WHAT ’S NEW AT BRYAN
Past and present shape his future
R
uss Gronewold was promoted from chief financial officer to Bryan Health’s newest chief executive officer in January. In the following interview, Russ touches on what made him the leader he is today, and he discusses the health care future he hopes we can build by working together.
How do you describe your leadership style? It’s important that we’re being the best at the basics. In health care, there are things we need to do right every single time because that’s what this vital, technical, caring environment demands. We also need to remember that this is a people business first. No matter how technical or business-like health care becomes or no matter how much technology is involved, if we’re not good with people, we’re not going to be better. So, you’ll see me wandering around the medical center because we senior managers have to be present just like clinicians are face to face with their patients to recognize needs and prepare for changes. What about your formative years? Where did you grow up? I’m a small-town kid from Adams, which is about 30 miles southeast of Lincoln. Middle child of three boys; I played eight-man football, and we considered Beatrice the Big City. Chores and responsibilities? I was a farm kid, so I put up hay, walked beans, scooped pens and spent hours and hours and hours on tractors. I loved that life and wish my kids could have experienced it, too. Adventures? My brothers and I earned enough money one summer to buy a small Honda dirt bike, which we rode the five miles on back roads between the farm and Adams. It was actually street legal, so we had sort of unofficial permission from the local police that as long as we didn’t get too crazy on our rides into town, we could keep doing that. So my mom encouraged us to use it for errands, such as playing piano at the local nursing home. That little motorcycle stood for freedom and opportunity. What about your childhood? You say the Gronewold boys were competitive — but remain proud of each other and fiercely loyal. We’re very different. My older brother started out on the farm but then owned a real estate appraisal firm before joining the Army National Guard — eventually becoming a general.
6 Spring 2020
My other brother is a year younger than I. He was a firefighter in Lincoln until retiring and is now back on the farm. We’re different in a lot of ways, but we’re very similar in terms of values, and we still enjoy getting together. Which life events shaped your destiny in health care? I went to Midland University in Fremont, because I wanted to play some college football, but they also had a really good accounting program. After graduating, I ended up at the Arthur Anderson CPA firm in Omaha, which at the time seemed like New York City to me! That’s where I got my first taste of the health care industry, auditing hospitals of all sizes all over Iowa and Nebraska and into Missouri. I taught in college for a few years, then got back into health care as director of finance at Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha. I began negotiating contracts and setting up managed care relationships and eventually ran their physician business. I had the same role at Children’s Hospital before becoming the chief operating officer of several retirement communities. I returned to the finance world and was involved in innovation when I got a call 10 years ago to consider becoming Bryan’s chief financial officer. What about marriage and your family? Jane and I met at a concert through some mutual friends. We started dating soon after and just a little over a year later, we were married. Now we have four grown children, whom we love dearly. Our son is an engineer and our daughter-in-law is a labor and delivery nurse in Los Angeles. We have a daughter who’s a reporter for Politico in New York, another daughter who’s a dental hygienist and married to the owner of a lawn and landscape business, and our youngest daughter is in the restaurant business in Arizona. They’re settled in different geographic areas and are just about as different as they can be. They are liberal and conservative, holding manual labor and white collar jobs. When we get together, we talk about all of the things you’re not supposed to, such as politics and religion and current events. It can get raucous, but we have great conversations around the table, and we’re very respectful afterward. I think that’s because we have a family motto: “Don’t be frustrated, be fascinated.” Rather than be frustrated with how
