Biography
L. Val Jones, MD
Dr. Jones was born and raised in Blanding, Utah and returned home in 1989
to live in the area and be with the people he loves. He graduated from
San Juan High school as a Valedictorian and then followed his athletic
dream and played basketball at Dixie College. He served an LDS mission
and attended Brigham Young University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with
a BS degree in Chemistry. He was named the outstanding student in Bio-Chemistry
his senior year.
Dr. Jones attended Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas with the
help of an Armed Forces Scholarship. After an internship at Baylor, he
spent 7 years in the United States Air Force, as a flight surgeon, commander
of an air-transportable hospital, chief of family medicine and chief of
flight medicine at Holloman Air Force Base and Luke Air Force Base. He
also completed a Family Practice residency in the Air Force at David Grant
Medical Center in Fairfield, California. He achieved the rank of Major.
Since returning to San Juan County, Dr. Jones, has proudly practiced Family
Medicine in nearly every corner of the county. He helped get Utah Navajo
Health System Inc. off the ground in 2000, and has been a part of the
dramatic growth of this company since then. He was the only physician
employed at its inception and is proud of the growth of UNHS, but more
proud of the medical services that now are available in the southern part
of the county.
Dr. Jones loves the variety of practice opportunities he has in San Juan
County. He has had the opportunity to be the medical director of an air
ambulance company, the medical director of a nursing home, a State of
Utah Deputy Medical Examiner, the medical director of a local hospice
company, a trustee of the Utah Medical Association, President of the Southeast
Utah Medical Association, Chief of Staff of San Juan Hospital, and was
the first Chief of Staff of Blue Mountain Hospital. He has been involved
with the education of medical students, including Family Practice and
OB-GYN residents from the University of Utah, for many years.
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Utah honored
him with the James R. Scott award in 2011 in recognition of outstanding
care to women in the State of Utah. He also received the Outstanding Rural
Teacher of the Year award in 2010 from the Department of Family and Preventive
Medicine at the University of Utah. Dr. Jones is board certified in Family
Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Dr. Jones practices full spectrum family medicine that includes administrative
medicine, emergency medicine and inpatient hospital care and obstetrics.
He has delivered over 2,000 babies in San Juan County. He noted that time
has passed so fast over the years; it is somewhat amazing to now be delivering
mothers who he delivered many years ago.
Dr. Jones and several other local investors helped move Blue Mountain Hospital,
in Blanding, from a long held dream to a reality. “That road was
a very rocky and frustrating adventure, but somehow resulted in a beautiful,
functional and incredibly useful facility for our community,” Jones said.
As a flight surgeon in the Air Force, Dr. Jones provided medical care for
military pilots and was fortunate to be able to fly weekly in F-15 and
F-16 fighter aircraft, which introduced him to aviation. After returning
to Blanding, he continued his love of aviation by continuing to fly single
engine aircraft and currently he proudly flies N623VS, a Cirrus SR 22
airplane. One favorite pastime is to unexpectedly call acquaintances and
take them on a flight over the beautiful scenic country we live in. He
has over 1800 hours of pilot time accumulated.