Everyone’s nurse/grandma

Posted by Sandra Schonenstein in Staff

If you are sick, defeated and think the only thing that could cure you is your mom who is thousands of miles away, stop worrying: Anne-Marie Lehmann, SFUAD’s certified nurse practitioner, is here to take care of you and make you feel at home. Lehmann works at the Student Health Center located on campus between Mouton and the Marion Center. The clinic is part of Presbyterian Medical Services, a nonprofit health corporation.

Lehmann married young and had two babies. She moved from Canada to New Jersey in 1962 when she was 19 with her husband, who was hired by an American airline company but died six weeks after they had moved. Lehmann had to find a job to support her children, and was hired by Delta Airlines where she worked for 27 years. When her children were finished with graduate school, Lehmann was ready to pursue her dream occupation; nursing. She started studying when she was 46 years old and graduated when she was 50.

Lehmann at her office. Photo by Bego Aznar

Early in her career, just after completing her master’s degree, Lehmann went to interview for a job at a hospital. She says she was told that only experienced midwifes were qualified for the job. As she was walking through the hospital, she came to a construction site and encountered a woman and her husband: the woman was in labor. “A dad just whipped by me, the mom had a house coat on, she was in labor and she went down on the floor in front of me and I thought ‘Oh my God, there is no one else around, I have to help.’ And I delivered the baby, it was just so exciting.”

Needless to say that when Lehmann explained that she was there looking for a job, she was hired.

Some of Lehamann’s decoration belonged to her family. Photo by Bego Aznar

After years of delivering babies, Lehmann realized that she was getting too tired. Most of the babies she delivered came at night and she decided that she needed a day job. When she started with this clinic in 2007, she thought that there was no way she could possibly love her job as a nurse practitioner with students 17 years and older as much as she did with the babies. “Well the surprise is I did, I did!”  In fact, Lehmann maintains contact with many former students, and she is even a godmother to some of the babies former students have had. “It’s just such a neat thing, I have loved it. “

And her love for her job and students is evident. As soon as you enter the clinic, you feel as if you were in your grandma’s house. The walls are all painted in light pink, a color she says “is even on the walls of my house; it makes people feel better. It makes them feel at home.”

Most people don’t know that Lehmann buys almost all of the decoration for the clinic. Photo by Bego Aznar

Everything in the clinic feels cozy; there are small details everywhere. She built a little house for her students to feel good and comfortable. There are two rooms where students can rest when they are sick, and where they can rest in peace. One of these rooms is right in front of her office so she can keep an eye on them.

There is a kitchen where she cooks oatmeal every day in case a student is sick and unable to eat in the cafeteria. Lehmann also has hot apple cider, popcorn, sodas and hot teas. All the supplies and decorations that are around the building were purchased by Lehmann—mostly from flea markets, but some are family items. “Here I have everything I ever wanted to have in a clinic,” she says.

Students can expect to find coffee, teas, and honey. Photo by Bego Aznar

When students come to the infirmary, Lehmann has everything prepared, including Tylenol and chewable vitamin C  at the ready. Under school policy, Lehmann can prescribe numerous medications, but not narcotics. There is also a lab inside the clinic where pregnancy and urinary infections tests are available. Lehmann also has a list of Santa Fe doctors for situations she can’t treat.

Lehmann shows us the Tylenol and Vitamin C pills. Photo by Bego Aznar

Lehmann’s love for her job and students is extremely contagious—one feels better after a visit.

“I have the best job in the world, and I feel the same way for you all, you are like my grandchildren,” she says.

Anne Marie Lemann welcomes everyone to the Student Health Center with a big smile. Photo by Bego Aznar

Clinic Hours

Medical services are offered Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10AM-6PM

The Clinic’s phone number is (505) 473-6918
Anne Marie Lehmann can be reached through (505) 239-5973 – home cell and (505) 412-9594 – PMS cell. And e-mail  annemariecnp@gmail.com

Therapy Services are from 10AM-6PM Tuesday and Thursday. An appointment has to be made between Counselor Pat Stark and students. In case of an emergency an appointment can be made during the therapist’s workdays.

Therapy Services’s phone number is 505-473-6362.

And the counselor’s e-mail is Patricia_stark@pmsnet.org

The Student Health Center is free of charge.