WHAT’S NEW AT BRYAN Past and present shape his future

Past and present shape his future

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. R

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 r emember that this is a people business first . No matter how technical or business-like health car e 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.

My other brother is a year younger than I. He was a firefighter in Lincoln until retiring and is now back on the farm. W e’re differ ent 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 CP A firm in Omaha , which at the time seemed like New York City to me! That ’s wher e I got my first taste of the health car e 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 sever al r etirement communities. I r eturned 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 differ ent geogr aphic ar eas and ar e 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

Russ Gronewold enjoys meeting co-workers from throughout Bryan, such as these Labor and Delivery Unit staff nurses.

different we are, be fascinated about why we are the way we are, be fascinated about others’ perspectives. That’s allowed us to keep some real family unity, and we kind of take that into our other roles.

So, this works on the job, too?

Absolutely. For example, we might be working with a physician who has a different perspective from a clinician who has a different perspective from someone in the support areas. We really have to step back and ask, “Gosh, I wonder why they’re reacting this way. I wonder how I can take this not as a frustration but as an opportunity to learn something about that person and see how we can make this work.”

What’s in the future for you? For Bryan?

Now that we’re empty nesters, Jane and I love to travel — mostly to see our kids — and we love reading and golfing together. As for Bryan, I’m really confident in our current leadership team! How might our role in the community change? We’ve always been an important safety net provider whether it’s in trauma or behavioral health or neonatal intensive care or other areas. Now we’re being asked how we will connect with providers, the school system, businesses, the health department and other constituents to bring better health to the larger community.

We have to think ahead. We owe this to all the folks who rely on us. We are a community hospital for Lincoln, but we’re also a tertiary hospital for other parts of Nebraska and bordering states.

Health care is changing a lot, so we’re looking at what it takes to be a leading-edge provider. Maintaining strong relationships with independent physicians and communities is essential. Being a leader also involves Bryan researching all the ways to help Crete Area Medical Center and Merrick Medical Center serve their communities, and it means continuing to establish new programs and facilities, such as a Cancer Center coming to south Lincoln, improving our medical center campuses and adding new office buildings and Bryan Urgent Care centers elsewhere in the city. We’re looking at technological pr ogress in ar eas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, and telemedicine is helping us partner with rural communities in ways not imagined just a decade ago. Again, we’re investing without forgetting what it means to be a community hospital.

I want to understand what makes us tick. Why do people love Bryan? And how do we get even better? I’m excited to find out, and I’m excited to be working with all of you as your Bryan Health CEO. n

VIDEO

To watch an interview with Bryan Health CEO Russ Gronewold, go to bryanhealth.org/about-us.