SMELTERVILLE — The newest addition to the Shoshone Medical Center family of doctors should open up new avenues of health care for Silver Valley residents.

Dr. Jessica Harnisch-Boyd, D.O., MPH, is now taking patients at SMC Family Medicine.

Dr. Boyd recently completed her family medicine residency at Kootenai Health, but she has lived all over the country, including attending medical school at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine.

“The residency was great because I got to see a lot of North Idaho,” Boyd said. “I did a rotation over here at Shoshone Medical Center and enjoyed it, so I reached out and they hired me.”

Dr. Boyd will be working at both the hospital in Kellogg, as well as her duties at SMC Family Medicine.

Being in North Idaho suits Dr. Boyd and her family well, both in practicing medicine and taking advantage of the recreational opportunities.

“I like rural medicine because I like to do a little bit of everything,” Boyd said. “But the Silver Valley is also gorgeous. We ski and like rock climbing, hiking, all of the lakes — this area fits us perfectly.”

At SMC Family Medicine, Dr. Boyd will be available to everyone, including expecting mothers and newborns — a service that has been missing from the Silver Valley for some time.

“I’ll be able to see prenatal patients here and can also deliver babies in Kootenai,” Boyd said. “I hope people will come to me for this because it can be so difficult when pregnant, or with a newborn to travel over the pass. You have to see a provider at least eight times over the course of your pregnancy, if not more. And with a newborn, you’ll see a baby four to five times in the first two months of life — depending on how baby is doing — that’s a dozen or so trips to see a provider. So I’m hoping I can be a resource for the people over here.”

In her new role, Dr. Boyd can be the primary provider throughout an expecting mother’s pregnancy, deliver the baby (at Kootenai Health), and then subsequently be the provider for both mother and the new child — as well as the rest of the family.

“As a family medicine doctor, you have to be able to treat everyone and I’m so excited for the opportunity to do that here,” Boyd said.

Dr. Boyd is available for appointments at SMC Family Medicine in Smelterville on Mondays and Tuesdays, and will be at SMC Thursdays and Fridays.

To make an appointment, call SMC Family Medicine at 208-784-7017.