News & PR
Wyatt Brieser named among state hospital network's top '4 Under 40' leaders
The Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN) announced its “4 Under 40” Hospital Leadership winners, including Wyatt Brieser, VP of Operations, Hammond-Henry Hospital, Geneseo, during the organization’s Annual Conference held November 14 at the I-Hotel and Conference Center, Champaign.
He is joined in this honor by Jessica Delost, Chief Compliance and Legal Officer, Gibson Area Hospital, Gibson City; Erin Frank, Director of Marketing & Communications, Horizon Health, Paris; and Kristy Wisslead, APRN-FN, Memorial Hospital, Carthage.
Wyatt started his career at Hammond-Henry Hospital in 2009 as a Rehab Tech. Since that time, he has received several promotions, including the titles of Physical Therapist, LTC Manager, Director of Ancillary Services, and currently, Vice President of Operations.
“As a leader and as a human being, Wyatt is someone to emulate. He ensures that every employee has a voice, from every department, in all walks of life. Everyone is equally important to him,” said Stephanie DeMay, Hammond-Henry Hospital Marketing Manager. “Admiration for Wyatt, his work ethic, and his expertise extend past the walls of the hospital, too. From our Hammond-Henry Hospital and Clinics community, his church community, multiple service organizations, and countless preschool through college-aged students, everyone appreciates Wyatt not only for his kindness and his humility, but his extraordinary ability to build others up in the process.”
Most recently, Wyatt has been instrumental in helping to bring new physicians and new service lines to Hammond-Henry’s hospital and clinics including neurology, chiropractic care, and pain management while also ensuring significant upgrades to our MRI, fluoroscopy machine, and 3-D mammography. He also continues to cover athletic training at offsite sporting events and to build up the Geneseo and Annawan Middle and High School Boys and Girls Summit sports programs and the community-wide Free2Play Youth Fun Day. Wyatt is also an active member of the Geneseo Kiwanis Club, a member of St. Anthony's Church, is an Inspiring Continuing Care Community Partner, and serves as the Geneseo Community Center's Seminars Coordinator.
“It would be impossible to name all the successful projects Wyatt has accomplished since first becoming hired at Hammond-Henry. However, one project stands at the forefront for him: managing the Hammond-Henry Hospital Long-Term Care Living Center through COVID including staffing, regulation changes, testing, and fear of losing a patient to COVID,” said DeMay. “Those years forced Wyatt to get comfortable outside his comfort zone. It forced him to strengthen his skills in creative thinking, problem-solving, resiliency, accountability, hard work, and leadership and, as always, he met and exceeded the goal. Wyatt can also be proud of his success directing and managing the Long-Term Care Living Center in general as this facility has been named a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 5-Star facility for 12 years in a row.”
Wyatt, as Director of Ancillary Services at the time, also supervised laboratory services during COVID where Hammond-Henry Hospital was recording and processing about 45,000 tests per month. Following COVID, Wyatt spearheaded and saw to fruition the $1 million laboratory remodel in 2023 which features an open floor plan for increased efficiency, a staff reception area and waiting room, private blood draw stations, office and storage spaces, and two handicapped accessible bathrooms plus the moving of the main chemistry analyzer and its back-up, a full microbiology lab, molecular diagnostics, chemistry, and all the hematology equipment. The new laboratory was completed in 2023, and its team of 20 continues to handle at least 500,000 lab tests per year.
ABOUT ICAHN
ICAHN’s “4 Under 40” Hospital Leadership Award is open to new and emerging leaders aged 40 and under employed by an ICAHN member hospital or as a member of this hospital’s board for at least two years with a strong record of innovation and outstanding performance.
Located in Princeton, IL, ICAHN is a network of 59 small, rural hospitals dedicated to strengthening the operations of its member hospitals through collaboration. The organization is composed of Illinois hospitals who have earned critical access hospital designation by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is recognized nationally for its work with rural healthcare, administering several state, federal, and private healthcare programs.