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After more than 18 years of dedicated service, Bryan Slaba is retiring as Chief Executive Officer of Wagner Community Memorial Hospital (WCMH), closing a remarkable chapter of leadership that helped shape the hospital into a thriving regional healthcare facility.

Slaba’s professional journey to Wagner followed a diverse and impressive career path.

After earning an accounting degree from the University of South Dakota, he began his career with a small accounting firm in Chamberlain. He later moved into restaurant management, overseeing Pizza Hut locations, including one of the five largest in the nation in Minneapolis and even helped launch a personal pan pizza program for local schools.

Slaba went on to open his own restaurants in Mitchell before returning to the professional accounting world, working for Tessier’s Inc. and later Dakota Wesleyan University, where he advanced to Vice President of Business and Finance.

In 2007, Slaba accepted the Chief Financial Officer position at Wagner Community Memorial Hospital, which soon turned into an earlier than expected opportunity. What was intended to be a two-year succession plan to the CEO lasted just five months before he stepped into the role, a position he would hold for the next 18 years and four months.

“I’M EXTREMELY HONORED TO HAVE LED SUCH A FANTASTIC INSTITUTION.

THE RELATIONSHIPS I’VE FORMED WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. I’LL ALWAYS BE CHEERING THIS HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY ON AND REMINDING ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN THAT I ONCE HAD THE GREATEST JOB IN THE WORLD, SURROUNDED BY THE GREATEST PEOPLE.”

Looking back, Slaba says one of the most defining moments of his tenure was the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than retreat in fear, WCMH acted decisively, issuing 115 of the first 125 doses of the COVID-19 therapeutic Bamlanivimab in South Dakota. The hospital administered 31 of those 115 doses to nursing home residents, achieving a 93.5 percent survival rate where there was a 66% mortality rate prior. WCMH’s efforts were later recognized by Governor Kristi Noem in her 2021 State of the State address.

When Slaba first arrived, one of the hospital’s biggest challenges was staff recruitment, particularly physicians and providers. Over time, that challenge turned into one of his proudest accomplishments. Through the hospital’s “Build Your Own” program, WCMH began supporting local students’ post-secondary education in exchange for a commitment to return and work at the hospital. Since then, employee numbers have grown from 61 to 145, with 15 students currently in school preparing to return home to careers at WCMH.

“WCMH is repopulating Wagner and the surrounding communities,” Slaba said. “The average age of our workforce today is just 38, with an average of eighteen babies being born to staff members each year.”

Slaba stated that another major accomplishment was WCMH being an early adopter of tele-medicine. WCMH was first in line for eEmergency, ePharmacy, the beta test site for eHospitalist. Since the first rollout in 2009 WCMH has expanded its eServices to over seven different specialty lines bringing high level specialty care, cutting expenses, driving patient satisfaction and most importantly saving lives.

Under his leadership, WCMH also experienced major growth in patient volume, becoming a regional provider of choice. Facility expansions included a clinic and physical therapy addition in 2009, followed by a major inpatient wing remodel and ambulance drivethrough in 2012. Staffing expanded as well, growing from two physicians and one independent provider to a team of twelve providers across clinic, acute, and emergency services. Slaba’s administration team and board of directors describe his leadership style as transformational, with a strong focus on people, progress, and the future. He credits the hospital’s success to teamwork and staff dedication. “Everything we accomplished was because of our staff,” he said. “I always told them, ‘Take care of the patient, and I’ll take care of the bureaucratic BS.’, It empowered them, and it worked!”

Community support also played a vital role, from the $900,000 raised through the “Building Healthcare for the Future” capital campaign to the camaraderie fostered through Rotary, Wagner Area Growth, and the Chamber of Commerce. Slaba expressed gratitude to the hospital’s Board of Directors for their unwavering trust and support.

Slaba received numerous local, state and national awards for his innovative approach to finding solutions. Slaba was named the 2012 SDAHO and AHA Grassroots Champion, 2014 Wagner Citizen of the Year, 2014 & 2015 Becker’s Hospital review Top 50 Rural Hospital CEO’s to Know, 2017 Horizon’s Stepping Up to the Challenge, 2018 AHA National Rural Health Leadership Award (over 1,800 hospitals) and 2025 SDAHO Leadership Excellence Award.

Slaba’s leadership expands beyond the hospital’s walls. Slaba was the founder of Parkview Villa Inc., a non-profit organization which purchased and renovated an elderly housing unit, increasing the occupancy from eight to thirty-one units while saving the elderly nutrition meals program from closing. Working with Avera and Yankton Sioux Tribe, Slaba was the main conduit for the relocation and expansion of the New Hope Dialysis Center. While with Wagner Area Growth Slaba was instrumental in the sale and/or exchange of property which eventually led to two businesses on Main Street, two businesses on the old sale barn lot, a dental center, a vet supply business and a lawn and landscaping business expansion on East Highway 46 and recruiting a replacement for the Alco store. Slaba’s latest community endeavor was the establishment of a private equity company...

which funded the relocation and expansion of a local daycare to Main Street, increasing the number of kids from thirty to fifty.

As he retires, Slaba leaves with deep appreciation for the people of Wagner and WCMH. “I’m extremely honored to have led such a fantastic institution,” he said. “The relationships I’ve formed will never be forgotten. I’ll always be cheering this hospital and community on and reminding anyone who will listen that I once had the greatest job in the world, surrounded by the greatest people.”

Slaba and his wife Diane, have been married for 35 years, residing in Mitchell, SD. They have four children, thirteen grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren (quadruplets). Diane retired in 2022 and now keeps busy planning the couple’s many travels.

As Wagner Community Memorial Hospital moves forward, Slaba hopes he has left behind a legacy of growth, innovation, and compassionate care, one that will continue to benefit Wagner and the surrounding communities for decades to come.