Why I Came, Why I Stayed: For 18 years, Rollie Hardies has found great leaders and opportunities at Methodist

In “Why I Came, Why I Stayed,” you’ll get to know people who are making a difference every day at Methodist and how they contribute to providing The Meaning of Care. To explore career opportunities at Methodist, visit bestcare.org/jobs.

Rollie Hardies, DC, MBA, AT-Ret., LSSBB
Manager of Operational Innovation
Methodist Health System

Tell us a little about yourself.

I love being a part of the Operational Innovation team for the Methodist Health System. Based at the 825 Building, our three-person team has the great opportunity to reach out to all areas of the health system to assist with process improvement projects, provide coaching on tools such as daily visual management and daily huddles, and share continuous improvement-focused leader education.

In 2006, I began working for Jennie Edmundson in the Sports Medicine Department, providing casual medical coverage as a certified athletic trainer for sporting events in the Council Bluffs area while I got my chiropractic practice up and running. Two years later, I took a full-time role with Jennie Ed Sports Medicine, spending 13 years as the head athletic trainer at Thomas Jefferson High School in Council Bluffs. In 2017, I took over the role of lead athletic trainer for the sports medicine team. In 2019, I was able to benefit from the Academy Program through Nebraska Methodist College (NMC) to begin my Master of Business Administration degree. In completing that course of study, I obtained my Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and used that certification to help find a role at the corporate office as an operational innovation specialist in 2021. In August 2024, I was promoted to the role of senior operational innovation specialist, and I was recently named manager of the Operational Innovation Department at Methodist.

My wife, Jacque, and I have been married for 18 years, and have three wonderful boys who keep us very busy with sports and fine arts activities. With some of my free time, I teach online classes in sports medicine and related subjects for Iowa Western Community College. I also taught my first class on “Lean Principles” for NMC last fall.

What attracted you to Methodist?

I originally came to Methodist purely because of name recognition and wanting an opportunity to use my education as an athletic trainer to provide some extra income. It didn’t take me long to understand that Methodist (specifically Jennie Edmundson for me at the time) was an organization that truly had a culture and mission that I wanted to be a part of. The commitment to community and leaders who modeled the values they professed certainly made me want to be a part of that culture.

Why have you stayed?

The biggest reason why I’ve stayed with Methodist has been the outstanding leadership that I’ve had during my time here. Whenever I’ve felt that I’ve been up for a new challenge in my career with Methodist, fantastic leaders have been there to open their doors and help me find the next step.

Scott Jensen, the longtime manager of Jennie Edmundson Sports Medicine and the PT East outpatient clinic in Council Bluffs, gave me an opportunity to take on the role of lead athletic trainer and guided me through the process of applying for the Academy Program to pursue my MBA.

When I finished my MBA, Lisa Fidone, director of rehab at Jennie Edmundson, helped me find new opportunities and encouraged me to reach out to other leaders, even though it would lead to me leaving her team.

Jeff Francis was willing to talk to me about opportunities for me to utilize my Lean Six Sigma certification and even pointed me to the open role in Operational Innovation. Ultimately, he was willing to give me the chance to take on that role, even though I lacked formal experience in process improvement.

During my first three years in Operational Innovation, Maureen Holstein, then director of the department, acted as a mentor and showed genuine interest in my personal and professional development.

Without a doubt, leaders like these have been the reason why I not only have stayed with Methodist but also encourage others outside of the organization to look to Methodist for their next role.

Do you have any favorite memories from your time at Methodist that you can tell us about?

My very favorite memory is from on my first day at Jennie Edmundson. As I was wandering around the hospital looking for Employee Health as part of my orientation, a nice gentleman in a suit noticed that I looked lost and offered to not only give me directions to Employee Health but also walk me there. As he walked me to Employee Health, he introduced himself only as Steve, welcomed me to Jennie and showed a lot of genuine interest in learning more about me and what brought me to the organization. After we parted ways, I learned that it was Steve Baumert (CEO of the hospital at the time) who had modeled the welcoming behaviors that he asked of all employees. I know he was a busy guy, but him taking the time out of his day to ensure that I not only got to where I was going but also was made to feel like I was important left me with an experience that is still vivid 18 years later.

His example helped show me what the culture of the Methodist Health System looked like and how leaders were expected to show it. It’s my goal to live up to that example every single day.

What should people know about Methodist, its mission and/or its culture?

Methodist’s mission goes beyond just being a catchy slogan; it’s our call to action. In the Continuous Improvement Leader Education that we teach through Operational Innovation, we spend a lot of time talking about the “principle-driven traits” that are necessary of leaders in a continuous improvement culture. Part of that time is spent stressing that it’s the observable behaviors of those traits that really matter, and not simply agreeing with the concepts. 

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure to work directly under several people and with literally hundreds of others throughout the health system who demonstrate through their behaviors the way we “improve the health of our communities by the way we care, educate and innovate” every single day. Those people are the reasons why I came and why I stayed.