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By Jeanna Hofmeister
After penning
a number of articles
for
Kootenai Health
magazine and
interviewing many of Kootenai
Health’s excellent physicians,
I’ve consistently heard one thing
from each and every one of them.
They all stressed the importance
of having a primary care provider
(PCP). According to them, a PCP
is your first line of defense when it
comes to staying healthy, because
he or she is trained to notice subtle
changes in your health.
By the third or fourth time I’d
heard this advice, I started to take
it seriously…sort of. I’d always had
a primary care doctor, though I
rarely saw him unless I was incred-
ibly sick or injured. I don’t know
whether my thoughts about doctors
are generational or familial, but
growing up, a doctor visit meant
serious business.
R E A L I T Y C H E C K
I recently realized I hadn’t seen
my PCP for probably the past
10 years. I’d seen my OB-GYN
for my annual exams, and I’d seen
my orthopedic surgeon because I
play too hard. But because I’m a
healthy person, it never occurred
to me to see my PCP for an annual
checkup. In fact, I thought those
were no longer in vogue. Still, I
figured that I was OK, because at
least I had a PCP—kind of like an
ace in the hole, right? Well,
had
is
the operative word here.
A couple of months ago, I
received a letter from my primary
care doctor announcing his retire-
ment and his move to the Seattle
area. At the very same time, my
husband’s Sandpoint physician
announced he was no longer
accepting health insurance and
was going to begin a monthly
payment program, somewhat akin
to a medical membership.
Added to those circumstances, I
quit my job in downtown Spokane
last year, which meant all of my
doctors would now be 60 miles
away from home, rather than
10 minutes from my office. It
was a perfect storm that set us
both on a journey to discover new
doctors closer to home.
Finding one, frankly, seemed
pretty daunting. I mean, how does
one find a new health care provider
that’s going to be the right profes-
sional and personal fit? These are
the people you trust with your life.
They’re also the ones who see you
at your most vulnerable, often
when you’re somewhat exposed.
It’s not one of those things people
(meaning me) take lightly.
‘ D O N ’ T W O R R Y ’
Last winter, during an interview
with Marcus Torgenson, M.D., a
surgeon at Kootenai Health, the
topic of primary care came up
again. I asked him how one might
go about connecting with a new
doctor.
“You can just call the Kootenai
Clinic Appointment Center,” he
suggested.
“But how will I know if the doctor
they recommend is going to be a
Finding aNew Primary
Care P hysician
A HELPING HAND: Jordan, a medical
assistant at Kootenai Clinic Internal
Medicine in Coeur d’Alene, takes
Jeanna Hofmeister’s blood pressure
before Jeanna’s meeting with her
doctor.
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