Bear Valley Community Healthcare District (BVCHD)

Scott M. Surico

Rural Healthcare Modernizer

For more than thirty-three years, my career has been shaped by a single driving force: improving the way patients receive care. I began as an Emergency Medical Technician, working both on an ambulance and in an urgent care setting. Those early experiences ignited a desire to deepen my clinical knowledge, ultimately leading me to become a Registered Nurse and later earn my nursing degree.

My first role as an RN was on an orthopedic and neurology medical-surgical floor, which quickly progressed to the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit. During eight years in CCU/CVICU, I pursued every certification and training opportunity available, determined to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible. I also worked part-time as a pediatric nurse, fulfilling my passion for caring for children. These experiences prepared me for the next major chapter of my career: joining one of the busiest Emergency Departments in our county.

Over the next decade, I applied every skill I had to meet the demands of emergency care, the most challenging, rewarding and defining period of my professional life. I contributed to the implementation of sepsis protocols, the development of a comprehensive stroke program and the creation of a behavioral health emergency initiative, including authoring a Trauma-Informed Care course. Eventually, I became the Emergency Services Educator, a role that reshaped my understanding of patient needs across the ED, inpatient units and ICU, as well as the needs of families navigating crisis. It also taught me how to tailor education to diverse learning styles, a skill that continues to guide my leadership today.

Currently, I serve as the Director of Patient Care Management and Education at a rural critical-access hospital in a mountain resort community. Here, the challenges are unique: balancing patient acuity with staffing skill mix, navigating limited resources and designing solutions that support patient safety and staff well-being. This role has transformed my approach to nursing, shifting me from traditional “grit and grind” methods toward technology-driven innovation.

Technology as a Rural Care Equalizer

One of the most impactful examples of this shift has been our journey to becoming a stroke-ready facility. Coming from a comprehensive stroke center, I recognized immediately that our rural community faced significant delays in accessing specialty stroke care. With the support of our CEO, I helped lead the effort to close that gap.

“Technology has not replaced the heart of nursing: it has amplified it, allowing us to deliver safer, faster, and more equitable care no matter where we practice.”

Technology has become the backbone of our solution. Our hospital partnered with a comprehensive stroke center down the mountain, a telehealth neurology group and an AI-driven imaging platform capable of identifying large-vessel occlusions within minutes. Today, when a patient arrives with stroke symptoms, they go directly to CT. Within two minutes, AI interprets the scan. Within minutes more, a neurologist appears on our telehealth “stroke robot,” assessing the patient in real time, reviewing imaging and initiating treatment. Previously, a rural patient would have to wait to be flown 20 to 30 minutes down the mountain before ever seeing a specialist. Anticoagulation can often be administered immediately, and patients are rapidly flown to the comprehensive center for advanced care.

This technologically enabled workflow delivers lifesaving intervention 20 to 40 minutes faster than what was previously possible, a profound improvement for a small mountain community where every minute of brain time matters. Telehealth and AI have become true equalizers, bringing big-city capability to a rural hospital. They have enabled our hospital to increase our stroke volume in our community from one per month to an average of seven per month and have improved staff competency and patient outcomes through our strong relationship with our comprehensive stroke partners.

Balancing Technology, People and Care

Balancing quality patient care, effective staff education, a supportive work environment and personal well-being is not always easy. But my commitment to patients, my support for my team and my drive to pursue better solutions continue to fuel my work.

Technology has not replaced the heart of nursing: it has amplified it, allowing us to deliver safer, faster and more equitable care no matter where we practice.