SENIOR MANAGER PROFILES
Newest executives take charge in midst of pandemic In the first months of 2020, four leaders transitioned into new roles in Bryan Health’s executive team. Although they might be familiar faces by now, we interviewed them to get a better sense of their backgrounds, leadership roots and impressions of Bryan amidst a health care crisis.
John Woodrich, President and CEO of Bryan Medical Center and Executive Vice President of Bryan Health John has been with Bryan for a decade, transitioning to his new role in January. Hard work has defined a career spanning eight hospitals/systems, and it’s what led him into health care, as we found out when we asked him about his childhood. I grew up in a relatively poor family in Omaha. There were seven of us living in a one-bedroom house. So, I earned my way at most things. I was always working, and I saved. I went to a Catholic high school and paid my own tuition. I bought my own car. I paid all my own college expenses at Bellevue University and never had to take out a loan. I actually started college the June after graduating from high school and completed it in two and a half years. I worked full-time in a hospital on the night shift in sterile processing. Once I got my work done, I’d sit there and do my homework. So when did you find time to sleep? I’m one of those people who’s good on about five to six hours. I’ve always been that way. Going back through high school I had a job at a bakery where my shift started at 3:30 a.m. Have you always been in the Midwest? I was away for 24 years and have been back for 10. My first big break was as a materials management director at University of Missouri Health. Since then I’ve gotten an MBA and held leadership positions at hospitals in Michigan and Virginia and in corporate health care with Mercy in Kansas. What’s kept you in health care for over 40 years? It’s constantly challenging, that’s what makes it great. Jumping in and figuring it out, that’s how I got my first senior leadership position at Trinity. They were building a new hospital and my mentor wanted me to oversee it. At the end of the process, he asked if I was interested in being vice president of operations, and when I said yes, he responded, “Good, I was planning on telling the leadership team tomorrow.”
This story is brought to you by Cornhusker Bank. 8 Summer 2020
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