Dr. Jon Jantz, FAAP

Background:
After finishing his residency, Dr. Jantz served at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota for over three years. During that time, he was instrumental in bringing a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) feeding program to the Reservation, and was Senior Clinician for the Aberdeen Area of the Indian Health Service.  During his stay in Pine Ridge:

• The Ogalala Lakota Tribe awarded him WA OHI YE WAN KA TUYA (Highest Honor);
• the governor of South Dakota named July 11, 1989, “Dr. Jon Jantz Day” in honor of his outstanding service to children in South Dakota;
• he was a medical consultant on “Tragedy at Pine Ridge” for NBC News with Tom Brokaw, which won an Emmy award, and
• he was a medical consultant for “Born Drunk” on National Public Radio with Noah Adams, which received a Bronze Award for Outstanding Health Journalism.

Dr. Jantz has advocated for children on the Committee for Native American Child Health, a national committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and as President of the Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has twice served as president of the NMChealth medical staff and served on various committees of the NMChealth staff, advocating for community health.

Dr. Jantz is married, and the father of three children.

Philosophy: 
“Individually, we’re good. Together we’re awesome.”

Dr. Jantz strives for excellence in pediatric and adolescent care.  This is usually best achieved by parents, their child or adolescent and their pediatrician ALL participating in decision making.  When the team works together, the outcome exceeds the sum of the parts.

He works to prevent the overuse and abuse of medications and antibiotics (often overused in the treatment of colds and the flu) and steroids (often overused in asthma).  Overuse of antibiotics results in resistance and decreased effectiveness in both the patient and the community.  Overuse of steroids depresses the immune system and leads to weight gain, among other side effects.

Dr. Jantz had rheumatic fever as a child and remembers the trauma.  He believes in avoiding unnecessary labs, x-rays or other tests.  When tests are needed, we make our best effort to be firm, gently and efficient, using appropriate pain control.

Qualifications:
Dr. Jantz graduated with a double major in Mathematics and Natural Science from Bethel College, earning the Order of the Golden A.  He attended Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, one of the top three medical schools in the US. and was chosen as a Pediatric Outstanding Resident.  He completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and received the St. Louis Pediatric Society Award.

He is an instructor in the Neonatal Resuscitation Program and the Pediatric Advanced Life Support program, helping to train hospital maternal child unit staff is well qualified to care for premature infants and infants with life-threatening problems at birth.

As faculty, Dr. Jantz  provides supervision for medical students, nursing students and undergraduates going into medical fields.  He has been published in several leading professional journals.