By K. Richard Douglas
For many who have entered the HTM profession, there was initially an interest in health care, but a reluctance to pursue the clinician path. Not everyone is cut out to deal with some of the aspects of patient care.
That was the case with Charles Woolfolk, HTM manager in the Baylor Scott and White (BSW) Healthcare Technology Management Department in Temple, Texas.
“I think I always gravitated to the health care field but knew right away that I wasn’t interested in direct patient care. My wife had a client that told her about the HTM field and I was immediately interested in the opportunity to get started right away,” Woolfolk recalls.
Woolfolk enrolled in the HTM biomed/imaging program at Texas State Technical College (TSTC) in Waco, Texas. He says that he was a little late to register and Debbie Tharp at TSTC got him into the program about a week before the semester started.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but was happy to realize the curriculum and approach fit my learning style. I would say after my first semester, I became even more excited about the opportunity to make this my career. Once I started the position, it was eye-opening to see the great amount of focus required by HTM to maintain safe medical equipment,” he says.
The biomed program at TSTC suited Woolfolk perfectly and it allowed him to move on to a major health care employer.
“The small classes and hands-on learning approach was great for me. I feel like I was able to graduate from the program with a good understanding of what to expect going into the field. I did my internship at Baylor Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, and eventually finished my internship in dialysis where I was offered a position. Today we facilitate multiple internships per semester, and many interns have joined our team after graduation. Once I started in my position, I went to Fresenius Level I and Level II training,” he says.
Since entering the profession, Woolfolk has worked as a BMET I, BMET II and HTM Manager I. He has been in his current position for the past three years. His area of specialty is dialysis.
“I started in dialysis and currently manage the team covering our central Texas clinics and in-patient units. Every day presents a new challenge in dialysis and it keeps me learning daily,” he says.
Woolfolk also manages the biomed teams at BSW McLane Children’s Hospital and BSW Waco Hillcrest hospitals, including the Waco area clinics and Temple region clinics.
Family and Team Focus
Challenges and special projects are a part of HTM. As both a manager and along with his team, the challenges have been addressed and projects completed.
“COVID-19 provided a unique challenge in the form of surge equipment. We worked a call rotation with other managers to stage surge ventilators for transport to needing hospitals within our system,” Woolfolk says.
He says that another responsibility was providing design input and regulatory guidance for a new in-patient dialysis water system. He says that his team successfully moved it to a brand-new suite with brand new equipment in August of 2022.
More recent projects have included configuring and inventorying approximately 700 infusion pumps and syringe pumps for various projects within the system and multiple patient monitoring projects implemented in the past two years at Children’s Hospital and Waco Hillcrest
“Nurse Call transition at Waco Hillcrest was house wide. It provided challenges to our biomed team during the transition which they met head on while supporting the transition,” Woolfolk says.
Off the job, Woolfolk enjoys spending time with his family and being outdoors.
“Fishing is a favorite hobby, and I like taking trips to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota for a week of fishing and camping, and cooler weather. I love all sports and enjoy cheering for the Duke Blue Devils with my family. I like to play golf when I get a chance, and my sons are taking an interest lately which gives me a great excuse with my wife,” he jokes.
Woolfolk puts his focus on his family and his team on the job.
“I am lucky enough to be married 15 years to the best wife and mother to our three kids; son (14), son (10) and daughter (3),” he says.
He says that his family is the most important part of his life. He also recognizes the important aspects of his work.
“I am a person that tries to enjoy everything I am doing, including tackling challenging issues/problems and working to improve processes for my team and myself. I enjoy my job because of the sense of fulfillment I get knowing my team always puts patient safety first. If patient safety is the true focus of the team, everything falls into place after that. I try to be as helpful as possible because people remember that and are willing to reciprocate,” Woolfolk says.
Temple, Texas is better for having this dedicated HTM professional on the job and as a member of the community.
BIOMETRICS
Favorite book:
“Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy
Favorite movie:
“Road to Perdition”
Hidden talent:
I play guitar.
Favorite food:
Crawfish Etouffee
What’s on my bench?
I always have multi-driver, channel locks, Teflon tape, Sharpie and tape measure. That usually gets me through the day in the dialysis world.
Favorite part of being a biomed?
My favorite part of being a biomed is the opportunities to have a direct impact on safe and effective patient care, as well as the responsibility of calmly resolving urgent issues for the facility and clinical staff.
