Press Release

Onawa Gains Dr. Mary Known for Personable Care

Dr. Mary Groda-Lewis, a veteran of medicine for 21 years and the subject of a CBS-TV movie and feature stories in national magazines, will join the Family Medicine Clinic in Onawa and the medical staff of Burgess Health Center Nov. 3.

Lewis comes from Hawaii where she has worked for several years, most recently as women’s health director with a health clinic. She also served as medical director for the geriatric psychiatric unit of Wahiawa General Hospital there.

Groda-Lewis previously practiced for 13 years with clinics in Twin Falls Idaho. She also worked with medical residents at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee as a maternity track director and assistant professor in family and community medicine.

She received her medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1984 and completed her residency in family practice at Western Reserve Residency Program Northside Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio in 1987 . She holds a bachelor’s degree from Herbert H. Lehman State University of New York.

She has worked in all aspects of family medicine with special focus on the health of women and children.

She has received numerous awards during her years of practice including one which declared her the “Mother Teresa of Idaho.” In 2003, she was named “Teacher of the Year” at Columbia St. Mary’s Family Residency Program through the Medical College of Wisconsin. In 2006 she received the Faculty Clinical Teacher Award from the Department of Family and Community Medicine in Wisconsin.

Groda-Lewis believes the title of “Dr.” can isolate physicians from their patients.

“I don’t like to be called a doctor. My name is Mary,” she says. “The people I see are not my patients, they are my friends and we tend to develop close relationships. As a doctor, you help many people. You touch their lives, bodies, heart and soul, just as they touch you."

Actress Kristy McNichol memorialized Mary’s inspiring life in the 1986 TV movie called “Love Mary”. The film dealt with Groda-Lewis as she overcame a difficult childhood, a reading disorder, a stroke following the birth of her second child, and the difficulties she encountered in obtaining her medical degree.

Her story has been featured in People magazine, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, The New York Times and in inspirational books such as “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” She also appeared on the Today Show and Oprah.

Mary and her husband, David, have two children. She likes to ride bicycles, dance and especially loves painting.

"I was really impressed with the love of the people that I experienced at the Family Medicine Clinic and the quality of highly competent and professional people from the providers, to the two surgeons, the radiologist and the hospital administrator," said Dr. Groda-Lewis. "The people that I encountered in the library and the sense of compassion and love is very special and a gift in itself. I look forward to a long relationship with the people of the Onawa area."