Author and retired nurse Nancy Palker and physician Stephen Tosi, MD, will share remarkable stories of their days working together at the Rosebud Indian Health Service Hospital during a talk and book signing being held at UMass Medical School on Thursday, April 11.
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Retired nurse and author Nancy Palker will be joined by former colleague Steven Tosi, MD, to talk about her new book recounting their experiences working on a remote Native American reservation. |
Palker’s new book Magic and Tragic Rosebud recounts their time at the hospital on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. It was 1973, a time of civil unrest, death threats, and shootouts between the FBI and members of the American Indian Movement, and a time of unforgettable experiences of the resilience of the human spirit. Today, the 35-bed comprehensive medical/surgical Rosebud Hospital is the primary source of health care for the tribal members living in and around the Rosebud Sioux reservation.
Retired after 45 years in nursing, Palker continues to advocate for the betterment of Rosebud’s health care system. Dr. Tosi, associate professor of urology at UMMS, and chief physician executive and president of the UMass Memorial Medical Group, completed his military service as Lt. Commander of the Indian Health Service Branch in Rosebud, South Dakota. There he, Palker and other health care professionals dedicated to serving the underserved provided health care to 12,000 Sicangu Sioux on the isolated Rosebud Indian Reservation.
Magic and Tragic Rosebud was nominated for a Midwest Independent Publishers Association medal for excellence in memoir writing. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event, with any of the profit returned to the people of Rosebud.
Sponsored by the Humanities in Medicine Committee of the Lamar Soutter Library, the reception and book signing will begin at 5 p.m. in the Faculty Conference Room, with discussion following from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
