Donna Landry is the chief operating officer for Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, in which she oversees the operations of three tertiary hospitals in Acadiana. With an early career in print journalism, Landry pursued a master’s in communications from the American University of Cairo in Cairo, Egypt. After working with national newspaper organizations, she entered health care as a strategic planner and marketing and communications specialist.

Landry is a busy lady. She holds roles on multiple boards, including the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation, Park Place Surgical Hospital and One Acadiana, in addition to leadership roles within Rotary International. She previously served as board chair of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Acadiana, the City of Lafayette Civil Service Board, in addition to terms on the Emergency Medicine Advisory Board for Lafayette Consolidated Government, ULL Communications Advisory Council, YMCA, Evangeline Area Boy Scout Council, Upper Lafayette Foundation, Lafayette Parish Public Education Stakeholders Council, Evangeline Area Boy Scout Council and other organizations.

Tell us about your work at Our Lady of Lourdes. What does it mean to you to be able to intertwine your faith and your work?

I’m the chief operating officer at Lourdes, and I’ve been here 12 years. I get to help facilitate the successes of the people who work on the front line. 

Being able to intertwine my faith and work means a lot to me — so much so that a day does not go by that I’m not aware of, reminded of or feel really fortunate for that connection and the real impact of the same core values that I was raised with.

It wasn’t my intention or plan as a young person, when I pursued an initial career in journalism, to consider then what is now 35 years in health care. Yet, I knew from the start of my health care path that it wasn’t by accident. 

I grew up in a faithful household of six kids with a Catholic-school upbringing. We were taught to not only care about, but really desire and appreciate, my house-system values: compassion, justice, fairness, gratitude and outreach to those who need it at their most vulnerable times.

Lourdes elevates my faith in the workplace where previously it was in the home and the community more so. 

As a caretaker for your parents, how has that experience changed your outlook on life? 

My parents (and my siblings and I) are fortunate enough to have sitters full-time in their home 24/7. My 88-year-old mother has full-blown Alzheimer’s, and my 89-year-old dad is starting to show real signs of aging as well. 

The reference to caretaker struck me because I’m used to saying caregiver. But I’m a taker of so many more things, selfishly, than a giver when it comes to their care. The degree to which my mother thinks every day is a new day and doesn’t know who we are — the degree of staying on my toes for how much her conversations humor me, keep me wide-eyed — I’m just fascinated by it.

My parents each think they’re caring for the other. They’re in love with each other. I have a million stories about the interactions between them and their memory and ability to articulate. The most recent story: My mother, who has a beautiful head of hair, has someone go to her house and fix it on occasion. I looked at her one Sunday and said, “Mom, your hair is gorgeous. It’s shiny, it’s beautiful.”

She’s just pleased with herself.

She looked at me and says, “It just kind of came with my head.” 

My dad, sitting next to her who’s bald and wears one of many favorite ball caps every single day, takes his ball cap off and goes, “Yeah, mine too.” 

In their greatest sense of awareness, pre-Alzheimer’s and dementia, we did not have that conversation. I am fortunate there is nothing onerous or negative about the state of mind they’re in, and I look forward to seeing them. I know that not everyone has this strength and positivity with Alzheimer’s patients. 

Do you have any tips for people who are in the same situation? 

Not to preach it or make it sound easy, but I would say just listen and take their cues. Meet them where they are and be glad that you have them. 

The hardest thing to do is to remember that it’s not about me, it’s about them. If you think of them as a strangers where it doesn’t as much hurt your heart, when you go there, they respond from where they are and then it’s a better relationship. 

That’s easier said than done. 

So, you’ve studied in Egypt. How have your travels influenced your life and the way you lead? 

Travel ranks right up there with work among my greatest gifts and, actually, my greatest vice and obsession. I’ve been more than a little fortunate to see a lot of the world — 30-plus countries and all seven continents.

To get off the beaten path and observe the workplace, health care or otherwise, and to get beyond it to make improvements, I would compare to a travel analogy: Don’t be afraid to explore and experience new things and grow from there. 

Every time I talk to people about travel, I find myself talking about the things that aren’t in the travel books. With health care, you have to look beyond the things that everyone knows — and in everybody’s playbook — to make improvements. 

Put yourself a little at-risk to try new things and explore. I’ve taken something from every place that wasn’t about the place we went, but how it changed my view.

What does volunteerism mean to you? 

Volunteerism is essential to me. I do it in whatever capacity and every opportunity I can get. This is sometimes a flaw: I can’t say no to any volunteer ask. That’s not about being unselfish. If anything, I’m selfish because I get so much gratification from it. 

Not surprising, I’ve done a lot of work in the health area with the heart association, cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer’s. I represent for the hospital in the charitable works of Catholic Charities. I’m big on school initiatives. I started with a friend a reading program at a disadvantaged elementary school.

My biggest, longest and deepest run would be close to 35 years of volunteering with Rotary — everything from picking up trash, to planting gardens, to erecting playgrounds. I seek out and mentor young adults to study abroad on Rotary scholarships.

Rotary is where I do the bulk of my service because I believe in what they stand for. The four-way test is: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?