Longtime Tribal employee reflects on her tenure

Observer Staff

2/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

There sure have been a lot of changes in my 25 years on the Isabella Reservation being a nurse for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.

Tribal Council conducted all of the employee interviews at that time and my first office was a closet.

The Nimkee Clinic was open 20 hours a week with one family nurse practitioner to see patients.

We had two exam rooms and a very small lab/pharmacy. All of our long distance phone calls had to be logged and were made from a rotary dial phone.

The family nurse practitioner and I did home visits and monthly medical visits to Merritt and Saganing. Audrey Falcon was our health administrator and Pete Otto was chief.

Our first dental services were a weekly fluoride rinse for the children every Wednesday after school. A $5 prize was awarded for perfect attendance over the school year.

Over the years, we have grown into our third medical facility with three physicians, one physician assistant and one family nurse practitioner.

We now have eight exam rooms, a fully stocked pharmacy and lab, dental clinic, community health, and more.

I am now immunizing my second generation of kids. I have always been very proud to be an employee of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and I look forward to the next 25 years.