Page 35 - May 2024 SAM PDF

SAN ANTONIO IN
In Memoriam
MEDICINE MEMORIAM

Kris King Celebrates my absolute favorite proj- Mary Nava
ect has been to virtualize
all of our servers, and make
25 Years with BCVI many major upgrades in November 15, 1963 - April 2, 2024
security and backups. I
have a whole new appreci- Mary Elizabeth (Cano) Nava worked in the healthcare industry in San Anto-
By Melody Newsom, BCMS CEO/Executive Director ation for redundancy, secu- nio her entire career, spending the last 24 years at the Bexar County Medical
rity, isolation, redundancy, Society as the Chief Governmental Affairs Officer. She served as liaison to the
Kris King, Director of Software Services for Bexar Credentials Veri- backups, replication, and BCMS Legislative & Socioeconomics Committee, BCMS Public Health &
fication, Inc. (BCVI), recently celebrated his 25th anniversary with the redundancy. Patient Advocacy Committee, and BCMS Delegation to TMA. Mary will be
company. I sat down with Kris to gain insight into his long-standing greatly missed and remembered fondly by the physician members and staff.
service to BCVI, and his professional and personal growth over the last Describe the different Mary was born in Victoria, Texas on November 15, 1963, to Gloria Cano
25 years. offices/buildings you and the late Robert Cano, Sr. She graduated from Industrial High School where
have been in the past she was valedictorian of her class, drum major of the band and head twirler. She
What different roles have you held at BCVI? 25 years. went on to graduate from the University of Texas in San Antonio with a Master’s
I started with Bexar Credentials Verification, Inc. on March 22, 1999 Our home for many years was on 202 West French Place, just around Degree in Business Administration.
with the title of Vice President of Information Systems. It was a new the corner from the San Antonio Community College. The building had Mary treasured being a dedicated mom to her two children, Edward Mar-
position and the specifics of my role were, at best, fluid. At its peak, my a “grill” mounted to the exterior, and it wrapped all of the way around. It tin Nava, Jr. and Erica Nava. In addition to her mother and her two children,
department had five software developers. Robert “Bob” Needs was the was the strangest building that I had ever seen. Mary is survived by her loving husband of 37 years, Edward Martin Nava, Sr.; her
president and founder of BCVI. Bob died unexpectedly in May of 1999. In 2004, the building was sold with the goal of someday building a brothers and sisters, Robert Cano, Jr. (Kailyn), Bertha Ann Villarreal (Albert),
After the dust settled, Bexar County Medical Society (BCMS) stepped new home for BCMS. In the meantime, BCMS signed a 10-year lease Sylvia Blessing (Robert) and David Cano (Summer); and many special nieces
in to provide leadership and guidance, and the titles of “president” and in the First National Bank building at 6243 IH-10. and nephews.
“vice president” no longer seemed appropriate. My title was changed to We moved into our beautiful new building at 4334 North Loop
Director of Software Services, and my “software development depart- 1604 West in January of 2015. It is quite impressive with state-of-the-
ment” was downsized to one person. Much to my surprise, they kept me. art technology.

How have you seen Credentialing change over the last 25 years? Why have you stayed for 25 years? “Mary was such a
In 1999, Bob Needs’ vision was for BCVI to be a nationwide creden- I realized early on that God was guiding my career path. He has wonderful person and
tials verification organization (CVO). If you ever met Bob, there was no always put me in the right place at the right time. My role at BCVI was an incredible advocate
for medicine. We both
question that he was going to make it happen. He was truly a source of tailor-made for me, although, it didn’t feel like it at first. It never gets feel blessed that we
enthusiasm and encouragement. When Bob died, BCVI almost died with old or boring. The people are wonderful, and it is nice to be needed and were able to know her
him. The company was in far worse shape than Bob had made known. It appreciated. Like any job, there are difficult seasons, but my philosophy and work alongside her
took five years and several changes of leadership to right the ship. has been that if God wants me to move on, He will make it happen. these many years.”
I won’t get into the changes in credentials verification, but I will say - Alexis Wiesenthal, MD
that many medical societies and CVOs have gone by the wayside over How would you describe our company culture?
the years. For some reason, BCMS and BCVI have found favor in God’s Anywhere you have people, you will have conflicts, but I have always
eyes. He has blessed us with some wonderful leaders. felt valued and respected. The staff and leadership have been great. I’ll
add one thing that stands out for me. I know that this might ruffle feath-
Do you have any favorite ers for some, but BCMS and BCVI staff will gather occasionally to share
projects you’ve worked a meal, and we always say grace beforehand.
on during your time
here? What are your favorite memories from your time here thus far?
In general, software and We have had some wonderful staff outings, which include golf, fish-
website development can be ing tournaments and a Missions game. Christmas, Thanksgiving and
pretty rewarding, but devel- staff birthday/anniversary parties are also great.
oping a system that takes
you from a file room full How has your personal life changed in the past 25 years?
of paper files, to a paperless My son was born shortly after my hire date, and he has recently grad-
“Mary was a beautiful
system with no file room uated from college. I have less hair, more wrinkles and more arthritis. I “She was a true warrior for our person inside and out and
physicians and patients and
at all was pretty exciting. It will also admit that the word “retirement” has started to creep into my gave countless hours of her is not someone that can be
took me a while to jump on vocabulary. Two things that have not changed in 25 years are my key- life to this cause. My deepest replaced. We truly are better
the virtualization bandwag- board and my chair. Both still work great! condolences to her family and off for having known her
on, but a nasty ransomware friends. She will always be in and having the privilege of
attack back in 2019 taught our thoughts and prayers.” working with her.”
Kris King, Director of Software Services, us some hard lessons. It was Melody Newsom is the CEO/Executive Director for the Bexar - Rajeev Suri, MD - Marcia Collins, TMA
BCVI, and Melody Newsom, CEO/ painful, and definitely a County Medical Society. She has been with the company for 24
Executive Director, BCMS major learning curve, but years.

34 SAN ANTONIO MEDICINE • May 2024