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Meet Your
New
Doctors
S TAC I E B E R I NG , M . D .
KOOT ENA I H E A L T H
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Specialty:
Palliative care
Medical school:
Baylor College of
Medicine, Houston, Texas
Most recently from:
Spokane,
Washington
Married to Jeffrey Finer
Why did you choose your specialty?
I started off as
an OB-GYN—my partner and I were the first female
OB-GYNs in Spokane! I left the practice of OB-GYN
in 1999 because I have multiple sclerosis (MS), and
although I was diagnosed in 1985, by 1999 it was af-
fecting my hands. Surgery and delivering babies is
tough when your hands don’t work! At about the
same time an older friend of mine died. I was very
unimpressed with his end-of-life care, so I set about
getting myself educated. The specialty of palliative
care didn’t really exist yet, but there were people doing
the work as an outgrowth of the hospice movement,
and with their help I learned. I started a palliative care
consult service at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane,
became board-certified in 2007, and in November
2011 I was hired by Kootenai Health to be the medical
director of the palliative care consult service at Koo-
tenai Medical Center.
What are some of your hobbies?
Hobbies have
changed due to my MS. I still love the outdoors, and
although I no longer ski or do long distance bike-
riding, my husband and I have recumbent trikes we
love to ride, and we still love to camp. I have also
taken up bird-watching. I love to sew and have started
quilting—it’s a challenge given the hand thing.
What drew you to northern Idaho/Kootenai?
My
OB-GYN partner and I trained in Houston, Texas. We
chose the Northwest because it had a great medical
community and access to such a wonderful outdoor
life. I met my husband along the way and dragged him
up here too! My husband and I raised two beautiful
children who are avid outdoors people, great skiers
and wonderful human beings. I credit the Pacific
Northwest (with a little help from their parents!).
G E T T O K N O W T H E N E W E S T
P H Y S I C I A N S A T K O O T E N A I H E A L T H
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