Get to know Dr. Heather O’Toole, Select Health’s chief medical officer

Select Health’s chief medical officer, Dr. Heather O’Toole, keeps a busy work schedule. Despite her meeting-filled workdays, Dr. O’Toole finds time for some of her favorite hobbies. She enjoys cooking and learning to prepare a variety of culturally diverse foods. During the pandemic, she took virtual cooking classes that ranged from pasta to soul food. These varied cooking classes were right up her alley, she loves to try new types of foods from all over the world. This seems to be a character trait of Dr. O’Toole; she seeks to learn and try new things. 

Dr. O’Toole would prefer to try and taste new food as she travels to interesting and unfamiliar locations. Traveling is a hobby that she enjoys from the idea of traveling to a location, researching the location, booking travel, and taking off. She admits that she can spend hours looking at travel sites to discover the best places to travel to.  

One of the greatest influences in her life is her father. Dr. O’Toole credits her father, a retired Air Force pilot, for instilling in her a strong work ethic. After his career in the Air Force, her father retired to the family farm and worked long days. She learned from him during this time that there will never be a smooth road in life, and to expect obstacles. Whether it is a hailstorm that destroys the crops, a disease passing through the livestock, or farm equipment that breaks down, she learned from her father to think creatively and differently about problems. Dr. O’Toole’s father was influential in her decision to join the Air Force after completing her family medicine residency. As a military officer and primary care physician, she cared for active duty, dependents, and retirees at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona for three years. 

Helping out on the family farm, Dr. O’Toole was given many responsibilities that have helped and influenced her career today. One of which was bookkeeping. She learned about operating expenses, watching the stock market to forecast when to lock prices on crop sales, or when to purchase fuel for the farm. She believes that those experiences on the farm fit along with the health insurance world when thinking of each year’s P&L, operating expenses, and forecasting the crop season.  

Dr. O’Toole enjoys music whether it is live or playing in her home. She enjoys music of all genres and cultures. But her favorite music is pop music, and her favorite pop band is ABBA. As a devoted fan, she traveled to Stockholm, Sweden a few years ago to visit ABBA The Museum……. she loved it!  

The advice that she would give to all Select Health caregivers is to never stop learning. She is a big proponent of learning, even if you don’t know what you want to do for a career. She suggests just beginning by picking something to learn about it. Dr. O’Toole has found that there have been project assignments that she did not think she was interested in, but once she dug in and learned about the project, she found it fascinating. These opportunities opened her eyes to other opportunities and fields of interest. She also advises to always be open to trying something new, whether it is food, music, cultures, new locations, or work assignments. Always be open to learning, even if it doesn’t sound interesting, it may turn out to be the best decision you have ever made.