Mee Memorial hires new quality and population health manager

For Cassandra “Cassie” Russo, the new Manager of Quality and Population Health at Mee Memorial Healthcare System, her work goals are all about efficiency and quality care for her patients.

Russo started in January.

“It feels a bit like coming back,” she says, referring not only to her first stint at Mee Memorial from 2014-15 as a labor and delivery nurse, but also coming back to King City. “King City is my hometown, I grew up here, went so school here.”

After obtaining an associate’s degree in nursing from Monterey Peninsula College in 2013, Russo spent the first 12 years of her career (besides the one year at Mee) mostly in small rural health clinics in South Monterey County, including Eden Valley Care Center in Soledad and Soledad Medical Clinic, the last five years there as Director of Clinical Operations before coming to Mee Memorial.

She admits going from small rural clinics with a small staff to a larger regional hospital was quite an adjustment for her, but not for the reasons one might think.

“I do think it’s different, I wish we had the resources they have here at Mee Memorial, such as case management, social workers, etc. There’s an incredible team here,” she says. “I’m still doing a similar role, but now I can focus on quality of care, which allows me to connect more with people, I’m more connected to patient care.”

The Manager of Quality and Population Health position is a newly created position at Mee Memorial, and Russo is its first manager and is just getting her feet wet, but she’s absolutely clear about her objectives for the department.

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