By Sarah Sikandar
Signal Staff Writer
Dr. Larry Kidd’s 14-year relationship with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital is coming to an end, as he moves on to pursue other professional and personal interests. He recently reflected on his time at the hospital, and what he looks forward to in the upcoming years.
Kidd started out as a chief nurse executive and subsequently took on the roles of senior vice president and chief nursing officer.
“Initially, I was to do an interim assignment here,” Kidd said. “At the time I was a student, and I did not think that I would be able to work long-term at the hospital,” before the administration determined he would be the best fit to be chief nursing officer.
Kidd takes pride in several new and ongoing developments he has been a part of.
“We did not have an interventional cardiac catheterization lab here so patients that came to the hospital requiring certain types of heart procedures, for instance, open heart surgery, were not offered. We have developed a full-service cardiovascular program and we offer cath services, open heart surgery, along with other advanced procedures that some larger hospitals typically would have.”
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, he added, is a STEMI receiving center, which makes it one of the designated places if the paramedics are called for symptoms of a heart attack.
Another clinical service he pointed out is the neonatal intensive care unit, which enables the hospital to take care of newborn babies who need advanced care, instead of sending them to bigger hospitals. “We developed a unit specifically for NICU.”
The hospital has installed two hyperbaric chambers – an oxygen therapy treatment to treat and improve blood circulation.
“We’re able to now treat more advanced wounds. The outcomes are much better for patients who, in some cases, lose a limb or an extremity if that circulation has not improved.”
Speaking of the ongoing ventures, he pointed out development of mental health services that cater to patients with ongoing crisis intervention. Such patients, he added, “need access to medications to manage their mental health needs and that’s pretty much on an outpatient basis.”
He hopes that the hospital will soon be able to increase its capacity to perform different types of advanced surgical procedures, specifically in oncology.
“We have entered a joint venture with USC Keck Medicine. We will have medical specialists, working with our team in oncology services, including surgeons on staff through USC Keck.”
Kidd’s 14-year relationship with HMNH has allowed him to work with a team that endorsed his ideas for a better work environment and new ventures.
“I can just look back over the years and see all the things that are here today that weren’t here when I started. It was just great to be a part of that. What kept me going, among other things, was the staff. The folks here are just great to work with.”
Kidd remembers when COVID-19 hit in the spring of 2020, and all the lessons it taught to those in the medical profession. What initially seemed a short-term thing was a pandemic that tested everything about how medicine worked.
He says that the challenge allowed them to increase their knowledge and work on long-term developments.
“I think we have managed well to anticipate the needs of evaluating our own data internally as to what’s happening in the community. It (COVID-19) also gave us some sense of how we needed to shift our practices and our operation.”
Once Kidd leaves Henry Mayo, a clinical leadership team, which is already in place, will take over different aspects of his work. “We have the people on board who are able to cover the areas that I had oversight of for a long time.”
Kidd is not used to not working. His family doesn’t believe he won’t be working. “They think I’m going to sneak back over here to work.”
“My goal is to take some time off and pursue some things that I haven’t really explored a lot during my career. That might be something along the lines of working in academia, teaching, perhaps doing some consulting.”
He’s also looking forward to working on pet projects — “projects that are near and dear to my heart.”
He might soon be in Haiti for one of those projects. He volunteers for a nursing program in Haiti to expand access to patients there.
“Haiti has a very low number of registered nurses and physicians. I’ve worked with the group to develop a bachelor of science in nursing program, as well as a nurse practitioner program there. That’s one of the areas that I’d like to work on and help advance access to care through projects like that.”
