Small Town News

Doctor returns to Belcourt permanently

---

The second time around is looking even better than the first for Dr. Ernesto Dy. who is returning to Bel-court. This time, he will s'erve as the Indian Health Service chief surgeon of the Quentin Burdick Memorial Health Facility in Belcourt. The new surgeon worked briefly as a contract surgeon for six weeks this past summer.

Being a fan of hiking and the outdoors, Dr. Dy enjoyed his summer experience in the Turtle Mountains so much, he decided to accept a full-time permanent position in Belcourt.

Dr. Dy's traveling partner on the long trip back to Belcourt from Philadelphia was his male golden retriever, Sam, who is inseparable from his doting master. Dr. Dy (pronounced 'dee') says he loves his "best buddy" and all animals -- almost as much as people. One of Dr. Dy's personal traits is that he tries his best to get to know a person or a patient on a personal level. In that way, he noted, there is a good communication link between himself and the person he is performing surgery on or treating.

Many patients and staff at the local IHS facility now refer to him as the '"surgeon with a smile" because he is so quick with a joke and a laugh. Affable as he is, Dr Dy says when it comes to his work, he takes it very serious.

"I'm devoted to helping save people's lives and I try to give good advice on healthy living to anyone I meet. I think it's important for me to listen to the patient, but I need to encourage people to live healthy and do what's best for them to live a long life. I need to be honest with every patient and their family members. That is so important for building trust between people and you surely must trust your surgeon," Dr. Dy stated.

Born in Lao-ang on the Samar Island in the Philippines, Dr. Dy has been a fellow on the International College of Surgeons since 1991. He is licensed in Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania to practice general surgery and other specialized types of surgery such as endoscopic and en-dovaseular surgery. Dr. Dy has also done pediatric surgery and worked as an instructor in advanced trauma life support in Ohio.

He has done a stint at the Harlem Hospital Center in New York City where he. became the chief resident, surgeon there. In that time at the Harlem medical facility, he also was involved in a research project that studied the methods of hyper-elimination and endoscopy.

Dr. Dy received his bachelor's degree from Xavier University before he enrolled in medical school at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. He received his M.D. degree there in 1970. After his graduation from medical school, it has been a productive professional life for the new local IHS chief surgeon.

He comes to his new position in Belcourt with 38 years of experience in surgery. He can tack on even more experience now that he is working steadily at IHS. Dr. Dy has been very busy at the local medical facility since the moment he finished his two-day orientation on Dec. 1.

One administrator said Dr. Dy has "hit the ground running" since there was a huge backlog of surgical procedures on his slate that he has thrown himself into catching up.

So as his faithful friend Sam guards his apartment at IHS housing. Dr. Ernesto Dy is busy at the Quentin Burdick Memorial Facility in the examination and operating room daily and whenever he is needed for emergency procedures. Busy though he may be. the dedicated professional will still take time to say hello and flash that friendly smile to everyone he meets. .

RoXanne LaVallie-Unabia, CEO at the Quentin Burdick IHS, is happy a surgeon of Dr. Dy's caliber would choose to come on board in a permanent position at Belcourt.

"We've needed a surgeon for quite a while now. To get one as compassionate and as thorough as Dr. Dy is a real bonus," said LaVal-lie-Unabia. "Dr. Dy is a surgeon who explains every procedure in detail and gets as best a comfort level as he can with his patients. He's excellent at what he does here and we're going to utilize his skills in the best wav we can for as long as we can."



Copyright 2009 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.

More from Turtle Mountain Star