Getting to know the awesome, volunteer leadership of URMIA means understanding their path in higher education risk management. Join URMIA staff Michelle Smith as she interviews Flo Hoskinson who assumed the role of URMIA Board of Director’s secretary at the annual conference, not long after starting a new job at Oregon Health and Science University.
Show Notes [member login required for some content]
Connect with URMIA & URMIA with your network
-Share /Tag in Social Media @urmianetwork
-Not a member? Join ->www.urmia.org/join
-Email | contactus@urmia.org
Give URMIA Matters a boost:
-Give the podcast a 5 star rating
-Share the podcast - click that button!
-Follow on your podcast platform - don't miss an episode!
Thanks for listening to URMIA Matters!
Getting to know the awesome, volunteer leadership of URMIA means understanding their path in higher education risk management. Join URMIA staff Michelle Smith as she interviews Flo Hoskinson who assumed the role of URMIA Board of Director’s secretary at the annual conference, not long after starting a new job at Oregon Health and Science University.
Show Notes [member login required for some content]
Connect with URMIA & URMIA with your network
-Share /Tag in Social Media @urmianetwork
-Not a member? Join ->www.urmia.org/join
-Email | contactus@urmia.org
Give URMIA Matters a boost:
-Give the podcast a 5 star rating
-Share the podcast - click that button!
-Follow on your podcast platform - don't miss an episode!
Thanks for listening to URMIA Matters!
Show Notes
URMIA website
URMIA Board of Directors with Flo holding the “C”
Annual Conferences History
Guest
Flo Hoskinson, Risk Manager–Oregon Health & Science University
Guest Host
Michelle Smith, CAE Senior Director of Events–URMIA
Transcript: Meet Flo Hoskinson
Michelle: Welcome to URMIA Matters. I'm Michelle Smith, URMIA events director, and I'm thrilled to be this episode’s guest host because I'm joining the podcast today from our national office in Bloomington, Indiana. Where the executive committee meeting is happening this week. And I'm thrilled also because I'm joined by URMIA’s new secretary of the board, Flo Hoskinson. Who is the risk manager at Oregon Health and Science University. Flo and I most recently served together on the Seattle conference planning committee so I'm glad to have her as my guest today. Flo, welcome to the show. Please tell our URMIA matters listeners about yourself and your risk management journey if you don't mind.
Flo: Yeah. so thank you for the warm welcome to Bloomington Illinois [sic] today, and for the opportunity to see the home office of URMIA for the first time. I've been an URMIA member since 2015 and attended my first conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Uh, I started my career as an auto bodily claims adjuster for state farm, uh, managed workers' comp for a staffing company. Um, I got my PNC license when I was working at a commercial insurance, uh, brokerage firm. And I managed claims for 26 cities and counties in Oregon. I was just fortunate to be the risk manager for my alma mater, the University of Oregon and most recently I moved over to Oregon Health and Science University as the risk insurance and claims manager. Um, that's, Oregon's only academic health center. So I'm, uh, one of the few university risk managers in the nation that has their entire risk management department working nearly 100% remote.
Michelle: Wow. Is that new since the pandemic or is that how it's always been at Oregon Health and Science?
Flo: OHSU has had remote work options available and various central service functions, due to the limited footprint of our hospital on Markham hill, which overlooks the Willamette river. Um, our chief risk officer. I worked remote from Florida prior to the pandemic. And we recently gave up our lease space in downtown Portland.
So there's no longer a designated space for the 14 of us that work in the risk management department. And we all work remotely from Portland, Bend Eugene, and Medford, Oregon. And I see we're about 98% remote because there's a couple of folks that will go in once a week to scan mail and to pick up various things.
Michelle: That does sound unique. Uh, I know a lot of companies have gone that direction, but certainly, um, having a university, uh, risk management department so remote is, is pretty unique. So when did you join URMIA when you started working at UO?
Flo: My first URMIA was in 2015. Uh, earlier this year, uh, the opportunity came open for me at OHSU when a colleague of mine that I met through URMIA back in 2015. She moved over to the general counsel's office, which left an opening for the risk, insurance and claims manager position.
It was difficult to leave my alma mater and my friends at the UO, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a flexible work environment. My daughter graduates from high school and next summer, and I plan to work and have the opportunity to travel the world.
Michelle: Wow. Traveling the world sounds so exciting and being able to work remotely at the same time is an incredible, incredible opportunity. So, so when you made the change from institutions, did that change your focus in your work risk management, more insurance? More risk management, less insurance. How did, how did that focus change for you?
Flo: Um, well, there's been a lot of discussion about the tough insurance market and I think, uh, the biggest difference is that that change in the, in the insurance market. Um, some of the new things that I'm looking into are, um, the owner controlled builder's risk on construction projects to cover delay in startup, uh, for some consequential damage coverage.
And the other is working with our captive insurance company. So that's been new to, uh, to me and my experience.
Michelle: Yeah, lots of, lots of conversations about captives recently with the hurting market and specifically a session that took place at conference. So do you happen to attend that session? Yeah, it was a great session put on, um, Craig, Nick Allister. And then was it Jeff Kurtz was the other speaker? Yes. Correct. That was a, that one was definitely one to rewatch. If you didn't catch that.
Michelle: Great. Were there any other good sessions that you went to or general sessions or breakout sessions that you enjoyed from the annual conference?
Flo: You know, I really like the, uh, identifying and valuing the, and protecting research. I thought that they provided some really valuable tips, uh, to engage departments and, provided some valuation process, uh, with the assistance of some brokers. And then of course, uh, some of the business continuity, uh, recommendations and planning.
So I thought that was really well done. I thought the general session was really well done. the Future Campus, um, essentially I think they've talked about like how to adapt and be resilient, focus on student success Um, the panel discussed hybrid education by identifying, um, academic programs that can be delivered in a hybrid format, discussion of like possibly three-year programs and options for students to concurrently work during school. Some great ideas were shared and, uh, these were a few good ones. So, um, I would rewatch those if you weren't able to attend.
Michelle: Those are some good tips. Thanks Flo. I really enjoyed some of the social activities too. I think one of our favorites, the one that we worked on together the most was the Oktoberfest event, closing out the conference. Um, that was a lot of fun, both food and beverage and entertainment, and just seeing everybody, um, hang out at the hotel that last night before we left Seattle.
Flo: Yeah, I liked, I liked the band, the dancers that were at Oktoberfest. Yeah. That was really well done. Yeah. Sue Liden um, did a great job in sourcing those folks and they were fun to hang out with. They, I don't know if you've got to interact with them afterwards, but they didn't only perform, but they hung out with us after the show enjoyed and had something to eat with us. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good, good group of people to hang out with. So what else should the audience know about Flo the risk manager or our URMIA board secretary?
Flo: Oh, uh, well, I am honored to join an amazing group of university leaders to bring professional development to the 2,700 plus members, uh, within URMIA. Um, you know, you mentioned Sue Sue Liden from Pacific Lutheran University, was just awarded the distinguished risk manager designation and served as the URMIA aboard secretary.
For how many years do you recall?
Michelle: I believe it was seven.
Flo: Wow. Okay. So yeah, no pressure on me. Um, I am looking forward to working closely with Courtney and the board of directors, uh, and to be part of that 2022 leadership team and continue to bring value to the members of URMIA. I do want to send a shout out to the risk managers within the PAC-12, from our introduction at URMIA back, I think in 2015, 2016, we started to meet annually to collaborate and share. And most recently in Seattle, I mentioned this to Colorado Robertson who's over at Mississippi state about how the PAC-12 risk managers, uh, meet. And he actually gathered a group of SEC risk managers to meet up. So I'm just wondering if, um, Colorado is going to send me an invite to one of those SEC meetings at some point.
Michelle: Well, fun way to get the ball rolling on that. That's great.
Flo: So, um, I guess a parting thought is my, you know, my former boss, uh, Andre LaDuc over at the University of Oregon, coined the phrase “rip off and duplicate.”
Um, I would say, let us all continue to collaborate as URMIA members. Um, as you know, there's no sense in reinventing the wheel, so I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me, Michelle.
Michelle: Thank you Flo for being my guest today and thank you for your volunteer service to URMIA. We really appreciate it. The role of the board secretary is very important um, part of the processing in keeping the ball rolling and moving from meeting to meeting and from year to year.
So welcome to the executive committee. It looks to be an exciting year ahead. And this wraps another episode of URMIA Matters.