Judith Thierry

Maternal and Child Health Coordinator, Indian Health Service

Mom in the middle. Mom the MCH coordinator. How did such a free spirit 60's girl get and stay in a uniform (0-6 Captain) and head to W.D.C. from her New Mexico enchantment? Easy! You speak your vision, create a world view and throw your hat over that wall, climb up and see what's there. The views have been great, not always of my own making, but great. Now for the nuts and bolts of what I do. Judith Thierry, DO, MPH, FACOP, FAAP is the Maternal and Child Health Coordinator for the Indian Health Service (IHS) an agency with the Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville Maryland. She provides leadership in MCH policy to the Agency responsible for providing direct health care to 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) of which approximately 600,000 are age twenty or younger. Dr. Thierry provides subject matter expertise to the Agency and to the Office of Clinical and Preventive Services on issues affecting infants, women, children and youth. Tobacco, infant mortality, birth defects, breastfeeding and immunizations are key charges. As IHS liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Native American Child Health Dr. Thierry assists teams as they conduct site visits to AIAN Tribes, urban programs and their communities, including school settings. Alaska Area is schedule for this September 2009. Currently the IHS is enhancing their patient data system i.e. a well child module with an array of screening tools will be available for clinicians at all points of entry. A similar prenatal module is in beta testing. The MCH program administers eleven cooperative agreements (CA) with programs serving youth ages 5 to 19 and recently 7 CA’s for enhancing the MCH core capacity at the Tribal and Urban Indian Epidemiology Centers. Data analysis on a SLAITS survey on AIAN specific parent reported Child Health Measures from the National Survey on Child Health is underway. Pediatric Clinics of North American December 2009 published chapter on History, Law and Policy as the Foundation for AIAN Child Health which she has shared authorship with Dr’s Everett Rhoades, (past IHS Director), George Brenneman (past IHS MCH coordinator) and Lance Chilton (pediatrician who launched CONACH over two decades ago). Captain Thierry served in the Army Nurse Corps from 1971 – 1973 (Vietnam Era) and began her career with the IHS as a National Health Service Scholarship recipient in 1986 after completing her residency in Pediatrics. She has worked as a staff clinician in busy urgent care settings, as Clinical Director and CEO. She has served on the Executive Leadership Group for the IHS as the lead representative for the National Council of Clinical Directors in 1999. She is married and has three children Katie (24), David (22) and Ben (28). She received her MPH from Johns Hopkins in 2005 in Health Policy with MCH emphasis. She periodically provides clinical care with Southwest Tribes.