Dr. Atkinson fills in at hospital/clinic
Dr. Obbie Atkinson is serving as a locum tenens or fill in family practice physician for St. Mary’s Hospital and their satellite clinics.Dr. Obbie Atkinson is filling in and seeing patients at the SMH clinics.  He has been a family practice physician for over 30 years and commutes weekly from his Oregon home.  “With Dr. Minnehan taking maternity leave and our opening the Grangeville Medical Clinic we thought we could serve our patients best if we recruited a physician to fill in, especially until Dr. Marc Farnworth arrives in August,” said Dr. Andrew Gilbert, SMHC Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Atkinson filled in for three weeks last summer when other physicians took vacation time and will continue on staff through December and, possibly, longer.
“Our patients and staff really enjoyed Dr. Atkinson.  We received such positive feedback from patients about the care they received,” said Kathryn Allen, SMHC Medical Staff Services.  “He has a wealth of experience seeing patients in a family practice clinic setting.  We’re fortunate to have him work with us.”
Dr. Atkinson went to medical school in Illinois and completed his residency at Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, California.  He spent the next ten years in the US Air Force until going into private practice for 26 years in Paso Robles, California.  He continues to work with Las Tables Medical Group in Templeton, California.  He also works as a locum tenens and has accepted temporary assignments over 30 times in locations including Arizona, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Illinois, Oregon and Bermuda.
“One of my pediatric patients who I continued to see throughout his high school career and beyond decided to go into medicine himself.  He then returned to practice with me which allowed me to semi-retire. My wife and I bought a century old farmhouse on some acreage outside of Richland, Oregon,” said Dr. Atkinson.  Although we’ve lived there awhile everyone still calls it ‘Uncle Bob’s House’.  It will probably always be ‘Uncle Bob’s house,’ he laughed.
Dr. Atkinson sees patients in the Kamiah and Cottonwood clinics and confers with the SMHC providers on their patients.  “This is the greatest place to work.  The hospital and clinics here have the best staff and the people of this area are so welcoming and friendly.  I enjoy it here and can commute home, easily, on the weekends,” said Dr Atkinson, who is staying in the recently purchased home adjacent to the SMH campus.

Cottonwood, Idaho 83522
 

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