Serendipitous steps to North Shore Health for new director of nursing

Troy Batchelor is the “new” director of nursing at North Shore Health. He took on the role in September, but had been in the community part time since 2019.   It took a bit of serendipity to find the right role for this accomplished nurse.

Troy has been a nurse for approximately 25 years. He started his career in Raleigh, North Carolina in an orthopedics trauma unit, but moved to surgery. After six years there, he moved to California, where he obtained his Nursing First Assist (RNFA) and participated in just about every kind of surgery. He enjoyed his work as a Nursing First Assist, which he describes as being “a surgeon’s third and fourth hands.”

Before moving to Minnesota, he also worked in Colorado for a while at the University of Colorado. WTIP’s Rhonda Silence spoke with Troy and asked how he went from Carolina to California to Colorado—and then to Minnesota?

Troy said he and his wife like to joke that “we had mutual strokes,” taking on a resort business in northern Minnesota. They purchased Devil Track Cabins in Grand Marais in 2019. Troy helped open and close the seasonal cabins and then continued to work in Colorado while his wife, Linda, managed the cabins on her own.

The couple was tiring of the long-distance life and Troy started looking for a job locally just about the time the director of nursing job came open at North Shore Health. They were also fortunate to find a house on the market that worked for their family. Troy notes the timing was just right.

He is settling in to his new office and North Shore Health routine and agreed to visit with WTIP’s Rhonda Silence. Here’s their conversation.