Black History Month Leaders: Gary Lee

This February, join us as we celebrate Black History Month by spotlighting the LifeBridge Health leaders who have forged paths of progress and change. Throughout the month, we'll feature profiles of influential figures whose courage and contributions have left an indelible mark on our organization. Today, we are honoring Gary Lee, Supervisor of Inventory Control at Carroll Hospital.

Q1. What did you major in during undergrad and grad school?
I did not attend college.

Q2. Where did you work before LifeBridge Health? What leadership position did you have prior. Can you talk more about that?
I was a Senior Distribution Manager for TRU at the Distribution Center in Frederick, Maryland. I was with the company for 31 years, from 1987 to 2018. I was the Operations Manager for Macy’s Logistics in Martinsburg, West Virginia, for two and a half years from 2018 to 2021. From 2021 to 2022, I was the Goodwill Industries assistant manager in Frederick, Maryland. I worked at the Tractor Supply Company from 2022 to 2023. I have directly managed as many as 110 employees, been indirectly responsible for 300 employees, managed packing, shipping and returns for e-commerce programs, and set a shipping record with 335,000 packages shipped in a week’s time. When I was with TRU, I ran the outbound and sometimes inbound departments and ran the shipping department for on-time delivery of trailers to stores with up to 122 deliveries scheduled daily.

Q3. Speak a bit about your role now.
I am responsible for supplying LifeBridge Health entities with needed supplies and keeping track of inventory so we don’t run out. In addition, I find substitutions for back-ordered items and work closely with OR team members when new items need to be ordered, or substitutions need to be evaluated. Further, I set automatic reorder points so that shelves are always at least 75% full, work with the buyers on hard-to-get items and make transparent changes so that the team sees very little inconvenience as we move forward with new strategies and directions.

Q4. Name your facility. (e.g., do you work for LifeBridge Health or Northwest Hospital, Carroll etc.)
Carroll Hospital.

Q5. Elaborate on operating in two worlds daily? Also, tell me more about your experience and trying to climb the ladder of success in healthcare. Did you feel like you had to work harder? Were obstacles thrown your way? Did you feel as if you had to prove yourself?
I feel that the position of inventory supervisor has balanced out my home/work life. For 35 years in distribution/retail, I was busy with Black Friday, the Christmas rush and blackout periods for vacation from October until January 2. When I started at Carroll, for the first time in many years, I got to take off the day after Thanksgiving and the week of Christmas. This was especially important to me because Christmas is my wife’s birthday.

I look forward to one day being the inventory control manager or maybe finding a higher role within the hospital in another department. I don’t feel I had to prove myself any more than anyone else. Carroll recruited me for an interview, and I really felt this would be a great opportunity to slow things down a bit and smooth out the route from holiday rushes but still work steadily for a purpose. My manager has been great; everyone in the department and the entire hospital seems friendly, and I feel very comfortable and confident performing my job.