Oren Avery, MHA, has been the clinic manager at the M Physicians Broadway Family Medicine Clinic for a little over three years. Day-to-day, he’s responsible for maintaining vendor partnerships, community relationships, budget forecasting and overall operational management of the facility.

“I’ve been in healthcare for a number of years, and I’ve had the opportunity to work with some great teams,” Avery said. “But none are as special as the team here at Broadway. They are a direct reflection of the mission and vision of the organization–and that is something that I value wholeheartedly.”

When he was in college, Avery’s first medical job was at a dialysis clinic, where he served as a technician. 

“In a dialysis setting, I witnessed so many challenges– patients struggling to survive, people waiting for transplantation and a number of other things,” Avery said. 

Those experiences provided him with a unique perspective on life. At the beginning, he viewed it as a mere stop– a role, a job in Florida that would open doors for him within a healthcare setting. 

“While I was not quite sure that direct patient care would be where I would ultimately land, I really enjoyed healthcare as a whole,” Avery said. “Instead, I found that I enjoyed healthcare more at an administrative level– helping make decisions, partnering with clinicians and improving the patient experience. That’s where I felt I could make the biggest contribution.” 

Compassionate About Training the Next Generation of Family Medicine Physicians

One of Avery’s first career goals–dating all the way back to college–was finding a role that he was passionate about. 
“Something that gave me excitement, gave me some passion to get up and go to work every day,” Avery said. “Because I think all of us have had those jobs where you’re sitting at home dreading going to work the next day. And I’ve always wanted to work somewhere where I seldom feel that way.”

One of the things he loves most about his current role is the large contingent of new physicians that Broadway hosts each year.

“To watch the recruitment process and see our faculty discuss providers as people first, past their Medical School accolades and grades and test scores, and determining who would be a great fit for our location and our clinic, is just an amazing process to go through every year,” Avery said.

Committed to Helping Others

Avery is consistently inspired by his staff; Some of whom have been with the clinic for 10, 15, 20 and even 30 years– as well as their commitment to supporting the North Minneapolis community with patient-centered care.

“In some environments, you have pockets of patient-centered care within a department or site or facility, but at Broadway, from staff, the residents, to the faculty providers that are in the clinic, everyone values the patient first,” Avery said. 

He stressed that this is separate from healthcare and providing care. These are people who are generally concerned, passionate and ethical about the people they provide care to, and the people we work alongside every day.

“You can see this in their interactions with each other. You can see this reflected when we have moments like we did this past summer with the unrest in our community; As we push through the pandemic,” Avery said. “All of these challenges are met with resiliency and compassion for each other.”

And it’s that resiliency, that compassion, that serves as his inspiration.

“Our patients face challenges that many patients at other clinics and hospitals may not have to worry about. And the fact that our teams are aware of those socioeconomic and resource challenges, and that they are able to provide care that is compassionate and considers those challenges, is huge,” Avery said. “You can only gain that knowledge through experience and willingness to be open when caring for another human being. It can’t be faked– it is an attribute, a characteristic, and it’s just been unbelievable to see.”

He stresses that everyone else– his team– is doing the hard work, caring for patients.

“The least I can do is give them the tools and resources from my side of the fence to help with that,” Avery said.