GARY LINDSEY, NURSE PRACTITIONER, RICHARDSON
Our employees are all patient care champions, but some go the extra mile and we want to give them the recognition they deserve. They embody the PPOA values known as S.I.T.E. – Safety, Integrity, Teamwork, Empathy – which informs our service to patients and the community through high quality health care.
Gary Lindsey, APRN-C, DC, has done many things with his life – sales, financial services, and chiropractor – but the theme that ties it altogether is caring for others. The nurse practitioner at the Physician Partners of America – Richardson, Texas, clinic is popular with patients for his knowledge and compassion.
“If you want to label my career, it’s service to others in any shape, form, or title,” he says. He comes into the clinic most days at 7 a.m. It’s a day filled with new patient visits, follow-up appointments, in-office procedures, referrals, documentations – and the dozens of other tasks to help chronic pain patients find relief. He works with pain management specialist Christopher Creighton, M.D.,
The best part of the job? Reaching people through their pain.
“It’s about giving people hope. I believe a great deal of the negative behaviors we see in people are just a reaction to fear,” he says. “It takes on many different presentations but it boils down to the same basic emotion. If I can get past that and open their hearts and minds, then some real healing can take place.”
Lindsey learned about the value of compassionate healthcare early in life. A native of Jacksonville, North Carolina, he spent part of his childhood in Okinawa (he is of Okinawan descent). He remembers a particular physician who helped his father, a decorated war veteran of Korea and Vietnam, find relief.
“My dad had life-long debilitating back pain that would bring him to his knees. I remember vividly helping him off his knees so he could stand, get dressed and go to work,” Lindsey recalls. “It was a local doctor, Dr. John Dudley, who kept my father working for another 18 years past his 21 years of active duty military service.
Lindsey says Dr. Dudley inspired him to pursue a similar career path.
“My father retired with over 10,000 hours of sick leave and he never called in sick. Dr. Dudley did this for many people in my hometown and made an indelible impact on me. If I can do the same for others then my life is well lived.”
After working at a variety of jobs from service manager at a bicycle shop to top-rated sales rep for wireless phone companies and a financial services advisor, he returned to his first calling, healthcare.
Gary Lindsey earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from Parker University in 2002. He ran a busy practice in Arlington, Texas, but saw its limitations. “I knew I wanted to know more about the entire continuum of care for the type of patients I treat, from conservative care to surgery to chronic management. I looked at other various professions but knew that if I wanted to genuinely care for people nursing is about as close as you come,” he says. “So I started from scratch in my spare time, went back to school from an Associate’s through to a Master’s degree all over again.
He earned his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Nursing from Samford University and became a board-certified orthopedic nurse. He working at several healthcare companies and hospitals before coming to PPOA.
“I started in August 2016 and my second day on the job, our founder, Dr. Gari, handed me a laptop and said, ‘Go see patients; you know what to do,’ and I have not stopped since,” Lindsey recalls.
Gary Lindsey and his wife Tresia, recently celebrated their 26th anniversary. They are parents to Jacob, who is a 2016 United States Naval Academy graduate and naval aviator. Gary Lindsey enjoys competitive cycling, the outdoors, and has driven high performance sports cars in Europe.
He has kept all his licenses active and continues his education current for both nursing and chiropractic.
“I am not done learning, growing, or advancing in my current field so my journey is to still keep putting tools in my toolbox,” he says. “My dream is to keep working, not retiring, and be able to confidently help others regardless of problems they bring me. Also,” he adds with a smile, “because I have no idea how to play golf.”
