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Cheri Bustos’ inquisitive nature led her to a career in journalism. After 17 years in the profession, Bustos moved into the corporate communications field. She worked as the director of communications at Trinity Regional Health System in the Quad Cities under Bill Leaver. On Jan. 2, Bustos began at Iowa Health System as the vice president of public relations and communications.

Have you always lived in Iowa?

I was born and grew up in Springfield, Ill. I went to the University of Maryland, lived in (Washington,) D.C., for a couple of years and moved back to Springfield. I was a political science major. I was then working on my master’s (degree) and interned for the state legislature in Springfield, and realized that I did not want to do that for the rest of my life. Someone said, “You ask so many questions; you ought to be a reporter.” So I got my master’s in journalism (at the University of Illinois at Springfield) and did journalism for 17 years. My last beat was at the Quad-City Times covering health. I then transitioned from a journalist to director of communications at Trinity Regional Health System in the Quad Cities. It was actually Bill Leaver, our new CEO at Iowa Health System, who hired me.

What was your transition from journalism to communications like?

At first, I would say I had severe withdrawals. I loved every day of my career in journalism. I was not looking to leave journalism. I was sitting in the newsroom and I get a call from Trinity. It’s their president calling me and asking, “How would you like to run our communications department?” I took a plunge. There was a huge learning curve. In journalism, you go into a story, you get out. I had to really start understanding health care, and it is a hard topic.

What was the first job you ever had?

Shoveling horse manure at a horse barn when I was 10 years old. I loved horses, and I knocked on the door of the owner of this little ranch. She lived not that far from where I grew up.

What, besides the suggestion, made you switch to journalism?

Natural curiosity, I always wonder about things, I always want to know the story behind the story. Keep in mind my father was a journalist, my cousin was a journalist, my brother-in-law is a sports editor, my second cousin is a journalist. My dad left journalism and went into government work. There would be political discussions going on all the time around our kitchen table.

How has your move to Iowa Health been?

Part of it is on a personal level. My youngest son (of three) is a senior in high school; I would not even think of uprooting him during his last semester of high school. So he and my husband are still in the Quad Cities. I stay here during the week. I do bring my dog, (which) forces me to have a little balance. Careerwise, I really have a great boss and it is the same boss I have had for going on seven years now. This is still communications, but in a different setting and in a much larger setting.

What is your first big project at Iowa Health?

We launched five newsletters in my first two months at Iowa Health System. I have visited every senior-level hospital (and) I am in the process of visiting our rural hospitals. What I found is that each of these hospitals is doing some amazing things, but if you are a hospital in Sioux City and a different hospital in Cedar Rapids, they don’t know what each other are doing very well. Part of what we can do at the parent organization is share best practices. We are working on another quarterly newsletter that will go out to our 19,000-plus employees along with CEOs of hospitals throughout America (and) lawmakers. (It) is our first step in sharing our best practices with the health-care industry.