BY KAREN BOSSICK

One of her patients calls her “engaged, energetic and ardent about being a doctor.”

“What I like about Dr. Lyons is that she focuses on you when you see her, she follows up if you have questions that she needs to research, she will call you with answers to questions or to follow up on tests,” the patient said.

Dr. Julie Lyons’ role in providing stellar health care in the Wood River Valley has just expanded.

Not only is she taking care of the patients who come to her for annual wellness checks and complaints about stomach pains but she is leading her colleagues into the New Year as St. Luke’s Wood River’s chief of staff.

In that role she’s responsible for providing leadership and guidance to the medical staff and promoting effective communication between staff, administration and the board of trustees. She’ll work behind the scenes to solve problems, mediate disputes. and act as a sounding board for ideas to make health care better.

Lyons has been among those at the forefront for improving health in the Wood River Valley. She organized a vaccine drive for the Hispanic community as COVID vaccines became available. And she rallied her fellow doctors to roll up their sleeves, creating fun Rosie the Riveter-type poses symbolizing “We can do it!”

“I love costumes on a good day, and I thought the Rosie the Riveter photo had a meaningful place in history,” said Lyons at the time. “Earlier in the pandemic one of our nurses had sewn special hair coverings for all of us, and I just so happened to pick one that matches the painting. It was a serendipitous opportunity!”

In addition, Lyons has formed a local coalition of women providers to advocate for improved birth control access and she proposed four resolutions protecting reproductive health care at this year's Idaho Medical Association House of Delegates.

She’s also an advocate for improved rural health care, teaching students at St. Luke's Clinic Family Medicine in Hailey. For her efforts she was recently honored with an Idaho Rural Health Hero Award from the Idaho Rural Health Association.

When she’s not working or serving her community, she enjoys spending time in the mountains with her two boys, ages 7 and 10, and her husband Blair, who is a nurse in Clinical Learning at St. Luke's Wood River.