Integrity and Innovation with Dr. Milton Mutch
Dr. Milton Mutch, a 2014 South Dakota Hall of Fame Inductee, has devoted four decades to women and their families in Sioux Falls. During this time, he delivered nearly ten thousand babies and helped introduce many of the now standard practices South Dakota families receive in obstetric and gynecologic care.
When asked what it means to be an Inductee of the South Dakota Hall of Fame, Dr. Mutch answered simply, "Humility to start with." He added that he is also proud because he believes the recognition reflects what the medical profession has contributed to the state as a whole, and he quickly credited fellow Inductee Betty Meyer. "I owe a lot to Betty Meyer," said Dr. Mutch.
A Young Physician in a Changing Field
Dr. Mutch arrived in Sioux Falls in 1959 after completing his OB-GYN residency at the University of Minnesota, and he recalls being "the third board-certified OB-GYN in South Dakota." He joined a local practice and remained for about two and a half years before making what he describes as one of the more difficult decisions of his career: to go out on his own. He opened an office in a corner building on Minnesota Avenue with, as he put it, "a wife, three kids, and fifty charts."
The practice soon outgrew that space, and he gathered a group of eight physicians to build a medical building beside Sanford Health, at the time known as Sioux Valley Hospital. The practice he founded, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ltd., would expand many times over the years and draw dozens of skilled practitioners, many of them subspecialists who brought new services to the region.
In those early years, women were typically cared for by family doctors, and cesarean sections were often performed by family physicians or general surgeons using a vertical incision that carried a higher risk of uterine rupture. Dr. Mutch had been trained in the low cervical technique, a technique in which Dr. Mutch shared,
"With this procedure, if the uterus separates and ruptures, it's behind the bladder, so it isn't cataclysmic. It saved a lot of lives.”
Dr. Mutch’s practice grew slowly in the beginning, in part because referrals at the time were often tied to informal fee-splitting arrangements, a practice Dr. Mutch flatly refused to join.
A Golden Generation of Medicine
Dr. Mutch describes his era as "the golden generation" of medicine. "It was a time when medicine was fun," Dr. Mutch said.
Dr. Mutch felt that at that time, a physician with sound training and a supportive hospital could try things that had never been done in the state. He credits a hospital administrator who made sure his team had the instruments they needed, and he was responsible for several firsts in South Dakota, including the first amniocentesis study, the first diagnostic laparoscopy, and the first intrauterine transfusion.
Because of his innovation, it has not been uncommon for people to share with Dr. Mutch that they were one of the high-risk babies whose life he had saved. A woman of about forty-five approached him in public and tapped him on the shoulder to say that she was one of his intrauterine transfusions.
"You think of all the lives just one life touches, you know? And because of something that you did, that person was able to be here. It is a gratifying feeling."
His willingness to innovate extended well beyond the operating room. He was among the first group of doctors to develop what became the region's first neonatal unit in a converted circumcision room, a modest beginning that grew into the children's hospital that serves families today.
He also credits Betty Meyer, who spent years lobbying the legislature in Pierre to require insurance coverage for mammograms, with opening the door to a service his office was among the first to offer.
Trust, Teamwork, and Teaching
Dr. Mutch built his practice around two principles: the patient always comes first and clear communication in the exam room. Dr. Mutch shared, “When a patient cannot trust that her words will stay within the office, they will not return. I would rather be more respected than liked," he said, and he admitted that living by that motto sometimes meant saying things people did not want to hear.
He is equally direct about the role of the people around him, including a nurse who worked at his side for thirty-seven years and shared everything that happened in the office each day. "It's a team," he said. "If you don't have the best people around you, no matter how good you are, you aren't going to get any kind of a job done."
He held himself to the same standard he asked of others. "I don't think I ever did a hysterectomy or a delivery that I didn't take a few seconds afterwards and question, ' What could I have done better?" he said. That habit of reflection carried into his teaching, which began in 1960 and continued with interns and residents for years, a responsibility he traces to his own mentor at the University of Minnesota and describes as "just part of our way of giving back."
A Life of Service and Gratitude
Beyond medicine, Dr. Mutch and his late wife, Ruby, gave generously of their time and resources to the Sioux Falls community. He served as Congregational President at First Lutheran Church and helped lead a capital campaign of nearly $4 million. He was a trustee of Augustana University from 1971 to 1982, and chaired the boards of the South Dakota Symphony and the Sioux Valley Foundation.
His commitment to women's health is honored in the Milt and Ruby Mutch Women's Plaza at Sanford Health, and his service has been recognized with the 1988 Pioneer Award from the South Dakota Perinatal Association, the 1997 Sioux Valley Hospital Foundation Community Health Service Award, and the 2000 South Dakota Medical Association Community Service Award.
At ninety-eight, Dr. Mutch remains a curious and grateful man, proud of a family that includes two physician children and a granddaughter now beginning medical school at the University of Minnesota. When asked what he would like to leave with others, he spoke not of his own accomplishments but of the people who made them possible. "I've been lucky. But more than just luck. I think it's about your choices and the people behind you," he said. "Somebody said you can't be happy unless you're grateful. I'm grateful."
Learn more about Dr. Milton Mutch's life and legacy here.