Paul Collier named Supervisory Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist of the year

“I truly enjoy the fact that biomedical engineering allows me to not only analyze data but to also mix in the clinical and technical aspects of healthcare,” said Collier

Within the past year, he excelled in his career transition from Information Systems BESS to Supervisory BESS. He led the team from 131st in the nation to 1st in the South Central VA Health Care Network (VISN 16) and 22nd in the nation.

“Paul is truly one of a kind,” said Chief of Facilities Management Service Tracy Ruger, Collier’s supervisor. “After being selected to serve as the lead supervisory BESS, he immediately went to work making sustainable changes to the entire program. His tireless work is evident by the tremendous improvements made within the program. Under his leadership, the program is now first in our VISN, and that is something we are extremely proud of.”

Biomedical Equipment Support Specialists represent a unique health care profession in VA. They often work side-by-side with clinical engineers, applying the fundamentals of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and engineering to solve medically relevant problems.

There are more than 300 biomedical engineers at VA facilities across the country. Their skillset merges engineering principles and design concepts with medicine and biology, advancing diagnostic and therapeutic healthcare treatment.

Collier added, “While most of my work is done behind the scenes, as a Veteran, I take pride in playing such a pivotal role in improving the health services we provide for our heroes.”