By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published October 16, 2024
NOVI — The need for college funding resulted in one local doctor joining the U.S. Navy Reserve, but it was the love for country that he developed while serving that caused him to stay in the Reserve for 34 years, during which time he was deployed in two wars, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and he held two of the highest offices that a family medical physician can hold in the Reserve.
Capt. Ron Kuzdak grew up in the Castle Rouge neighborhood of Detroit and said that he knew from an early age that he wanted to be a doctor. He said that he has always been interested in math and science and excelled in those subjects to the point where people would say, “Wow, you’re going to be a doctor one day.” He said the more they said that, the more it became ingrained in his head that he wanted to go into medicine.
So, after graduating from Detroit Catholic Central High School in 1987, he went on to Michigan State University but was struggling to pay for his education, as although he had good grades, he was not offered a lot of financial aid. He said that a friend of his had joined the Reserve and encouraged him to do so as well. He did so and discovered that they offered a full-ride scholarship to medical school. So, at the suggestion of his recruiter, Kuzdak joined the Navy Reserve and went to hospital corpsman school in 1988.
“Turned out to be, obviously, a very good thing for me because it was a very interesting experience to feel what the military was like, to serve our country and have all that happen to me,” Kuzdak said. “I enjoyed my training so much I came back to school and I kind of knew what I wanted. I knew that I was doing the right thing. I wasn’t just saying I was going to be a doctor because someone told me I was smart. It was applied application and real-life experience.”
Kuzdak took a longer path to completing his undergraduate degree, as he took about a year and a half off from school to complete boot camp and hospital corpsman school and was also called upon to serve in Desert Storm.
He served for three months on the USNS Comfort hospital ship, which was deployed to Bahrain, from January to April of 1990.
He said his college experience was a lot different than most young adults; when he wasn’t drilling with the reserves, he was working one of two jobs or participating in the MSU equestrian team.
“It was not the relaxed college life that a lot of people experience. I was kind of a hard worker from the get-go,” he said.
During his senior year of college, 1992-1993, Kuzdak found out that he had been admitted into the medical school program and was given a full-ride scholarship from the U.S. Navy. Upon accepting the scholarship, Kuzdak became a commissioned officer. This meant he no longer had to do two weeks of active duty in the Reserve while he completed his education.
He went on to complete his residency at Botsford Hospital in Farmington. Shortly after completing his residency, Kuzdak was deployed to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom. There he helped build and was stationed in one of the first tent hospitals that the military set up in northern Kuwait for six months.
“It was very austere,” Kuzdak said. “Basically, we were the only working hospital in Kuwait when the war broke out, so all the casualties came to me — to our hospital — so it was quite an experience.”
After the war, Kuzdak chose to continue with the Reserve. From 2012 to 2016, he was the officer in charge for the Navy Reserve Training Center, Detroit, at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. In 2013, he was named the Officer of the Year for the U.S. Navy Reserve Medical Corps. He was also the first family medicine reservist to be selected to serve at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
During his lengthy career he held the two highest family medicine positions in the Reserve — family medicine specialty leader from 2013 to 2017 and family medicine executive from 2018 until he retired from the military in 2022. Both positions are held for two years, but he was asked each time to serve an additional term.
Despite his high-ranking positions, Kuzdak remains very humble about his military career. He said he was motivated by the people whom he met along the way.
“The highlight for me is I think the relationships that I made with patients and colleagues. I have just lifelong friends and memories,” he said.
Kuzdak is thought of fondly by both his former superior officers as well as those who served under his leadership.
Lt. Cmdr. Justin Peters, an active reservist and a medical service officer at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Detroit, said that Kuzdak was one of the “better leaders” that he has ever worked with and served under. He said he believed that was because he can find a way to lighten the mood of some otherwise serious situations with his humorous outlook.
“He was really able to kind of help us relax a little bit and do some problem-solving together. Honestly, I think he was just a good guy. He was just easy to talk to,” Peters said.
“He is one of the best people I’ve ever met and really an inspiration for all the other enlisted members who had aspirations to either go to nursing school or medical school,” said Angelo Vivio, a hospital corpsman who served under Kuzdak for eight years at Selfridge. “I mean, he did it. He did what every corpsman or medical assistant aspires to do. He started out with very humble beginnings as a E1 or E2 and was promoted all the way through the ranks and went to medical school. Not that it is everyone’s inspiration to go that route, but that is by far — if you want to talk about a success story, that’s Ron.”
Vivio retired after 20 years in the military in May, and Kuzdak donned a uniform once more to come out of retirement briefly and preside over Vivio’s retirement ceremony. He said Kuzdak had a big impact on his career and that he was a very good leader who looked out for the unit.
“He set me ashore for the final time,” said Vivio. “That was a big deal. That meant a lot to me, because a lot of times, retirees, they don’t forget about their service, but they put it behind them and they move on, and it was an honor that he did that for me. It really meant a lot and he has had a big impact on me as well.”
Capt. Linda Jacobson, a Nurse Corps officer, was Kuzdak’s superior officer and selected Kuzdak to fill in as the senior medical officer for the Midwest. She said she selected Kuzdak because she knew him to be extremely reliable, funny, outgoing and a good team player.
“If you were working on anything like a team project, Ron just made it better,” she said. “He had good ideas. He is a good communicator.”
Jacobson said Kuzdak was a really good senior medical executive because he was in charge of all the senior Medical Corps officers in terms of being a mentor and had to oversee their performance reviews. She said he was very engaging and would not hesitate to pick up the phone and call someone.
“Of all the people that are in the Navy Reserves, the medical people struggle sometimes because they are balancing a busy medical practice, crazy hours and sometimes it’s a struggle to maintain your professional life and have enough hours in the day to participate in the Navy Reserves,” said Jacobson. “So Ron was really good at reaching out and providing guidance, potential solutions.”
Kuzdak left the military to focus on his family and to practice medicine the way he wanted to practice it. He lives in Milford with his wife, Nancy, and sons Mitchell, 17, and Noah, 16. He also has two prized horses, Cup A Joe and Dakota. Approximately a year ago, he opened his practice, Gem Health and Wellness, 25500 Meadowbrook Road, Suite 260, in Novi, which is patient centered and focused.
“I think sometimes people feel like a cog in the wheel when they go to different organizations that offer health care, and this one is definitely more personalized,” said Jacobson. “You are not one of many, many thousands of people who are coming to an office.”
After being open nearly a year, Kuzdak will celebrate being able to practice medicine his way with a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 18. The event will include a performance by Dave Gondoly, lead singer and guitarist for the Killer Flamingos.