Newly inducted Kiwanian LAMC CEO Tracie Stratton with her sponsor Kiwanian Morrie Pongratz. Courtesy/Kiwanis

New CEO at LAMC Tracie Stratton speaking at the Sept. 20 Kiwanis meeting. Courtesy/Kiwanis

By BROOKE DAVIS
Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos

Tracie Stratton, the new Chief Executive Officer of Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC), was the speaker at the Sept. 20 Kiwanis Club of Los Alamso meeting.

Stratton also was sworn in the same day, becoming the newest member of the Los Alamos Kiwanis Club.

Both Stratton, who is a nurse and her husband, a geotechnical engineer, were born and raised in Wyoming and lived there for many years. Although she thought highly of the state, she admitted that she got tired of the harsh winter weather. She was very happy for the opportunity to move to Los Alamos and said she loves her work here.

Her goal at LAMC is to improve the quality of health care by moving several initiatives forward. One of the key initiatives is recruiting staff. In 2021, 26 physicians were added and 31 more in 2022, coming in with a wide variety of skills. The hospital would like to recruit in the fields of obstetrics, radiology, telecardiology, and orthopedic surgery.

Stratton admitted that recruitment is a challenge. Attracting physicians to small towns is tough and even more so since the pandemic when many people left the field of medicine because of burnout from COVID demands.

LAMC did more than $1 million in capital improvements in 2021 and is continuing a program of upgrading equipment. Recent purchases have been a state-of-the-art mammography machine and a new radiology camera.

Stratton praised the hospital staff for their efforts in providing quality work to those in need every single day.