For the September edition of Meet the Staff, we will be learning about Matt Staggs, Mobile Health’s new Flu Vaccination Event Coordinator. Matt is responsible for coordinating the flu vaccination programs on-site and at all six Mobile Health locations. Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Matt’s interest in the field of health care developed soon after beginning college.
Family members in the health care industry, and the sense of community that he encountered in Kansas City, (which he describes as a “big town or a small city”), were instrumental in his decision to attend the University of Missouri in Columbia and graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
After college, he gained several years of experience doing outpatient clinic work, cardiac step-down and care management. He has even taken his passion abroad, working with Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian-aid organization, embarking on emergency missions to places like Uganda and South Sudan to manage meningitis vaccination campaigns. He has also worked as a Nursing Supervisor in Armenia, helping to combat drug-resistant tuberculosis in hospitals, clinics and home treatment settings.
These experiences, Matt explains, helped him learn how to effectively coordinate mass vaccination campaigns, and gave him valuable insight into the logistics of managing a large project. Having worked with government officials, he understands the importance of details when it comes to the planning and execution of a complex program.
Apart from his work abroad, he has also worked as a care manager, coordinating health care and social services for patients transitioning from acute facilities to in-home settings. In this role Matt enjoyed the opportunity to travel within New York City, having the time to get to know individual patients, and becoming more familiar with coordinating various outpatient and inpatient services in the area.
Matt enjoys the mix of science and social service that a career in nursing involves. He is interested in the community-oriented nature of the work, and brings the perspective of a registered nurse to his endeavors in the health care field.
Aside from the health care industry, Matt used to repair cars as a hobby and owns a 1981 Yamaha motorcycle that he maintains and has taken on road trips to places like Chicago and Montreal, stopping along the way to go camping. Influenced by Kansas City culture, Matt appreciates good barbeque and, taking a cue from the music scene, he has picked up five instruments, the latest of which is a ¾-scale cello.
At Mobile Health, Matt hopes to implement systems and procedures that will facilitate the growth of the flu vaccine programs. He looks forward to providing Mobile Health, its clients, and the recipients of flu vaccines with excellent service and well-managed events.
