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Department Spotlight: Renown Transfer and Operations Center

By: Alana Ridge

July 20, 2023

Stepping into the Renown Transfer and Operations Center (RTOC) means stepping into a transformative hub of excellence where lives are saved and healthcare is reimagined. As a cornerstone of Renown Health's commitment to exceptional patient care, the RTOC serves as a dynamic nerve center that seamlessly coordinates medical resources, ambulance rides, hospital bed space, remote home systems, hospital transfers and emergency preparedness. In this best-in-class facility, the boundaries of what is possible in healthcare are constantly pushed, and new horizons of patient care are discovered.  

Staffed with a dedicated team of skilled professionals, the RTOC harnesses the power of advanced technology and compassionate expertise to ensure that patients receive the highest level of care and support, no matter where they are. Through a synchronized network of communication, coordination, and compassionate care, the RTOC team ensures that patients receive the critical support they need when it matters most, working tirelessly to redefine what it means to deliver world-class healthcare.  

A National Standard 

Charged with the goal of overseeing the placement and transportation for every patient, the RTOC officially launched in 2021 as northern Nevada’s first and only transfer center of its kind and a nationally celebrated facility. As Renown’s highly coordinated care logistics system, this team uses the cutting-edge technology at their fingertips to customize healthcare to the needs of every patient, manage patient flow and drive healthcare innovation. 

“Compared to where we’ve started to where we are now, it’s a 180-degree difference,” said Kelli McDonnell, Manager of RTOC. “When we first started building our facility right before the pandemic happened, we took what was six conference rooms and classrooms and turned it into a command center that organizations across the country admire and come to Reno to see what we do. Mel Morris, the Director of RTOC, was recruited exclusively to build our facility with her history of building successful hospital command centers. Many people didn’t realize what a transfer center was or that Renown was the only center in the region – and we only continue to grow.” 

This best-in-class facility, and the masterful team behind it, handles: 

• Coordinating all incoming patients transferred from neighboring hospitals and 27 counties across northern Nevada, Lake Tahoe, northeast California and neighboring states.
• Matching patients to the most appropriate bed placement using diagnostic, triage and Epic electronic medical record clinical information in conjunction with medical staff expertise to outline a plan of care that determines the best bed assignment given the patient’s needs. 
• Coordinating video-enabled Telehealth monitoring capabilities for Renown’s four Intensive Care Units (ICUs), as well as Renown patient Telehealth and virtual visits.
• Monitoring Remote Home systems with Masimo during the COVID-19 pandemic, where some patients received hospital-level care in the comfort of their own homes while Renown clinicians monitored and evaluated their data and plan of care. 
• Serving emergency and disaster management for area hospitals, first-responders and the community with local, regional and statewide emergency and disaster management for sudden-onset emergencies. 

The RTOC is home to many different critical roles for our health system, including Transfer Center Nurses, Ride Line Coordinators, RTOC Coordinators and more, many duties of which each team member cross-trains on to be able to fill in whenever needed. While their roles may differ, their commitment to their patients remains the same – and they all work together to achieve the same outcome: delivering the right care, at the right time and place. 

“As an RTOC Coordinator, we do a variety of different things,” said Anna Schaffer, RTOC Coordinator. “We do triage coordination to help our nurses and hospitalists get patients in the emergency department admitted, and we also do bed control to find patients appropriate bed placement. Communication is important, so we always make sure to stay closely connected with the charge nurses on those floors.” 

“We start with a basic ‘need to know’ and place patients accordingly,” added Karly Brown, RTOC Coordinator. “We get surgery numbers, ICU capacity and discharges and find beds for all patients as quickly as possible. We have the advantage of being able to see the entire hospital.” 

“I primarily schedule transportation for patients at the hospital who are either going home or going to a skilled nursing facility,” said Sarah Clark, Ride Line Coordinator. “I get requests from case managers to schedule rides, and I work with REMSA and other ambulance services to schedule them. It relies a lot on appropriate and efficient communication and critical thinking.” 

Patients in facilities across northern Nevada and northeastern California, especially the rural communities, look to the RTOC to help guide ambulances, bed coordinators and hospital staff in finding care for our rural patients. 

“As a transfer center nurse, I facilitate incoming patients from rural facilities in Nevada and surrounding areas in California,” added Meg Myles, Transfer Center Nurse Specialist. “There are days we may take up to 30 direct admissions from these areas.” 

“We are the point of contact for inter-facility transfers, whether we are sending patients out or bringing them into Renown,” said Lisa Lac, Transfer Center Nurse Specialist. “We take phone calls from those rural areas, identify what services are needed, connect them to the appropriate provider and coordinate any transfers.” 

“Simply put, we are the bed wizards,” said Addison Rittenhouse, RTOC Coordinator. 

The RTOC team continues to break barriers and push the boundaries of medical excellence through leveraging the technology at their fingertips and their unwavering dedication to the health of our community. Inspiring a new era of medical possibilities, these team members have achieved a multitude of accomplishments for both their department and their patients since the birth of the center. 

“We have significantly reduced the time it takes to get patient admit orders in, thanks in part to the new Triage Coordinator role, and we provide easier access for patients to transfer to us from other facilities,” said Beth Rios, RTOC Coordinator. “We have taken a bigger role in helping the smaller hospitals in our area in caring for patients and improve patient throughput.” 

“As a team, we’ve done a lot of work in creating an engaging and positive environment, and our internal morale committee has been a huge help with that,” said Kelli McDonnell. “We’ve been working tremendously over the last year and taking all the feedback that we received from the Employee Engagement Survey to make improvements. We had 100 percent survey participation within five days, which is incredible.” 

“I am so proud of our escalation and problem-solving skills,” said Becca Dietrich, RTOC Coordinator. “When an issue is raised to us, we will always find a timely solution on our end so our care teams can focus on the issue in front of them. We are the eyes in the sky, seeing movement everywhere.” 

Each day in the life of our RTOC team members is a testament to their commitment, resilience and timework, making a profound impact on countless lives. 

"Let’s Figure This Out Together” 

Leading the charge on behalf of Renown’s Cultural Commitments of Caring and Collaboration, the RTOC team’s level of compassion knows no bounds. There’s a reason why this team continually achieves some of the highest marks on Renown’s annual employee survey – they never leave any coworker or patient out to dry. 

“We are here to assist and make sure all patients get the care they need at the level they need,” said Meg Myles. “The patient will always be our priority. Our constant collaboration and ability to evaluate processes and give input for changes needed, both in transfers and bed placement, is something I am most proud of.” 

“We help reduce each patient’s anxieties and fears by ensuring there aren’t any excessive delays and that the transfer process is as smooth as possible,” added Sarah Clark. “This causes a positive domino effect. On the team side of things, since this line of work can be high-paced, we always try to bring fun into the office, such as potlucks and contests. We make a real effort to keep morale high.” 

“I love how everyone here works as a team, like a bunch of different gears in a machine,” added Anna Schaffer. “Everybody loves to work together and help each other; we mesh very well. When I started here, I was so nervous, but I quickly realized that no one lets you down here. Everyone is willing to jump in and say, ‘let’s figure this out together.’” 

Anna emulates that commitment especially well. She recalls a story during one of her recent shifts that proved that she, along with her counterparts at the hospital, were always willing to jump into action and help with every patient’s situation, no matter how unique. 

“A couple days ago, I was reached out to by one of the ER nurses who said, ‘I have a patient here who is very nervous, and she doesn’t speak any English; can we get her a private room so her son can be with her and she can be more calm?’” said Anna. “We were able to work with the floor nurse and find this patient a private room, so she was more comfortable and did not have to be around a ton of people, especially because she was so nervous. It was nice to be able to help them out.” 

Recognizing that the most significant advancements in healthcare are achieved through a collective effort, these team members seamlessly integrate their knowledge and skills to continually deliver innovative care. They embrace a culture of shared expertise, cross-training whenever possible and celebrating all new ideas. 

The spirit of RTOC allows each team member to tackle complex medical challenges with agility and efficiency for the future of every patient. 

“We are the national standard of command centers across the U.S., and I attribute that success to our team and technology,” said Kelli McDonnell. 

Now Hiring: People Like You 

If you are a skilled healthcare worker ready to leave the bedside and help connect the dots between transport, triage and discharge, then you’re in luck – the RTOC is hiring people just like you!  

Most of the RTOC department comes from another role in the healthcare environment where they had to practice compassionate care every day. From the inpatient hospital environment to the military, each team member brings a unique set of experiences to help patients receive access to the care they need. 

“I was in the Air Force, and I did air traffic control work and worked in command centers,” said Kelli McDonnell. “Joining this team was the perfect meld between my nursing experience and the work I did in the military, so I get to combine the two roles into one. There is so much that I have learned as a team member and a manager.” 

“I was an urgent care and primary care medical assistant before coming to RTOC,” added Anna Schaffer. “I’ve been in the outpatient environment for the majority of my career, and I wanted to try something different – so here I am!” 

“My entire career at Renown prior to the transfer center was in the general surgery unit for 38 years,” added Meg Myles. “While I decided to start scaling back due to aging and COVID, I still wanted to contribute to patient care, hence the RTOC.” 

Besides being expert collaborators and team players, this department boasts a staff full of skilled communicators, quick thinkers and technology whizzes. According to the team, these are the top attributes that make a great coworker in the RTOC. 

“Having an understanding that we are a team is key,” said Karly Brown. “Bringing good communication skills, thinking outside the box and the ability to quickly adapt to new things as new situations come up will help someone be successful in our department.” 

“Taking tasks ‘on the fly’ and being able to expect the unexpected is crucial, because you never know what kind of calls you are going to get,” said Lisa Lac. “We are always ready to bridge the gaps for those who have reduced access to healthcare.” 

“As a manager of this department, as with any healthcare team, I am not only looking for good teamwork skills but also excellent communication skills, which is one of the core functions of what makes the RTOC work,” added Kelli McDonnell. “Customer service skills are extremely important, as we are constantly working with our internal counterparts – nurses and providers – and the community hospitals. Being that ear and that resource that the community needs. Additionally, since we are heavily reliant on computers, phones and different applications, you must be able to navigate technology.” 

As stated by Becca Dietrich, finding the balance between that constant communication and anticipating both your colleagues’ and patients’ needs is a unique skill that every team member in the RTOC employs. And according to Addison Rittenhouse, this requires a “good attention span” for each job. 

"We have a lot of energy, and we love people who communicate, enjoy working together and have a passion for helping patients, even if it’s indirectly,” said Anna Schaffer. 

“It's also important you don’t forget to ask for help whenever you need it,” added Beth Rios.  

As the RTOC welcomes fresh talent into their dynamic team, they continue to ensure that their collective impact on patient care continues to transform, redefining excellence in healthcare each and every day. 

“I’ve loved all my time with RTOC; it truly is a family on this unit,” closes Karly Brown.