Nimiipuu Health staff honored with awards by Indian Health Service

Optometry, information technology, phone operators and community health staff at Nimiipuu Health were honored with the Indian Health Service Director’s Award for exceptional contributions and commitment to excellence in 2023.

Award recipients were determined in part through patient and employee satisfaction surveys, as well as kudos initiatives, said Roberta José-Bisbee, Nimiipuu Health’s executive director.

“I took the top departments that were shining out in regards to successful quality improvement projects, or just being successful in their department with teamwork and outreach with the public,” she said.

Phone operations was a new addition to the hospital, she said. Having a person to talk to was especially helpful for older patients.

“It was actually a recommendation from our tribal membership that they wanted to talk to a real-life person and not get an automated system,” she said. “During COVID, there was a lot of frustration of patients not being able to speak to a live person. We brought back that operator.”

Another area where work with elders shone through was in community health programs, José-Bisbee said. Community health representatives assist in a wide range of services, like helping patients get to specialist and physical therapy appointments. 

“As we deal with chronic issues, or health issues like Alzheimer’s or dementia or just getting elderly in general, there’s not a lot of patience,” José-Bisbee said. “We do have many staff that have that gentleness.”

Staff at Nimiipuu Health are constantly working to contribute to the bigger picture, she said. Things like weather closures and days off are few and far between. Staff will often work long hours. They might deliver medications, bring patients to appointments or stay with them during emergency room visits.

Community health representatives continually showed a dedication to the community to help in whatever way they could, José-Bisbee said, and went above and beyond what was required. 

That kind of community care, she said, is reflective of long-held values within the community.

“It’s a model that we’ve always followed,” she said. “I had an opportunity to sit with an elder one time, and she said, ‘If there’s a loss in a family, a group of women would go into the home and help with daily chores, help with the care of their family, cooking, cleaning, when that mother couldn’t at that time.’”

Staff in information technology and optometry were honored for their work to help streamline patient scheduling.

“They (Lydia Munoz, Daniel Vantrease, Rudi Knapik) took charge in brainstorming, problem solving and getting IT (Amanda Calkin’s) expertise and executing,” wrote Dr. Ileen Huh, the supervising optometrist at Nimiipuu Health. “I just took the back seat and gave a nod here and there.  I am so happy that this is being recognized not only clinic-wide but throughout NW Indian Country.”

IT also was recognized for their work maintaining multiple software systems essential for patient care.

“We offer so many different software opportunities here,” José-Bisbee said. “It’s just so many moving parts and it’s very complex.”

José-Bisbee said the next major goal for Nimiipuu Health is getting more young people involved in the health field and early nursing programs, especially as the Nez Perce Tribe works to build an assisted living facility.

That 16-bed facility is planned to have construction finished by the end of the year, she said, and begin housing individuals in the spring.