Custer Family Medicine proudly cares for multiple generations of entire families. This means that they watch the families grow and remember their health histories and all the little things that you might expect of a physician in a small town.
At the center of it all are Joy Falkenburg, M. D. and Lisa Brown, M. D. As the longest-tenured Family Medicine Physicians at Custer Hospital and Clinic, they set the tone. They are also heavily involved in the new physician recruitment process.
“ Rather than trying to impress somebody by going to a fancy restaurant, we actually go to one of our houses with all the families and all the kids for a big dinner. It ' s kind of crazy sometimes. And we ask,‘ Do you like this? If you do, you should come here. Because this is what we are,’” says Dr. Joy.“ We ' re friends. We ' re colleagues. We support each other. We hang out together after work. We ' re actually more than just show up to work and go home.”
Now expecting their first child, Ashley and Dr. Weisser have entrusted their OB / GYN and postpartum care to Dr. Joy. The Weissers wouldn’ t have it any other way, as Dr. Weisser is from a small town and did his residency in still another small town.
“ Getting to know Dr. Joy— I absolutely love her and I ' m so grateful that she is my PCP,” says Ashley.“ Everyone here is just so welcoming and they feel like family to me.”
Jaron Miner, D. O., and his wife, Michaela, also had three of their four children in Custer. The entire family is under the care of his colleague, Louise Halbleib, D. O. Dr. Miner and his wife are currently expecting a fifth child.
“ I ' ve been practicing here for about seven years. There ' s a real tight knit community here, especially amongst the medical community,” says Dr. Miner.“ We take care of each other. We take care of each other ' s patients. It ' s easy to work with them and to take care of our friends and our family.”
When the time comes for baby to be born, it’ s the patient’ s choice where they’ d like to deliver.“ In the past I ' ve had a patient who chose to use Spearfish Hospital for the delivery. It ' s a very collaborative care model, not us telling people what to do,” says Dr. Brown. Many make the decision based on where they live.
Heather Moline, OB / GYN, of Rapid City Medical Center Mt. Rushmore Road Clinic is one of the specialists Custer Family Medicine relies on for delivery. Dr. Joy mentored Dr. Moline during her rotations at Custer Hospital and Clinic while Dr. Moline was a student at University of South Dakota Medical
School. It’ s a friendship and partnership that goes back for years and a trust exists between them that benefits the patients they care for.
When they moved to Custer from Orange County in California eleven years ago, restaurateurs Joseph Raney and Eliza Raney did not yet have their two boys, Roark and Vinnie. The Raneys chose Dr. Joy as their PCP.
“ First-time parents; you don ' know what to expect,” says Eliza.“ I felt supported and really reassured, and like somebody cares about you. It goes deep.”
“ We ' re so lucky to have the doctors and the nurses that we have,” adds Joseph.“ Elite hospital care in a really small town. It ' s amazing.”
Many of Custer’ s patients come from the surrounding area, too: Newcastle, Edgemont, Chadron. Custer Clinic’ s Family Medicine practice was designed with the knowledge that rural families typically may only come to Custer every once in awhile and, when there, seek to get as much done as possible. In fact, the family of Avery Sides, M. D., owns a ranch an hour from Hot Springs. This background lends her a keen understanding of rural scarcity and the hardships and stress related to traveling for health care.
Several of the physicians in Custer have carved out their own niche. Monaleze Saini, M. D., recently transferred from Family Medicine into the Emergency Department where she focuses on care for crises, trauma, accidents and illnesses for pediatric and adult patients. Jeffrey Stephens, M. D., enjoys focusing on Sports Medicine and musculoskeletal injuries, in addition to treating younger patients.
Ever mindful of the increased need for rural health care providers, the group plans to add several new doctors over the next year.
Indeed, the Custer Family Medicine Team is there for your entire family through it all— illness, physicals, wellness checkups— it is whole spectrum medical treatment, for babies to retirees and everyone in between. Then, when the time comes for it, they help to ease the suffering of a patient in their last days.
“ We talk a lot about pediatric care and prenatal care, but it also goes for end-of-life care; people who are elderly and need to transition to comfort care or hospice, too,” says Dr. Miner.“ We could see grandma one day and then a two-day-old the next day. That ' s what family medicine is about— it ' s from birth to grave.” myblackshillscountry. com Down Country Roads
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