Hospital welcomes a hard-earned boost

Mar. 22—PULLMAN — After almost a decade of work, Pullman Regional Hospital will welcome its first three family medicine residents this June.

Dr. Stephen Hall is the program director for the Family Medicine Residency at Washington State University's Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

He said initial talks about a residency started when he was teaching undergraduate medical education through the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) medical program in Idaho.

"We decided to go to Colville," he said. "While we were there, they introduced me to some residents. And I was like, 'OK, wait a second, how do you have residents — medical education training — at a small place like Colville?' So that's what I learned about a thing called rural training tracks."

The process of bringing a residency program to Pullman was a bumpy road. About four years ago the hospital applied to another training program, Hall said, but that program failed to get accreditation. Later on, WSU approached him about doing a full, three-year residency program.

Initially, Hall said, he was unsure if the hospital would be able to support the rigorous needs of a three-year residency program. But after a thorough review, Hall said, he was convinced.

"My initial response was, 'oh, my gosh, are you kidding? That's an awful lot of work to do,'" he said.

Although it's only three residents, Hall said, the process took a major effort from doctors and leaders at both the university and hospital.

"This is such a large endeavor. I know that sounds small, with three (residents)" he said. "There's so many different things that have to go on, that without an incredible number of hands that are helping, there's just no way that we'd be here."

The residents, Dr. Bolu Olawuyi and medical students Jeffrey Ward and Mohammed Younes, were selected from a pool of 570 applicants and 68 interviewees.

Each resident that was selected demonstrated experience in leadership, experience starting new programs and a passion for rural medicine, Hall said.

"You can be a great student, you can be a great learner, but you might not fit in a program that's new," he said. "They've all developed new programs, and they've shown perseverance."

For Dr. Olawuyi, his passion to provide health care for rural and underserved communities developed early in childhood. Olawuyi was born and raised, until age 11, in the rural outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria. Where he grew up, residents often lack access to health care due to cost and location.

"There is little to no access to a hospital," Olawuyi said. "They're also more pricey in terms of the amount you have to pay just for just being seen for minor illnesses. So a lot of people just self-diagnose themselves, and that usually has a profound impact on their health."

Olawuyi was drawn to Pullman Regional because of opportunities to develop a wide range of skills including sports medicine through work with the local universities, and its status as a critical access hospital.

Rural and critical access hospitals offer a uniquely wide range of learning opportunities, Hall said. Unlike hospitals in larger cities, doctors treat many more ailments on their own that other medical providers might outsource.

"You don't have as much backup as you do in another place," he said. "You don't have stroke teams, and you don't have heart attack teams. That's all stuff that you need to take care of yourself locally."

Olawuyi's path to becoming a doctor was a tumultuous one, he said. Throughout his years of medical school he tutored children to cover living expenses and tuition. During a clerkship in 2017, his Houston apartment flooded when Hurricane Harvey reached Texas.

"I woke up in like literally about 3 a.m. in the night, and my bed was floating. My books were soaked. My computers were also in water," he said. "I was homeless for I'd say about two weeks before I was able to get a new apartment. I was pretty much just staying in the hospital."

Having family, friends and community supporting him made the difference in being able to complete medical school, Olawuyi said. After his apartment flooded his neighbors helped him, taking him in for the night, and his parents and friends provided support.

"My neighbors actually were a big (support), which is why a community that supports each other is very, very important," he said. "That's why I've always wanted to practice in a community that supports each other."

Now a Canadian citizen, Olawuyi said his resolve to pursue medicine was further solidified by the passing of his father, who died a few years ago after struggling with Type 2 diabetes.

"Witnessing my father's medical journey, I learned that comprehensive care and preventative management can have a profound outcome on an individual's prognosis, morbidity and mortality," he said.

After the three-year residency, Olawuyi said he's interested in continuing work in the Pullman area and potentially helping to train the next cohort of family medicine residents.

One of the benefits of adding a residency program, Hall said, is that the majority of medical residents will choose to continue practicing medicine at or near where they completed their residency.

"If we can get docs to go through our rural residency and to stay in eastern Washington and smaller communities, that would be such a wonderful thing," he said.

Sun may be contacted at rsun@lmtribune.com or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.