Dryden leads Ranken Jordan, a 60-bed pediatric post-acute hospital that has been caring for children with complex medical needs since 1941. After joining as president and CEO in 2023, he’s advanced strategies to expand inpatient and outpatient services, and to strengthen continuity of care. His two decades of health care leadership include roles with BJC HealthCare, Hospital Sisters Health System, and SSM Health.
2025 QUESTIONNAIRE
PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
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What has you most excited about the future of your company or industry? In August 2023, we completed a new strategic plan. Everyone—from our front-line staff to our leadership team to the board of directors—helped to craft a plan that is 100 percent focused on understanding the unique needs and challenges that children with complex medical needs and their families face, and then designing solutions to meet those needs over time. As part of the process, we updated Ranken Jordan’s vision to broaden our thinking and impact to include all aspects of the unique challenges these families face, both those inside of healthcare and outside of it. Our vision statement is now: “A world where every child with complex medical needs lives their best life.” We have four overarching strategic objectives:
- “Serve More Children and Families: We want every child and family in the greater St. Louis region that needs our services to have access to the life-changing care and support we provide. Long-term, we want to inspire and motivate other parts of the country where children don’t have access to these services to develop solutions for them.
- Deliver Unequaled Outcomes: Our goal is to set the standard for clinical and operational excellence in the care of these children.
- Inspire our Workforce: We have an unbelievable, mission-driven team at Ranken Jordan. They are the ones that make it all happen. In turn, we are striving to make Ranken Jordan the best place they have ever worked.
- Enhance Financial Sustainability: As a small, stand-alone organization, we are focused on ensuring we have the financial strength to keep the mission alive for another 80-plus years.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why? We need a longitudinal view and data-driven understanding of how children with complex medical needs are doing over the entire course of their lives and how well, or not, the industry is doing to position them to live their best lives. As an example, to the best of our knowledge, there are fewer than 20 Ranken Jordan-like pediatric bridge hospitals across the entire United States, and yet these 1 percent of kids who have complex medical needs live everywhere. By definition then, thousands upon thousands of children throughout this country don’t have access to the life-changing care and services that organizations like ours provide. That must change.
What’s the toughest business challenge you’ve had to overcome (excluding the pandemic) and why? Throughout my career, one of the most challenging aspects of our industry is the underlying economic model that does not create productive and sustainable alignment between the three anchors in the system: the patients we’re serving, the organizations that are providing the care and services, and the insurance organizations/government payors that are paying the bills. The ongoing transition from fee for service to value-based care has been a step in the right direction but has yet to deliver on the promise.
MENTORS & PEERS
To whom or where do you go for sound business advice? It’s a pretty long list. I’m such a believer in the value derived from understanding perspectives that may be different than your own. Depending on the situation, I may reach out to members of our Board of Directors, leaders from within Ranken Jordan or other health care organizations, and within the last year I joined Vistage, a CEO coaching and peer advisory organization for small- to medium-size businesses.
Do you have a business mentor? If so, who and why? I had the pleasure of working for Bob Porter a little more than 10 years ago. Bob is now an executive coach here in St. Louis, so when I joined Ranken Jordan I reunited with him in that capacity. As a first time CEO, I wanted to be as prepared as possible to lead the organization and being able to work with someone that is incredibly bright, has a wealth of healthcare senior leadership experience, a strong moral compass and compassion for others was a perfect fit.
What piece of advice has had the most significant impact on your career? Very early in my career, I was encouraged to not chase titles or money and to instead focus on who I would be working for and the type of work I would be doing—and then outwork everyone. The underlying premise was to work for someone that will invest in your growth and development, and to do work you find meaningful and put in more time than most are willing to. If you do those things, success tends to follow.
If you could have dinner with any two area business leaders, who would you choose and why? It’s hard for me to pick two because Sarah London as the CEO for Centene is top of mind for me. Centene is the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the country and has a shared focus on helping people live healthier lives. As mentioned, the underlying economic model for healthcare doesn’t work well on several levels, including the fact that it rarely aligns the interests of the patients we serve with the organizations providing the clinical services and the insurance companies that are responsible for covering the costs. That is a tough needle to thread but surely we can collectively do better.
What is one thing you would change about the St. Louis metro area business environment and why? To really advance the business environment within the metro area, we need to pull more than one lever. The vision that Greater St. Louis, Inc. has for driving new job creation, inclusive economic growth, and investment in the city’s infrastructure and safety has already made a positive difference over the last several years and hopefully will continue to do so in the years ahead.
BACKGROUND
Where were you born? Tucson, AZ
What was your childhood aspiration? I didn’t have a specific career path in mind, largely because there were so many possibilities. I did know that I wanted to do something with my professional life that had a positive impact on others and that I found meaningful.
What was your first job, and what did you learn from it? It was a summer job—the 6 a.m. shift at a grocery store doing everything from cleaning the parking lot to stocking shelves to bagging groceries. I remember the sense of responsibility that came with being employed and developed an appreciation for how each member of the team contributed to the day’s work.
What educational degrees do you hold, and where were they earned? Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and master’s of Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
If you were not in your current profession, what would you be doing and why? I have a passion for the wellbeing of children and trying to help them achieve their potential/be the best they can be. I’d likely be part of a team working to strengthen the education system for those that are challenged to have access to high quality education at all levels. Education serves as a pivotal cornerstone for future personal and professional achievement.
What is your favorite St. Louis-area restaurant, and what do you typically order there? Que Pasa is a Mexican restaurant in Fenton that isn’t far from where we live. The chips, salsa, and queso never miss, and I get the burrito jalisco every time.
What is one item you recently crossed off your bucket list? Earlier this year, I went with my father (who’s now 81) and brother-in-law to Scotland to play The Old Course at St. Andrews. It was an incredible experience and one we’ll never forget.
What is one book you think everyone should read (or podcast everyone should listen to) and why? Outliers: The Story of Success was the first Malcom Gladwell book I read years ago. I was fascinated by the way that Gladwell delivered really insightful perspectives that were driven by atypical depths of research and analytics, yet easy to understand in the context of real-world supporting anecdotes. Outliers is such an interesting read with relevance to professional and personal growth.
What’s your hobby/passion? I played tennis and ping-pong growing up and was introduced to pickleball last year. It has been a natural fit, and we have a core group of guys that play a couple of times a week. For Father’s Day, we got most of my family to play together for the first time so I’m hoping that will continue.
What is your most prized possession? Each year, our three children write notes to Crystal [my wife] and me for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. We cherish those.
What would people be surprised to learn about you—a fun fact? The summer following my freshman year at Wisconsin, my high school buddies and I picked rocks from the fields on a farm. That job never made the resume, but we had a blast doing it.
What is your go-to karaoke song? Trust me, you wouldn’t want to actually hear me sing it, but I’ll go with “In Color” by Jamey Johnson.
