A long-time healthcare leader, he's the president of what will be Nevada's first stand-alone children's hospital.

Lawrence Barnard is our guest this week on Nevada Week In Person.

♪♪ Support for Nevada Week In Person is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week In Person.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he was a captain in the US Army and served as a helicopter and fixed-wing pilot.

Also a veteran in healthcare administration, he's held executive positions at Dignity Health and University Medical Center.

Lawrence Barnard, President of the forthcoming and first stand-alone children's hospital in Nevada, thank you for joining Nevada Week In Person.

-Of course.

I love being here and talking to you about things.

-And we had you on recently on Nevada Week to talk about this hospital.

For our viewers who did not see that, can you summarize why this is needed in Nevada?

(Lawrence Barnard) Yeah.

There are two metropolitan cities, large metropolitan cities, that don't have a children's hospital, a dedicated children's hospital.

We're one of them.

And so, really, the intent of this is we have good pediatric care here, we have really great pockets of physicians and services--kind of like cardiology, oncology--but we don't have one place to bring it all together.

Right now, it's at different facilities, and so parents have to drive all over.

It's really creating an anchor point, and then once that's built, kind of growing that healthcare system together.

-Still on track to open in 2030?

-Yes, still 2030.

-And you are recruiting people to work there, so perhaps they can watch this and know what kind of boss they're going to have?

-Hopefully.

Yeah, it's really exciting to-- It's exciting and daunting, right?

So, good example, there's 250 active pediatric neurosurgeons in the US.

So you're thinking about all the states, all of the major cities.

There's only 250.

We happen to have one here.

Intermountain has one that works here in the city.

But how do we get one or two more when you have 250 to go from?

So it really is going to be not only, you know, the people that they work with, but the vision of what we're creating, getting in on the ground floor.

It's exciting but scary at the same time.

-And I'm sure you have faced similar situations, exciting yet scary.

I think of you as a pilot.

And I had to ask you off camera, What is a fixed-wing pilot?

You told me it's an airplane.

-Yeah.

It's a fancy way to say airplane.

-Versus a helicopter?

-Versus a helicopter.

-Okay.

And that was through the US Army.

Why did you join the Army?

-I joined the Army-- So most people look at me and go, This guy was not in the military.

He didn't go to West Point.

I don't have that vibe.

My dad was a retired colonel in the Army, and so I kind of went into it a little blindly of, I'm going to do what my dad did.

You know, every Halloween I'm dressed up as a little soldier.

And really, kind of what drove that also is just a feeling of service to something bigger than myself.

I know it sounds kind of cheesy as I say it out loud, but it just it felt like the right thing to do, and I got so much out of it and enjoyed every moment in it.

-Why do you think you were drawn to service?

-I think it's just watching my parents.

You know, my dad was in the military.

My mom is Japanese, from Okinawa.

And you really see-- -And that's where they met?

-And that's where they met; they met in Okinawa.

She couldn't speak any English.

My dad tried to, you know, woo her with his broken Japanese.

At one point, she thought-- There's such a different culture.

During that time, credit cards were not a thing in Japan.

And so my mom was like, This guy's poor.

Everything's going on a credit card.

He's not paying in cash.

Like, this is not the right place-- or right person for me.

But I get a lot of value from both of them.

My mom-- You know, in Japan when you go to school, that first year or two is not learning colors, not learning numbers.

It's learning about the community and how do you take care-- how do you listen to your elders?

How do you listen to the teacher?

I would go every summer, and they have school during the summer.

And every weekend, we would go into the school and clean it.

And so when you talk to my mom, it's very much about the community and service and the people.

And then with my dad, it was really, you know, doing something bigger than himself.

So I kind of watched them and just thought, you know, I enjoy service to others.

-There are pictures on your Instagram of you as a child in Okinawa.

And one of them, you're pulling a rope like tug of war.

-So every, every summer, they-- Or every year, they have an [in Japanese].

And it is like a huge tug of war rope that's like, huge.

-Oh, like a tree trunk?

-Yeah.

And they weave it by hand, and they do a tug of war.

And there's just a lot of traditions and culture that I love.

And so I've been taking the kids back every summer as much as I can so they can experience something like that.

-Yeah.

Oh, how cool.

-Yeah.

-Also on your Instagram, a picture of when you were in the Army.

The caption is, "I learned that I really didn't know anything about being a leader or even real life in general."

How did you realize that?

-It's amazing that you actually looked at it.

Like, it's one of those things where I'm like, Man, I didn't know people looked at the Instagram like that.

I'm impressed.

Yeah, as I get older, I recognize-- You know, when I, when I was younger, I was like, I got this.

I understand this.

This is pretty simple.

Life is formulaic.

I just need to plan it all out and do it.

And the older I get, the more I realize I don't know anything.

Like, I know enough to get by.

And the people that I, you know-- There was a time when you want to get to this table and be with other people.

You're like, once I get there and meet them, they're going to have it all together and they're going to know.

I finally got to get to some of these tables, and I'm like, they don't know as much either.

Like, they're just figuring it out.

And so-- -That's scary.

-Yeah.

They look-- Everyone looks like they know what they're doing.

And they're, you know, everyone's put together in a certain way.

But if you really think about it-- You know, when I was younger, it was just about, how do I do certain things in my life?

As I get older, I'm like, I just want peace.

I just want my family, my friends.

I want to do something for the community.

And it just gets a little more simple than when I was younger, which was like, How do I get to the next job?

How do I get to the next career path?

How do I do these things?

And it's made my life a lot simpler just kind of thinking that way.

-How did you get into healthcare from the military?

-It's a weird-- Vegas is kind of what drove me into it in a certain way.

So my parents moved to Vegas, and my grandfather was one of the old Frontier guys.

He'd get free, free things to go to the Frontier and play bingo.

Yeah, you're like, Frontiers man?

No, the old Frontier.

So I remember the Frontier very vividly.

So he was always tied to Vegas, and so my family wanted to retire here.

So they moved here, and I was like, I'm getting out of the military.

I'd like to work in Vegas.

And everywhere I called, and usually it was like a casino, they're like, Oh, you're in the Army; you should be on our security team.

And I'm like, Well, I had million dollar assets, I had a bunch of FTEs, and they're like, You sound like someone great for security.

So I was, Okay, I have to do something different.

-FTEs are...?

-Sorry, full-time equivalent.

So, staff.

-Okay.

-And so I realized, I got to do something different.

And so I went back to get my MBA.

-Because you weren't interested?

-I wasn't-- Security is amazing.

What they do is great, and it serves such a purpose.

But at the time, I wanted to do something in operations or management.

And so I went to USC, and there's a scholarship there for 50% of my tuition.

No questions asked, no contest, no... Just, if you're in the military, we're going to pay for half of it.

It turns out it was a retired general from the Marines who started an old company called HMA, and he-- I said, I need to meet this guy.

Like, he's paying for half my tuition.

And he told me that the closest thing to military service in the US is healthcare.

And I really kind of listened.

And I love leadership.

That's kind of my, you know, I always want to keep growing in it.

And so he's like, There's opportunities to be a leader in healthcare.

And at the time, I got a job offer from an AT&T call center, Otis Elevator--learned that they're called people movers in case you were interested--and HMA.

And of the three, I thought, you know, the thing that really drew me was the leadership aspect of healthcare.

And so that's kind of how I went in.

-Have you found similarities between healthcare and the military?

-Definitely.

You know, I think people look at healthcare workers, and sometimes they're like, wow, they're nurses and doctors, and they're, they're, you know, some physicians are making a lot of money, and like-- It's something that, like, when you're younger, especially in an Asian family, they're like, Be a lawyer, be a doctor.

Like, it's just, that means something.

And when you get to know these people and the things that they're giving up to take care of other people, it's really inspiring.

Like it's, you know, think about how often that you are treated or around people that are at the lowest of their lives.

They're just trying to get by.

They can't walk.

They can't do certain things.

And you realize what these individuals give up to try to just help people in their community, and it's just an amazing place.

I am sure there's tons of them that could make money doing something else and make more without that stress, but it's that connection to other people that just really is amazing.

-What about your affinity for wearing costumes at work?

That's on your Instagram as well.

You're at the hospital you're working at, and you are dressed as Santa or you are a superhero or-- Like, where does that stem from?

-So it's weird in a way.

I ended up interviewing for the regional president of St. Rose.

I did it in a lion costume, because-- -Your interview?

-The interview was in a lion costume, full lion costume.

Luckily, she understood what I was doing.

But it was one of those moments where I just, I can't change.

I don't have enough time to change.

We're doing all this stuff at the hospital.

-You were already dressed.

-This wasn't just I woke up and I was like, yeah.

No, this was in the middle of the day.

And so, you know, one of the things that I aspire to put out in the culture in these hospitals that I've worked in is that, you know, people look at the president and they're very accommodating, very supportive.

And the reality is that I'm not the most important person there, but there's lots of times that I get treated like that.

The frontline nurses, the rad techs, the doctors that are rounding at midnight, like that's, those are the people that should be treated well.

Like I'm just here to support them to give that care.

And so I really like to pride myself in not taking myself too seriously.

And I have such a great team that I've worked with that they also believe that too.

And so one thing I, when I'm not wearing costumes and just looking foolish, I actually purposely don't wear a tie because it's the one piece of clothing that has no purpose other than to be like, Look at me.

I'm special.

And so I don't wear a tie because it's important for me to connect with as many people as I can.

-I want to fit in two more topics before we wrap this up.

So connecting with people, tell me-- You told me off camera about how you've met people like Steve Aoki, for example.

-Yeah, it's-- I love Vegas.

Vegas is the most amazing place with the most amazing people.

My dad, when I was younger, was like, You need a network with everyone.

And I have taken that on.

You know, I got to meet Steve because I sent him an email and said, Hey, you're Japanese.

I'm Japanese.

Welcome to Vegas.

And so-- -And this is when he, prior to his rise to fame?

-Yeah, he was, he was big, not like he is today.

And so he invited me to Wet Republic, and I wore a suit and tie and went there.

Everyone's in bikinis, and it was very awkward and weird.

-But you didn't post that.

Instead, you posted a picture of you, I think, jumping off his roof into a pool?

-Yes.

I got very lucky to be able to do that.

But there's so many good people like that, that in Vegas, you just connect with them.

And it doesn't always have to be like a celebrity.

It could be anyone.

My-- I've got a couple of really great friends that are in different industries that have helped me within healthcare, but not being in healthcare.

So like Sean McBurney runs Caesars, and Saville Kellner runs Lake Industries.

And, you know, Jason runs Capriotti's.

Like, there's all these great people that, when you meet them and you talk about making the city better, they're all in, and you create these opportunities to really be a good citizen in Vegas.

-And not everyone's going to respond, but keep plugging away.

-Oh, yes.

I DM a lot of people on Instagram, and my girlfriend always laughs when I'm like, They didn't write back.

Hundreds of DMS that like-- But when you get the one or two and they go, Look, you're doing something in healthcare?

I'd love to help.

That's why we had Kevin Bacon do a concert.

That's why we had Jewel do a concert.

The Imagine Dragons are really connected to the work we're doing now because of, you know, years of just working together.

So it's been great.

-You are "beardofvegas" on Instagram.

You told me that that changed your career, growing a beard.

We don't have time to get into that, but Lawrence Barnard, thank you so much for joining Nevada Week In Person.

-Thank you.

This was amazing.