Utah Navajo Health System, Inc. celebrates 25 Years: A closer look at UNHS then and now

by Sally Jack
Contibruting Writer
This year marks the 25-year anniversary of Utah Navajo Health System, Inc.
To celebrate “25 Years Strong,” UNHS hosted anniversary celebrations at Navajo Mountain, Monument Valley, and Blanding, with a final celebration to take place at their headquarters in Montezuma Creek next year.
Twenty-five years ago, on the first day of a new century — January 1, 2000 — Utah Navajo Health System began as a new, not-for-profit health care corporation, and Montezuma Creek Clinic was officially transferred from the San Juan Health District to UNHS.
On that historic day, the new corporation consisted of one small clinic in Montezuma Creek, one physician (Dr. Val Jones), one CEO (Donna Singer) and a total of 18 employees.
Since that humble start 25 years ago, UNHS has grown to include medical, dental, and vision health care services at eight locations with four clinics, 50 doctors, and 524 active employees. They serve hundreds of patients in rural southeastern Utah.
Over the years, UNHS has served people from 48 out of 50 States, as well as people from 17 countries.
Their story begins in September 1999, when the Utah Navajo Commission suggested that it was time for the local community — rather than the County — to manage health services in the area.
It was often difficult for people living in remote areas of the “medical frontier” to receive health care without driving long distances. In the case of emergencies, a serious problem.
Utah Navajo Health System was incorporated to help meet the needs of the medically underserved areas of southeastern Utah, with a goal to provide quality health care to all persons in San Juan County.
As a fledgling business, there was much work to be done. For starters, the newly acquired Montezuma Creek Clinic was housed in a building that original staff members could only refer to as a “decrepit old building.”
Built in the 1960’s, the structure had seen better days. Dr. Val Jones, the first M.D. at Montezuma Creek in those early days, recalls, “We kept fixing it up and adding on to it a little bit here, and a little bit there, trying to make do.”
It would be 18 years before the dilapidated Montezuma Creek Clinic was replaced with a beautiful new 52,000 square foot facility.
Gloria Begaye, a member of the UNHS Board of Directors for 25 years, relates, “It was hard; lots of traveling, late nights, resolutions, documents, working with the Navajo Nation, working with the County, applying for grants, and dealing with the HIS (Indian Health Services).”
Gloria lives in Blanding, and sometimes she wouldn’t get home from Montezuma Creek until midnight. The next day she would start all over again.
UNHS acquired Michele Lyman’s Blanding Family Practice early on. Merging the Family Practice clinic into the corporation was a busy and challenging time for all.
Michele Lyman, M.S., PA-C who has been with UNHS from the start, said it was not a simple process. “We all dedicated our lives and our time to this. We sacrificed time we could have spent with our families. We were tired. We didn’t eat, we didn’t sleep, I don’t know how we did it.”
Another member of UNHS referred to it as “a time when we were barely making payroll.”
So how did they do it? Many longtime members of UNHS agree that much of its success is due to a great Board of Directors, who had vision, foresight, and a can-do attitude.
“I never could have imagined at the outset that UNHS would come to be what it is today,” said Dr. Val Jones. “But the Board of Directors had vision. They could see the possibilities. They knew where they wanted to go.”
Gloria Begaye remembers, “In the beginning, all we had was a big piece of butcher paper taped to the wall with the goals of the Board written on them. Today we have achieved every one of the goals on that piece of butcher paper... and more,” she adds with satisfaction.
At the celebration in Blanding, County Commissioner Jamie Harvey (who has also served on the Board of Directors) said, “Without the Board of Directors we would not have come this far.”
According to Dr. Jones, another part of the success of the corporation is simply a matter of taking advantage of opportunities.
“It seemed like doors opened up when we needed them to,” he said. Jones also acknowledged it may require an aggressive approach to achieve things that may otherwise not be possible.
A combination of private and governmental grant monies, along with other funding options, made it possible for UNHS to acquire each new building free of debt.
A UNHS website states: “A full 25 percent of our funding comes from grants. By procuring funds that would otherwise go elsewhere, we are able to expand services while supporting the local economy and creating jobs.
“We receive no county or state tax funding. Though we are not part of the IHS, we maintain a working relationship with the IHS.... Utah Navajo Health System has also received the support of The Utah Navajo Trust Fund (UNTF).”
In this way, UNHS continues to grow and expand. There was cause for celebration on July 27, 2018, when the dilapidated Montezuma Creek Clinic was finally replaced with its current state-of-the-art facility, the Montezuma Creek Community Health Center.
Montezuma Creek continues to serve as the administrative and corporate headquarters for UNHS.
A year later, a new facility for the Blanding Family Practice Community Health Center was completed and opened at its new location in August, 2019.
The building is 42,000 square feet with 32 exam rooms, ten dental rooms, and a drive-through pharmacy. It hosts two eye doctors, a chiropractor, and a conference room for staff, and for training.
Today UNHS provides quality health care services at the following locations:
In Blanding, Family Dental, Family Practice Chiropractic, Family Vision Clinic, and Family Practice Community Health Center, Monument Valley Community Health Center, Navajo Mountain Community Health Center, Montezuma Creek Community Health Center, and San Juan Family Dental, Monticello
UNHS also manages and operates Gentle Ironhawk Shelter, a Navajo Nation domestic violence shelter for women and children.
Future plans for UNHS, Inc. include:
• Hosting the Third Annual Indigenous Men’s Conference at the Arts and Events Center in Blanding on June 26.
• Building a new UNHS owned and operated grocery store in Montezuma Creek, to offer healthy foods and fresh produce for a community where food insecurity is a real problem.
• Replacing the clinic at Navajo Mountain (currently operating out of double-wide trailers) with a new facility in keeping with the other UNHS clinics.
• Building company housing for employees, and visitors from the University of Utah. The housing will be located near the Blue Mountain Hospital in Blanding, and also near the clinic in Montezuma Creek.
• Purchasing Blue Mountain Hospital. Currently, Blue Mountain Hospital is a private, non-profit corporation, independent of any other entities. Both UNHS and the Ute Tribe appoint board members to the hospital board of directors.
From the year 2000 to the year 2025, Utah Navajo Health System, Inc. has come a long way. To sum it all up, “It’s exciting,” says Gloria, who has walked with UNHS every step of the way. “I just love it. I’m proud of it. It’s a part of me, a part of my life.”
Miss Indian Broken Trail Katiana Ben said it best as she gave the closing prayer at the 25 Year Celebration in Blanding, “We hope there will be many more years to come.”
To learn more about UNHS, see the UNHS Website at unhsinc.org