Maria Morales Menendez,
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Chief operating officer, Delray Medical Center, Palm Beach Health Network
Menendez oversees operations at Delray Medical Center, a 523-bed acute-care hospital with a Level 1 trauma center. She began her tenure at the organization as an associate resident before being promoted to associate administrator. She orchestrated several process improvement projects and developed the Market Throughput Team, which depends on a process called Grand TEMPO. Data pulled from each floor unit facilitates real-time evaluation and action by nurses, physicians, case managers and even ancillary staff. The process helped decrease length of stay by 15%.