Director of Development and Alumni Affairs
PLYMOUTH - In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy found out that there was "…no place like home…" and surgeon Dr. Brian Piazza has had a chance to find that out first hand.
After a 20 year career in Michigan Brian has come home to a practice in his hometown of Plymouth and is finding it to his liking.
"There seems to be a shortage of general surgeons around the country so when the group I was with disbanded there were no shortage of offers coming in," said Brian. "We interviewed several other places but (Plymouth) is still the great town it's always been. There is a real pride in community here that is really unique."
Brian spent most of his career in Port Huron, Michigan in his chosen specialty as a general surgeon - dealing with a broad spectrum of surgeries such as hernia, gall bladder and some cancer care. His decision to come home to practice was a considered one.
"Port Huron was a great practice to be involved in and we had a good 12 year run there," he said. "I had some familiarity with Trinity (the corporation that runs Saint Joseph Hospital of Marshall County) and knew that would be a good fit. And there is always the reassuring feeling of coming home."
Brian started his career in a smaller town near Grand Rapids, Michigan and moved on to a practice in Flint that involved teaching for Michigan State University. From there it was on to Port Huron. Each stop was a good one, but Plymouth has another type of appeal.
"I probably know anybody who's graduated from Plymouth High School," he said with a laugh. "Between my brothers and I we probably had a Piazza in every graduating class for 10 years so everybody probably knew one of us. It is really good to come home and renew those old acquaintances.
"It's really interesting to me the different way you see things growing up in a place and then coming back. There are just so many people that contribute to this community and keeping things running on a day to day basis and that's something that's hard to see when you are in school."
While in school Brian chose general surgery for a specific reason.
"I was drawn to it because its a rather broad specialty and maybe partly because it's really the closest thing to a general practice," he said. "I get to do a little bit of everything. I'm not going to be doing the same thing over and over everyday and I really like that variety."
The relationships with patients is another plus.
"A lot of folks we may see just a time or two but some we continue to see over a period of time," said Brian. "We continue to see many of our cancer care patients for quite awhile and it's very nice to get to know them and develop those relationships."
Dr. Piazza's family is also creating relationships.
"My kids absolutely love the school," he said. "They're involved in band and all sorts of other things and they've got lots of friends, they always tell me that they are really glad we moved here.
"There is just a real community pride here that you don't experience a lot of other places. The community is very conscientious working to grow and develop and provide opportunities for it's citizens. The place we lived in Port Huron was really a bedroom community - a very nice place - but you never really saw a lot of community pride.
"While things have changed some it's great to come back and see some stability like Hoosier Tire still being here. I needed to buy a new suit the other day and it was really good to see Gary Treat and their family business still here. And People's Drug Store - I started working there as a clerk when I was a boy, cleaning up and whatever. Change is good but it's also good to see some things that don't change."
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