Fractional COO · Multi-Site Operator

Your operation has outgrown its infrastructure. I fix that.

I work inside multi-site healthcare, veterinary, and service organizations to find exactly where execution is breaking — and build the operating infrastructure to fix it. Not a report. A result.

Mary Cook
$150M+

P&L responsibility across PE-backed multi-site operations

2 → 10

Hospitals scaled in under 12 months with operating infrastructure that held

38%

Year-over-year revenue growth under operating ownership

$22M

Annual run-rate savings across a $300M global service delivery portfolio

What I Actually Do

Most operational problems aren't leadership failures.

They're systems that were never built to scale. I find the exact points where execution is breaking — across teams, locations, and reporting layers — and I build the infrastructure to fix it.

Find where margin is leaking.

I surface the cost drivers and structural inefficiencies eroding performance before they show up in the financials.

Close the execution gap between your best and worst sites.

Variance across locations is expensive and hard to see from the top. I build the accountability structures that make performance consistent.

Build an operating rhythm that actually works.

Cadence structures that make performance visible and correctable in real time, not in a quarterly review.

Make the contact center explainable.

Turn black-box service functions into measurable, manageable operations with clear ownership and real KPIs.

Turn scattered initiatives into one operating system.

Competing priorities are the most common — and most expensive — root cause of operational drag. I consolidate them into a single thesis the whole organization can execute.

Who I Work With

Built for High-Stakes Operators

I operate where the complexity is real, the stakes are high, and a generalist consultant won't survive the first week. My track record spans environments where people and performance are under pressure at the same time.

PE-Backed Portfolio Companies

Your value creation plan needs an operator, not another advisor. I provide the execution infrastructure that makes targets real — not just projected.

Multi-Site Healthcare & Veterinary

Clinical businesses where patient experience and operational efficiency have to move together — without sacrificing either. I've built the systems that make that work across 10+ locations.

PBM & Managed Care Platforms

Pharmacy benefit operations and payer businesses where formulary management, claims adjudication, and service delivery require discipline and scale.

Contact Centers & CX Operations

High-volume service operations that have become opaque to leadership and expensive to manage. I install the systems that make them visible, measurable, and improvable.

CEOs, Boards & PE Partners

You have enough strategy. What you need is someone who has run the work at scale and can see the operating layer clearly. That's the conversation I'm here for.

How This Works

How Engagements Work

This is not a discovery engagement that ends in a slide deck. Every phase produces a decision, a structure, or a measurable outcome. The methodology is direct, embedded, and built for organizations that need to move fast without losing their footing.

01

Diagnose

I find where the system is actually breaking, not where leadership assumes it is. Data, process, direct observation. No surveys, no workshops.

02

Create Clarity

We align on what matters and what doesn't. Competing priorities are the most common and most expensive root cause of operational drag. This step eliminates them.

03

Build the Operating System

Structure, rhythm, and accountability built to match your organization's actual capacity. Not a textbook framework. Not a template. Infrastructure that fits.

04

Execute and Transfer

I stay embedded until the system runs under its own power, not mine. You keep the infrastructure, the rhythm, and the results.

Point of View

If something feels off in your operation, it probably is.

Most teams don't have a people problem. They have a system problem they've learned to live with. The workarounds become the workflow. The friction becomes the baseline. And then margin starts moving in the wrong direction without a clear explanation.

I get called in when leadership can feel the problem but can't isolate it. When the data says one thing and the floor says another. When growth has simply outrun the infrastructure built to support it.

I get pulled in when:

  • Growth has outpaced structure — and no one can pinpoint where the breakdowns are.
  • Performance varies wildly across sites with no clear operational explanation.
  • Leadership has stopped trusting its own reporting.
  • Your best people are working hard but not improving outcomes. Effort without traction.
  • The contact center is a black box no one can fully explain.
  • Margin is slipping with no clear cause visible from the top.

If that's what you're seeing, you don't need more analysis. You need someone who can see the system and fix it.

Mary Cook
About

The Operator Behind the Work

I've spent my career inside multi-site service operations — not advising them from the outside. P&L responsibility across healthcare and veterinary platforms. Scaled organizations from startup to institutional scale. Built the operating infrastructure that let leadership actually lead.

I've spent too many years watching good people burn energy fighting systems that were never built to help them succeed. What still matters to me isn't the deck or the technology — it's the moment the noise drops and the work starts feeling possible again.

I like fixing the things that quietly hurt organizations: broken handoffs, confused ownership, metrics nobody trusts, customers repeating themselves three times for help. Turning complexity into an operation people can believe in again — that's the part I don't get tired of.

Voices

What Leaders Say

I had the pleasure of working for Mary Cook during her time as Market Owner at Veterinary Emergency Group, and I can confidently say she is one of the most forward-thinking and dynamic leaders I've ever collaborated with. Mary possesses an incredible ability to inspire and lead teams while consistently delivering impressive results.
Lisa Pasquarello Medical Director · Veterinary Emergency Group
Beyond the infectious enthusiasm and deep domain knowledge, she readily accepts accountability and is equally skilled at holding others to account. Mary's combination of skills makes her a high impact member of the team. I strongly endorse her.
Steve Zirkel SVP, Global CRM · ServiceNow
More from leaders I've worked with →
Engagement Options

Three Ways to Work Together

Every engagement is scoped to the actual problem — not a packaged service retrofitted to your situation. Three structures, each designed for a different stage, speed, and level of operational proximity.

Fractional COO

Best for: Organizations that need a senior operator in the seat but aren't ready for a permanent hire.

Embedded operator support with real P&L responsibility — not advisory influence. I carry operational ownership so your team has a decision-maker in the room, not another voice on the call.

Executive Advisory

Best for: CEOs and PE partners who want an experienced operator's perspective before making commitments.

A direct relationship with someone who has run the work at scale. Not general counsel. Focused operational guidance for the decisions that matter most — before you commit capital, structure, or people.

Investment & Process

Transparent on Scope. Clear on Value.

Engagements are scoped to the complexity of the problem, the pace required, and the level of embedded involvement needed to produce a real result. No retainer structures designed to outlast the work. No packaged services retrofitted to your situation. The investment matches the work — not the other way around.

Not sure which structure fits? Start with the diagnostic. Five minutes. More clarity than most assessments that take five weeks.

Start a Conversation

What to Expect

01

Initial Conversation

30 minutes. No pitch. A direct conversation about what's happening and what's at stake.

02

Scope Alignment

Clear definition of the problem, the outcome, and the structure — before any commitment is made.

03

Engagement Begins

Embedded, direct, and focused on a measurable result — not a report that lives in a shared drive.

Diagnosis

The Problems Hiding in Your Operation

In high-growth service environments, the problem is rarely effort. It's friction. Teams are working hard. Leaders are engaged. But the system underneath is generating drag that compounds quietly — until it surfaces as a performance problem, a margin problem, or a retention problem.

The Operating Reality

Workflows that burn out your strongest operators

When structure is missing, the most capable people absorb the chaos. They leave — and the systems problem becomes a talent problem too.

Systems that create noise instead of signal

Too many metrics, too little clarity. Leaders stop trusting the data and start operating on instinct — which is expensive at scale.

Not sure where the problem is? That's exactly why I built this.

Most operators can feel the friction. Few can isolate it. The gap between knowing something is wrong and knowing exactly what to fix is where organizations stall — and where improvement initiatives run against the wrong root cause.

I built this diagnostic to help leaders identify exactly where their operation is leaking margin, losing clarity, or straining teams. It's structured around the same framework I use in the first phase of every engagement.

Takes 3–5 minutes. No form to fill out. No sales call on the other end. Just clarity on where to look first.

Run the Diagnostic
Operator Tools

Built from the Work

Two interactive tools drawn directly from how I run multi-site platforms. No email signup. Results are instant.

Diagnostic

Platform Operating Maturity Diagnostic

A 14-question diagnostic across five dimensions: intake & scheduling, contact center, data & dashboards, margin architecture, and people systems. Returns a maturity score and an operator read on where the real leverage sits. Built for PE sponsors, CEOs, and boards stress-testing a multi-site platform before the next capital event.

Launch Diagnostic →
Calculator

Voice AI Savings Calculator

Enter call volume, agent count, and cost per call. See estimated savings across four modular Voice AI accelerators — KNOW (RAG Knowledge Hub), GUIDE (Agent Assist), MEASURE (AI QA), and SPEAK (IVR-to-IVA). Monthly and annual totals, grounded in contact center benchmarks.

Launch Calculator →
See four more operator tools →