Brian Freund

Text version of Brian Freund's keynote remarks

My name is Brian Freund.  I am the Network Director for SSM WorkHEALTH, the occupational medicine program in St. Louis.
I came to work for SSM Health Care by accident -- as a way for my wife and me to move closer to home.  When I arrived for my interview at SSM Rehab, the first thing I noticed was the mission statement and the values. At that moment I knew I was supposed to be here.  However, at that moment it was still about me.

During my second year at Rehab, I had the opportunity to treat a 15 year old young man in physical therapy.  He had had cardiac problems from birth, and over the years had several heart surgeries.  A few months before he came to us, he had a severe blood clot and nearly lost his leg below the knee.  He was seeing me to regain the function of his leg. 

This young man showed tremendous resolve and was recovering wonderfully. But on a visit to Cardinal Glennon, a physician discovered that he would need a heart transplant.  A week before Christmas, he received a new heart. But just 24 hours later, his body began to reject it, and the young man passed away on Christmas Eve. 

On Christmas Day I received a call at home from his family to let me know this sad news. His mother told me how much of an influence I had been for this patient and his family.  Right then I realized I was part of a special organization, and my reason for being here was much larger than to just fill a job.

Over the past seven years I have come to realize an extremely important fact. It is this: The work I do every day has absolutely nothing to do with me.  Rather, it has everything to do with the people I serve.  The people I serve include everyone I come into contact with on a daily basis. Whether it be the people who report to me, our staff, or our customers, it is my duty to make sure I serve these individuals in a manner consistent with our mission. 

Certainly I want to grow my career and be successful in this organization, but my primary responsibility is to the people I serve and to contribute to the success of the organization. 

As I have learned more about our heritage, I have come to realize that what I do is much larger than coming to work every day and doing my job. I am a servant leader who carries on the mission and heritage of our system. I carry on the healing that the sisters began 135 years ago. And I do it by serving.  I have been given the opportunity to carry on a history of care like no other, and how I choose to serve the people I care for . . . is in my hands.