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The Harlan County Chamber of Commerce heard from one of Harlan ARH Hospital’s newest doctors during the chamber’s regular meeting for November.

Chamber President Ron Frazier introduced Mimi Boggs, MD, MPH, to the group.

“Thank you all for asking me to come speak; it’s really an honor to be here,” Boggs said.

Boggs is a native of Harlan County.

“I was born at Harlan ARH, and now I’m delivering babies at Harlan ARH,” Boggs said. “It’s really come full circle. It’s an exciting experience.”

Boggs mentioned she graduated from Harlan High School and did undergraduate work in Tennessee at Sewanee University.

“After that, I decided I wanted to get a little more experience traveling around the world,” Boggs said. “I went down to spend two years in Grenada and got started on my medical degree and my master’s in public health. Then I came back to the U.S. and finished my degree. I got to travel to places like New York City – I lived there for a little while – Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin.”

After finishing medical school, Boggs did her residency in family medicine in northern Kentucky.

“At that time, I was already thinking that I wanted to come back to a rural area and come back home,” Boggs said. “We just moved back here (Harlan) in July. My husband is from Cumberland, and we have a two-year old son.”

Boggs said Harlan ARH Hospital is where she wants to work.

“I decided (Harlan ARH) is the place for me and a place where I can fulfill all of my career goals which mostly have to do with making sure I can provide care for women…starting at a young age and going up,” Boggs said.

Boggs noted she also wants to improve education on diabetes.

“We’re also trying to work on diabetic education for our patients, both male and female,” Boggs said. “We’ve just started a new diabetic education program in Cumberland. We have it in Harlan, but Cumberland hasn’t had it before.”

Boggs mentioned diabetes, obesity, and diabetes are the leading causes of loss of life and loss of quality of life in the area.

“Making that more accessible for people is something I hope to grow,” Boggs said. “During my training, I was able to work with endocrinologists, rheumatologists and orthopedic surgeons, so they helped me learn how to care for diabetes at the early stages, so I hope to bring that to Cumberland and Harlan.”

Boggs noted delivering babies is a top priority.

“Delivering babies is the main focus of my practice,” Boggs said. “I see a lot of patients for prenatal care, and I’m hoping to see even more.”