MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Maroulla Gleaton, M.D.

BIOGRAPHY

A self-described "natural extrovert," Maroulla Gleaton exclaims, "I live by the three 'Ps': patience, passion and perseverance!"

And when she talks about being a doctor, she radiates an infectious enthusiasm about her life in medicine. "I love taking care of patients," she says, "making a difference in their lives and in the life of my community.

"Being an ophthalmologist is very special, incredibly gratifying because you're dealing with sight, probably our most important gift. I see all ages in my practice and can fix things-new glasses that help people see better, for example, or doing cataract-replacement surgery.

"Also, because we have different generations of doctors in our practice, it's a wonderful privilege to be able to share insights back and forth, to learn from each other-and that's the 'art' of medicine which I love, too; the depth of understanding that comes from long experience.

"When young girls ask me about being a doctor, I tell them to find something exciting, something wonderful to be interested in but, above all, to first understand themselves. Medicine can be a wonderful, challenging career-a life profession."

Gleaton has been making a difference in people's lives since 1988 when, fresh from five years of post-graduate residency and internship in ophthalmology at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, she joined Dr. William Atlee to form Atlee Gleaton Eye Care, in Augusta. As a full-time, practicing physician and a director of the Maine Family Medicine Institute, she understands health care delivery first hand, especially the difficulties of directing a primary care residency. She and her partners have Family Medicine Institute residents rotate through their office to learn ophthalmology.

A Pittsburgh native who earned her M.D. from Temple University School of Medicine, Gleaton is a diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology and the National Board of Medical Examiners. In addition to caring for her patients, she has fought to upgrade the quality and delivery of health care services for all residents of her adopted state as president of the Maine Society of Physicians and Surgeons from 1994-97.

In 1995, she became a member of the Maine Medical Association's executive committee and was honored the next year with its annual Service Achievement Award. In 2003, she was elected the Association's 154th-and first female-president. As well as working to broaden the association's appeal to a more diverse group of physicians, as president she worked with state officials to implement the Dirigo Health Act, a broad strategy approved by the state legislature to improve Maine's health care system which includes a new health plan to achieve universal access to health coverage; new and improved systems to control health care costs; and, initiatives to ensure the highest quality of care statewide.

Nominating Gleaton as a Local Legend, Rep. Tom Allen (D-MN-1) cited her contributions as "instrumental in the enactment of the plan and its prospects for achieving universal health coverage for Mainers."

With her husband and four children, she lives in Palermo (population 1,000), where she has been a member of the school board since 1997.