June 16, 2026 — As far back as she can remember, Hallie Cason wanted to work in healthcare.

“It kind of changed over the years,” said Cason, who grew up just outside of Gainesville in Williston, Florida. “Different types of doctors, different forms of medicine.”

As the assistant director of clinical operations for the Department of Surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine, Cason manages the department’s clinics and has been integral in establishing new ones, keeping continuity of care top of mind. Her work was acknowledged by her peers earlier this year, when she was recognized as a winner of a Division 5 UF Superior Accomplishment Award for her sustained excellence and impact.

While attending Barry University in Miami on a pre-med track, Cason worked for a company that performed X-rays in nursing homes. Her primary responsibilities involved manually processing film in a darkroom, but she soon found herself drawn to the administrative side of her work. She decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration.

After graduation, Cason spent a few years working in the UF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine before joining the Department of Surgery in 2012 as a surgical coordinator for the UF Health heart & vascular care team.

She loved her work as a surgical coordinator and said she likely would have stayed in the role indefinitely if not for Lonn McDowell, D.H.A., vice chair of administration for the Department of Surgery.

“Dr. McDowell thought I would be a great fit for a management role and persuaded me to follow my dreams of working in administration,” she said. “With his encouragement, I took the leap and my first leadership position was overseeing all the surgical coordinators for the department.”

Cason stayed in that role for three years, supervising more than a dozen clinical service representatives across each of the department’s divisions.

McDowell again recommended Cason for a promotion, this time to the role of clinical manager.

With this promotion, Cason would find her professional footprint dramatically expanded. She not only managed the department’s existing surgical clinics but also helped open new clinics, such as the plastic surgery and trauma clinics at Halifax Health in Daytona.

“Hallie is going to go a long way at UF Health,” McDowell said. “Her ability to assimilate information, build consensus and move our department forward in a positive way is noticed by everyone who has the pleasure of working with her.”

McDowell noted Cason’s expertise is highly valued not only within the department; her guidance is often sought by personnel in other departments in the College of Medicine and at UF Health.

Cason was on the front line as the department continued to expand its footprint across the region, providing support as new practices opened. Her responsibilities involved ensuring new spaces would be able to properly serve existing patient populations, finding answers to logistical questions such as how many providers and exam rooms would be needed and what kind of office space would be required.

Whether the department was building a new location from the ground up or moving an existing practice to a new space, Cason was on hand to ensure continuity of care for patients.

“We’ve opened a lot of new clinics over the last 10 or 15 years,” she said. “As we’ve grown, I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve been able to see a lot of perspectives on how to best approach managing practices, and in turn that’s helped me think about how to train and teach new administrators.”

In 2022, the department created the assistant director of clinical operations position because of the sustained growth. Stepping into that position was a natural fit for Cason, who’d already been helping to manage the complex web of regional clinics.

And even though she spends much of her time behind a desk, she still enjoys having an impact on the patient experience.

“The work I do still resonates with patients and I still get to interact with them,” she said. “That’s ultimately what I’m here for. Half of it may be meetings and paperwork and decision making, but the other half is solving issues around patient care and clinical spaces. At the end of the day, we’re doing the right thing for patients and we’re helping people.”