Dianne Glenney
Muscatine
Over the past five years, I have come to know Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks as an outstanding woman and role model. She grew up in a large family of meager means. After being severely burned as a teenager, she determined that she wanted to be a doctor. She left home at 16, completed high school on an accelerated studies program and graduated college summa cum laude—the first in her family to complete college. During those challenging years, she learned that “working hard and persevering in the face of adversity will eventually lead to success.”
Miller-Meeks has a power packed resume that is best summed up in her campaign slogan: “Doctor*Veteran*Problem Solver.” Her many medical accomplishments include: operating and ward nurse (Walter Reed Army Hospital), Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology (Universities of Iowa and Michigan), Private Practice Ophthalmologist (Ottumwa), Volunteer Physician (Cedar Rapids Community Health Free Clinic), first female president of the Iowa Medical Society in 2006, and Director of Iowa Department of Public Health (2011-2013). She is well prepared to help reform our health care system so that it is accessible, affordable, portable, puts the patient first, and maintains the patient-doctor relationship.
Miller-Meeks climbed to the rank to Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. Twenty-four years of service make her knowledgeable in the workings of our military and the healthcare concerns of our veterans. She is well poised to represent the members of our military and to institute reforms in their medical care.
Add Miller-Meeks’ prior experience as a small business owner--Heartland Eye Care in Ottumwa — and you have someone who can relate to the complexities of running a business and well aware of the undesirable effects of the current administration’s over-regulation on our businesses and economy.
Put all of these accomplishments together and you have a tremendous problem solver. In her own words, “As the Director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I’ve seen firsthand what can be done when you put partisanship aside and work for the greater good. I want to bring that problem-solving, commonsense Iowa attitude to Congress. Washington needs more of this Iowa approach.”
Yes, Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is the doctor, veteran, problem solver that we need to represent the 2nd District of Iowa in Congress and has earned my vote to be Iowa’s first Congresswoman!