MARRIAGE & MEDICINE
(left to right) Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer (far right) holding baby
Teddy Moyer at a news conference on maternal and child health. Sarah
is standing left of the mayor; The Moyer Family: (from left to right)
Sarah, Rosie, Landon, Teddy, Jed and James; Sarah and Jed’s wedding in
Mexico. The rainbow is real. It wasn’t Photoshopped.
people and assisting them in becoming successful.”
As medical school seniors, Sarah and Jed participated in the
Couples’ Match for residency and interviewed across the country,
ultimately settling on Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
in Winston-Salem, N.C.
A month after Match Day in 2010, Jed and Sarah got married
in Mexico. “We got to spend an entire week with our families and
friends,” said Sarah. “The wedding ceremony itself would become a
good metaphor for our life together,” she said. “It was pouring, and I
got soaked in my wedding dress. We had to move the ceremony site
three times. Where we ended up wasn’t planned but was absolutely
beautiful. After the ceremony, the rain stopped and an incredible
rainbow shone above us and our families and friends,” said Sarah.
Sarah and Jed moved to Louisville in 2013 when Jed accepted a
fellowship in non-operative pediatric orthopedics at Norton Chil-
dren’s Hospital. “Louisville is a wonderful place to raise a family,”
he said. “It’s a nice size, but with the infrastructure and amenities
of a larger city like Philadelphia, where I grew up.”
Sarah agrees. “People in Louisville are friendly, warm and hard-
working. The winters here are a lot milder than in the Chicago area,
where I grew up. The only downside is that both Jed and I are away
from our extended families.”
That same year, Sarah went to work at the UofL Department of
Family Medicine. “I got to practice the full scope of family med-
icine and also got to work with residents and students,” she said.
The following year, Sarah had coffee with Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt,
who was then the Director of the Louisville Metro Department of
Public Health and Wellness. “I was there to interview Dr. Nesbitt
on how she was transforming public health in Louisville. It was for
an article I was writing for The Journal of the Kentucky Academy
of Family Practice,” said Sarah. “That meeting changed my life.”
“Two days later, Dr. Nesbitt called me up and offered me the
position of Medical Director of the Health Department. I came on
board in January and only a few weeks after that, Dr. Nesbitt told
me that she was leaving to accept the position of Public Health
Director for Washington D.C.”
Sarah was soon named Interim Director of the Health Depart-
ment. “That was the year of the Ebola outbreak and also the year
we implemented Kentucky’s first syringe exchange program,” she
said. In 2017, she was appointed Director and Louisville’s Chief
Health Strategist.
largest local health department in Kentucky, they began to grow
their family. Now Jed and Sarah are working to balance two highly
successful careers with the demands of raising four young children.
“Children certainly add a layer of complexity to your life,” said Jed.
“There’s life before kids and life after kids. There’s the daily challenge
of getting four kids where they need to be in the morning and getting
to work on time, but children are also a constant reminder of why
we’re doing what we’re doing. They put life in perspective. I believe
I’m a better pediatrician because I’m a father,” said Jed.
“Parenting has also made me a better manager,” said Sarah. “It’s
improved my time management and communication skills,” she said.
Still, there are times when the kids have found their way into
Sarah and Jed’s work life.
“There have been times when bringing the children to the work-
place was unavoidable,” said Jed. “One day recently the schools
were closed, and I had to bring the twins to the office with me.
One of them even popped into the room during an exam. Luckily
I’m a pediatrician and the families of my patients were incredibly
understanding.”
The kids have also appeared in videos that Jed uses for pre-
sentations and at news conferences at which Sarah speaks about
improving maternal and childhood health.
“As busy as things are, Sarah and I still take time to enjoy each
other,” said Jed. “We have date night once a week, away from the kids.
It’s a fine line, but I believe you should show your kids how to live,
rather than living for your kids,” he said. Sarah recently surprised
Jed with a skydiving adventure on which both he and Sarah jumped
out of a plane. “It was the best birthday present ever,” he said.
In their free time, the Moyer family enjoys exploring the Lou-
isville area. “We enjoy Louisville’s parks, and hiking at Bernheim
Forrest,” said Jed. “Last weekend we went snowtubing at Paoli Peaks,”
added Sarah. “Sometimes we like just getting together with other
parents and kids on our block,” said Jed. “We have some terrific
neighbors.”
“I’m lucky to have a dream job that I never could have imagined
and a husband and family that inspire me,” said Sarah. Jed agrees,
“Life is a journey, and while the days can seem long, the years go
fast. I’ve been blessed with a career filled with meaningful work and
a wonderful wife and family.”
Dave Langdon is the director of public information for the Louisville Metro Department
of Public Health and Wellness. He is the Health Department representative on the
Louisville Medicine Editorial Board.
While Jed was building a practice and Sarah was leading the
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