Health Department Director Tells Her Story

By Susan Etxebarria

Connie Whidden, the Tribe’s Health Director was destined for a career helping Seminole people lead happier and healthier lives. Although the misfortunes of her childhood could have led to a different outcome, she had the love and support of family and community to succeed.

At the age of 27, while raising two kids, she went back to school to get her college degree. She says today that education is the key to financial security.

“I wanted a degree to make good money,” Whidden said. “There are no guarantees with dividends, but if you have an education, you have a guarantee.”

Whidden said she told her kids growing up to be marketable in the job market. From her own life experience, she knows that a mother can suddenly end up unprepared to be the sole provider of the family.

“Always know you can provide for your children if you have to,” she told them.

When Connie was only seven years old, she may not have foreseen a bright future ahead of her. Her mother died when she was seven and her family moved from Okeechobee, where her Aunt Dolly Johns raised her and her siblings, Timmy Johns and Patty Johns Waldron.

Once on the reservation, she knew, especially as the years went by, that it was the only place she wanted to be because of her support system.

In the early 70s, Connie went to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Social Services department in Brighton. She enjoyed her work so much that when the Tribe gained sovereignty and took over many of its internal affairs, she decided to return to college again to get her master’s degree.

While working full time for the Tribe, attending college on the weekends and still taking care of her family, she accomplished this feat.

Whidden had a reason beyond her own satisfaction to get a master’s degree. The Tribe was facing the possibility of having to hire a Health department director with the proper credentials required to qualify for government grants. At that time, it meant someone with a master’s degree.

But searching the remote region around Brighton, the Tribe could not find a good candidate. That is when Whidden decided that the Health department would always have a Seminole available to head it up.

“I wanted to be sure an Indian would be in charge,” she said.

Whidden has been in charge of all the Tribal health clinics for more than 10 years, but says she can not take the credit for the excellence of the Tribe’s health care system.

“I have to give credit to two Seminole directors,” Whidden said. “The real improvements to the health clinics were kicked off when Cecil Johns was the director, and also, Elsie Bowers in the 1970s. I see them as the ones with the vision and laying down the groundwork. I see myself as building on what they have done. These two people really cared about the people.”

Whidden said she has goals for the growth of the health clinics. These include providing, “more services to the outlying reservations–to Ft. Pierce, Tampa and Naples–for example.”

She is also trying to get the promised satellite clinic in Immokalee set up.

Whidden said she does believe that there has been a lot of progress in health prevention and awareness of diabetes among the Tribal members.

“Five or six years ago, people didn’t even talk about the fact that they have diabetes,” she said.

Whidden said she hopes the day will come when every person who has diabetes running in their family will come in to the clinics for testing so prevention can begin early.

She spends a lot of her leisure time enjoying her four grandchildren. Although she has worked many years and puts in a lot of hours, with offices in Hollywood and Brighton, and many road trips to visit clinics, she still has plenty of energy to go fishing, air boating, and walking for fitness.

For Christmas, she got a bicycle which she vows to ride on the regular Thursday morning bike ride with the some of her staff and the seniors at Brighton whenever her busy schedule allows. The Tribe’s Health Director tries to do what she asks of others to do–to take care of your health, eat wisely, exercise and get regular check ups.