UNF Alum named hospital president of Brooks Rehabilitation’s Arizona Campus

Bryan Murphy knows the positive impact of mentorship on success. From his father to professors to higher-ups at work, he’s sought valuable feedback to achieve lasting success in healthcare. 

A double University of North Florida alumnus with a bachelor’s in nursing and a master’s in health administration, Murphy is celebrating 17 years with Brooks Rehabilitation with a big new role. In January, Murphy was named hospital president of the inpatient rehabilitation hospital’s new 80,000-square-foot facility under construction on Mayo Clinic’s campus in Phoenix, Arizona. He will oversee operations of the hospital’s first location outside Florida, a major step in growth for Brooks, ranked No. 1 in Florida and among the Top 20 nationwide by U.S. News & World Report. Murphy aims to make this new location the No. 1 rehab hospital in Arizona. 

Brooks Rehabilitation partners with numerous hospitals to refer patients for additional care. “At Brooks, we specialize in giving people their quality of life back following traumatic injury."  Murphy said. 

Previously, Murphy was vice president of operations at Brooks Rehabilitation’s Bartram campus, where he’s built out the team and focused on creating a strong culture. He oversees quality of care, safety protocols and financials while building relationships with leaders and patients. He was among the first hired to the Bartram team and played a role in design planning for the location’s infrastructure and construction. 

Becoming An Osprey 

Born and raised in Jacksonville, Murphy graduated from Wolfson High School and was accepted into UNF. During his freshman year, his father suggested nursing due to UNF's strong program and job demand. 

“While completing coursework at UNF, I began working in restaurants,” Murphy said. “I really enjoyed working in customer service focused roles and feel this translated into nursing practice and ultimately servant leadership in healthcare.” 

Murphy applied to the UNF Nursing Program and was accepted. He earned his bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2009 and interned at an acute care hospital. 

Murphy also credits Dr. Lillia Loriz, a nursing professor at UNF, for mentoring him during his undergraduate journey to becoming a nurse. He said she provided guidance on how to best balance the challenges of being a college student. 

“She was someone I could trust to provide good counsel as I was navigating the BSN program and working a full-time job,” Murphy said. 

Wanting to help patients more, a friend recommended Brooks Rehabilitation, where he had enjoyed clinical rotations. During his senior year in the BSN program, Murphy joined Brooks in 2008 as a nursing assistant and found the experience rewarding. Patients stay longer in rehabilitation, which allowed Murphy to build relationships with them and their families.

“What is really fascinating about rehabilitation, you get to see your patients get better,” he said. “That was really starting to fill my cup and brought me a lot of joy and happiness … I could actually see them improving over time.” 

Returning to the Nest 

While working as a floor nurse, Murphy eventually became involved in management. He wanted to pursue a master’s degree but was unsure of the direction. He considered becoming a nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant or going into business, but healthcare continued to spark his interest. 

At Brooks, the system chief nurse officer recruited Murphy to be the employee health nurse, giving him face time with employees as their caregiver. He worked under Brooks’ Karen Gallagher, who became a mentor, and learned about healthcare business functions. He decided to pursue his master’s degree. 

“This experience helped guide me in the direction of health administration and business, and so I decided to look into the Health Administration program at UNF,” he said. “I developed really strong relationships with those in the program and the students,” he said. 

In the program, he learned the importance of building and maintaining strong relationships to achieve lasting success. He said he was fortunate to have wonderful classmates in his cohort, alongside engaged faculty in the MHA program. 

“Many of our classmates and professors are still connected, which speaks to the sense of community created during and after graduation,” Murphy said. 

He also credits Dr. Jeffrey Harrison with challenging him to grow during his Capstone course, which encouraged critical thinking on how to best leverage resources to find solutions for the assigned project. He credits this mindset for paving the way to success in his leadership roles at Brooks, where he’s supported larger hospital builds and created structured teams. 

Murphy graduated from the program in August 2016. 

The Impact of Mentors 

Mentorship has played a significant role in Murphy's life and career. He treasures the lessons his father taught him as he progressed through his journey. 

Murphy credits his success at Brooks Rehabilitation to leaders like CEO Doug Baer, Dr. Kerry Maher and CNO Joanne Hoertz, who mentored him throughout his tenure, which included being a nurse liaison manager and subsequently director of admissions. 

“I was very fortunate to help shape the market for Brooks in the Southeast as we were starting to grow our national brand,” Murphy said. “I’ve been very fortunate Brooks has given me plenty of opportunity for growth.” 

He said at UNF, he was fortunate to have a great relationship with Dr. Shyam Paryani, director of community engagement and the Executive Master of Health Administration program at Brooks College of Health. Paryani provided Murphy with the opportunity to serve as the co-chair of mentorship for the Master’s in Health Administration program, a role he held for about four years. Murphy currently serves on the board for UNF’s MHA Alumni Association. 

Paryani described Murphy as a “shining example of success as a UNF student,” and credited him with developing a mentoring program to help other students find successful careers. “Through his lifelong learning and involvement at UNF, he became a leader and mentor to others,” Paryani said. “His contribution to UNF has been invaluable.” 

Through his work in mentorship at UNF, Murphy had students fill out surveys highlighting their goals and passions as they navigated the program. He then connected with healthcare leaders across Jacksonville to identify their hiring needs, acting as a liaison to partner students with these leaders. 

Murphy urged healthcare students not to sit quietly in the back of the class. 

“Make sure that you’re using your voice to speak up in public settings,” he said. “The more that you raise your hand for bringing forth your ideas, that’s going to help influence other students.” 

He said this translates well into the workforce, where you can use your voice to improve processes or challenge the status quo. 

“Don’t be a bystander,” he said. “Really bring forth your ideas and speak up and challenge the process when appropriate.” 

As he and his family prepare for the transition to Phoenix, Murphy said he’s looking forward to connecting with friends in the area, colleagues at Mayo Clinic and continuing dialogues with Arizona State University and the opportunities to partner there. 

“It’s an exciting opportunity to get myself out of my comfort zone,” he said. 

When Murphy is not ensuring the optimal care of others, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Rachel, and their three children. They are both snowboarding and concert enthusiasts. 

“I try to go to as many live shows as I can and love to fish,” he said.