Boundary Community Clinics welcomes Mike Yourzek, PA-C

Boundary Community Clinics and Boundary Community Hospital are pleased to announce the addition of Michael Yourzek, PA-C MS CHA to their Primary Care Clinic.

Mike is a Physician Assistant who is very happy to have the opportunity to join Dr. Susan Layeux, Bev Yercheck, ANP-C and the great staff of people at Boundary Community Clinics. Mike has 37 years of clinical experience, including Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Women’s Health, Wilderness Medicine, Allergy and Asthma, Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Occupational Health, Urgent and Emergent Care Wound Care and Behavioral Health. He has mainly worked in clinics that focus on caring for underserved populations (under-insured, poor access to health care).

He graduated from the Pediatric Physician Assistant program (the Child Health Associate Program) in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver Colorado in 1982 with a Master in Science degree and went on to pass his Pediatric Certification (Child Health Associate) test for the state of Colorado and National Physician Assistant certification test for general practice shortly thereafter.

According to Mike: “I am from Denver Colorado and completed all of my education there. My family was always involved in the community and I found that experience has led me down a path that has served me well in the practice of medicine. I feel strongly about supplying the best information and skills so I can partner with patients to help them make important choices about their health. I believe that treating them like I would my family and getting to know more about their life, plays an important part in this. I enjoy learning from them as well.”

“I chose a career as a physician assistant since it allowed me to focus on the clinical aspects of medicine (of which I was most interested) while working alongside physicians,” Mike continues. “I felt it would also allow me time to enjoy other aspects of my life. These included many outdoor activities, music, art and sports. My goal was to one day practice and live in a beautiful rural community.”

Mike Yourzek has returned to practice medicine in Bonners Ferry. He tells this story about his connection with Dr. Ernie Lucero, “My first practice in the area was with Dr. Lucero in 1996. I had met him while he was working as a Physician Assistant while completing medical school at the University of Utah. He always talked about returning to Bonners Ferry (a place nobody ever heard of in Utah). His practice could not support me full time so I sadly had to work in Spokane. I re-joined him to help cover his practice when he fractured his ankle in January of 2000. I found him to be an inspiring doctor and friend. I then worked for Boundary Community Hospital off and on covering the clinic then full time in the urgent care/rural health clinic until January 2004 when it closed. I had always hoped I could rejoin the hospital again, with its great culture and dedication to the healthcare of the community. The fact that I am doing so in a clinic dedicated to the memory and long standing service to the community of Dr. Ernie Lucero seems only fitting. It feels as though I never left since many of the people, I worked with are still here (including my wife). I hope to spend the rest of my career here.”

Mike Yourzek, PA-C is accepting new primary care patients of all ages with an emphasis on treating the entire family, infant to senior. Call 208-267-3655 to set up an appointment.