T WO AREA WOMEN making a major impact in healthcare

WORDS : AMANDA WHITMYER PHOTOGRAPHY : RICK NOFEL

Two area women have been honored by the North Dakota Medical Association (NDMA) for their advocacy in healthcare, patient services and the profession of medicine.

Jeana Peinovich

Jeana Peinovich, director of Lend A Hand Up, was presented with the Friends of Medicine Award, which recognizes the need for nonphysicians contributing to the health and well-being of communities in North Dakota.

For more than 30 years, Peinovich has been a vital contributor to the local medical community through her involvement in two immensely successful initiatives led by Dakota Medical Foundation (DMF): Giving Hearts Day and Lend A Hand Up.

“Professionals dedicated to making their expertise more accessible inspired me to find new ways to help others in the area of managed care, where education and referrals improved healthcare access,” says Peinovich.

Following many years of service at Dakota Clinic, Peinovich joined DMF in 2003 as an outreach coordinator for the Covering Kids and Families initiative, which helped more than 1,000 children in low-income families gain access to affordable, quality healthcare coverage.

Not long after, in 2008, she had the idea of creating Giving Hearts Day, a 24-hour fundraising event, that takes place on the second Thursday of February each year. This event has gone on to raise more than $70 million for nearly 500 local charities.

“I’m grateful that when I connected the dots between community need and resources to develop new giving platforms, I was working with a powerhouse of generosity, talent and driven people at DMF who bring good ideas to life in a dynamic way,” says Peinovich

For the past 13 years as the Lend A Hand Up director she’s helped volunteers raise $17 million in financial help and hope for more than 500 families facing medical crisis. From helping families host a successful benefit to providing resources and support for life’s most challenging times, Peinovich has continued to empower volunteers to enhance giving.

She says, “It’s through our combined talents that we maximize help for others as friends of the medical community.”

Dr. Mary Aaland

Driven to help save lives in rural North Dakota, Dr. Mary Aaland, was awarded the Copic Humanitarian award.

“Rural North Dakota has one of the highest death rates across the nation because we’re too far away from healthcare providers and because 911 on rural roads doesn’t work,” says Aaland, who serves as director of rural surgery and director of clinical research at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Aaland has been integral in bringing the American College of Surgeons Stop the Bleed training program to rural North Dakota, which she’s been teaching in local communities and outpatient surgery centers for the past three years. Stop the Bleed is a free one-hour course for all ages that focuses on teaching people how to control bleeding using direct pressure, wound packaging, and tourniquet application.

According to Aaland, the leading causes of death in rural communities are motor vehicle accidents and gunshot wounds. She says in a matter of minutes, rural accidents can turn into life-threatening situations.

“Techniques for stopping the bleed at the scene have to take place immediately,” Aaland says. “There’s no time to wait for paramedics. If we empower and educate communities with limited resources and a lot of spirit, then we’ll see positive effects.”

Aaland says the $10,000 grant she received along with the award will further the life-saving work of Stop the Bleed in rural communities by providing the necessary kits to teach the course.

“These kits are beneficial to take to additional communities so we can train more individuals how to take care of active bleeding. Stop the Bleed will stimulate local communities, which I’m passionate about,” she says.

From empowering senior citizens to training young high school champions to Stop the Bleed, Aaland has trained more than 700 individuals this year alone, which contributes to her goal of training 1,000 people each year.

At the forefront of empowering residents in rural communities, she explains the importance of patient advocacy and the need to train more local organizations.

“Keep the patient at the center of your eye,” she says. “That’s the focus of healthcare.”