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New physician joins Boundary Community Clinic |
by Marcia Morman, Boundary
Community Hospital
Director of Marketing and Communication |
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July 14, 2014 |
Boundary Community Hospital CEO, Craig A.
Johnson has been searching for a qualified
primary care physician ever since the untimely
passing of Dr. Ernie Lucero, a respected and
beloved Boundary County physician, in December
2013. That search has resulted in success.
Patients were already booked on July 10, 2014
when Dr. Susan Layeux from the
 suburbs
of Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area walked
through the clinic door at Lucero Medical
Services Building at 6641 Kaniksu Street for her
first day of medical practice in Boundary
County, Idaho.
She has come to do the work she loves, family
practice.
"I enjoy primary care," Dr. Layeux enthused.
"Taking care of the entire multi-generational
family's health is the work I want. It is
exactly what I will be privileged to do here in
Bonners Ferry."
Dr. Layeux will share the building with Dr.
Michael Snyder as part of the expansion of
Boundary Community Hospital's healthcare
services.
The daughter of factory workers in
Massachusetts, Dr. Layeux knew when she was in
the fifth grade that medicine would be her
career.
An exposure to medicine came early in life. Her
oldest sister, Karen, was born with Down's
Syndrome. Coupled with the medical attention her
sister required, Dr. Layeux developed severe
asthma as a child. Self-treating asthma inhalers
were not prevalent until many years later when
Dr. Layeux was in college. Asthma sent her to
the hospital often in her early years.
After graduating from high school she enrolled
in the University of Massachusetts, majoring in
microbiology.
With an earned Bachelor of Science degree, a
four-year course at The Medical College of
Wisconsin was the next step in obtaining a
license to practice medicine. Finally, three
years of residency at Maine-Dartmouth Family
Practice in Augusta, Maine completed her formal
training.
A shift in philosophy in recent years has
contributed to a revision of the grueling hours
that medical residents once endured. For Dr.
Layeux and her fellow residents in the early
1990s, 36-hour shifts and 100-hour hospital work
weeks were common.
Dr. Layeux spent seven years in full time family
medicine in Hartland, Wisconsin outside of
Milwaukee including practicing
obstetrics--delivering babies. Then, as her own
children were born and grew, she took a new job
in Minnesota where she could work part-time in
an urgent care facility and home school her
three sons.
After visiting Montana in 2002, moving west
became the dream of Dr. Layeux, her husband
Chris, and their three sons, Michael, Daniel,
and Eric. For twelve long years, they cast
longing looks westward.
Her husband's work posed a dilemma. A position
in his field of life insurance marketing was not
available in Montana. It wasn't until his firm
acknowledged the possibility of telecommuting
that the puzzle pieces of their dream lifestyle
began assembling in front of them. To their
surprise and delight, the shape that emerged
from the assembled puzzle acquired the form of
northern Idaho, not western Montana.
Boundary County, Idaho became their destination.
The entire family loves the mountains,
cross-country and downhill skiing, and archery
and target shooting.
Dr. Layeux is envisioning a huge garden. "This
county actually has a longer growing season than
Minnesota's growing season, but we will need to
put up elk fencing," she reasoned.
Her hope is that she will live here the rest of
her career.
We, at the hospital, have a feeling that that
sentiment will be shared by the county
residents.
Everyone who has met her is delighted with her
easy-to-talk-with demeanor and extensive
background of medical expertise.
“Even though it took a long time to find Susan
Layeux, it was well worth the wait," confirmed
Craig Johnson. "She is a perfect fit for our
community.”
Boundary Community Clinic is located across the
street from the hospital, and can be contacted
at (208) 267-3655. |
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