Dr. Kopes-Kerr will be leaving at the end of January. We’ll be very sorry to see him go, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Dr. Kopes-Kerr sent out a heartfelt letter to his patients explaining the personal reasons for his departure. He also explained how much he’s loved living and working here. The letter, as some of you have pointed out, couldn’t be better. We’ll still have to work to convince patients that we have adequate coverage without him, however.

To that end, Mary Morrison, FNP, will begin seeing patients at the Graeagle Clinic two days a week beginning in February to help ease the transition for Dr. Kopes-Kerr’s patients. As most of you know, Mary has deep roots in Plumas County. Further, her extensive medical knowledge and experience, combined with a caring personality, has given her an extremely loyal patient base. We know patients at the Graeagle Clinic will appreciate her unique combination of skills.

In addition, doctors at the Portola Clinic will soon have increased time to see clinic patients since the new emergency room hospitalist program will have ER doctors following patients throughout their hospital stay. Clinic physicians, freed from their hospital duties, will soon be offering evening and weekend hours at the Portola Clinic to better serve our community. Any of these physicians, as well as our Family Nurse Practitioners, will be happy to see Dr. Kopes-Kerr’s former patients.