Duke Health Lake Norman Hospital Administrative Fellowship
Welcome from the Preceptors
Kristie Barazsu, MBA
Executive Sponsor
President/COO, Duke Health Lake Norman
McKenna Hensley, MHA
Program Director
Administrative Director of Clinical Operations, Duke Health Lake Norman
Launching a career in healthcare leadership is about more than gaining experience—it is about finding an environment where you can make a meaningful impact while developing as a leader. The Duke Health Lake Norman (DHLN) Administrative Fellowship offers a unique opportunity to do both. DHLN, a 123-bed acute care facility with an ASC and Medical Office Building, is Duke Health’s most recently acquired facility. As part of the health system's expansion into the rapidly growing Charlotte metropolitan area, Duke Health Lake Norman is creating a new model for delivering exceptional, patient-centered care within a community-based acute care setting.
At Duke Health Lake Norman, we are committed to doing things differently. Patient safety, continuous improvement, and operational excellence are the foundation of how we design care and build our service lines. Rather than preparing fellows to manage existing systems, we develop leaders who can build and improve them. As Duke Health Lake Norman continues its integration into Duke Health, the administrative fellow will play an active role in shaping the processes, partnerships, and operating model that will define the hospital's future.
The leaders of Duke Health Lake Norman view administrative fellows as valued members of the leadership team and entrust them with meaningful responsibility from the outset. The selected fellow will work closely with the Program Director, receiving individualized mentorship, direct exposure to executive leadership, and opportunities to build relationships across Duke Health. Together, they will identify meaningful professional development opportunities while challenging traditional approaches to healthcare administration. Our fellowship offers a distinctive opportunity to help lead the integration of a newly acquired Duke Health hospital while developing the leadership skills, operational expertise, and continuous improvement mindset needed to transform healthcare.
If you have questions about the Duke Health Lake Norman Administrative Fellowship Program, we encourage you to contact the Program Director at mckenna.hensley@duke.edu. We look forward to sharing how this unique opportunity can help launch your career while allowing you to make a lasting impact on Duke Health Lake Norman and the communities we serve.
Don’t just join a health system—help shape it.
Best Regards,
Kristie Barazsu, Executive Sponsor
McKenna Hensley, Program Director
About the Fellowship
The Duke Lake Norman Fellowship offers a 24-month program providing comprehensive experience in hospital operations within a community hospital in one of the fastest growing counties in the country.
The fellowship is intentionally designed to provide both operational breadth and leadership development. During the first year, our fellow will rotate through the hospital's clinical and ancillary service lines, gaining firsthand experience with frontline operations, executive leadership, and multidisciplinary teams. In the second year, fellows are embedded with the Continuous Improvement (Operational Excellence) team, where they will contribute to service line development, support operational integration, and lead strategic improvement initiatives. Fellows can choose to embed in a specific area or cover all areas. This experience provides hands-on training in Lean methodologies, Toyota Production System principles, and systems thinking while developing the skills needed to lead transformational change.
Program Details
Project Work
Fellows have the opportunity to develop project work in partnership with executive leaders, whether inspired by organizational priorities or their own areas of interest. Together, fellows and leadership identify high-impact initiatives that advance the organization's goals while fostering the fellow's professional growth.
During the first year, fellows will work on a variety of projects while rotating through ancillary and clinical departments across the hospital. The second year focuses on a specialized experience tied to continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Examples of projects include but are not limited to:
- Kaizen & 5S opportunities
- Safety Improvement Plan and Root Cause Analysis Facilitation
- Systems-Thinking Leadership Development Planning
- New Service Line Business Development
- Clinical Unit Financial Assessments
- Shared Governance Participation
- Capacity Analyses/Reports
Rotations
All rotations and projects are derived from competencies critical to the success of health care administrators, including:
- Continuous Improvement
- Quality and Patient Safety
- Surgical Services
- Medical/Surgical
- ICU/CCU
- Cardiovascular
- Emergency Services
- Women's Services
- Finance
- Imaging
- Clinical Labs
- Ambulatory
Pharmacy
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Application Information
The Duke Health Lake Norman Administrative Fellowship seeks driven, motivated team players who desire to develop personally and professionally.
Requirements
- Strong interest in hospital operations, patient safety and/or continuous improvement
- A foundational knowledge in the core competencies of healthcare administration
- Candidates must have completed the didactic degree requirements from accredited masters-level programs
Materials
Please submit your application materials in the below order and title your submission First Name_Last Name_DHLN Administrative Fellowship
- Completed Application Form
- Current Resume/CV (1-page limit)
- Graduate School Transcript (Official or Unofficial)
- Faculty Recommendation* (Limit 1- please request inclusion of strengths and opportunities)
- Other Recommendation* (Limit 1- please request inclusion of strengths and opportunities)
- 1-page Personal Statement answering the following
- Why are you interested in the Duke Health Lake Norman Administrative Fellowship? How will this role help you to achieve your career goals?
- What type of leadership style do you desire to encapsulate? What kind of colleague/teammate are you, and how do you know?
- What are your strengths? What opportunities do you have, and hope to focus on during the fellowship?
- Short Answer Responses (500-word max each)
- If you had the opportunity to pitch a patient safety improvement for a hospital, what topic would you choose, and what solution would you present? Please be creative.
Short answer and essay responses should be single-spaced and 11-point calibri or 12-point times new roman font with 1-inch margins. Please adhere to these guidelines when crafting your responses.
Timeline
- The application for the 2027-2029 fellowship cycle will open July 1, 2026, and close August 27, 2026 at 12pm EST
- Interviews will be conducted throughout September
- Offers will be extended no later than early October
*Please address letters of recommendation to the DHLN Administrative Fellowship Selection Committee*
Letters of Recommendation can also be submitted via email to mckenna.hensley@duke.edu
Please note:
- We are unable to sponsor international visas at this time
- Graduate level clinical degree holders are accepted (Ex. MD, MSN)
- Candidates must have completed the didactic degree requirements from accredited masters-level programs
- You may apply to multiple administrative fellowship programs. Please ensure you read each program’s requirements carefully and submit all required materials to each program.
Apply Now
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