Bellevue College Alumna Now Driving Patient Access at Fred Hutch

Megan Brazil, 2012-15
Director of Patient Access at Fred Hutch  

Megan Brazil’s older brother went to Bellevue College, so it seemed natural for her to start there in pursuit of her associate degree in healthcare administration. As a child growing up in Renton, Brazil spent considerable time at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and her experiences left her with a deep appreciation for the people working there. 

“I knew I wanted to work in healthcare in some capacity,” she said. “When I started at Bellevue College, I was considering getting my prerequisites for the clinical side of things.”   

From 2012 to 2015, while attending Bellevue College, Brazil worked in hospitality and found a passion for customer service. Her academic focus shifted to healthcare administration, looking for ways to help people from that angle. 

She cites her social studies classes and learning different communication tactics as useful for her work.     

“I enjoyed all of my classes, and I took a wide variety of classes,” Brazil recalled. “Psych, business, statistics. I tried to be well-rounded and to become a more informed person overall. I felt that was encouraged by our faculty and counselors. That we didn’t have to have everything figured out right away. I really appreciated that.” 

One of her fondest memories of attending Bellevue College was being a member of the Bellevue College Dance Company (BC/DC). Brazil remembers doing a solo on point for one showcase and choreographing pieces for the company.     

“I’m good friends with those dancers today,” she said. “I still see them regularly and do drop-in classes with them.”        

After finishing her studies, she worked for eight years at Seattle Children’s Hospital in several roles, fulfilling her childhood dream. 

Two years ago, Brazil became the Director of Patient Access at Fred Hutch, one of the nation’s premier cancer centers.     

“Patient access is all the administrative and coordination side of healthcare. We have the teams that do all the scheduling of appointments,” Brazil explained, noting that it encompasses all manner of patient contact, from checking in at the front desk to giving directions.  

One of Brazil’s largest projects in 2025 is implementing self-scheduling across multiple departments. Through the MyChart app or online version, it allows patients to schedule their own appointments. 

“I represent the operations side for what we would need, decision tree questions, and bringing in the patient access view,” she said. “We have many scheduling optimizations this year. They are very exciting and a lot of work.”  

Brazil finds her administration career rewarding, especially knowing the positive impact that it makes on patients’ experience while undergoing treatment.  Discovering the possibilities in healthcare administration at Bellevue College created a career focused on helping people that she wanted.