Dr. Pratt: Fate And A Leap Of Faith Led Her To YHS
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Dr. Heidi Pratt
WATER VALLEY – Admittedly it was a leap of faith 14 years ago when Dr. Heidi Pratt decided to come to work for Yalobusha Health Services (YHS). She left her position as chairman of Family Medicine for the Cleveland Clinic in Florida, one of the top-rated hospitals in the country, looking for something different for her family. That quest followed a comment from her son as she was headed to another meeting in a fast-paced life.
“My son asked, ‘Mom, you have another meeting? You are not going to be home tonight?’ We decided to figure something else out. Our kids were only going to be young once,” Dr. Pratt recalled about the decision with her husband, Russ Pratt, to move their family that included two young sons and another soon to arrive.
The couple’s deep connection to sports would ultimately help them settle on Water Valley after learning that YHS was searching for a doctor. Russ is the oldest of six boys in his family and all played collegiate baseball or football. Two of his brothers played baseball at Auburn and recalled how they loved competing against Ole Miss in Oxford.
“They said we would love the area,” she continued. “I flew out in 2007 and interviewed at YHS, and we decided to take a leap of faith.”
She started work in January, 2008, only months before their third son was due. Her initial contract was for three years, plenty of time to settle in and see what would unfold. The years passed fast and their family grew with the addition of a fourth son.
“Sometimes I blink and I can’t believe this is my 14th year. I love my practice, I love the people I work with. I love Water Valley. I love that we have been able to build a life here for my sons. We were able to get that quality of life where I have balance between family and work.”
Ironically it was another leap of faith years earlier that brought Dr. Pratt, then a junior in college, across the country from her hometown in Utah to attend Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Early in life she had decided to pursue a career in the medical field after her younger sister died from liver disease.
“That was my trigger to go into medicine, I wanted to save the world,” Dr. Pratt explained.
Growing up in Tooele, Utah, she started college at Utah Valley University and took classes that would prepare her for medical school. She played softball at Utah Valley two years and was ready to transfer to the University of Utah her junior year, hoping to be accepted into that college’s School of Medicine after earning her bachelor’s degree. But competition was intense to land one of 100 spots in the university’s School of Medicine that served Wyoming, Idaho and Utah.
“I was doing everything I needed to do,” she recalled about her busy schedule. She volunteered at the hospital and worked while playing softball. She had a strong 3.6 GPA.
“But they were like, you need to bring your grades up,” she continued.
Discouraged, it appeared that medical school would not be an option before fate intervened during the summer between her sophomore and junior year. Fate was her family optometrist and randomly bumping into him three times that summer.
“He kept saying that I needed to call this school in Florida. His daughter was going to optometry school there,” the Dr. Pratt continues.
Initially she thought little about his suggestion, but finally after the third encounter she decided to call Nova Southeastern University, just to be able to tell him that she had inquired.
“He had already sent my softball videos, and they offered me a full ride to attend,” Dr. Pratt continued. “The irony, I hardly ever saw him and three times I saw him within two months.”
At the end of the summer she loaded up with his daughter and drove five days across the nation from Utah to southern Florida.
“I had never seen the Mississippi River, I had never been that far east,” she recalled. They stopped at state lines along the way, taking pictures with each welcome sign including Mississippi. “It’s kind of ironic that I ended up back in Mississippi.”
The decision proved to be perfect fit for her life. She played shortstop and left field for two years at Nova Southeastern University and was named First Team All American for softball and earned an All American in academics. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she was accepted in the Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic. She coached softball at the university her first year of medical school and married Russ, her high school sweetheart, during her second year. She graduated in 2002 and had three years of residency ahead as a family medicine doctor before launching her career at the Cleveland Clinic.
That experience proved invaluable at Odom Rural Health Clinic where she see patients from infants all the way to the end of life. She also serves as Chief of Staff for YHS, following in the footsteps of Dr. Paul Odom overseeing the medical side of operations to ensure that standards are held to the national level or higher.
“As Chief of Staff, I am a problem solver, people come to me. Sometimes it is medical related, sometimes it is not,” she adds.
In the clinic she loves serving as a family medical doctor, explaining that each appointment is different. She enjoys being able to take care of her patients if they need additional care at Yalobusha General Hospital or nursing home.
“There are so many things people don’t understand about rural health, and I didn’t understand when I got here,” she explains. “We don’t fit the mold that you will see in some of the big hospitals. Some of that is to our detriment, but sometimes that is what makes us special. A lot of patients in Water Valley who are admitted into the hospital will compliment us. They will say how much they love it there, everybody knows their name and the nurses are great.”
Dr. Pratt enjoys strong relationships with her patients. She recalls how it took time to slow down when she talked to patients after leaving the fast-paced Cleveland Clinic. During her 14 years, she already enjoys seeing second generation patients.
“I think our patients get really good care. They are loved and cared for,” she added.
