June 28, 2021

Lori Mader, Senior Director, Orthopedics

Central, Life@Work

During my senior year of high school, I had a chance to shadow my mom, who was the charge nurse on the ortho/neuro unit at St. Cloud Hospital. I went home that night and told her, “That was really boring.” Shortly after that, wouldn’t you know, I was pursuing a nursing degree! I’ve always been drawn to helping and caring for people. I have three younger brothers and an older brother who all needed lots of help, so I was kind of the second caregiver in the house. It was just natural for me.

I’ve worked in a number of different areas within CentraCare, including inpatient rehab, ICU and the ortho unit. But I’ve always had a passion for orthopedics. After about 15 years at CentraCare, I left to work at the VA and obtained my Master’s Degree. Then I felt like I was at a turning point in my life and I just needed to do patient care again. So I came back to CentraCare and worked the float pool for a year and a half. I learned lots, made a ton of connections, and loved caring for patients.

I eventually made my way back to orthopedics, where I now get to lead a phenomenal team. Everyone has the same goal, and that’s to help patients and make our program a success. Each person knows they play an important role – from patient check-in to referrals to patient care. Everyone gives their heart and soul to make that happen, every day.