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Contact: (301) 443-3593, newsroom@ihs.gov
New I Am IHS Campaign Spotlights Dedication and Commitment of IHS Employees
The Indian Health Service today launched a new multi-part video series featuring employee stories of service, dedication, and discovery. The I Am IHS campaign shines a spotlight on individuals from across IHS and their commitment to the IHS mission.
“The I Am IHS campaign is about telling our employees’ unique stories,” said IHS Principal Deputy Director Rear Adm. Michael D. Weahkee. “The campaign will highlight our talented and dedicated workforce who selflessly serve our patients across Indian Country.”
The first employee story highlights Amber Tincher, MD, a member of the Assiniboine tribe and an IHS scholarship recipient who works as a family medicine physician at the Fort Yates Hospital in North Dakota. Dr. Tincher talks about her family, growing up on the Fort Belknap reservation and spending time at the Fort Belknap hospital, and following in her mother’s footsteps to become a physician at the IHS Fort Yates Hospital.
“Throughout medical school at the University of North Dakota, I knew I wanted to practice family medicine,” Tincher said. “Fort Yates is a well-rounded rural hospital where I’m handling every type of ailment and procedure. I see things here I’d never see at a large facility, which makes me the best physician I can be.”
Dr. Tincher is one of approximately 2,600 employees who live and work in the Great Plains Area. The Great Plains Area provides health services to approximately 120,000 American Indian and Alaska Native people in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. Employees serve in hospitals, health centers and health stations in a number of positions such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists and engineers.
“I love the area – the community, the culture and the traditions,” Tincher said.
Watch Dr. Tincher’s inspiring story.
The multi-part video campaign also includes a recruitment video.
The IHS, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. Follow the agency via social media on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
