Stewart returns to medicine

In the past few months, several area boards and commissions simultaneously were hit with a one-person shortage.

The common denominator in each shortage was Dr. Jerry Stewart.

After retiring in 2004 from a 10-year stint as CEO of Fort Smith-based Cooper Clinic, Stewart volunteered to serve on the boards of many area public and private groups. Stewart gained a respected reputation in the area for his willingness to serve in prominent leadership roles, including the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce and Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority.

But in August, Stewart agreed to again work as a physician, returning to a 4-day a week schedule in the River Valley Primary Care clinic on Kelley Highway in Fort Smith.

To make time for his new job, Stewart resigned from the Fort Smith Regional Airport Commission, the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, the Board of Visitors at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, and the board of the Western Arkansas Area Agency on Aging.

Ratcliff-based River Valley Primary Care Services is a non-profit health care operation that “provides affordable healthcare for everyone, regardless of ability to pay,” according to its Web site. The company uses several discounted services, prescription assistance programs, federal assistance and other private and public programs to help the uninsured and underinsured.

“We work with a different demographic, usually the very poor … and most have needs that haven’t been met for a long time,” Stewart said. “They often have chronic illnesses, like lung disease and diabetes and heart disease. It’s been very difficult for them to find medical care.”

As a pulmonologist, Stewart practiced medicine from 1970 to 1994. He left the daily practice to be the CEO of Cooper Clinic.

Stewart sought a return to medicine after more than 15 years away from direct interaction with patients. He wanted to be active again, and was growing weary of the inconsistencies and unknowns of public service. Stewart heard that River Valley Primary, which now has seven active physicians on staff, wanted to hire a new general physician. He approached them and they struck a deal that allows him to work on a limited basis and without hospital calls.

“I preferred practicing medicine than I did working that that sector (public sector) of the world, although that was certainly fulfilling and there were many good people to work with,” Stewart explained.