Dr. Diana Breyer, UCHealth Northern Region

Dr. Diana Breyer has two jobs. On their own, each position is demanding. Together, for most people, they are daunting. Breyer makes holding these two positions look easy.

A pulmonary and critical-care physician, she also is chief quality officer for UCHealth’s Northern Region. In that latter post, she is responsible for the safety of the health system’s employees and patients. She oversees clinical quality programs as well as the regulatory program for the region, which includes Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland and Greeley Medical Center, which is to open this summer. She also works closely with Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont and Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs.

Breyer is this year’s Women of Distinction honoree in the health-care sector. She will receive the recognition at the BizWest Women of Distinction breakfast on April 2, 7:30 a.m., at the Embassy Suites by Hilton, Loveland.

Breyer works with the infection-prevention team to develop policies, workflows and procedures that help protect patients from contracting hospital-acquired infections. She also works with the risk department and patient-safety advocates to create and oversee systems that keep patients, as well as hospital staff, safe from potential risks such as accidental falls. She oversees various service lines within the hospitals to examine publicly reported data and find ways to improve systems and policies.

The other half of her time is spent primarily in intensive-care units in Fort Collins and Loveland, where Breyer does pulmonary consults for patients with lung disorders. She works on the front lines, leading a team of health-care professionals to serve the sickest of UCHealth’s hospitalized patients. She directly impacts the lives of critically ill patients and their families through diagnosis, treatment and education.

“I really like the one-on-one work with patients, developing those relationships that are really rewarding,” said Breyer. “What I like about my role as chief quality officer is that there is a lot of thinking about what tools we have to systematize how each person is taken care of to ensure their safety by preventing falls or infections, and start to put standardized systems into place to help those doctors and nurses do exactly what they want to do for the patients when they come into work each day. We have a lot of people doing great work, and we want to make it easier for them to do the right thing.”

Breyer was the first female chief of staff at Poudre Valley Hospital, taking on that role in 2012.

“I was surprised to find out I was the first woman in that position,” she said. “There are a lot of great women in leadership positions at Poudre Valley Hospital way before I showed up. I may have been the first, but I’m certainly not going to be the last female chief of staff.”

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