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Meet Sarah Hagans, Associate Director, Administration, Department of Internal Medicine

July 11, 2022
by Abigail Davis

What is your role at Yale School of Medicine?

I am the Associate Director of Administration for the Department of Internal Medicine. I report directly to Mark Holter, vice chair of Finance and Administration. My position is a member of the executive leadership team, provides leadership on important projects, and facilitates advances among multiple functional areas across multiple entities by working closely with senior leadership. I provide high level strategic oversight and guidance for a large team driving for results and inspiring a high level of commitment and performance.

I also serve as the key administrative leader for the department, internal constituents at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), and university offices across several functions including finance, information technology, research administration, human resources, and faculty affairs.

How did you come to serve in this role?

I started my employment at Yale in December of 1992. I was hired into a financial assistant position within the Department of Psychiatry. Six years later, I left the Department of Psychiatry and transferred over to the Department of Internal Medicine’s Section of Medical Oncology as an accountant. I stayed there for two years and transferred over to YSM’s Department of Finance/Central Administration Unit. I spent most of my career in this department as an operations manager. In this position, I managed an annual operating budget of approximately $80M, business affairs and controls, oversight of unit facilities grant and sponsored agreements, non-faculty personnel, faculty affairs and support, interdepartmental and community relations, and special events. I supported 32 cost centers and/or departments and agency accounts. The departments include all YSM central offices including the Office of the Dean, and eight of the ten YSM Deputy Deans and AVPs. I also managed the following agency accounts: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the John B. Pierce Laboratory, and the Phyllis Bodel Child Care Center. In addition to the responsibilities of managing the finances of these departments, I managed the YSM Central Shared Services office that provides various financial transactions processing including but not limited to creation of requisitions and purchase orders, invoice processing, contract processing, special pay requests and other payroll actions for the YSM Central Administration Units, YSM Medical Education, YSM Central Research Cores, Yale Stem Cell Center and Yale Center for Clinical Investigation. My years of experience, knowledge, and skills contributed to me obtaining the Associate Director, Administration position.

Why are you passionate about your work?

I know the mission, history, and values of Yale and see the vision, which makes it very hard not to be passionate about my work.

What are your personal and professional goals going forward?

My personal goal is being able to maintain a healthy balance between life and work. My professional goal for this year is to become a subject matter expert in International Finance.

What do you love about working at Yale?

I love working at Yale for all the outstanding benefits that are offered. I also love the opportunity to work with such a diverse population of people from such varied backgrounds with so many different interests.

The Department of Internal Medicine at Yale is among the nation's premier departments, bringing together an elite cadre of clinicians, investigators, educators, and staff in one of the world's top medical schools. To learn more, visit Internal Medicine.