Story by Kalyn Dewey

This kind of job in the hospital doesn’t require seeing blood and gore. It’s the perfect way to have a rewarding job that influences people as a life saver without having to deal with the typical hospital image. This is Kris Beldin’s job as a Corporate Manager in Public Relations for Alta View Hospital.

Kris Beldin is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in Communications and an emphasis in Public Relations (PR). He finished school about ten years ago and has played many different roles in many different companies since. He started at a fairly simple job in the Draper region and has continued further in high tech, marketing consulting in the ARP lab, and then into different health care companies. Currently, he works 50 to 60 hours a week in the PR department for the Intermountain Healthcare region, which covers five different hospitals. These hospitals include the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Alta View hospital, TOSH, LDS Hospital and Riverton hospital.

We’re sitting in his office with a BYU flag adorning the wall. He laughs and nods his head often during our conversation. Multiple times throughout our interview, he says that this is the most rewarding job he has ever had. He also mentions that there are many people that you would never see, including him, that were a part of the invisible. He exclaimed how much he loves working with all these incredibly smart and talented people who you would never know were there.

Many people are unaware of what he even does as a PR manager for Alta View Hospital . In his specific area, he markets for the region. He communicates with clients and supporters both in and out of the hospital, and donates and contributes funds for running and bike races. He also donates to and advertises in schools, tech programs, and social programs. He is especially involved in internal and external communication and how to live the healthiest life as a community. He explains it like there are two separate ways in which he markets. The first is that the hospital wants to help the ones that are broken get fixed in the best and happiest way possible, and second, they want to help the community stay out of the hospital for as long as possible.

As previously mentioned, he has many projects that involve marketing as well. These activities include, but are not limited to, community races, social media, and schools. He is in charge of setting up, and helping with, any races and school programs they put on. Often times, he markets for them on Alta View’s personal Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. Beldin also markets within the hospital to remind employees and patients to live the healthiest life possible.

He and his team recently made labels for animal crackers boxes and cans of chili that are available to employees at the hospital which encourages people to live healthier with the Intermountain Health Care logo on it. It’s these exact types of things that are creative and innovative which he says makes his job the most fun. He loves being able to creatively express himself in a way to better the community. More than once through the interview, Beldin looks me straight in the eye with a beaming smile and exclaims, “I’m passionate about what I do. I love what I do.”

How can someone work up to a position like Beldin’s? He suggests volunteering as much as possible with organizations that were associated with public relations. He mentions positions with The Red Cross, Make-a-Wish Foundation, and even the police force. He says to not be afraid of new experiences and to “never stop learning” even if it isn’t quite in the range of PR in which you want to be.

Alta View hospital takes at least one intern a semester in the PR department. They are always trying to help others feel the same reward and sense of love that they have for both the community and their job. Beldin mentions how much they love interns at the hospital because it is another way for him to help a life within the community. He also adds, with a laugh, that they usually only take BYU interns.

He gives two more pieces of advice that he says are most important. He explains that the two biggest skills in being a PR are to be flexible and to be a problem solver. Those are two things that you can’t learn in college, but that matter the most in this career, and most importantly, in life.

“Once you’re in healthcare, it’s about the satisfaction; the fulfillment it gives me,” says Beldin. “I can literally affect people’s lives every day. It’s about a personal commitment to doing good.”