New doctor a familiar face in Plains

Clark Fork Valley Hospital has a new doctor, but she's not new to Plains.

"Barbie" Steward is a 2006 graduate of Plains High School. At 7 years old she was already operating heavy machinery at her father's rock business and as a teenager, she was benching over 200 pounds. Now she's Dr. Barbara Steward helping her former neighbors stay healthy.

The 35-year-old Steward started at Clark Fork Valley Hospital last Monday and already has patients lined up. As the hospital's newest osteopathic physician, she will be providing primary care and women's health services at Plains Family Medicine office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Though initially Steward considered a teaching career, once she decided on medicine, she made it her aim to return home and serve at the local hospital. "As the saying goes, there's no place like home. I remember talking with Barry Fowler (the director of Human and System Resources at the hospital) when I had just started this journey years ago and how he expressed I could return to Plains and possibly work at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, especially if I decided to become a family physician," said Steward, who was intrigued with the idea. "I could return home to the place I love, start my career and help the people I care so deeply about," she said.

Family medicine was her calling, even though she has trained under different specialties. Steward is now one of seven physicians at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, including Dr. Donald Damschen, also of the hometown crop, but Steward will be working mostly with three other physicians - Dr. Richard Ingle, Dr. Katrina Culmer and Dr. Jeanne Williams - at the hospital, along with her "right hand help" Tia Phillips, a medical assistant. Steward said she'll be offering the entire spectrum of medical care for men and women from "cradle to grave."

According to Steward's biography at the hospital, she has extensive training with hands-on manipulation of the body. She said that part of being an osteopathic physician is one that practices manipulation, using her hands to assess points of tension/restriction/ease within the body, including fascia, muscle, skin, ligaments, tendons and bony attachments. "Osteopathic manipulation is essentially great for anyone as the body compensates from the smallest of injuries throughout life contributing to structural imbalances, but is ideal for individuals with injuries, chronic pain, stress related muscle tension, chronic illness and so much more," she said. "Family medicine is really all-encompassing and covers so many aspects of an individual's health needs," added Steward.

"We are excited to have Dr. Steward return to our community after having completed her education," said Dr. Gregory Hanson, the hospital's president and CEO. "We always hope to recruit individuals that will remain in the area for many years, and Dr. Steward's deep roots here are sure to contribute to her success," he added.

Steward received her bachelor's degree in Health and Human Performance - Exercise Science with a pre-med emphasis from the University of Montana in 2014. She then returned to Plains, where she served as an EMT on the Plains Community Ambulance Service, helped coach cross country at Plains High School, and worked with her father, Jesse, in his rock quarry. In 2016, she started medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences at Yakima, Wash. She completed two years at Yakima and two years of clinical rotations in Kalispell, getting her Doctor of Osteopathy Degree from Pacific Northwest University's College of Medicine in 2020. Her residency program was through Family Medicine Residency Western Montana. During her residency, she periodically served at Plains, as well as at St. Patrick's Hospital and Community Medical Center in Missoula and at the Greater Valley Health Center and Logan Health in Kalispell.

Her residency program (where she practiced in both Missoula and Kalispell) was FMRWM – Family Medicine Residency Western Montana. During those times she was able to rotate in Plains for one month/year other than her intern year where she rotated two months (one month for surgery with Dr. Damschen and one month rural rotation).

Steward also spent about six months during her internship at the Plains hospital during her undergraduate education, rotating through each department there from billing to upper management. "During my time at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, I consistently found myself amazed, not just by the compassion and expertise exhibited by the physicians I trained under, but also by the spirit of collaboration and contributions demonstrated by every individual within the Clark Fork Valley Hospital community. It reinforced to me that I had to become a part of this exceptional environment," Steward said.

The medical field wasn't the career she had anticipated. "But one day, I was reflecting on my life circumstances and saw how God helped establish this rewarding path," she said. "While my core values of integrity, honesty, and a deep desire to give back remain intact, it's undeniable that medicine has transformed me. I've undergone significant personal growth and change and am not the same person I once was," she said, adding that she is proud to begin her medical career in her hometown.

"I feel medicine has transformed me for the better," said Steward, who credits much of her success to her husband of five years, Ben Bache, and her father, who raised her and her two brothers as a single dad and built his rock quarry business. "I witnessed his integrity and perseverance all while he remained loving and caring while playing the roles of dad, mom, best friend, confidant, and therapist and great support and encourager," she said. The Plains woman said that medicine was the perfect opportunity for her to replicate the support her father gave her. "I always used to say the only way I could get my dad to see a doctor is if I became one."

"I'm overjoyed to be back home; it's a dream come true. My initial goal was always to return to Plains, and I take great pride in having achieved it through years of hard work, fortitude and countless sacrifices," said Steward. "The intriguing aspect of growing up in a small town and then returning to practice there is that the community knows you intimately, from your successes to your failures, even the doubts they may have once had. These unique relationships I've built over the years now place me in the fulfilling role of caring for people I've known nearly my entire life. It's a rewarding way to give back to the place that helped shape who I am."

Even with her transformation, she insists she's still the Barbie people used to know. "I am committed to continually serving my community by nurturing meaningful and trusting connections with the patients I care for," said Steward. "Through active listening and ongoing learning, I aim to enhance my medical expertise. This area holds a special part of my heart, and I aspire to build my career here, ultimately retiring in the same place I've always called home."