A Physician Giving Back to the Community

By Jessica Rath

There are a few exceptional people who seem to have unlimited hours at their disposal on any given day, more than the 24 we ordinary mortals must make do with. Otherwise, how can they manage to get so much done? That was my impression when I recently talked with Dr. Fernando Bayardo, MD, long-time Abiquiú resident. He is the Emergency Medicine specialist at the Presbyterian Hospital in Espanola, the Director of the Emergency Department, as well as the Chief Medical Officer at the hospital. Besides that, he is the treasurer of the Mariano Acequia in Abiquiu, and the Rio Arriba county EMS medical director. Until quite recently he served as the president of the board of the AAESP (Abiquiú Area Emergency Services Project), a nonprofit organization he helped establish in 2001. Their goal was to support the Abiquiú Volunteer Fire Department with extensive fundraising.
 
Besides that, Dr. Bayardo has a lovely family he spends a lot of quality time with, a beautiful house where he likes to perform any repairs and innovations himself if possible, and often takes his three children motorcycling, bicycling, hiking and kayaking to explore the beauty of northern New Mexico. See what I mean?
 
Because I was a volunteer firefighter a long time ago and served on the board of AAESP, I have known Fernando since 2003 and have witnessed his indefatigable energy and his dedication to the community countless times. I wanted to learn more about his life, and he kindly agreed to an interview.
 
Fernando was raised in Southern California and spent most of his early life in Escondido. He went to college at the University of California in San Diego. He comes from a long lineage of physicians: his father and grandfather were physicians, as well as several of his uncles and cousins, thus greatly influencing his decision to attend medical school. In addition, he had an interest in working with underserved communities and did a lot of volunteer work when he was in College: he volunteered at local clinics and emergency departments, and became certified as an EMT in San Diego County though he volunteered as an EMT in Tijuana, Mexico for three and a half years. “So, during college, this is where I spent my Friday nights”, he told me.

That’s not how most college kids would spend their Friday nights, I think. That's brilliant.

 “So that kind of geared my interest in emergency medicine, and my interest in EMS. I wanted to help, I wanted to be involved. And I had an interest in working with people who probably have less access to quality medical care. I applied to medical schools nationwide and had the opportunity to attend the University of Illinois, Chicago. While in medical school, I did an elective rotation as a fourth year medical student at UNM. Because I used to drive between Chicago and San Diego and I loved New Mexico, I ended up applying for residency and being accepted at UNM”.

While in residency at UNM, a note was placed in his mailbox that Espanola Hospital was looking for someone interested in working in rural New Mexico as an emergency physician. When he was getting close to finishing his residency, he looked around at different places in New Mexico and choose Espanola as the site to work.

At a community event in 2004, with plans to build a new fire station.

​“Espanola offered several opportunities which interested me: it was in an area that I thought had the true practice of Emergency Medicine, where you did a little bit of everything. It’s an area with a very diverse population and includes people who would benefit from someone being an advocate for the patients and the facility. Also, I found the culture of this area to be very appealing, and it's a beautiful part of the country. I thought that I would enjoy being in this rural area”, Fernando continued.

And when did you get married? I wanted to know.

“I was married in 1994. My wife Maria and I will celebrate our 30th anniversary in June. It was between my first and second year of residency. I started working in Espanola and rented a home in La Mesilla. In the meantime, we purchased this property in Abiquiú and built our home here. We moved to Abiquiú two weeks after my daughter Brianna was born, in October of 1997”.

Brianna and Mikaela Bayardo, 2004

“From day one, when I started at Presbyterian Espanola Hospital, I was also the director of the Emergency Department. Currently I am the Chief Medical Officer of the hospital as well and have been so for over 10 years. In that capacity, as an administrator, it gives me the opportunity to have greater influence on health care in the area and be able to recruit physicians and improve access for the population that we serve. This includes Rio Arriba County, as well as Santa Fe, Taos and Los Alamos County’s, we have patients from all over Northern New Mexico”.

I wanted to learn more about Dr. Bayardo’s role as administrative director. What does this entail?

 “I recruit and interview all the providers that we hire and oversee all the providers that work at this facility in some capacity. Fortunately, I have the assistance of other medical directors in our clinic and in the hospital as well.  I'm also involved with the business side of the hospital, whether it's expansion, staffing, and work closely with the hospital’s chief executive, as well as the hospital board. I work closely with the administrative and medical leadership of the Presbyterian Health Services statewide. It requires ongoing interactions, as there's lots going on at all times”.
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I was interested in people who don't have insurance. What happens to them?
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“Well, if you go back to the roots of this area, it was influenced by people who wanted to give, like Arthur Pack, who used to own Ghost Ranch. He sold his family stamp collection to fund the building of the Espanola Hospital '', Fernando went on. “The hospital provides healthcare for everybody. In the emergency department it doesn't matter if they can pay or not, we take care of everyone. In the clinic we have programs so we do whatever we can to accept and help as many patients as possible”. 

Fernando Bayardo Jr., in 2004

“Fortunately, part of my leadership role is to figure out what are the needs of the community, and how we focus on that. Though it's challenging, and there may be limitations we make efforts to expand. For example we are in the best place we've ever been to help patients with substance use disorder. We have two addiction specialists at our hospital, we have many, physicians who are able to treat people with addictions. We can even start substance use disorder treatment out of the emergency department and continue the treatment as an outpatient. So, we're in a much better position than we've ever been to help patients who need this service”.

“I encourage people to look at addiction as an illness and we treat it as such. We realize that it's going to affect other medical issues and societal issues as well. So, if we can treat people and help them get back to normal lives, it's a benefit for everybody”.

While some people often see addiction as a lack of willpower, it’s important to realize that the medical profession considers it to be a disease as other illnesses or chronic disorders. Clearly, recovery requires long-term treatment. We can be proud of Espanola’s Presbyterian Hospital’s leadership for providing such care.
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Dr. Bayardo’s three children continue the long family tradition of serving the community. His son Fernando is a paramedic. He was born at UNM, and got a Bachelor's degree in Emergency Medical Services. He also obtained a diploma in Mountain Medicine and did an internship with the Grand Canyon. He was employed at the Grand Canyon for two years as a paramedic and a search and rescue specialist.

Dr. Bayardo demonstrated for a helicopter airlift in 2005

He now lives in Salt Lake City and works for an air medical transport company in Craig, Colorado where he is a base manager. He was married last September at the family home in Abiquiú. His wife is a surgeon, she is finishing a residency in Salt Lake City.

Fernando’s older daughter, Brianna, was born at the Espanola hospital. She also attended UNM where she studied Speech and Language Pathology. She did her Master's at UNM as well. For two years she worked for the school system in Belén, and now works for a rehabilitation center in Albuquerque.

The youngest, Mikaela, was born at the Espanola Hospital as well. She also attended UNM and is now in her third year of medical school at UNM.

“So she is continuing the tradition for how many generations in your family?” I asked.
“She will be a fourth generation Dr. Bayardo”, was the answer – quite impressive.
 
I wanted to know more about Fernando’s constant involvement with his community.
“I've always had an interest in population health, which is why I have an interest in what goes on in communities, what affects the health care in the community. That is one of the things that guides me and helps me in my career. I have an interest in EMS, and volunteered with the fire department. I saw the need to support the department in a more fundamental way, and that's how the nonprofit comes in. I got involved in the nonprofit which helped support the fire department and get it to a better position. I served the department in that capacity for many years. I still have an interest in EMS, and I am now the Rio Arriba County EMS Medical Director.”. 

2019 hike to Tsi-p’in-owinge', led by Dr. Bayardo.

“I'm a community faculty member for UNM. And we have students and residents that rotate with us. There's a rotation called the PIE rotation, the Practical Immersion Experience, that UNM medical students have between their first and second year of medical school. Near the end of the rotation, I take them on a hike to Tsi-p’in-owinge', and show them some of the local area and culture. After the hike they come to my home to eat. I want them to experience some of rural New Mexico that they may not be able to have an opportunity to see otherwise”.
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I remember this hike, of course – in 2019, Fernando took a group of ten or so hikers to Tsi-p’in-owinge'. It was a successful fundraiser for the Fire Department. It’s amazing to see somebody with such a demanding profession find the time and energy to constantly give back to the community he loves. And his answer to my question WHERE he finds the time: “Sleep is optional”.
 
Thank you, Dr. Bayardo, for this fascinating interview.