SPOTLIGHT ON Passionate about Family Medicine in Madras! By Lisa Goodman, St. Charles Healthcare DRS. AIMEE NEILL AND JINNELL LEWIS love to do something different every day. So when it came time to choose their specialty in medical school, family medicine was the obvious path. “The idea that I can deliver a baby in the morning, go see kids in my office then go see patients who are on hospice—just kind of the whole range—is very enjoyable to me,” Neill said. Neill and Lewis, along with a third physician, Dr. Patricia Spencer, are bringing their passion for rural family medicine to their new positions at St. Charles Family Care in Madras. The clinic, which opened Sept. 15, offers a full spectrum of care that includes family medicine, obstetrics and behavioral health. Located next to the St. Charles Madras hospital, the clinic also plans to offer the services of visiting specialists. Neill, a graduate of Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, completed her family medicine residency— and an additional year of training in obstetrics—at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in South Carolina. A native of West Virginia, Neill said the new Madras clinic offers her the opportunity to practice family medicine and obstetrics just as she envisioned it. “The Madras clinic just kind of offered the best of both worlds,” she said. “I can have my full-spectrum practice and my patients. But if something is complicated, there are board-certified OB-GYNs 20 minutes away at the St. Charles Center for Women’s Health in Redmond.” For Lewis, too, practicing family medicine in a rural setting has strong appeal. “Once I started doing rural rotations in small towns and fell in love with it, I knew I wanted to be in a small area, which seemed easier to do as a family practitioner as opposed to obstetrics and gynecology,” said Lewis, a graduate of Oregon Health & Science University. “I didn’t want to miss out on taking care of a whole family.” Spencer—who relocated from Douglas, Wyo., where she was affiliated with Caribou Memorial Hospital and Living Center—received her medical degree from the University of Chile and has been in practice for 26 years. In addition to her medical degree, she holds an MBA and a master’s in public health, and is halfway through a PhD program. Passionate about preventive medicine, Spencer said she is looking forward to helping make Madras a healthier community. “I’m just thrilled with Madras,” she said. “I think it’s a lovely place.” For more information or to make an appointment at St. Charles Family Care in Madras, please call (541) 475-4800. 16 Medicine in Oregon www.theOMA.org
OMA Winter 2015 Magazine
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