Gritman, Moscow Family Medicine Welcome Five New Physicians and New Practice Leadership
Gritman Medical Center made a commitment to expand access to and improve the quality of primary medical care in the region when it integrated Moscow Family Medicine in late 2018.
In the months that followed, Gritman focused on recruiting additional staff to the MFM team, and in August the first of five new physicians, Dr. Thomas Sprinkle, was brought on board at QuickCARE. By the close of October, four additional doctors, Dr. Meghan Kusko and Dr. Jacques Bouchard at the downtown clinic, Dr. Jessica Bonnett at the Westside clinic and Dr. Jacob Christensen at University of Idaho Student Health, will have joined the team. New medical leadership has also been added: Practice Administrator Larinda Valdon and Director of Nursing Carolyn Allen.
Larinda Valdon
“When we integrated with Moscow Family Medicine in December of last year, one of the very first commitments we made was to help recruit new physicians to our community,” said Kara Besst, President and CEO of Gritman Medical Center. “Having more physicians means better access to high quality care and shorter wait times. With the addition of five new providers and new practice leadership, we are proud to have delivered on the promises we made to our community.”
Dr. Sprinkle brings more than two decades of experience in emergency and critical care to MFM. Dr. Sprinkle was an emergency medicine physician in the United States Air Force and was deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He received his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School in 2002 and completed a residency in emergency medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine in 2005. He is certified in Emergency Medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Carolyn Allen
Dr. Bouchard is joining MFM after an 11-year career in the Navy. Dr. Bouchard incorporates both Eastern and Western medicines into his practice. He offers acupuncture and is exploring Chinese herbals.
Dr. Bouchard received his doctor of medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in 2012 before completing his residency at Naval Hospital Bremerton Puget Sound Family Medicine Residency in 2015. He then served as a staff physician for the Navy from 2015 until joining Gritman. He also trained in medical acupuncture in 2017 at the Academy of Pain Research in San Francisco.
Dr. Kusko recently concluded a Rural Medicine with Obstetrics Fellowship at Tacoma Family Medicine, where she had previously completed her residency in family medicine. She graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine.
Dr. Bonnett served for nearly a decade in Redding, California, where she completed her residency and then began practicing at the Redding Family Medical Group, serving 2,000 patients ranging from newborn to elderly. She went to medical school at Touro University in Vallejo, California
Dr. Christensen is joining the University of Idaho Student Health Clinic after having completed a Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at the University of New Mexico this past summer. He went to medical school at Midwestern University, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine.
In addition to serving at the student health clinic, Dr. Christensen is also working with UI athletics as a team physician. Dr. Christensen will offer sports physicals, non-operative treatment of sports injuries, joint injections, ultrasound guided injections and more.
Carolyn Allen came to Gritman in July after having served as a nurse manager in the Telemetry/Surgical In-patient and Intensive Care Unit at Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls. she has completed master’s degrees in nursing and health care administration. Larinda Valdon brings more than a decade of experience leading clinics, most recently at St. Luke’s in Meridian.
New patients are now being accepted. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 208-882-2011.
