Pyette named new director of Sweet Medical

Dana Pyette, a Havre native, has taken on her new role as CEO for the Sweet Medical Center in Chinook and is excited for the new opportunity.

"I have kind of an extensive background in healthcare," Pyette said. "So, I'm excited to be here as a part of their effort to make community health turn around."

She served on the board for the Bullhook Community Health Center for many years, she said, and this experience will aid her in her new work.

"I have a really good understanding of the federally qualified health care center approach and I'm just kind of diving in at this point," she said.

She said she had been working more toward non-profit management than health care when she was pursuing her degrees in college, but health and wellness are close to her heart, she said, so this is a great opportunity for her.

"Sweet is in a really good place as far as their board structure, their patient care - the staff here is fabulous," Pyette said. "We've got a lot of work to do. Rural health care is an issue across the country, and we're seeing aging populations and a lot of people moving to specialized care."

She said she thinks it's important for people to keep primary doctors in order to have at least one provider who knows the patient's complete overall health.

"That's one of our biggest visions - to try and bring that patient center and medical home kind of model back to rural communities and allow those people to come to their local clinics for their preventive health care, routine visits, minor physical procedures, lab work, X-rays if they have a small accident - and really work with them in ensuring they're involved in their patient care and are well overall," Pyette said.

Pyette was born and raised on the Hi-Line and is married to Montana Actors' Theatre director and city councilman Jay Pyette. They have five kids between them; a recent college graduate, three current undergraduates and one high school senior.

She received her Bachelor of Science in business management of technology with minors in accounting and marketing from Montana State University-Northern in 2001 and her Master of Business Administration with a concentration in nonprofit administration from Marylhurst University in 2012.

She previously worked at Northern Montana Health Care in patient accounts, the business office and finance from 2001 to 2003, Hill County Electric/Triangle Communications from 2003 to 2011 and Island Mountain Development Group in Fort Belknap from 2012 to 2015 as chief operating/chief financial officer.