Dr. Gayle Diné Chacon has returned home to the reservation to serve as Surgeon General of the Navajo Nation.

Diné Chacon grew up in Chinle, Arizona. She is the second person to serve as the tribe's top physician.

“This is coming home,” Diné Chacon told The Albuquerque Journal. “I really feel that I’m really working for the Nation, the people. This is the first time I’ve ever really felt like that.”

Diné Chacon's many priorities include treating the Navajo Nation as a state when it comes to Medicaid. The idea is being studied as part of the Affordable Care Act.

“Those state lines really pose a problem for our people especially when it comes to health services,” Diné Chacon told the paper. “Our people, we don’t see the state boundaries. Our land is bounded by the four sacred mountains.”

Get the Story:
Advocate on the Reservation (The Albuquerque Journal 3/12)