That is why the most accurate way to understand Susan is not simply as the first Native American woman doctor.

The “first” explains why her diploma mattered.

The hospital explains why her life mattered.

She had learned early that neglect could kill.

She spent the rest of her life trying to build systems that made neglect harder.

More than a century later, the building remains in Walthill.

It has survived long enough for another generation to restore it.

Once again, people are gathering around the idea that healthcare belongs there.

The story has returned to its beginning.

A Native patient once waited for a doctor who never came.

Susan La Flesche became the doctor.

Then she made sure there was a hospital waiting too.