An extended family cares for patients at an SSM Health hospital in Wisconsin. Twins who are nurses tend to delicate newborns in the same neonatal intensive care unit where they were born at a Hospital Sisters Health System hospital in Illinois. They and
other relatives who are colleagues share their stories about how working together brings a special joy to their lives.
Natural beauty, mission anchor father and son surgeons in South Dakota
By LISA EISENHAUER
Brandt and Eldon Becker are surgeons at Avera St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre, South Dakota.
Family dynasties aren't rare in Pierre, South Dakota. Cattle ranches, body shops, plumbing services and other businesses get passed down through generations. Brandt Becker says it's no big deal that even in a town of about 14,000 he and his father,
Eldon, are surgeons in the same place, Avera St. Mary's Hospital.
The Beckers are one of the newer dynasties. Eldon came to the capitol city right out of residency in 1989 and stayed. He grew up in North Dakota and broke a family tradition of business and ranching to become a physician.
After earning degrees in engineering and biology in college, he toyed with the idea of life in a big city. He and his wife decided it wasn't for them. When he finished his medical training, he accepted a position in Pierre and the family settled in.
"It's kept me here because of the sense of community and the relationships," Eldon says.
Brandt fondly recalls as a boy mowing the lawn at the clinic where Eldon saw patients and tagging along as his father rounded. He says the whole family took in stride the demands that a doctor's duties in a smallish community put on all of them.
He joined his father at St. Mary's in 2013, never giving much thought to any other profession. "I think it was just really always kind of there," he says. "It wasn't like I woke up one day and decided, well, yep, I want to go do this. It was just so much
a part of Eldon's life that spilled over to our lifestyle. It was natural."
Medicine is an even bigger part of Brandt's family life than it was Eldon's. Eldon's wife is a retired teacher. Brandt's wife is a nurse for an ear, nose and throat specialist at St. Mary's.
Brandt says Pierre, situated on the Missouri River and near massive Lake Oahe, is something of a sportsman's paradise. The natural beauty is a draw for father and son, who hunt and fish. "I think it's an unknown until once you're here," Brandt says. "You
wouldn't think that we have the water resources that we do."
Another anchor for the Beckers in Pierre is Avera's mission to provide whole care for body, mind and spirit. "It fills our cup," Eldon says. "It's what gives us joy, and we receive by giving."
Mother-daughter nurses at PeaceHealth hospital bring positivity to patients, co-workers
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
Sienna Heredia, left, talks with her mother, Tawnya Heredia, on a coffee break at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington, where they are both nurses.
"When she first started, they're like, 'Wow, she's so mature, and she handles situations so well. She's just really confident,'" Tawnya says.
"I can't do anything under the radar," Sienna Heredia jokes.
The mother-daughter duo are nurses on the same floor in different medical-surgical units at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington. Tawnya has worked there almost five years; Sienna about four.
They often don't see each other at work unless they make time for a coffee break.
"It's really fun to have someone in my family understand what's going on, and to be able to debrief, because it's not easy work all the time," Tawnya says.
"She's really good at pep talks, and she'll just dive right in, which I'm not as good at," says Sienna.
Tawnya was born at St. Joseph. When she was 19, she gave birth to her son Isaiah there, and at age 20, Sienna. It was tough being a young mom, but she and her husband, Misael, stuck it out. She became a medical assistant and for 20 years ran a clinic,
where Sienna and her brother often hung out.
"I really can't remember a time in my life that I didn't know that I was going to be a nurse," says Sienna, 27.
She went to nursing school at Eastern Washington University.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to work elsewhere or come back to Bellingham, in the state's northwest corner. Her mother had finished nursing school herself, started working at St. Joseph, and encouraged her daughter to apply.
Tawnya thinks God has guided her path. She uses her experiences, including her 100-pound weight loss through
diet and exercise, to influence others. "I think he divinely placed me in this profession so I can actually go to work every day and make
an impact in people's lives," she says.
Sienna sees divinity in her career path, too: She met her fiancé when his dad was one of her patients.
The wedding is set for the end of June.
Last year, mom and daughter were featured in a video as part of PeaceHealth's Women of Peace movement
to honor and support female caregivers.
"I think people know us, and they know the energy we bring," Tawnya says. "Whatever we need to accomplish that day and whatever is thrown our way, we're gonna get through it. Tomorrow's a new day."
Married surgeons find balance in work, parenting, hobbies
By LISA EISENHAUER
Already united by marriage and parenthood, orthopedic surgeon Tara Moncman and neurosurgeon Ryan Moncman were determined to find a way to sync their work lives.
The doctors joined Holy Cross Medical Group in August. The physicians' group is part of Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a member of Trinity Health.
Dr. Tara Moncman is an orthopedic surgeon and her husband, Dr. Ryan Moncman, is a neurosurgeon at Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The Moncmans started dating in 2016, when they were resident physicians at separate hospitals in Philadelphia. They met through Ryan's roommate, a friend from medical school, who was in the same program as Tara.
Their first post-residency positions were in Orlando, but with different employers. When they were recruited for positions in other cities, the pair — by then married and raising a daughter — made it clear they were a package deal.
"We both said we've been in school far too long for either of us to really sacrifice what we wanted, so we have to kind of find the perfect match," Tara recalls.
Holy Cross proved to be the right fit. It checked the box for being in the south, away from the chilly Northeast where they'd spent most of their lives. And it provided the work-life balance both prioritized.
"I would say, comparatively to our last job, it's incredible," Ryan says. "Our quality of life has improved significantly."
The couple's paths cross often, sometimes by happenstance when they are both rounding but more often by design. "Mostly he just likes to come in and give me a hard time while I'm operating," Tara jokes.
The Moncmans plan their weekend on-call shifts together. On those days, they bring their 3-year-old daughter, Margot, along and hand her off to each other as they check in on patients. With another child on the way, they soon will be doing double handoffs.
In addition to living and working together, the Moncmans share a passion for fitness. Tara is a distance runner. One year, she ran ultramarathons in Antarctica, the Gobi Desert in China, the Sahara Desert in Egypt, and the Atacama Desert in Chile. Ryan's
sport is golf. He was a scholar athlete in college.
Tara says Ryan told her when he proposed that he would not be joining her on marathons, and he has held true to that.
During the COVID pandemic, Ryan got Tara hooked on his sport. Now they also hit the links together. "He likes it, because that just means we get to play more often," Tara says.
Mother-daughter physician duo practice at same pediatric office in Louisiana
By JULIE MINDA
Dr. Michelle Flechas knew when she was in high school that she wanted to be a doctor someday. Several friends' dads were physicians, and, seeing her interest in the medical field, they invited her to shadow them. Years
later, during residency rotations, she "fell in love with pediatrics," she says.
For 27 years, she's practiced in outpatient pediatrics with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She is currently in the hospital's Pediatrics at Perkins physician office. Our Lady of the Lake is part of Franciscan Missionaries
of Our Lady Health System.
Dr. Michelle Flechas, left, and her daughter Dr. Meaghan Smith both are pediatricians at Pediatrics at Perkins physician office. That office is part of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
As of August, in the office right next door is her daughter, Dr. Meaghan Smith. With a grandmother, grandfather, father, mother and aunt all having worked in the medical field, a passion to serve people through health care seems to be in Meaghan's genes.
Like her mom's, Meaghan's interest in medicine was cemented when she was in high school. All her life, she'd accompanied her mom on rounds, so she has always been very comfortable in the medical setting. But when her sister fell ill with ulcerative colitis
when Meaghan was in high school, Meaghan was touched by the care and compassion physicians showed her sister. She wanted to have a healing impact on people someday, too.
Having grown up with a physician mother and psychiatrist father, Meaghan says she knew what to expect in medical school and was not as shell-shocked by the grind as some of her classmates. And now that she has graduated and is practicing in the same office
as her mom, she likes that she can use her as a resource when she needs help.
Michelle and Meaghan laugh that the medical field gene seemed to have skipped Flechas' son — he gets sickened by all conversations his family members have about illness and disease.
Michelle says she has loved her career in pediatrics. She's found that there is a lot of joy treating children, and she says it's very gratifying to build relationships with families. In some cases, she's had three generations of a family as patients.
The Flechas family is close even when the mother-daughter physician duo is not at work — Meaghan and her family have moved into her parents' neighborhood.
Meaghan and her husband — who himself is a physical therapist — are now expecting their first child. So, the Our Lady of the Lake network may see another member of the Flechas family tree in the physician ranks someday.
Twins serve patients, families at NICU where they were born
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
Jeff Obert holds Justine and Jody Obert holds Zoey soon after the twins were born in 2002 at HSHS St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois.
By their mere presence, nurses Zoey and Justine Obert give hope to the families they serve in the neonatal intensive care unit of HSHS St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois.
The Oberts were born in the same hospital 23 years ago, nine weeks premature. They weighed 2 pounds, 15 ounces each.
"We try to take breaks with each other. We pack a lunch together. We usually try to get shifts together," says Justine.
While the twins look alike, their family never learned if they were fraternal or identical. They wear different hairstyles and glasses to help patients and co-workers tell them apart, but that doesn't always work.
Families of babies find it fascinating when they learn the two are twins, Justine says, asking the sisters to stand next to one another or coaxing the pair to help prank their own relatives.
Besides the fun of working together, they can serve as an example. "We're one of the success stories," she says.
Zoey marvels that she gets to "initiate care for a new life that hasn't been touched by anything at this moment in time. Yes, they look so fragile, but at the same time, they have such a will to live."
When their mother, Jody Obert, was pregnant, she got devastating news: her baby had spina bifida. She received a blessing from people at their Catholic church in Liberty, Illinois.
Justine Obert, left, and her twin sister, Zoey Obert, pose at their graduation from St. John's College of Nursing in Springfield, Illinois, in spring 2024.
The next day, she and her husband, Jeff, learned that the baby didn't have spina bifida; instead, she was pregnant with twins. Soon she checked in at HSHS St. John's Hospital, nearly 100 miles away, for preeclampsia. Not long after, the girls
were born.
"I will say St. John's definitely saved our mom's life," says Justine.
From a young age, the twins knew they wanted to go into health care. Both of their parents did volunteer work. The girls loved to babysit. "We knew that helping others was what we were meant to do," says Justine.
They both graduated last year from St. John's College of Nursing, which, like the hospital, is part of the Hospital Sisters Health System. They interviewed for one open position. But since they both interviewed so well and hospital administrators loved
their story, the hospital created another position.
"They're pretty proud of us," Zoey says of their parents. "They actually feel like it was a calling for us. Our dad always laughs, he's like, it's fitting for you to be where you started."
"I feel like God is always gearing us toward the right direction," Justine says. "We just have to listen."
It's all relative for the Kinds and Schroeders at SSM Health hospital
By JULIE MINDA
Five members of Sarah Schroeder's family also are colleagues of hers at SSM Health Monroe Hospital in Monroe, Wisconsin. From left are her father-in-law, Eric Schroeder; her husband, Bryan Shroeder; Sarah Schroeder; her brother, Jacob Kind; and
her parents, Theresa Kind and Dr. Charles Kind.
It's a good thing that pediatric nurse Sarah Schroeder gets along with her family, because every day she goes to work at SSM Health Monroe Hospital in Monroe, Wisconsin, chances are she will run into a relative.
Her dad, Dr. Charles Kind, is a podiatrist; her mom, Theresa Kind, is a physical therapist; her brother, Jacob Kind, is a telemonitor technician on the medical-surgical unit; her husband, Bryan Schroeder, is a nurse in the intensive care and med-surg units; and her father-in-law, Eric Shroeder, is a multi-modality imagining technician. Sarah Schroeder's other brother and his wife are podiatry residents, so even more family members someday could be joining the SSM Health Monroe team.
Husband and wife Bryan and Sarah Schroeder kiss at the start of the new year in 2020.
Charles and Theresa met on a blind date decades ago when Charles was in medical school and Theresa in physical therapy school. After they married and started a family, their children learned through them about the joy and pain of working in health care.
The younger generation became accustomed to being in the health care setting, and they in time decided to themselves join the field.
Theresa jokes that while the family enjoys chatting together about their work, "sometimes at holiday dinners, it gets to be a little bit of overkill with all the foot talk," especially now that two more family members are pursuing the podiatry field.
The family laughs that it can get to be a little much when the podiatrists start pulling out their phones to share their foot pictures with everyone.
Theresa says a benefit of having so many family members in health care is that they all understand what each other is going through — they understand the need for flexible schedules and that many family members will have to work on holidays and
weekends.
Bryan says having so many family members in health care was especially appreciated during the worst of the COVID pandemic. He was working in the ICU when the pandemic hit, and it was an extremely stressful time to be stationed in that department. "My
family understood, when others didn't," he says.
Eric adds, "Yes, there are happy stories we have in health care, but there is also the stuff that is on the other side. And we can talk each other through the traumatic things we experience."
Family connections abound among clinicians and staff at SSM Health St. Clare Hospital – Baraboo in Wisconsin and its affiliated facilities.