Hannah Hawthorne, MHA
Hannah is a first-year fellow at UVA Health. Hannah has lived in a variety of places, including Phoenix, Arizona, Salt Lake City, Utah and Tokyo, Japan. She is excited to live on the east coast for the first time, and already loves Charlottesville. Prior to relocating, Hannah most recently graduated with her Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business.
For nearly a decade, Hannah has worked as a pharmacy technician in both retail and hospital settings. This introduction to healthcare fueled Hannah’s passion to transform healthcare and improve patient access to quality care. In additional to her clinical experience, Hannah also was an adjunct instructor at Salt Lake Community College for the Department of Allied Health, where she had the opportunity to build a foundation for healthcare billing to pharmacy technician students.
Hannah is passionate about educating future generations and strengthening the healthcare pipeline. She is ecstatic for her new opportunity at UVA Health, specifically to work for an academic medical center that prioritizes community as a part of its initiatives. She is looking forward to apply her healthcare experience in collaborating with the best leadership healthcare has to offer.
Outside of work, Hannah’s biggest passion is her four-year-old rescue dog, Jane. Hannah also enjoys traveling, attending concerts, and all things Disney.
Rena Cohen-Kurzrock, MHA
Rena is a second-year fellow at UVA Health. She was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She obtained her bachelor of business administration with a concentration in finance from the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business, and earned her master’s in healthcare administration from Louisiana State University of Shreveport.
Rena’s previous experience used healthcare marketing (specifically, social media) to improve patient connectivity, healthcare literacy, and preventative care at a dermatology practice. This work gave her hands-on experience with the blending of healthcare information, delivery, and technology to empower patients and improve the bottom line, along with honing her ability to address strategic planning and revenue diversification within healthcare.
She has two peer-reviewed articles in Cureus and had the opportunity to present to medical residents at LSU about the effective use of social media in expanding private practice.
Rena is very passionate about helping others and improving the patient experience. She is excited to be a member of UVA Health, an organization that puts patient care at the forefront. She is eager to serve and learn under the incredible leadership here and looks forward to expanding her knowledge in hospital operations and innovative strategic planning.
In her spare time, Rena enjoys cooking, all things outdoors, and exploring the city with her dog (Bella).
Khaing Phoo, MHA
Khaing Phoo (pronounced Kye Pooh) is one of the second-year fellows at UVA Health. She is from Myanmar, and lived in New York after immigration. She received her B.S. in health science with a healthcare management concentration from Stony Brook University. Before graduate school, she had experience in direct patient-care as a medical scribe.
Khaing attended Texas A&M University to pursue her master’s in healthcare administration. She completed her summer practicum at St. Joseph Health Hospital where she had the opportunity to be involved in patient satisfaction, employee engagement, and performance improvement projects. Additionally, she was able to expand her knowledge of various healthcare fields and rural operations, and learn different leadership techniques and styles.
Khaing is very excited about her fellowship at UVA Health because the mission and the learning culture emphasize values that align with her own, while maintaining a strong focus on patient-centered care.
Outside of work, Khaing enjoys swimming, doing arts and crafts, knitting/crocheting, and bullet journaling.
Stay up to date with our current fellows on LinkedIn