Inspired to her profession after realizing how difficult it can be to fill out and understand paperwork, Trisha D. Baker-James first earned an Associate of Arts in business management and a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing from the University of the Virgin Islands. She decided to focus her efforts on the medical field due to the sheer volume of paperwork that the field necessitates and her desire to help health care professionals have the ability to focus more on their patients rather than excess paperwork. Embarking on her career as an assistant clerk and medical secretary for the Virgin Islands Board of Medical Examiners with the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health in 1994, she held this role until 2002, when she joined the Schneider Regional Medical Center.
At the Schneider Regional Medical Center, Ms. Baker-James served as the coordinator of medical and library services for the Office of the Medical Director from 2002 to 2004 before rising to become the chief medical officer, site administrator and executive assistant from 2004 to 2016. She was also part of the National Health Service Corps program, through which she helped physicians, nurses and other health care professionals with grants and loans, managed payroll for health care providers, and reviewed legal contracts. During this tenure, she returned to the University of the Virgin Islands and obtained a Master of Public Administration in 2009. This was followed by earning green and yellow belts from Six Sigma and certification as a public manager.
Continually motivated to help people, Ms. Baker-James joined the U.S. Department of Justice as the territorial risk manager for their medical malpractice risk unit in 2016 and rose to become the risk manager for special projects with the unit in 2017. Standing out in her field for her dedication and commitment, she has excelled as the owner of Med Cred Plus, LLC, a medical credentialing and paperwork service, since 2020. In this role, she offers various credentialing, paperwork and documentation management services for professional and civic organizations, businesses, schools, churches, summer camps and individuals. Looking toward the future, Ms. Baker-James hopes to expand her business to provide services outside of the Virgin Islands.
Alongside her primary responsibilities, Ms. Baker-James has been active in a number of other professional and civic endeavors. Presently, she serves on the boards of the Smiling Eyes Foundation, which provides grants and scholarships for students, and University Bound, a college preparatory program run by the University of the Virgin Islands. She also holds membership in the International Association of Women, the Golden Key International Honour Society, the American Society for Public Administration, Future Business Leaders of America, the National Association of Executives and the YWCA. Furthermore, Ms. Baker-James is an active member of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in St. Thomas.
Having accomplished much over the course of her career, Ms. Baker-James is particularly proud of achieving tuition reimbursement for health care providers and creating a physician directory and orientation manual at the Schneider Regional Medical Center. Other career highlights for her include receiving a library grant for $20,000 and helping to re-establish the Virgin Islands’ malpractice program. For her excellence, she was presented with a Women Inspiring and Making History Business and Entrepreneurship Award in 2021 and a certificate from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 2020. Earlier in her career, she was named Employee of the Year by the Schneider Regional Medical Center in 2012 and listed in Future Business Leaders of America in 1999. Above everything, Ms. Baker-James considers her favorite part of her career to be watching the people that she has helped excel.
Ms. Baker-James attributes much of her success to her mother, Gladys Baker, who encouraged her to work hard for what she wanted and instilled in her a great strength of character. With great pride and love for her family, she has been married to her husband, Ricky James Sr., for many happy years. Together they are the proud parents of two children, Ricky James Jr., who, in his junior year of college, is already working and investing in stocks, and Rhea G. Madison, age 10, who has written and published two books, “The Runaway Avocado” and “The Runaway Watermelon.” Her family also includes her 10 siblings, six sisters and four brothers. With her major life goal to be living her life well and honestly, Ms. Baker-James’ favorite thing to do outside of her work is spend time with her family.