By Nolan Madden North Country HealthCare has entered a new phase of management under its newly appointed chief executive, Anne Newland, MD, MPH. She takes charge of the organization following the retirement of prior CEO Ann Roggenbuck, MPH, MBA, PhD. A clinician leader for more than 10 years, North Country staff say Dr. Newland brings a wealth of experience and education to her new leadership position. “No transition is more important than a leadership change, so I’m very excited for North Country and the direction that we’re going,” noted Regional Manager Kelly Waite at a meet and greet session hosted in Holbrook last week. Dr. Newland acquainted herself with community members present at the event through a brief getting-to-know-you story. “I’m originally from Nebraska, and ended up in Arizona in 2004. I was all set to take up a residency in pediatric nephrology, as a specialist in children’s kidney disease,” she related. “I had gone to the fellowship site, but I got a sinking feeling that I was making the wrong decision. “If you know what it’s like when you’ve been on a career path for a while, worked really hard to attain a goal, and suddenly when it’s right in front of you, you realize, ‘You know, I don’t think it’s what I want, so I didn’t know what I was going to do.’” Dr. Newland says the revelation prompted her to request leave from the program, which was graciously supported by her superiors. She later practiced medicine in what she intended to be short stints with Indian Health Services in Fort Defiance and Kayenta. Figuring it then as a momentary phase that would pass in two to three years, she quipped, “Eight years later, I left Kayenta to do my master’s degree in public health and came to North Country Healthcare as their deputy chief medical officer.” Dr. Newland describes her journey with the organization over the past two and a half years as “pretty fast,” as she subsequently transitioned to chief medical officer and then into her present role, while maintaining a focus on her clinical practice. “It’s important to me to keep seeing patients as a part of my day, as a part of my week,” she says. “For one thing, it’s a part of my roots and my identity as a physician, and I like being able to have that hands-on, seeing the problems that our patients face, whether it’s homelessness, challenges with the expense of their medications, how they interface with some of the programs that we offer them within North Country or that we’re able to facilitate them working with within the community. “Sometimes it’s the Lions Club for eyeglasses. Sometimes it’s services to help them get their utilities paid for. For one of my patients, we were able to arrange for him to get a month’s supply of dog food, because he had to have shoulder surgery, and the one thing that he couldn’t afford was food for his dogs. “That approach to health is the view that I want to take forward as the CEO of North Country. We’re not just about building the health of individuals, but it’s about building healthier communities,” she concluded.