CGI Alumni, Leolani Ah Quin, is making waves in North Dakota Tribal Communities

Kudos to CGI alum Leolani Ah Quin, who was recently hired by the Three Affiliated Tribes – Mandan, Hidatsa, & Arikara (MHA) Nation in Fort Berthold, North Dakota and now serves as Director of Behavioral Health at Elbowoods Memorial Health Center for the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota.

Since April, Dr. Ah Quin has expanded the existing Tribal diabetes team to four field clinics, integrated behavioral health services in the primary clinic four days a week, established a Memorandum of Understanding with two local schools and started group at the end of the 2016-2017 school year (April through late May). Though she is still the only behavioral health provider, she started youth group once a week and has asked to participate in women’s health clinics all while seeing 20+ regular specialty mental health patients.  Dr. Ah Quin’s team has applied to participate in the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program, have a SAMHSA Zero Suicide grant in the works, and are wrapping up a technical grant for suicide prevention. Recently, the North Dakota State Health Department reached out to Dr. Ah Quin to request help in training clinicians in rural areas in the SBIRT model to begin in July.

“Thanks to the Cummings Institute I’m officially a rock star!!”  
– Leolani Ah Quin, DBH