11 / 24
NATHAN SPENCE, M.D.,
Kootenai Heart Clinics Northwest
T E L L U S A L I T T L E
B I T A B O U T Y O U A N D
Y O U R F A M I L Y .
My beautiful wife, Laura, is also
a physician. We were cadaver lab
partners in medical school. We
have two handsome, rambunc-
tious twin boys that just turned
3. They are a handful, but a lot of
fun. There’s never a dull moment
around the house.
W H Y D I D Y O U P I C K
Y O U R S P E C I A L T Y ?
I chose the field of interventional
cardiology because of the chal-
lenge and complex patients we
get to take care of. My choice was
also influenced by my desire to
make a significant difference in my
patients’ lives in a meaningful and
durable way.
W H A T C A N P A T I E N T S
E X P E C T W H E N T H E Y S H O W
U P F O R T H E I R F I R S T
A P P O I N T M E N T W I T H Y O U ?
To be treated as if you were my
own family member. Every day I
strive to treat others in the way I
would want to be treated if I were
the patient. I strive to maintain
the highest standard of respect,
compassion and medical expertise
all while being able to engage
patients and their families in the
decision-making process to come
up with the best possible course of
treatment.
W H A T A R E S O M E
O F Y O U R H O B B I E S ?
I love music, film, reading, fly-
fishing, traveling and spending
time with my family.
W H A T D R E W Y O U T O
K O O T E N A I H E A L T H ?
I really love the collaborative and
patient-centered culture that
is such an important part of this
great organization.
helping people with pain control
and symptom management incor-
porates easily in my practice.
W H A T C A N P A T I E N T S
E X P E C T W H E N T H E Y S H O W
U P F O R T H E I R F I R S T
A P P O I N T M E N T W I T H Y O U ?
They will discover that I am work-
ing with their other doctors to
take good care of them because I
believe team communication ben-
efits everyone. I spend a long time
listening to them and asking lots of
questions to paint a picture of who
they are as a person before getting
to medical discussions.
W H A T A R E S O M E
O F Y O U R H O B B I E S ?
I love to travel and once visited all
seven continents in one year. I like
picking a place on the map and go-
ing there because it reminds me that
all things are possible. I have lived
in Denmark and speak Danish, so all
things Scandinavian make me feel
at home, especially rye bread and
pickled herring. I also love camping
and cooking over a campfire.
W H A T D R E W Y O U T O
K O O T E N A I H E A L T H ?
There is a sense of excitement about
patient care at Kootenai Health and
a commitment to excellence and
continual improvement. I felt strong-
ly that the patient comes first, and
wanted to be a part of such a team.
With a motto like Safety, Compassion
and Engagement, I knew that pallia-
tive care would be supported across
the health care system.
KH . ORG
11