Off the Clock: Brianna Iverson, Director of Diagnostic Imaging, RiverView Health of Crookston, Minnesota

By Matt Skoufalos

As a true Minnesotan, diagnostic imaging director Brianna Iverson couldn’t imagine a better professional setup than her work at RiverView Health in Crookston, Minnesota, which both fulfills her career interests and keeps her as close as possible to the land and people she so dearly loves.

Iverson traces her work to a lifelong academic interest in the sciences, and a feeling of being called to the career in healthcare that followed. When a friend of her mother’s suggested that she pursue radiology for the variety of options it offers, Iverson enrolled in a rad tech program at Northland Community & Technical College in her hometown of East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

“My career is always something I’ve been deeply passionate about,” she said; “I [also] knew I wanted to stay close to home and close to family.” 

Iverson graduated in 2013, and spent about 12 years working as a rad tech. In the course of her employment, she also learned CT and Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) imaging, and began to pursue pathways to a leadership role. 

“I had worked in healthcare long enough to see what kind of influence leadership can have on an organization and individuals, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that,” she said. “Leadership is something that’s natural for me, and I find a lot of joy in being a leader and a coach. ”

In pursuit of her career advancement, Iverson completed an undergraduate degree in healthcare management and leadership at the University of Minnesota-Crookston, and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Mary. In 2023, it all paid off, as she became director of diagnostic imaging at RiverView Health of Crookston, Minnesota.

“Throughout my master’s, I learned a lot of different leadership styles,” Iverson said. “I believe strongly in servant and empathetic leadership. It can make a difference when staff feel heard and valued and supported. Seeing what can happen under the right leadership is one of the biggest rewards of my career.”

In addition to leading technologists through their day-to-day responsibilities, Iverson has worked to help train the next generation of imaging professionals as a teacher for an RT program in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. She was able to apply practical and theoretical experience from her own career and academic expertise to the clinical instruction.

“Being a part of the education side of the profession has been super-rewarding,” Iverson said. “I love coming to work every single day. I hope I continue to feel this way throughout my career.”

Away from work, Iverson is deeply connected to her Minnesota roots, perhaps most directly in her love of the outdoors. Her family of four spends as much time as possible at its renowned lakes, whether ice fishing in the winter or swimming, camping, and boating in the summer. As a child, Iverson recalls camping at her grandparents’ cabin, then roughing it in tents, and finally, a 30-foot motor home. 

“I loved every second of my childhood, and these camping weekends completely shaped who I am,” she said. “I knew that when I became a mom, I wanted to carry on those traditions with my family and my boys, Benson (12) and Dax (9). It’s super-special to see them making the same memories that I had growing up.”

When the lakes freeze over in the Minnesota winter, the family takes its RV edition “Ice House” from the banks of the waterway out onto the frozen lake surface itself. With a full living space, including a kitchen, TV and bathroom, “we’re definitely not roughing it completely,” Iverson said, “but we absolutely love it.” 

“Winters get long here, and then we have snow from October to May, so it gives us a hobby all winter long,” Iverson said. “We get to catch walleye, which is delicious; we’ll fillet it up and cook it, or fry it at home. We’ll play cards while we’re fishing, or the boys will make snowmen.” 

At the lakes, “you’re completely immersed in the Minnesota outdoors,” she said. “The Duluth area up north is gorgeous, and not a lot of people know about it. We do Lake Bemidji in the summers, and Lake of the Woods or Stump Lake for the ice fishing.”

Brianna and her husband, Kevin, will celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary in February 2026. As important to her life as motherhood is, she also spends lots of time with her parents, who live close by, and as an auntie to her siblings’ children. 

“My family is full of love and laughter and support, and I love to have them around,” Iverson said. “I could never leave Minnesota, and I could never be far from my family.”

As important as her home life is, Iverson also dedicates time to outfitting it with a collection of houseplants and antiques. She said the 40-some individual plants in her home bring life and character into it, as she manages the unique needs of each. 

The greenery is offset by Iverson’s curation of vintage home goods and antiques, which similarly add more stories to the space to complement her warmth and personality. Likewise, her love of animals extends beyond the present household roster of Pebbles, a German Shepherd, and farm cat, Oreo.

“If it were up to me, I would have 20 more,” Iverson said. “I have been known to bring home surprise pets. Animals bring such joy and energy, and I can’t imagine a life without them. Pretty much every animal I’ve ever brought home was a surprise – a lab, a German shepherd, a cat, a guinea pig, hamster – and they just end up being a part of our family.”

Iverson is also “a self-proclaimed coffee addict,” happy to receive everything from a black cup of coffee to a fancy latte at any hour of the day. She nonetheless ranks the coffee she had in the Dominican Republic as “the most fabulous thing I’ve ever tasted, and that alone is going to make me want to go back.”

When she’s not at work, or filling her house with life in all its vibrant forms, Iverson enjoys catching a comedy show, or watching a funny movie. Recently, she’s also begun nurturing a fledgling interest in poetry writing and hopes to someday publish her growing collection.

“I started writing a year ago, and I have a collection saved on my desktop,” Iverson said. “I plan on getting a good stack of them and self-publishing. The poetry I write is exactly what I’m feeling at the time I’m writing, and it explains my feelings in depth. It’ll be really fun to publish.”