May 8, 2020
St. Peter’s Health announced today that the Townsend Clinic is now open. The clinic is open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm and is located at 515 S. Front Street between the Family Dollar and Townsend Post Office. Physician Assistant Dwight Thompson is accepting new patients at 406-444-8200. The clinic offers comprehensive primary care services as well as diagnostic imaging and laboratory services. Rotating St. Peter’s Health specialists, including a urologist, general surgeon and orthopaedist, will provide care locally starting in late June.
The clinic opened its doors on Monday, May 4, and is staffed by a multi-disciplinary clinical team who live in and around the local Townsend area. The team includes Thompson; Registered Nurse Meagan Watne, RN; Nationally Certified Lab Assistant and Diagnostic Imaging Tech Deborah Matthis; and Certified Medical Assistant and Patient Access Specialist Cassandra Bouldin.
According to Primary Care Clinic Nurse Manager Rhonda Hinrichs, RN, “We couldn’t be more excited about our team at the Townsend Clinic. They are all skilled, compassionate caregivers who are dedicated to caring for people of all ages in the community that they call home.”
In summer 2021, Dr. Andrew Lester will join Thompson at the Townsend Clinic and serve as the local community’s full-time physician. He and his family plan to live in the Townsend area once he completes his residency next year.
Thompson began delivering care to patients via telehealth in mid-April when many in-clinic visits were temporarily postponed due to COVID-19. He is now seeing patients in the clinic with appropriate safety precautions in place and continuing to offer care through telehealth, when appropriate.
“Our goal is to provide the very best care to patients while looking out for their safety,” said Thompson. “I am excited to be in the clinic and continue to care for my friends, family and neighbors.”
St. Peter’s Health has comprehensive measures in place throughout its facilities to ensure the safety of patient and caregivers. All caregivers will wear masks and patients will be asked to wear a cloth mask while visiting the clinic (clean masks are available at the registration desk). The clinic will also screen all patients at the entrance for COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms, as well as encourage social distancing in the clinic to the greatest extent possible. Only essential guests will be allowed to accompany patients until further notice and patients may be asked to wait in their car instead of the waiting room until their provider is ready to see them. For more information on preventative measures in place at St. Peter’s Health facilities, visit www.sphealth.org.