing commercial.
Sometimes when I'm out there doing a project, like a new dresser and end tables for my granddaughter, I think about how similar it is to doing an implementation at FSI. You have to figure out what the needs are, for example, the materials, the steps that I build it in, what I need to build first in order to build the next part. It’s very similar.
Also, I'm PADI certified, and I've been on cave dives in Mexico. We went down almost 100 feet there. It was crazy.
What is your favorite movie?
Forrest Gump. I've watched that movie 100 times. Every time you watch it, you catch something different. It's funny; it’s sad. It's everything about life. And that's what my holding tenure at this company is. I really like the team effort. I try to get along with everyone; I have a lot of respect for everybody.
With the holiday season coming up, what is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Ham. I always look forward to the Thanksgiving ham. We do it on the smoker. There's nothing better than smoked ham and green bean salad, you know? My grandmother used to make the best green bean salad.
Do you have an example of a story you’d like to share about why you enjoy your job?
Right now, I really enjoy working with Children's National in Washington DC. They are a fantastic team. It's nice to go in there, look at their system, see what they're doing and how well it runs.
I take a lot of pride when I'm done with the implementation that I've got them set up. I’ve explained the whole process and made sure everything is functioning very well for them. There is a lot less stress on customer support when I'm done because I strive to make sure that all of my customers are comfortable and know how to use the systems.