Decades Interview with Julie Do '03

Born a first generation Vietnamese American in Fort Worth, Julie Do ’03 was aware of the health care industry from an early age. Julie’s  grandmother, to whom she was very close, had medical issues and required frequent hospital and health care facility visits. The grandchildren were often called upon to translate and communicate for her. During high school, Julie chose the medical professions program and spent half her school days in downtown hospitals and other facilities getting real world exposure to the workings of the health care industry.

At The University of Texas at Austin, she studied biochemistry, pre-med, and pre-business and worked part-time for a physician who encouraged her to apply for the Trinity HCAD program. “Completing my master’s at Trinity was one of the best decisions I ever made and one of my proudest achievements,” she says. “The education, opportunities, and alumni network have helped carry me to success throughout my career.”

In the early years, Julie found the toughest challenge was breaking into health care finance because she didn’t have a background in accounting or finance. “The learning curve for accounting, hospital finance operations, financial planning, and operational and productivity efficiency was steep then,” she recalls.  

Fortunately, at Parkland Health and Hospital System where she began her career, her leaders “took a chance” and gave her her first job as a Senior Financial Analyst. A Trinity connection facilitated her acceptance to a CFO development program at a for-profit system, which led to a CFO position at a rural hospital in North Carolina. Thanks to a referral from another Trinity connection, she moved back to Dallas and served as CFO for Methodist Health System. “The Trinity network is alive and well, especially in North Texas,” she acknowledges gratefully.

Julie currently serves as Chief Financial Officer for North Texas-based Summus Health Care, an integrated physician network that services hospitalist and post acute contracts and owns 16 primary care, endocrinology, and behavioral health practices. Summus is a division within Premier Management Company, an accountable care organization. Julie’s focus is on expanding the network, strategy, and finance operations. She likens expanding the business while driving operational efficiency and scalability to “flying an airplane while trying to build it at the same time,” adding that “it’s exciting and challenging at the same time. [I’m] sure fellow alumni can relate.”  

Julie’s hard work and perseverance have not gone unnoticed. In 2017, she was a finalist for the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Young Executive of the Year award. But, “it’s okay. I lost to a fellow Trinity HCAD alumnus.”

Outside of her work, Julie and her husband are raising two young daughters, and she is coaching her daughter’s basketball team this winter. “According to my husband, I have a pretty decent jump shot.” Avid Texas Longhorn fans, they watch every football game and try to get to Austin at least twice a year. She also teaches Vietnamese at her church in Fort Worth.

Julie treasures the lifelong relationships with “the many genuine, bright individuals” that she established at Trinity, including professor Dr. Mary Stefl, with whom she has kept in touch, and many members of her 2003 On Campus class who have stayed close. She has a special shout-out for HCADAA Board Member Robert Martin ’01, M’03 who “does a wonderful job of keeping us all connected and engaged.”

Julie credits her parents with instilling in her the importance of education, finding joy in your work, helping others, and having a sense of duty to family and community, and it shows. “I love the work I do,” she says enthusiastically. “My organization is driving a ‘healthy’ disruptive change in the health care services industry. Through our collective work, we will bend the cost curve of health care spending, we will empower our providers to coordinate and care for their patients, and we will get people healthier.”