5 minutes with Cindy Christensen

Cindy Christensen is the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. She first joined the hospital in 1981 as a pediatric nurse. In 1983, she took a year off to work at a refugee camp in Thailand. Upon her return, she worked as an emergency room nurse at Children's Hospital for two years and then attended law school at the University of Wisconsin.

Christensen remembers telling her co-workers at that time, "I want to come back and be our first in-house lawyer." Her wish came true in 1990 when she was hired as the hospital's first in-house legal counsel. She was promoted to her current position in 2001.

You have been instrumental in helping Children's Hospital plan for the new west tower expansion. What does it mean to see the organization grow to new levels?

It has been great to see the tremendous growth of this organization over the
past 27 years.

I worked as a nurse at the old Children's Hospital when it was downtown.
Miracles happened there every day, but they happened in spite of the facility.
The downtown facility didn't allow for an environment that made work easy. When you have a nicer facility, like our current one, you can offer better care along with comfort and privacy for patients. That makes a big difference for families.

When the new tower opens, it will become that much nicer. We'll have 294 private rooms, which will be the biggest enhancement to the services that we have. That matters to our families and our staff.

How has the health care profession changed over the years? How has the health
care profession changed you?

The health care profession is much more complicated than it was before. Two of the biggest changes are the complexity of what we do, and in the face of that complexity, the need for really tight partnerships between hospitals and physicians.

Coming back to Children's Hospital made me really appreciate what everybody else does. When I was a lawyer working in private practice, I made decisions and then I lived with those decisions, one way or the other. Here, I realized how many other people a decision impacts and learned it's a good idea to get input before you make
those decisions.

What career advice would you share with someone entering the health care profession today?

The first bit of advice would hold true for any new person entering the field. If you haven't had a clinical background, get to know your "product." Your product is very personal and intimate – providing care for children.

Spend time on the patient units, in the emergency department, in the operating room and in our lounges where people are waiting. See what it's like from the families' and patients' perspectives. 

What do you most like doing in your free time?

I enjoy spending time with my two daughters, Dana and Britt, both of whom now live out of state.

I've been fixing up an older house. Like it our not, I'm spending a lot of time working on the house. Last weekend, it was a lot of planting outside and things like that. That's been my major thing lately.

What is your favorite vacation spot?

I have this spot that I've been going to for the past couple of years, St. John Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I rent a tiny little one-bedroom, one-room cottage on the beach. It's private and perfect for snorkeling and kayaking, anytime you want.