After more than 40 years practicing at the Libby Clinic, Dr. Greg Rice retired, leaving Dr. Terrence O'Malia and Dr. Glenne Gunther to assist the next generation of patients.

New to the Libby Clinic is O'Malia, who is a doctor of osteopathy, a medical field that incorporates a holistic approach.

“The practice is a more hands on approach,” O'Malia said of osteopathy.

He described it as if you took a chiropractor and a medical doctor, and then “smooshed” them together. This involves more manual manipulation, and the practice opposes pills or surgeries as much as possible.

O'Malia is the new co-owner joining Gunther, a doctor of medicine, as a business partner. The Libby Clinic has been privately operating since 1977.

Gunther is more than well known in the Libby community. She has been with the clinic for 35 years.

Now the clinic has six providers, it’s staffed enough for patients to attend as walk-ins or same day appointments.

In 2010, the clinic established a formal relationship with the Spokane U.S Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to provide VA services locally to the many veterans who reside in Lincoln County, according to the clinic website.

O’Malia has worked at the clinic for about three weeks now, and had worked in the Mission Valley previously.

“We’re wide open and taking appointments,” O’Malia said.

One new addition is Tanner Staley, a physician assistant.

Building off of O'Malia’s message, Staley noted that the clinic is “ready to see as many people as we can.”

Staley moved to Libby in October, and graduated from Rocky Mountain College in Billings. He later got a graduate degree from Brigham Young University.

“It’s fun to be in a small town,” Staley said.