Treating patients with dignity is a top priority for Dr. Marie Kellett. She says this as she opens up a Family First Health office in Columbia, pointing to a service trip to rural Virginia and a severe car accident as reasons for her passion for helping rural, underserved communities.
In her fourth year of medical school, Kellett lost her left leg above the knee after she was hit by a drunk driver. She endured 12 surgeries, spent a month in a hospital’s intensive care unit and took two months away from school to recover.
During that time, Kellett had many visits with doctors. The ones who sat down with her and had a more personal bedside manner seemed like they were more supportive, Kellett recalled. It is why she believes so much now in sitting with patients and putting their needs first.
“I would have never asked to have been hit by a car, (but the result is) I am a better doctor, wife and mother,” Kellett said.
Kellett is running the first Family First Health office outside of York and Adams counties, where the the non-profit company operates. The office at 369 Locust St. formally opened Tuesday with a full schedule of patients and no issues, office staff told PennLive.