34  PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL
HEALTH CARE HEROES
Tammy Querrey builds excellence in
heart care based on her past as a nurse
BY JANET PEREZ
Contributing writer
T
ammy Querrey knew when she
was in high school she wanted to
be a nurse, and it was during her
training that she set her sights on exactly
what kind of nurse she would be.
The eldest girl in a family of five chil-
dren, Querrey often would help her
mother take care of younger siblings
when they were sick. But what solidi-
fied her future career choice was a hos-
pital visit to see her uncle.
“When I was a senior in high school, I
visited my uncle in the hospital who was
dying of cancer,” Querrey said. “Inspired
by the nurses who cared for him with
such love and compassion, I knew I
wanted to do the same for others.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree in
nursing from Lewis University, Querrey
spent 19 years in a clinical setting. Her
favorite role was in a hospital critical care
recovery unit for patients with complex
cardiovascular conditions.
“My first job in the hospital setting
was cross-training for a nurse’s assis-
tant, unit secretary and a telemetry tech-
nician on a cardiac step-down unit,” she
said. “I was fascinated in the way each
patient recovered from open heart sur-
gery, and I felt a passion to help ease their
level of anxiety and fear and essentially
help them get through it.”
Her interest in the cardiovascular
Am
er
ica
n
Ci
ty
Bu
s
ine
WINNER: NON-PHYSICIAN
ss
Jo
ur
na
side grew from there, and she was hired
in the cardiac intensive care unit after
graduating.
In 2014, she earned her acute-care
nurse practitioner designation and later
joined Phoenix-based Abrazo Communi-
ty Health Network as transcatheter aortic
valve replacement program coordinator
at the Arrowhead Campus. Seeing a com-
munity need for the procedure, Querrey
R R CLOSE-UP
Title: Director
Organization: Centers of Excellence/
Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital
What makes a hero? A hero is someone
who is courageous, kind-hearted,
humble, and determined to advocate for
a noble cause with perseverance and a
strong will, which overcomes barriers or
defeat.
Who do you admire in health care?
Our extraordinary team of nurses and
physicians who show their caring
compassion and dedication every day to
our patients and families.
Who was your mentor? I’ve had many
mentors throughout my career who
deserve special recognition. The first
being my mother, Karen Marks, who
is the most loving person I know. The
second being one of my first clinical
instructors, Dawn Zibricky, who
provided a strong ethical foundation
in nursing. Additionally, my other
mentors included many physician and
nurse practitioner preceptors who
JIM POULIN | PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL
ls
-
launched the hospital’s structural heart gram to ensure a smooth transition for
No
program with a goal of 30 TAVR proce- patients from the hospital to home, and
dures in 2015. The hospital performed 78 led a change in Abrazo’s internal culture,
tf
TAVR surgeries that year. Querrey was where every decision is made with the
or
asked to duplicate those efforts at Abra- best interest of patients in mind.
zo Arizona Heart Hospital in 2016. “I feel blessed to work with an
c
In fewer than three years, Querrey amazing team of medical profession-
om
helped bring minimally invasive alter- als who share the vision of delivering
natives to open-heart surgery to the compassionate care to our patients,”
m
hospitals, created a nurse navigator pro- Querrey said.
er
In her position, she keeps apprised of
cia
all innovative heart therapies. She is also
a sub-investigator of clinical trials, giving
lu
dedicated their time and shared their her the opportunity to be on the cutting
expertise while I was becoming a nurse edge of new technology.
se
practitioner. Dr. Michael Caskey, Dr.
Timothy Byrne and Dr. Rick Kirshner are
Querrey said she believes being a
my most recent mentors who provided nurse helped in her administrative role.
guidance and support with building “My background as a nurse and
the structural heart program and
nurse practitioner has given me a great-
introducing innovative transcatheter er insight into the needs and preferenc-
heart therapies to Abrazo.
es of our patients and families when I
What’s the most rewarding thing
address program development, quality
of working in health care? The
opportunity to compassionately serve improvement, patient safety and educa-
our patients and families every day with tion,” she said.
the intention to improve their quality
Through her administrative role,
of life and truly make a significant
Querrey educates caregivers from across
difference in their hospital experience.
the country and globally in how to estab-
Favorite way of giving back: Volunteer lish a structural heart program.
time on medical missions in other
countries to help increase awareness of
“I’ve had the opportunity to serve on
cardiovascular disease prevention and medical missions in Brazil and India,
education and provide medical attention both of which helped me realize human-
to the underserved in order to build a
itarianism,” she said.
sustainable health care model. For Querrey, the people who save and
Three things always in your medicine serve patients are the real heroes.
cabinet: Baby aspirin, thermometer and
a bottle of Tums.