March 11, 2021
Bryan Lydick: Rooted In Rural Health
For Bryan Lydick, rural health has always been an important part of his life. He grew up in rural Michigan and vividly remembers the day his dad was badly burned and needed medical care. They lived in the country, so getting his dad to the hospital was quite an ordeal. Bryan’s mom drove his father 15 miles to the nearest town where they were met by volunteer EMS personnel. From there, the ambulance took his dad the remaining 20 miles to where he would finally get care at the hospital.
“We lived in a very rural part of Michigan and only had one car,” said Lydick. “So I didn’t actually get to see my dad for nearly two months while he was getting treated. But I remember when he got home, all wrapped in bandages. I was impressed because once he healed, he didn’t have a scar on him. They took great care of him.”
Lydick now leads rural health care for CentraCare’s Southwestern Region, which includes Carris Health, Redwood Falls, Litchfield, Paynesville and Benson. He describes it as a privilege and an honor to serve. He is excited about the opportunity to help shape the future of rural healthcare for the people spread across hundreds of miles and who rely on CentraCare and Carris Health every day. And he’s passionate because he’s lived it and experienced it his whole life.
Early in his career, he worked as a front-line employee in cardiac rehab at a critical access hospital in Michigan. One of his responsibilities was to open the wellness center gym at 5:30 a.m. “I loved that job, because I knew people were counting on me,” said Lydick. “Our staffing was razor thin and I didn’t have a back-up, so if I was late for work or didn’t show up, I was letting those patients down.”
He also credits his affinity for rural healthcare in part to his experiences at his local community hospital. “I was a bit of a reckless kid and had my fair share of sports injuries so I spent some time there,” he said. “In high school, I broke my wrist and the doctor who took care of me said I should think about becoming an orthopedic surgeon. He mentored me for a couple months, but I realized that wasn’t the path for me. I graduated with an exercise physiology degree but was thinking about going back to school to be a teacher, or maybe build houses for a living.”
In rural healthcare, it’s about honesty and connections. We all know each other, we rely on each other and we take care of each other.
But, just as Bryan was contemplating career options, a position opened up at that same local hospital where he and his dad were once patients. “It was a grant-funded, two-year position focused on improving their patient experience,” said Lydick. One of the first things he did was round throughout the hospital to see how patients were treated by staff. He spent days observing and listening. He then captured what he saw in a written memo and shared it with senior leaders. It was a less-than-glowing report. “Ten minutes after sending the memo, I was called to the Chief Medical Officer’s office. He had some choice words and for a minute, I thought I was going to get fired. But he then told me he liked the approach I was taking because I wasn’t blowing smoke. He told me to ‘keep it up.’” So Lydick has continued to stay true to himself and strives for transparency in everything he does.
“In rural healthcare, it’s about honesty and connections. We all know each other, we rely on each other and we take care of each other,” he said. “It’s not just one person. It’s not just me, or the team. It’s all of us. It’s a beautiful thing to serve people.”