Family Ties: Michael and Alysa McKenny love their opportunity to work together at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital

A common sentiment of Methodist employees is that their coworkers feel like family. For some employees, that's a reality because their spouse, sibling, child or other relative also works for the health system. 

In this feature, you'll learn more about Michael and Alysa McKenny, who believe Methodist is “full of friendly, dedicated and hardworking staff.”

Tell us more about your lives outside of work.

We've been married for 12 years. We both really enjoy playing board games and card games with friends and family, hanging on the couch with our two senior cats while watching old sitcoms, going to Disney World, attending musicals and symphonies, and hosting family and friends for meals. We also co-lead a weekly small group Bible study from our home.

How did you meet?

We first met at Creighton University. Alysa transferred from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where she grew up. She friended Michael on Facebook – as was the style at the time – after meeting him at a group dinner in Brandeis Dining Hall. He responded to the friend request with a direct message asking who she was because he had no idea. Fast forward a few months later, and we both worked at the Omaha Children's Museum. Michael kept asking Alysa to play ultimate Frisbee, and she eventually agreed because she thought he was cute. We’ve been together ever since! 

Tell us about your roles at Methodist.

Michael is the clinic manager at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Physical Therapy - Health Center West PT. It's an outpatient physical therapy clinic, which means he evaluates and treats patients with a variety of orthopedic injuries and before or after surgery.

Alysa works part-time on the weekends at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital as an occupational therapist.   

We work together on some weekends at Jennie Edmundson, where we mostly evaluate new admits into the hospital, assessing their functional abilities and creating treatment plans to help them progress toward where they want to go. We think it’s really fun to perform patient evaluations together.

How did each of you find your place at Methodist?

We worked together for a couple of years in an outpatient clinic in Delaware – Michael as a physical therapist and Alysa as a physical therapist assistant (PTA) – before Michael transitioned to a home health care position. Alysa decided that she didn’t want to be a PTA anymore and wanted to give occupational therapy (OT) a try, so she applied to a few OT schools and chose Nebraska Methodist College (NMC) because she like the style and culture of the program. 

Next, Michael started searching for a new job. But because it was 2020, he was having trouble finding anyone hiring a PT. Late in the summer, he received a call from Jennie Edmundson about an open position. 

About a week before we were set to move, our furniture was already on its way to our new home in Omaha. Meanwhile, Michael was on a Zoom call, sitting in an empty living room and using a book to prop up his iPad, praying to God that he’d nail the interview. Later that day, he received a call with a job offer.

Alysa graduated from NMC in May 2022 and had a smoother transition to Jennie Edmundson. About two years into Michael’s role as a clinic manager, his supervisor, Lisa Fidone, let her team know that the hospital needed more OT support. Michael joked with Lisa that he knew an OT. Alysa interviewed for an open part-time position and got the job. 

What is it about Methodist that keeps you coming back?

It's the people that keep us coming back. Methodist is full of friendly, dedicated and hardworking staff. Michael’s fellow clinic managers – Becky Bussey and Scott Jensen – are fantastic, and they all work together as a team to care for their patients. Lisa Fidone is one-of-a-kind and the living epitome of Jennie Edmundson core values. All of his coworkers and supervisors have been so generous with their time and talents as he continues his journey of being a leader and a clinician.

Coworkers and patients are often surprised that we’re married and work together. This is actually the fourth time we’ve worked for the same company. Working together just makes the work more fun and gives us shared experiences that help us grow as a couple. We love working together.