Leading with Purpose: How MHA Faculty, Laura Patrone Is Preparing Future Healthcare Leaders
| 6 Min Read
Healthcare is changing faster than ever. New technologies, evolving regulations, staffing challenges, and rising patient expectations demand leaders who can navigate complexity with confidence. Laura Patrone doesn’t just teach those skills, she lives them every day.
As a faculty member in Sacred Heart University’s online Master of Health Administration (MHA) program, Laura brings more than two decades of healthcare experience into every course she teaches. In her full-time role as IT Manager of Imaging Technologies at Virtua Health, she leads teams, oversees multimillion-dollar technology initiatives, collaborates with clinical leaders, and helps shape the future of healthcare delivery.
For her students, that means every lesson is grounded in the realities of today’s healthcare environment, not just theory.
Teaching Healthcare Leadership Through Experience
Laura’s days are anything but routine. She manages a team of 16 professionals, oversees imaging technologies that support multiple clinical service lines, leads Epic electronic medical record initiatives, serves on governance committees, and partners with clinicians to improve patient care through technology.
“My days are full,” she said, “but they’re very meaningful and never identical. That blend of leadership, collaboration, and technology is really what I love about it.”
It’s this constantly evolving environment that fuels her teaching.
Rather than relying solely on textbooks, Laura builds her courses around authentic healthcare challenges. Students examine organizational change, innovation, quality improvement, governance, and strategic planning through the lens of situations that healthcare leaders encounter every day.
In her Innovation and Organizational Change Management course, students guide a real organizational change from concept through implementation. In Healthcare Operations and Quality, they tackle practical case studies and planning assignments that mirror the work they’ll eventually do in healthcare organizations.
The impact is immediate.
“I’ve actually gotten feedback from students that they’re already applying those assignments in their current jobs,” Laura said. “That’s really rewarding to hear.”
Two Perspectives. One Powerful Classroom.
What makes Laura’s perspective unique is that she has experienced healthcare from both sides.
Before moving into healthcare IT leadership, she worked directly with patients as a CT and X-ray technologist. Today, she designs and supports the technology that clinicians rely on every day.
That combination allows her to connect technical systems with the human side of healthcare.
“When we talk about technology, I’m not just explaining how a system works,” she said. “I can also explain what it feels like for a clinician when that system doesn’t support their workflow, or how a small change in design can have a significant impact on patient care.”
Those insights help students understand that successful healthcare leadership isn’t simply about implementing new technology—it’s about understanding how every decision affects clinicians, patients, and organizational outcomes.
“Because I’ve lived with a foot in both worlds, I can help students understand why collaboration between IT, administration, and clinical teams is so important—and how strong leadership is what bridges those gaps.”
–Laura Patrone
Preparing Leaders for a Rapidly Changing Industry
Healthcare leaders today must navigate far more than day-to-day operations. Artificial intelligence, telehealth, cybersecurity, interoperability, workforce transformation, and digital patient engagement are reshaping nearly every aspect of care.
Laura believes tomorrow’s leaders must be prepared for that reality before they graduate.
“The biggest trend right now is artificial intelligence,” she said. “It’s not just a buzzword—it’s a practical tool for decision support, workflow automation, and predictive analytics.”
But adopting new technology is only part of the equation.
“Technology only succeeds when leaders know how to communicate a vision, build buy-in, and support their teams through transitions,” she said. “Innovation isn’t just about adopting new tools—it’s about helping people adapt to them.”
Because she’s actively leading these conversations within a major health system, students learn about emerging healthcare trends while they’re happening—not years after they’ve made their way into a textbook.
Building Confidence Alongside Competence
For Laura, teaching extends well beyond course content.
She wants every student to leave Sacred Heart believing they’re capable of making an impact.
“I want my students to leave feeling confident, prepared, excited, and genuinely ready to enter the healthcare industry,” she said.
That confidence comes from application.
“My goal is not just for them to understand the concepts, but to have real experience applying them.”
She hopes students recognize how every lesson connects back to the people healthcare ultimately serves.
“I want them to see how their knowledge connects to actual patient care, organizational processes, and professional behavior.”
Most importantly, she wants graduates to enter leadership roles with both competence and purpose.
“I want them to feel equipped—academically, professionally, and purposefully.”
Inspired by Students Who Never Stop Growing
As someone balancing a demanding leadership career with teaching, Laura understands exactly what many Sacred Heart students experience.
Most are already working professionals managing careers, families, and countless responsibilities while pursuing graduate education.
Instead of seeing those responsibilities as obstacles, she sees them as strengths.
“They’re super motivated, thoughtful, and purpose-driven,” she said. “They’re balancing careers, families, and real adult responsibilities, and they’ve chosen to be in this program to better themselves and further their impact.”
Her favorite moments come when students connect classroom learning directly to their professional lives.
“I love when a concept clicks and they can immediately apply it,” she said. “I’ll get emails from students saying, ‘What we worked on this week helped me at my job.’”
Knowing she’s helping shape the next generation of healthcare leaders gives her purpose.
“I love being even a small part of their journey toward becoming confident, capable healthcare leaders,” Patrone said. “They’re going to make a huge impact on this industry. We’re building the future leaders of tomorrow.”
Leadership Is Not a Title
One lesson stands above all the others.
Laura often shares advice she received from a physician during a mentorship workshop—a conversation that permanently shaped how she views leadership.
“He asked me, ‘Do you think you need a title to be a leader?’”
Her answer eventually became the philosophy she now passes on to every student.
“No—you don’t.”
Instead, she encourages future leaders to volunteer for difficult assignments, seek feedback, remain curious, and continue learning throughout their careers.
“Leadership is a daily practice, not a title,” she said. “You have to show up consistently, support your team, and make decisions that honor the patients and the people caring for them.”
It’s a lesson her students witness firsthand. Every week, they’re learning from someone who isn’t just teaching healthcare leadership, but actively leading within one of the region’s largest health systems.
That connection between classroom and career is what makes Sacred Heart University’s online MHA program different. Students don’t simply graduate with knowledge. They graduate having learned from faculty whose leadership experience is shaping healthcare today.
About Sacred Heart University’s Online MHA Program
Sacred Heart University’s online Master of Health Administration program prepares working professionals, both clinical and non-clinical, for leadership roles across the healthcare industry. The 37-credit program is currently in candidacy with CAHME, the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education, taught in eight-week asynchronous terms, and designed for completion in about two years. No GRE or GMAT is required for admission.
Coursework covers health policy, law and ethics, healthcare informatics, management of healthcare organizations, and strategic management and marketing, giving graduates an interdisciplinary foundation for roles such as hospital administrator, health services manager, or health policy analyst.
Learn more about the online Master of Health Administration (MHA) program and request more information to get started today.