Amidst COVID-19, these Baylor grads offer a Remedy to patients’ healthcare needs
Dr. Jeremy Gabrysch’s medical career has taken him from Baylor to Austin to Ethiopia and back. And like many doctors, Gabrysch (BA ’98) has had friends and family call him up or pull him aside countless times in the front yard with a question about an ailment or medical treatment. While informal, those brief conversations coalesced into what become a guiding principle.
“It’s always been my thing that if I could keep you from having to go to the emergency room, I would,” Gabrysch says. “Somebody would ask me to look at their son’s ear because they were about to leave town and didn’t have time to go to the doctor. When texting started to become popular, I’d help people over text message. Things like that. So, I think it’s a guiding principle that I’ve always tried to help folks in the way that just made sense.”
After working as an emergency physician in Austin and then as chief medical officer of a hospital overseas, it was that idea that led Gabrysch to launch Remedy, an on-demand urgent care provider that offers both high-tech and old-fashioned care through telehealth and video calls, house calls, a walk-in clinic and drive-through testing. The model draws from both his experience helping friends wherever they were, and his experience at a Christian teaching hospital in Ethiopia, where the hospital’s limited resources put a premium on taking care of people without overwhelming the system — a trait that’s become increasingly important in the United States.
Health options beyond the typical doctor’s office visit have become especially important amidst the COVID-19 public health crisis. An increased demand for in-home or virtual care has accelerated Remedy’s plans to expand beyond Austin into Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, and to add new services like the drive-through testing options for a variety of needs.
Gabrysch isn’t the only member of Remedy’s leadership working from a Baylor education; the company’s chief experience officer, Justin Jaksha (BA ’06), was a communications major at Baylor who wrote for The Baylor Lariat. Gabrysch’s pre-med track looked a little different than most; he majored in both liberal arts and biology because of his love of literature and the humanities in addition to the laboratory. Both say their time at Baylor prepared them for a field that demands innovation and readied them for challenges like COVID-19.
“I was able to really grow in my faith at Baylor, as well as get the training and academics that I needed for the real world,” Gabrysch says. “At Baylor, I feel like I was really formed in the concept of change and making a difference in the world. Then, it informed everything I did from that point on, from doing medical mission work overseas to starting a company that I think most people will tell you is values-driven.”
Sic ’em, Jeremy and Justin!
[photo via KXAN]