Assistant Director for Strategic Planning at UK HealthCare
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Photo by Mick Jeffries
Melody Flowers’ goals have never lacked ambition. In high school, if you asked her what she wanted to do with her life, she would have told you of her dreams to become an Olympic softball player. While Flowers’ plans have been altered considerably over time, she has never lost the desire to always reach for the top.
Upon graduating from the University of Kentucky, while a lot of other young people were still trying to decide what to do with their lives, Flowers became a Truman Scholar at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she worked on how to make public transportation work and support economic development in more rural areas.
“I am a generalist,” said Flowers, a native of Huntington, W.V. “My philosophy has always been that I want to work on and solve the most important and challenging issues facing our community so that I can make our city the best possible place to live and raise our family.”
After her stint with the Department of Transportation, Flowers spent time working for both local and national nonprofit organizations in Washington, D.C., and Boston, addressing the environment, smart growth, economic development, affordable housing and transportation.
“At every organization, I always felt that we could be doing more with the resources we had if we were just better organized and had the tools we needed to make better decisions,” said Flowers. “I see my [current] job as helping organizations better achieve their missions through better management.”
Upon earning her master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University, Flowers transitioned to the higher education field, where she led strategic and financial-planning efforts at the Ivy League school.
“Graduate school at Harvard was amazing,” said Flowers. “Not only were my professors these brilliant, world-class thinkers and leaders, but I also learned a tremendous amount from my classmates.
“I loved being the Kentucky girl at Harvard,” she continued. “We would host bourbon tastings and Derby parties, and sort of act like a cultural ambassador. My absolute favorite moment may have been when, after losing to us in a debate, a male classmate from New Jersey approached me and another female classmate from Virginia and said, ‘Ladies, I will never again underestimate a pretty girl with a Southern accent.’”
Considering her education and work history, it’s clear that Flowers loves a good challenge. Luckily, in her position, she can help find solutions to some of the issues plaguing the health care industry.
“We’ve got to figure out how to deliver the right care, in the right place, at the right time,” Flowers explained.
To accomplish that goal, she said, education, prevention and screening efforts must reach the public early; chronic illnesses should be better managed so people can have an improved quality of life; state-of-the-art, acute care must be provided for people when they need it; and services such as rehabilitation and therapy on the post-acute side should be better coordinated so people can quickly transition back into their daily lives.
“By keeping the patients and their needs at the center of these efforts, we can create a health-care system that provides better care at a lower cost,” she said.