Maria GuerraMaria Guerra has been appointed director of operations of UCSF Dental Center, effective March 15, 2017.
Guerra, longtime operations and finance manager of the predoctoral clinics and Buchanan Dental Center, will be responsible for the day-to-day coordination of clinical facilities and central clinical services areas within UCSF Dental Center. She will work closely with UCSF Dental Center's chief executive officer/chief dental officer, Dr. Sunil Kapila; Lauren Haworth, chief financial officer; Dr. Mark Kirkland, associate dean for clinical affairs; and department chairs, program directors and department managers in addressing the clinical mission of the Dental Center. Specifically, Guerra will work with these individuals to obtain information, review opportunities and facilitate the implementation of best practices for enhancing patient care and patient experiences, increasing patient volume, achieving clinic efficiencies and improving billing, collections and procurement.
The director of operations is a new position that will report directly to Dr. Kapila and indirectly to Dr. Kirkland.
"I hope that you will join me in congratulating and welcoming Maria to her new position," said Dr. Kapila. "I expect that we all will provide her with the needed support in enhancing our delivery of 'outstanding, seamless, cutting-edge patient-centered collaborative care' as envisioned in our Strategic Plan."
Having served in various capacities at UCSF School of Dentistry, UCSF Ambulatory Care Center and in the private sector, Guerra brings successful and relevant experiences to her new role. As operations and finance manager, Guerra has been responsible for many of the central units supporting the UCSF Dental Center clinical enterprise (sterilization, student store, facilities and the Fleming Lab). Previously she served as department manager of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and manager of the Faculty Group Practice in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences. Guerra has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration and more than three decades of experience in healthcare administration.
