Nurse Named to Business Journal’s Young Professionals in Healthcare

Melissa LaBarge, RN, BSN, was named to the Wichita Business Journal’s list of Young Professionals in Health Care for 2023.

Melissa has worked at the Riordan Clinic for two years. She started her career in healthcare in 2008 as a massage therapist and began working in nursing in 2015 after graduating from nursing school at Wichita State University.

“Being a healthcare professional is very rewarding. I have finally reached to place in my nursing career where I am truly helping people help themselves,” she told the Wichita Business Journal.

Melissa also said that one of the challenges she sees in healthcare today is prevention and patient participation in taking care of themselves.

“Health should be more about prevention rather than treatment of disease. Seeking out the underlying causes and symptoms and adjusting one’s lifestyle is the key to health,” she said.

Melissa grew up in Miltonvale, Kansas, about two hours north of Wichita in Cloud County. She and her husband, Jacob, moved to the Wichita area in 2012, and she said she enjoys being close to the city and also close to her family. The couple has three children.

In her free time, Melissa enjoys outdoor activities, including hiking, running, and kayaking.