Arkansas Children’s Hospital has promoted Amy Fallon, PhD, to the position of senior vice president of operations. Fallon, who was recruited from Texas Children’s four years ago to lead facilities and support services at the 336-bed Little Rock campus, brings to the position experience in operations, logistics, engineering, and healthcare. She also draws on her personal story as the mother of two sons who spent their first months of life in a neonatal intensive care unit to improve patient experience.
In her new role, Fallon will have operational responsibility and accountability for all clinical support services, facilities, and patient experience departments at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Additionally, she will continue to provide strategic system oversight to environmental health and safety; planning, design, and construction; and facilities operations. She will lead a division of more than 800 team members.
Jamie Wiggins, who was hired in August as the health system’s chief operating officer, promoted Fallon to the senior operations role, noting her results-oriented leadership style and dedication to teamwork.
“Amy is a strategic thinker who is committed to getting to ‘yes’ to support patients, families and staff,” Wiggins said. “I look forward to her continued impact at Arkansas Children’s Hospital as we work to deliver on our promise of improved child health.”
Fallon also relies daily on her experience as the mother of two babies who spent a cumulative four months in a neonatal intensive care unit. Fallon specifically recalls staff members taking moments out of their day to see to her needs and comfort her, including as she waited for her newborn to have a spinal tap.
Those little moments add up to the biggest difference for families, Fallon said.
“I understand how vulnerable patients and families can feel, facing their best and worst days in a hospital. It can be overwhelming,” Fallon said. “For me, this work is an opportunity to make a difference for others in similar situations, almost as a way to pay forward all the support and help and kindness I experienced.”
During Fallon’s tenure at Arkansas Children’s, she has helped lead building and expansion projects across the state, including the expansion of the ACH Jonesboro Clinic, and the construction of Arkansas Children’s Northwest, the ACH Southwest Little Rock Clinic, and most recently, the ACH Pine Bluff Clinic in Association with Jefferson Regional.
Fallon also has led teams through high-level problem-solving when presented with new challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m proud of the way the Arkansas Children’s team continues to figure it out,” Fallon said. “There are no easy answers to much of what we’ve faced in the last two years, and the way this team has strived to create solutions that help families first underscores our resiliency.”
Before joining the Arkansas Children’s team, Fallon served as the director of support services at Texas Children’s West Campus and the director of operations performance at CHI St. Luke’s in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Radiological Health Engineering from Texas A&M University, and a Masters of Public Health and Doctorate in Management and Policy Science from the University of Texas School of Public Health.
Fallon joins the board of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas this year, a program close to her heart because she stayed at a Ronald McDonald House in Texas when her sons were in the NICU. She is also active in Leadership Arkansas, has served in Leadership Little Rock, and is active at Holy Souls Catholic Church.