HealthEast® Clinics Quality Data
“My doctor is someone my family will be with for a long time.”
HealthEast Hugo Clinic patient Marissa Furness
When Marissa Furness moved to Minnesota, her first order of business was to find a doctor. “We had just gotten married, and found out we were pregnant pretty quickly,” she recalls. “I had no idea where to go to start looking for medical care for a family.” But as Marissa did some soul-searching about what she wanted, she realized that a family doctor was the perfect solution for her. “It just hit me — my doctor is someone we would be with for a long time. I wanted an MD who would be able to be my OB, and my baby’s pediatrician, and my husband’s doctor as well.”
A quick online search revealed family practitioners in her area. Originally, Marissa was interested in Dr. Joseph Moriarity because his clinic was conveniently located, but at their first meeting, she knew she had found much, much more. “I knew I liked his philosophy as a doctor, but we also connected on a personal level. He’s very family-oriented, and shares a lot of my values. This was something that I definitely wasn’t expecting: to have a doctor that immediately understands what is important to me.”
Marissa chose Dr. Moriarity for her prenatal care, confident that he would care for her family into the future. “I grew up with a family doctor, but my husband didn’t. So he was very happy to see the consistency you get with a doctor who knows your history so well.” Dr. Moriarity delivered Marissa’s first baby — a son — at St. John’s Hospital, “I was such a new mom — when I got to St. John’s, I asked the labor nurses if my water had really broken, or if I had imagined it. They were so patient and kind, assuring me, ‘No, you’re a keeper, you’ll have your baby today!”
Even after a successful delivery, Marissa and her husband had reason to worry: “My son was three weeks early, so he was only five pounds at birth. Dr. Moriarity came to St. John’s both days that we were there and checked the baby each time,” said Marissa. “My son was only five pounds, so we were of course worried that he was so little, but Dr. Moriarity really eased our fears. And the nursing staff was so nurturing and caring, both when I had my son and last November, when Dr. Moriarity delivered our baby girl.”
As her children have grown, Marissa has continued to see confirmation of her instincts. “When we visit, Dr. Moriarity speaks directly to my son and takes time to play with him a little bit, even if the visit is for one of the parents. And when it’s a visit for one of my children, he still makes time to ask “How are you doing?” He keeps an eye on all of us, every time.”
HealthEast® Clinics Quality Data
Focusing on the whole person and the whole family: Dr. Joseph Moriarity
Dr. Joseph Moriarity still remembers Marissa Furness's first visit to his office. “Being new to the area, far away from her old home, and not knowing someone in the health care system — all that can add up to a very difficult transition for people,” said Dr. Moriarity.“ So the first thing I wanted to do was just sit down and get to know her as a person, and to start to develop a bond and put her at ease.” This patient-doctor bond is an important one to Dr. Moriarity; in fact, he lists it as the top reason he became a family practitioner.
“When you understand someone fairly well, you have a background to help you provide better care. You can really know what they need,” said Dr. Moriarity. “For instance, with Marissa's pregnancy, she was experiencing something totally new to her, plus had some anxiety from being far away from family. So I was able to understand better what was fueling her worries.”
In addition to caring for Marissa, Dr. Moriarity delivered both of her children and is her husband's doctor as well. “I thoroughly enjoy caring for expectant mothers — it's a real privilege to deliver a baby with them, and at St. John's, there's such tremendous support for the mothers. The experience sets a cornerstone for me as a family practitioner, to care for a child as a baby through adolescence and beyond. This is what attracted me to family medicine: I can care for everyone from babies to elderly people. It's truly a full spectrum of care — and, as in caring for the Furness family‚ it's such a rewarding experience.”
Dr. Moriarity notes that being a family physician requires staying up-to-date on a wide variety of conditions to provide the best level of care. “In the medical world, we call it 'evidence-based' care — where we are addressing whatever their primary concern might be, but also thinking about preventive issues such as cancer screening or their exercise and diet.”
Noting that there are instances where a patient's needs might require a specialist's attention, Dr. Moriarity offers the family doctor's continued role in care: “My job is to focus on the whole person, and how that affects their health. If a patient needs to navigate medical terminology with specialists, I'm there to aid with communication, putting things in understandable terms. It's essential to provide reassurance, and remind them that no matter what, they're not going through this alone. At the Hugo Clinic, the whole team is committed to providing patients with that level of care — and creating those kinds of relationships.”
