Dr. Chris Steadman, the new Commonwealth Health Center pediatrician, was the man who charted a very bold and creative path to medicine and then to Saipan.
The Utah native, wife Julie and their two daughters relocated to the island from Minnesota in June after Steadman finished his three-year pediatric residency.
Steadman’s pathway to medical school was not his only unusual decision; the family’s move to Saipan started out as “a joke.”
After spending a two-week stint at CHC in 2009, Steadman returned to his Minnesota residency only to hear a presentation on NMI from a superior.
Over dinner that night, he jokingly said to his wife “Let’s move to the Pacific — Saipan.”
To his delight and surprise Julie answered, “Let’s do it!”
“We knew if we didn’t have the experience of living outside the U.S. mainland while the girls were young, we might never do it,” Steadman explained.
The 4,000-mile migration to the Pacific was the ladies’ first experience so far west, but for Steadman it was a return trip.
At the age of 19 —before entering college — he spent two years in the Philippines as a Mormon missionary and loved every minute.
“Asia-Pacific is a special place that values family and I felt right at home.”
Due to Steadman’s familiarity with Filipinos, their language and the Pacific region, the transition into his new work-home at CHC was easy and smooth.
“Who would have guessed that my missionary work would have prepared me for my first pediatric position after residency. Funny how good fortune smiled,” commented Steadman with a laugh.
His good fortune was also the island’s families as he divides each shift among the hospital’s five departments that treat children.
The nursery and its ICU, the Pediatric Unit and its ICU and CHC’s Pediatric Clinic keep the musician-doctor on the run but he loves it.
“I work around 60 to 70 hours a week, but for a doctor that’s pretty good.”
When not on a three-day on-call shift, Steadman spends his three days of rest with his family biking, beaching or relaxing at their home in Papago.
“We love the quiet, and privacy and of course the beauty of up-country living. I wish the road construction was done though,” commented Steadman.
The construction provides an interesting metaphor for Steadman’s work however; as his days are filled with diagnosing, treating and patching up children with injuries and illnesses.
In addition to hospital duties, Steadman acts as a “medical transport,” whereby he and usually a nurse, physically escort a child off-island in need of specialized care.
“Most of us volunteer our off-duty days for transports so that doctors at the hospital can stay put for local needs.”
Fortunately, the need lessened over the last couple of weeks prior to Variety’s visit and CHC’s Neonatal ICU had only one patient in total during our visit.
The young patient count of the ICUs was very different a few weeks ago.
“We had a large group of premature babies born within a short period of time and the ICUs were nearly full,” described Steadman, “but fortunately the trend fell off to almost zero.”
One contributing factor to the high number of premature NMI babies may be due to lack of or incomplete pre-natal care for expectant mothers; one area Steadman hopes would improve with education and access to medical check-ups.
In terms of access, the Pacific-loving doctor became a 50 percent improvement for mothers-to-be and parents when he joined counterpart, Dr. Leticia Borja, who now constitute Saipan’s only two full-time pediatricians.
“It’s a privilege for my family to be a part of this community and to serve the children,” noted Steadman.
His family’s service to others however is only in its infancy as they have plans to undertake medical missions around the Pacific region to serve isolated communities.
Steadman’s plan closer to home consists of offering a free children’s health clinic staffed with a Pediatrician here on Saipan; a service the community currently lacks.
For the many financially stressed families on island that idea would be music to their ears, another subject the good doctor knows quite a bit about.
