MMH welcomes 2 onto surgery team

    Melissa Memorial Hospital introduced two new Sterling-based surgeons to the public at a meet and greet event last Friday, March 1.
    Patricia McPherson, M.D., and Robert Weir, M.D., both bring a passion for rural care and will be commuting to Holyoke once per week to work in the specialty clinic.
    MMH CEO Trampas Hutches said hiring McPherson and Weir was part of the hospital’s 2016 strategic plan to expand their surgery department.
    “It’s great that we have two new general surgeons to take over and provide care,” he said.
    The two will take over the responsibilities of general surgeon James Schiefen, D.O., who is leaving MMH on Thursday, March 28.
    
Dr. McPherson returns to Colo.
    Holyoke is the next step in a career that has taken McPherson from Alaska to Oklahoma, and most recently to her home state of Colorado.
    McPherson, who was born and raised on the Front Range, said she returned to be closer to her parents. She started her job as a general surgery specialist in Sterling in 2017.
    She said that her work with underserved communities in the northern United States is what first sparked her passion for rural care.
    “Being in Alaska was what got me interested in rural surgery,” she said. “I’m used to small towns in that regard.”
    She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska and attended medical school at the University of Washington. She completed her residency at East Tennessee State University.
    McPherson, who is one-quarter Native American and a member of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma, said that a three-year program with the Indian Health Service also allowed her to explore providing care in small communities.
    She said that she has been impressed with MMH, which offers a range of care to residents rarely available in small hospitals.
    “It’s a quaint small town, and I think it’s definitely a thriving hospital,” she said.
    McPherson enjoys travel, reading, spending time with family and cooking, and lives in Sterling with her puppy, Dixie.
    
Dr. Weir came for the weather
    When asked, Weir gave a less-than-common reason for his family’s 2016 move to Sterling, where he currently works as a general surgery specialist.
    “My wife and I were looking for sunshine, so we came from Tennessee to Colorado,” he said.
    In fact, Johnson City, Tennessee — home to East Tennessee State University, where Weir also completed his residency — gets about 24 fewer days of sunshine annually than Sterling.
    The weather gives Weir the chance to spend more time outdoors with his wife, Janna, and two children, Elyse, 6, and Donovan, 3.
    Weir grew up in the countryside, near Daytona Beach, Florida. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Florida and had the chance to serve rural communities in Tennessee during his residency.
    He also spent an extra year of training focusing on surgery in rural communities. He enjoys working with rural patients specifically because of their tendency to be motivated and self-starters.
    Of Holyoke and the environment at MMH, he said he enjoys being in the company of other passionate providers.
    “I really like it so far,” he said. “Everyone I’ve met has been very high-energy and friendly.”