The COVID pandemic provided Amy Blum, an HIM professional primarily focused on medical classification activities, an opportunity to stretch her boundaries and help her agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), handle a public health crisis. This presentation will share experiences and lessons learned from a federal HIM professional’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic response at the agency level. In this session, the speaker hopes to provide inspiration to other HIM professionals to seek out new opportunities when they become available, even those removed from normal career duties.