Shelley Mannarino, Lead Technologist, Mammogram, Cleveland Clinic Strongsville Health Center, started her career in healthcare the way many people do — by talking with someone who was in the field. In this instance, it helped her make up her mind about what to pursue. 

“For me, it was a toss-up between nursing and imaging,” she says. “My neighbor’s friend had been working in imaging and mammography for 20 years. When I talked to her, it sounded like a really interesting field.” 

Shelley attended the Hillcrest School of Diagnostic Imaging, and was hired by Hillcrest Hospital when she graduated. She worked at Hillcrest until an opportunity to lead the breast imaging diagnostic center at the Cleveland Clinic Elyria Family Health Center, which was closer to her home, became available.  

A variety of duties 

Shelley is a committed caregiver. “I’m very proud to work at Cleveland Clinic,” she says. “I wouldn’t work anywhere else.” 

Since 2018, Shelley has been the Lead Technologist, Mammography at the Cleveland Clinic Strongsville Health Center. She is also the team lead for breast imaging operations for the Independence, Twinsburg, Macedonia, Wooster and Middleburg Heights Family Health Centers.

As team lead, Shelley manages the daily workflow, trying to make the day as seamless as possible and keeping patient appointments on track. Interacting directly with patients is still very important to her. Shelley leads with empathy and helps patients through challenging times. 

“If a patient has had issues or concerns, I will call them to discuss it,” she says. “I really enjoy having a dialogue with patients and making the situation better.” 

Leading by example 

Shelley’s management style is modeled on that of a mentor at a previous position, who made it a point to state her expectations and hold her employees accountable, and also made it a point to listen to her employees. 

“When she was listening to you, she would really hear what you were saying,” Shelley says. “And she had a great work ethic. I looked at her as a mentor because I admired how she was with people and situations. We had a connection.”

Shelley has utilized this management style in her current role by clearly leading by example. “I always demonstrate whatever I want my teams to know,” she says. “I try to teach them, ‘this is how I would do it, or if I’m not here, this is how you should handle this’.  

“If somebody’s not getting something, I will show them what I mean. Maybe they can take something from how I do it and make it their own.” 

Patients are the priority 

Shelley takes pride in the level of care that Cleveland Clinic provides in imaging and mammography. “We have a very extensive breast imaging program for our patients,” she says. “We do biopsies and ultrasound of the breast in our Strongsville location. Everyone is specialized in their area. It’s great teamwork. There’s a lot of camaraderie.” 

Shelley has a special appreciation for the ways her team helps patients. “One of the most rewarding parts of my job is knowing that my team and I are doing something that’s important, and we’re saving lives. Our patients leave knowing that they have had the best service. We make them feel like they are our family members.” 

Growing her leadership skills 

Shelley has taken advantage of the numerous Cleveland Clinic benefits and programs available to caregivers, such as the Healthy Choice program to lower the cost of her health insurance.  

She’s also utilized the Cleveland Clinic Leader Development program to assist her in her role as team lead. This program offers classes to managers to help develop and hone leadership skills, in such areas as accountability, conflict management, critical thinking and development coaching, reflecting Cleveland Clinic’s values of teamwork, quality and inclusion, integrity, innovation, inclusion and empathy.   

“I take classes and seminars about how to manage teams to work collaboratively, ” she says. “I am a firm believer in the Cleveland Clinic Leader Development program.”

Shelley is a Cleveland Clinic caregiver who is saving lives and making a difference at a Family Health Center, rather than a hospital setting. Many such opportunities are available, all part of making Cleveland Clinic the best place to receive care and the best place to work in health care.