By Scott Bidroski, Sheridan County Journal Star

Gordon Memorial Health Services has added Jordan Morris as a Physicians Assistant as of August of 2020. Morris bolsters the staff at Gordon Memorial Hospital and is an obvious need here in the local healthcare realm.

But how Morris got here is not so obvious.

Morris enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 17, with aspirations initially of beginning a career in law enforcement. Just two years later, at the age of 19, Morris was thrown into a wartime environment in Iraq.

While on assignment with a convoy team while in Iraq, Morris began a friendship with an Army medic. The medic and Morris discussed anything and everything medically related while working together. Morris immediately enrolled in a course called Combat Lifesaver. This course would provide her with her first experience with more detailed medical training.

“The (Army) medic had planted a seed that continued to grow over the next coming years,” said Morris. “I fell in love with the medical career field and began my journey to being able to study medicine,” she added.

After her enlistment ended in 2009, Morris began a career path that has lead her down many avenues. Through a flurry of different work experiences, she narrowed down her options to physician, veterinarian, or physician assistant. Morris loved working with animals but soon realized that she missed the human patient interaction. 

“It took me 12 years;  from the time I was 20-years-old, just a young Air Force troop in Kuwait and Iraq, to the time I applied for graduate school at 32-years-old to learn exactly what I wanted to do with medicine,” she said.

Morris received her degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and then made her next move, Physician Assistant School at Yale University. At Yale, Morris was able to center her education and clinical rotations in her areas of interest; rural medicine and service to the Native American population.

She completed rotations in general surgery and women’s health at Native Woman’s in Rapid City, family practice and psychology training at Fall River Medical Center in Hot Springs, pediatric care and emergency medicine at Pine Ridge, cardiology in Scottsbluff, and a rotation in orthopedics with the Veteran’s Affairs.

“I had a broad range of training from our local community which allowed me to fall in love with the local population and understand our unique medical needs as a rural provider,” said Morris.

This extensive, winding journey has landed Morris in Sheridan County at Gordon Memorial Health Services. A place where she feels right at home.

“I knew this was an opportunity I could not pass up,” she said. “The (Gordon Memorial Staff) are so supportive of each other and I consider myself very lucky to have found such a great team to start out my medical career as a PA-C with,” added Morris.

Morris wants patients and their providers to have a collaborative experience when it comes to their healthcare. 

“I love to incorporate traditional and western medicine and any time I am able to mix spiritual and holistic approaches that patient’s may want to add, I do,” she said.

Learning more about traditional Native American medicine and practices is something Morris would like to learn more about and infuse it into the Clinic.

Outside of the normal workday, Morris loves to cheer on the Huskers. Reading, traveling, and raising her two sons as a single mother also occupies her free time. Morris and her sons enjoy camping in the local areas and the Black Hills.

She enjoys decorating for holidays, indulging in true crime TV shows, and spending time with her extended family.

Morris has settled right in here at Gordon Memorial Health Services and has become an essential member of the staff in just a few months.

“The best part of my job so far is easily the patient population. They are wonderful and feel like family in many ways. I hope to have the opportunity to serve them for many years,” said Morris.