Catching Up with SVP of Human Resources – Maria Zangardi

Last July, UHS announced the appointment of Maria Zangardi to Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Officer, UHS. In her role, Maria is responsible for driving Human Resources strategy and operations across the UHS enterprise. Since joining UHS in 2018, Maria has served as Regional Director, Human Resources for the Behavioral Health Division’s East Region and most recently as Division Vice President, Human Resources. 

Since the announcement of her promotion, Maria has been on a mission to acclimate herself to her new responsibilities, learn more about facility operations, identify opportunities – and most importantly – engage with our employees.

During a recent breather from her busy schedule, UHS News had an opportunity to sit down with Maria and learn a little more about her passions, her path to her current role, priorities and, yes, her love of Philadelphia sports.

How has your transition been going since assuming your new role?

It’s been very busy, but exciting and very eye opening. Over the past several months, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many of our U.S. facilities. Since my career at UHS had been primarily focused on our Behavioral Health business, I really wanted to spend time understanding more about our Acute Care facilities and teams. To say I am impressed is an understatement. I had the opportunity to visit the NICU at South Texas Health System McAllen, see a gallbladder operation at South Texas Health System Edinburg and be awed by the world-class medical technology at GW Hospital. These visits were so powerful for me. I am very impressed by the superior care and focus on quality by our teams at our facilities – they really do incredible work.

Tell us a little about your career path and what brought you to UHS.

I have held a variety of roles during my career journey. Although not initially focused on the health services industry, I’ve always been focused on people. I graduated from Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and Spanish. During my time as an undergrad, I not only played sports – softball – but was involved in activities like the school ambassador program. I was drawn to helping people, which led me to an interest in counseling. As a result, I also earned my master’s degree in counseling from the University of Scranton.

My first job was with my alma mater King’s College, working for several years in Admissions Recruiting before joining the Mohegan Sun organization in Wilkes-Barre, to open the first casino in Pennsylvania. There, I got the opportunity to build a talent development and training program from the ground up. I was also given the chance to take on more operational responsibilities, including overseeing Human Resources, Guest Relations, Facilities and Racetrack Maintenance, Environmental Services, Hotel Operations, Housekeeping and VIP Services departments. I spent over 11 years with Mohegan, and then had the opportunity to take on a Director of Organizational Development role at All One Health. This experience was my introduction into healthcare. What drew me to this role was their focus on quality and service, which aligned with that of Mohegan Sun. Ultimately, it’s that same focus which brought me to UHS in 2018. I was so excited to work with Senior Leadership and the whole HR team because of the passion for service.

In one (or two) word(s), what do you think is the most compelling reason to work at UHS?

Our people and culture! We have amazing people who strive to provide the highest level of quality and care for our patients and are so supportive of each other. Our people create the culture at UHS. This sense of pride in our work and caring for people permeates across the entire enterprise at each of our facilities. To me, one of the greatest illustrations of how impactful our culture is at UHS is the longevity of employee careers here. We have many team members who have been here 20, 30, even 40 years.

Looking to the future, what is a key priority for you?

For us to be successful means pouring into the growth of our people through learning and development. We want our people to grow in the business through upward mobility. That happens through solid training programs and personnel development. Supporting our teams translates into even greater quality of service, and ultimately a better patient experience.

I’m so excited to see what the future brings for our organization and great people!

As a former softball player, can we assume you are a big sports fan? Which professional teams do you like?

Yes, I’m a huge sports fan! I have two brothers who played sports, so I naturally gravitated to being involved with sports. I also have my grandfather to thank for my passion for following professional sports. Growing up in Northeastern Pennsylvania, many people gravitated to New York sports teams. My grandfather was no exception. He was a huge New York Yankees (American League) fan, as am I. But I balance things out with my love for the Philadelphia Phillies (National League). And of course I love the Eagles. Go Birds!