Utah Business recently recognized something about Dr. Jonathan Wright that his patients, students, fellow faculty members, and research partners at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) already knew.
He’s a hero in healthcare.
That distinction became official when Utah Business honored an elite group, including Dr. Wright, as 2023 Healthcare Heroes for making it their mission to improve the state of health in Utah. The honorees and their accomplishments were celebrated during a ceremony on Tuesday, October 24, at The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.
“All too often I’m looking forward, which is a good thing, but sometimes we need to pause and look back and recognize the good that we do and the impact that we’re already making,” Dr. Wright said. “One of the biggest honors of the award is just being honored next to some of these amazing individuals and the impact that they’re making on a one-on-one scale with individual patients and the others that are changing healthcare for all of us.”
Dr. Wright’s impact on healthcare is multi-faceted. As an RMU Associate Professor, he teaches 100 Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students each year about advanced PT concepts and how to treat neurological conditions. He has been teaching at RMU since 2018. Dr. Wright is also board-certified as a clinical specialist in neurologic physical therapy, certified as a stroke rehabilitation specialist through the National Stroke Association, and is an American Physical Therapy Association advanced credentialed clinical instructor.
“It’s an opportunity to go from clinical work, which I still do and I love, where it’s one-on-one care to then impacting the rising generation of therapists that are all going to impact patients,” Dr. Wright said of why he went into healthcare education. “It gives me a platform to impact the quality of care on a larger scale.”
Dr. Wright administers care to patients through clinical work with Intermountain Health on a part-time basis. He also conducts healthcare research, including his most-recent work that uses data to help prevent and predict falls.
“I went into healthcare because I wanted to provide a service that impacted people for good and for their health,” said Dr. Wright, who received his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from BYU and doctorate degrees in physical therapy and healthcare leadership administration from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and RMU, respectively. “At the end of the day, health is one of the most important things we have.”
Wearing multiple medical hats keeps him busy but is also a rewarding endeavor for Dr. Wright. His personal and professional pursuits perfectly align with RMU’s mission to improve the human condition.
“What I love about education is we get to serve, we get to teach, we get to do research, we get to still do clinical practice,” Dr. Wright said. “It offers a bunch of different avenues in how we can improve people’s health.”
Dr. Wright was selected as one of the magazine’s annual winners in the Healthcare Educator category, along with educators from other Utah universities and Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah. Other categories included Administrative Excellence, Community Outreach, Corporate Initiatives, Healthcare Practitioner, Innovation, Volunteer, and Lifetime Achievement.
