Dr. Roman Hendrickson Retires Following Impressive Medical Career

Dr. Roman Hendrickson, Ruby Valley Medical Center's Chief Medical Officer, has decided to retire. Dr. Hendrickson has provided healthcare services to the Ruby Valley community for the past 21 years and practiced medicine for 47 years. In addition to serving the healthcare needs of his patients, Hendrickson has volunteered for a broad spectrum of healthcare-related organizations and committees throughout his career, providing research, administrative, and education services. A retirement party will be held to honor Dr. Hendrickson on January 27, 2024, at the Sheridan Senior Center located at 220 E. Crofoot from noon to 2 PM. Dr. Hendrickson's patients, current and former colleagues, family, and friends are welcome to attend.

Dr. Hendrickson was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and attended high school in New York. He returned to Minnesota to earn his first bachelor's degree in Modern European History from the University of Minnesota. While completing this degree, he also earned a Certificate of European Studies from the Institute of American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France. Hendrickson received his second bachelor's degree in Clinical Chemistry from the University of South Florida, Tampa.

Dr. Hendrickson always wanted to attend medical school and he earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida in 1976. In addition to his medical studies, Hendrickson served as class president, class secretary, and representative to the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and founded the university's Family Practice Society. He was the recipient of the CIBA Award for Most Outstanding Student Family Practice Clinical Elective.

Following medical school, Hendrickson completed his residency at Halifax Hospital Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, and practiced family medicine at the Ormond Family Practice in the Daytona Beach area. During his residency, he received national awards for research, outstanding family practice resident, part-time teaching, and a fellowship to study the History of Medical Ethics. Hendrickson spent nearly 20 years caring for patients at Ormond Family Practice. Midway through his years at Ormand Family Practice, he transitioned his professional focus from delivering babies to caring for the elderly. "I was in Florida, so it made sense," explained Hendrickson. "I went from full family practice to focusing on geriatrics." In 1989, he completed a mini fellowship in Geriatric Assessment at Duke University and earned his board certification in geriatrics in 1994. Hendrickson has served on various committees for the American Geriatric Society and on the board and as president of the Montana Gerontology Society.

In 1998, Hendrickson made an extraordinary mid-career move after deciding he wanted to work with underserved groups, taking a position with the Fort Peck Indian Health Service in Poplar and moving his family to Montana. "My motivation was to provide underserved medicine," Hendrickson said. "We decided to work with the Native Americans because they are a very neglected and underserved group." Hendrickson spent five years as a physician and Chief Medical Officer for the Indian Health Service in Poplar. He has continued to work for the Fort Peck tribes for the past 25 years, traveling to Poplar monthly to support the tribes' medical needs.

Dr. Hendrickson accepted the position of Chief Medical Officer and physician at the Ruby Valley Hospital in January 2003. During his 21 years at Ruby Valley Hospital and Ruby Valley Medical Center, Hendrickson has supported a variety of programs to improve healthcare services in the Ruby Valley including the purchase of medical diagnostic equipment, expanding the visiting specialists services, upgrading inpatient care systems, recruiting healthcare providers, organizing rotations for healthcare provider training, and designing the healthcare service infrastructure for the new Ruby Valley Medical Center. "It has been my pleasure to work with the board, administration, and dedicated staff of the Ruby Valley Hospital and the Medical Center to provide more services for the Ruby Valley community so that they can receive quality healthcare without having to travel to Dillon, Butte or Bozeman," said Hendrickson.

Three of Hendrickson's twelve children attended and graduated from Ruby Valley Schools. The youngest two boys, Roman, Jr. (Micky) and Morgan, currently attend Montana State University, Great Falls, and Montana Tech, Butte, respectively. The rest of Dr. Hendrickson's children reside throughout the United States and in foreign countries.

During his career, Dr. Hendrickson served as medical director in nursing homes in Florida and Montana, most recently at Parkview Acres Care and Rehabilitation in Dillon, Madison Valley Manor in Ennis, and Tobacco Root Mountain Care Center in Sheridan. He has written over 45 medical research and opinion papers which were published in medical journals. He was a member of the Board of Directors for Montana Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Chairman of the Board from 2018-2019.

A prolific volunteer, Dr. Hendrickson has supported numerous healthcare organizations and served as president of many professional societies including the Montana Gerontology Society, the American Medical Directors Association, the Florida Academy of Family Physicians, the Montana Academy of Family Physicians, and the Montana Medical Association. In medical education, Hendrickson was a visiting faculty member for a number of pharmaceutical companies and a clinical faculty member for various medical schools including the University of South Florida, the University of Florida, the University of Washington, and Chatham University. He was appointed to serve on state government panels, advisory councils, and task forces in Montana and Florida.

Dr. Hendrickson has received multiple public service awards including the University of South Florida's first Distinguished Community Public Service Award. He is very proud to have received in 2017 the Montana Medical Association's highest honor, the Dr. Jack McMahon Award in recognition of his service to low-income, rural, elder, and Native American healthcare, medical education and leadership, healthcare workforce expansion efforts, and healthcare policy and regulation work.

Since Dr. Hendrickson's retirement, the Board of Trustees of the Ruby Valley Medical Center has appointed Dr. Louis Bartoletti as Chief Medical Officer. "RVMC's board and administration are pleased that we can pass the leadership of this critical area of our community's healthcare system to a medical professional with Dr. Bartoletti's extensive experience and superior training," said Landon Dybdal, Chief Executive Officer for Ruby Valley Medical Center. Dr. Bartoletti was raised in Sheridan and returned in August 2023 to practice medicine at Ruby Valley Medical Center with his wife, Jade Bartoletti, DNP, FNP-C. "As Ruby Valley Medical Center's Chief Medical Officer, I look forward to building on Dr. Hendrickson's legacy of quality healthcare services for our community," said Bartoletti.

Although Dr. Hendrickson will no longer be seeing patients at Ruby Valley Medical Center, he will continue to work with the Fort Peck tribes once a month as its Chief Medical Officer for the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program.

Dr. Hendrickson will continue to reside in Sheridan for now, however, his long-term plans include relocating to Florida. He also intends to invest more time in fishing and traveling. Dr. Hendrickson is looking forward to seeing old friends, colleagues, and patients at his upcoming retirement party.