Project Management Professional (PMP) — Expected Q2 2026
JOSEPH ECKROTE
Summary
Enterprise-focused senior healthcare IT project manager with extensive experience leading and stabilizing complex, high-visibility initiatives in large, regulated healthcare environments. Frequently engaged by clinical and operational leadership to take ownership of at-risk or highly complex programs requiring disciplined execution, financial accountability, and cross-functional alignment. Trusted to lead contract oversight and vendor coordination for enterprise Epic initiatives spanning pharmacy, laboratory, and ancillary clinical systems. Combines a strong technical foundation with pragmatic delivery leadership, enabling safe, scalable implementation of patient- and safety-critical workflows. Known for operating effectively under pressure, restoring momentum, and building durable partnerships across executive leadership, clinical teams, and IT to deliver trusted clinical and operational outcomes.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Sr. IT Project Manager
CITY OF HOPE NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
11.2021 - Current
- Deliver executive-level project status reporting, risk assessment, and decision support to clinical, operational, pharmacy, and IT leadership, enabling timely and informed decisions across high-impact initiatives.
- Own contract escalation management for the $72M Orange County Hospital implementation, coordinating with legal, contract management, application managers, vendors, third-party contract processors, medical equipment teams, and InfoSec to resolve delivery gaps, mitigate risk, and protect program timelines.
- Engaged by senior operational leadership to recover the Gravimetrics implementation for Orange County Hospital following multiple significant delivery setbacks, re-establishing execution plans, addressing operational gaps, and restoring confidence in the implementation timeline.
- Established Epic Willow Ambulatory as an enterprise-supported platform, leading a multi-million-dollar enterprise pharmacy implementation, beginning with the initial Lennar Cancer Center Retail Pharmacy (City of Hope Orange County) and Duarte Main Campus Retail Pharmacy sites representing approximately $4M, and expanding across Duarte Hope Plaza Retail Pharmacy and Atlanta Specialty Pharmacy.
- Led the Epic Willow Inventory and General Ledger implementation supporting the CTCA acquisition, coordinating system conversion, inventory standardization, and Epic integration across nine locations, including integration with Talyst and BoxPicker carousel systems, to enable enterprise visibility, financial alignment, and operational continuity.
- Directed Willow Ambulatory data conversion in partnership with TwoPoint, coordinating legacy data migration, validation, and cutover activities to support the safe and accurate go-live across multiple outpatient pharmacy locations.
- Delivered the Advanced Innovative Solutions Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, integrated directly with Epic to support prescription refills, prescription status inquiries, and patient self-service for the Lennar Cancer Center Retail Pharmacy and Duarte Hope Plaza Retail Pharmacy.
- Deployed pharmacy automation solutions at Duarte Hope Plaza Retail Pharmacy, including ScriptPro robotic dispensing and the BD IntelliCab Will-Call system, integrating these technologies with Epic to improve dispensing efficiency and accuracy.
- Integrated Seca medical measurement scales across the Lennar Cancer Center with Epic to support accurate height and weight capture for downstream clinical workflows.
- Lead multiple high-visibility clinical and regulatory initiatives, including Epic Willow Inventory and related pharmacy and ancillary clinical applications, with accountability for scope, delivery, and operational readiness across enterprise environments.
- Own end-to-end project delivery from initiation through stabilization, including governance alignment, integrated planning, stakeholder communication, and execution in accordance with PMO standards and industry best practices.
- Partnered with pharmacy, finance, and accounting leadership to implement Willow Inventory General Ledger extract workflows, aligning medication billing, inventory valuation, and financial controls.
- Initiated CURES 2.0 implementation activities in response to state legislation, establishing early delivery momentum through vendor engagement with Bamboo Health before transitioning execution ownership due to competing enterprise priorities.
IT Project Manager
EL RIO COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER
08.2021 - 11.2021
- Engaged to stabilize and execute Technical Dress Rehearsal (TDR) activities for El Rio’s Epic Enterprise Implementation after the effort became at risk, establishing execution structure, coordination, and issue management leading into go-live readiness.
- Coordinated a 30-member cross-functional team across 13 clinical locations to execute TDR activities, validating system readiness, workflows, and operational support under simulated go-live conditions while minimizing disruption to patient care.
- Established the TDR recovery approach, defining execution cadence, accountability, and communication pathways across IT, clinical operations, and third-party partners where no effective recovery structure previously existed.
- Partnered with clinical leaders, application teams, and vendors to review, refine, and validate existing TDR scenarios and scripts, ensuring alignment with real-world clinical and operational workflows.
- Directed technical and operational readiness activities supporting deployment of approximately 2,000 workstations across 13 clinics, achieving on-time TDR completion following earlier schedule risk.
- Served as the central coordination and escalation point during TDR execution, driving issue triage, decision support, and rapid resolution across leadership, IT, and clinical teams.
IT Project Manager
CITY OF HOPE NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
04.2020 - 01.2021
- Led multiple strategic healthcare IT initiatives supporting laboratory clinical ancillary systems within a highly regulated acute care environment, maintaining patient safety, compliance, and uninterrupted clinical operations.
- Directed the upgrade of the Haemonetics SafeTrace TX blood bank management system, coordinating virtual server and application upgrades to improve system reliability, data integrity, and patient safety within transfusion medicine operations.
- Managed the hardware and software upgrade of FreezerWorks, the stem cell freezer inventory tracking system, ensuring zero disruption to laboratory operations while improving reporting accuracy, inventory traceability, and regulatory compliance.
- Delivered enterprise and departmental projects spanning Transfusion Medicine, Clinical Pathology, Anatomical Pathology, Histocompatibility, and Respiratory, aligning technical execution with clinical, operational, and regulatory requirements.
- Coordinated closely with laboratory leadership, clinicians, IT teams, and vendors to plan execution windows, manage risk, and ensure operational continuity across laboratory systems.
- Served as the primary point of accountability for vendor coordination and contract oversight, ensuring delivery timelines, scope commitments, and cost controls were met across multiple concurrent initiatives.
- Provided clear project status reporting, risk identification, and mitigation strategies to operational and IT leadership, enabling informed decision-making in a highly regulated clinical environment.
Sr. Systems Analyst / Project Manager
CITY OF HOPE NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
10.2016 - 04.2020
- Owned technical application support for laboratory, blood bank, histocompatibility (HLA), and respiratory systems, bridging operational support with structured project execution.
- Led technical analysis, configuration, testing, and support activities for Clinical Pathology (CP), Anatomic Pathology (AP), Transfusion Medicine, histocompatibility (HLA), and respiratory systems, partnering closely with clinical and operational stakeholders to ensure alignment with workflow, safety, and regulatory requirements.
- Served as project lead for small to mid-sized initiatives, coordinating timelines, task execution, and stakeholder communication while maintaining hands-on system ownership and accountability.
- Supported clinical departments including Transfusion Medicine, Clinical Pathology (CP), Anatomic Pathology (AP), Histocompatibility (HLA), and Respiratory, managing system changes, enhancements, and break-fix resolution in patient- and specimen-critical environments.
- Coordinated vendor relationships and third-party system support, managing upgrades, issue resolution, and change activities while balancing clinical risk, regulatory considerations, and operational continuity.
- Owned system lifecycle responsibility across Rees Scientific temperature monitoring and additional laboratory, blood bank, HLA, and respiratory applications, including implementation, expansion, application support, and configuration, coordinating vendor-led installation and calibration where applicable while owning infrastructure and application upgrades, maintenance, and ongoing operational support for patient- and specimen-critical systems.
- Developed deep institutional knowledge of laboratory operations, blood bank workflows, HLA application management and support, and respiratory clinical support, enabling effective translation of technical requirements into sustainable solutions.
- Provided escalation support for complex system and workflow issues, contributing to root cause analysis, remediation planning, and stabilization efforts across laboratory and respiratory systems.
Education
Project Management Professional -
06.2026
Bachelor of Science - Information Systems and Cyber Security
ITT Technical Institute
Tucson, AZAssociate of Science - Computer Networking Systems
ITT Technical Institute
Tucson, AZSkills
- Healthcare IT Project and Program Management
- Enterprise Clinical Systems Delivery
- At-Risk Project Stabilization and Recovery
- Executive and Operational Stakeholder Engagement
- Governance, Risk, and Issue Management
- Vendor and Contract Management
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership
- Regulatory and Patient Safety–Critical Systems
- Multi-Site Deployment and Go-Live Execution
- Infrastructure and Application Lifecycle Ownership
Affiliations
- Contract Scope Review and Interpretation
- Contractual Milestone and Deliverable Tracking
- Risk Identification Related to Contract Terms
- Cross-Functional Contract Escalation Management
- Vendor Performance Monitoring Against Contracted Obligations
- Change Impact Assessment on Contract Scope and Timeline
- Financial and Operational Dependency Management
- Legal, Procurement, Contract Management, Application Stakeholders, InfoSec, and Change Management coordination
Certification
- Epic Willow Ambulatory
- Epic Willow Inventory
- Epic Willow General Ledger Integration
- Epic Dispense Prep (Gravimetric Medication Verification)
- Epic Meds-to-Beds Program Enablement
- Epic Enterprise Implementation Support
- Technical Dress Rehearsal (TDR)
Interests
Timeline
Sr. IT Project Manager
CITY OF HOPE NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
11.2021 - Current
IT Project Manager
EL RIO COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER
08.2021 - 11.2021
IT Project Manager
CITY OF HOPE NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
04.2020 - 01.2021
Sr. Systems Analyst / Project Manager
CITY OF HOPE NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
10.2016 - 04.2020
Project Management Professional -
Bachelor of Science - Information Systems and Cyber Security
ITT Technical Institute
Associate of Science - Computer Networking Systems
ITT Technical Institute
EXPERIENCE
24+ years in IT, including 10+ years in Healthcare IT and 14+ years in Project Management