Small Town News

New clinical director takes helm at IHS in Belcourt

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With her easy laugh and gregarious manner, it takes a little while to really sense what lies just beneath the surface of Dr. Monica Mayer's personality. Dr. Mayer is a dedicated and courageous woman, who is more than ready to be tough and decisive when she needs to be.

The job she has recently taken on as clinical director of the Quentin Burdick Memorial Health Care Facility in Belcourt, is going to call for a well-rounded and strong individual with the aforementioned character strengths to make the local health center what she and her chief executive officer want it to be. Dr. Mayer will be in charge of the medical, dental, optometry, x-ray, ob-gyn, pharmacy, ER, lab and all other medical and clinical support departments. In total, she will be supervising 94 fellow professionals in her new post as clinical director.

Last week, she and Chief Executive Officer RoxAnne LaVallie-Un-abia were busy going over their strategic plans to improve the operations and services of the facility in LaVallie-Unabia's office. Both women stated they are in total agreement when it comes to discussing the plans for providing the best in health care for the community.

"This place used to be the gold standard model in the Aberdeen Area and I plan to work in a united front with our CEO, staff and administration to get back to that kind of facility," Dr. Mayer stated. "Back in the 1990's, this was the place everyone wanted to come to work. Now there is a shortage of doctors and morale has taken a downturn' in the last several years. There is no replacing people power, so even though we may have a great facility and equipment here, we also need quality professionals working here that care about the people. We need to show good leadership and unity."

A lifelong athlete and sports enthusiast, Dr. Mayer had her basketball jersey number retired several years ago at Newtown High School for her remarkable athletic achievements as a student-athlete at that North Dakota school. As a collegiate player, she was named a Junior College All-American in women's basketball, but Dr. Mayer vividly recalls how she destroyed her knee ligaments in a skiing accident in Montana. From her hospital bed, she realized her dream of being the first Native American woman in the Olympics was over. It made the recovery even more painful, but she had a supportive family who directed her to focus on getting an education where she could make a difference.

"That dream of playing in the Olympics was definitely over and I stressed over my injury for a while, but the dream I had to help our native people became even stronger. With both my parents encouraging me, I went back to school and graduated with my medical degree. I was 19 years old when I tore my knee up, but I step back and look at what life has given me now through my hard work. You know, I have actually achieved what ended up being my most important dream, and that is to be doing something that is truly long-lasting and positive for my tribal brothers and sisters. I'm from the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara tribe, but the tribe here in Turtle Mountain are like my family members too. We're all Indian people and we all need quality health care, too," Dr. Mayer emphasized.

Dr. Mayer received her bachelors degree in Biology and was teaching in the classroom as an instructor, before she decided to become a medical doctor. She enrolled in the Indians into Medicine program at the University of North Dakota and graduated with several other doctors from the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation and other tribal communities in the nation. Dr. Mayer cherishes her education and knows that is something no one can take away from her and neither can the compassion she has for people be changed. Dr. Mayer said she is very passionate about helping all people, but it was the desire to return to help native tribes that helped give her that "added push" to excel and finish her degree.

"It's kind of interesting, but the word 'doctor' in Latin actually means 'teacher'. So in many ways, we do teach patients how to live healthy lives and treat them if necessary, and we teach other doctors who are less experienced on how to treat patients. We are teachers and doctors, because whether we want it or not, people look to us for guidance and advice. That's why we need to work harder on health education and preventative medicine," Dr. Mayer related.

After attaining her degree in family medicine, the Three Affiliated Tribes member then went to work as an intern for the Trinity Family Practice Residency Program in Minot. After her internship, Dr. Mayer was the clinical director for the Newtown Clinic. At the same time, she also worked as the chief medical officer at the Stanley Medical Center, a 10-bed hospital and clinic, which is part of the Minot Trinity Hospital medical services network. Dr. Mayer worked an average of 100 hours a week in those early days of her med1 ical career. She pared down those hours to about 80 hours a week, after she was hired as a contract emergency room doctor in Belcourt in 2002. She continued to work in Newtown and worked weekends in Belcourt.

"It was a nice surprise when 1 was called up by (former IHS clinical director) Dr. Penny Wilkie, who I worked with in Newtown. Dr. Wilkie convinced me to come up and try it out in ER. Turned out, I liked the people here right away. Being native myself, I feel I have an inside track already and know how to work with the native patients and understand them in many ways a non-Indian may not. But the bottom line is, we can't afford to be wrong when we are treating patients. Just like when I was in sports, I know it takes a team to make it all work. We have to motivate and support each other and I am in charge of helping to make decisions that will improve this facility, and so far, RoxAnne and I are on the same page. We don't always agree, but we definitely want the same thing for our patients and that's quality health care and caring. To me, that is the biggest thing I can do is care for the people, all the time. Not just on my good days. I need to provide, or should I say, WE need to all provide good services to all the people here, no matter who they are or if we're having a bad day. Like any team, it starts at the top. If you have a coach that doesn't support you and give you confidence and appreciation, that coach will destroy you. RoxAnne and I plan to be able to guide and support our staff and bring in more qualified people and doctors who really care about the people here. In that way, that will just make this the best team in the IHS area once again."

Dr. Mayer noted she is very honored to have been pursued to become the local IHS clinical director in Belcourt so diligently. It made her decision much easier to take on her new and very challenging role. Dr. Mayer believes that there is only a "window" of about thirty-five to forty years that are prime performance years and she is at the stage where she wants to take more of a leadership and decision-making role.

"My window is about 3/4 down right now, but I've paid my dues and been there, done that. I know this is something that I can do and this is just my next phase in my professional career that will be hopefully be just as rewarding as the first parts of it," stated Dr. Mayer. "The number one goal for myself as clinical director is to care about the patients like family, and goal number two, is to draw our staff together to support one another. With those two simple goals, everything blossoms out from there."

CEO LaVallie-Unabia is confident in the abilities of Dr. Mayer and that she will be a great asset to the facility and the future of the Belcourt IHS facility and community.

"Dr. Mayer is well-respected, not only because of her abilities she has demonstrated as an ER doctor, but also because she's a person who has her heart in her work," LaVallie-Unabia stated. "I've been excited since the day she accepted the job. She has great patient rapport and has the knack to deal with any situation and issue in a rational and professional manner. We both sense the positive buzz going around the hospital and clinic that things are going to improve with Dr. Mayer at the helm of clinical operations. I think our partnership is even stronger because we are both Native American professionals who truly care about the people. This is my home and Dr. Mayer has fit in very well here and that has been noticed by most people here. I guess I've adopted her in a way, in my own mind. What I admire most about Dr. Mayer, is that for her, the patient needs come first. That's why I am happy she's joined our staff and IHS team."



Copyright 2010 Turtle Mountain Star, Rolla, North Dakota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 Turtle Mountain Star Rolla, North Dakota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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