BGH welcomes new ENT doctor

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Bonner General Health welcomed a new doctor to its roster in February. Dr. Susan Anderson is an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist whose addition will help expand the clinical services BGH offers the region. Anderson’s ENT clinic is located in the Pinegrove Medical Center, 606 N. Third Ave. #101.

Dr. Susan Anderson.

Anderson came to Sandpoint from working in Oklahoma. She grew up in Anaconda, Mont., and attended undergraduate school at Montana State University in Bozeman, and later graduated from medical school at Des Moines University in Iowa. 

Anderson said she was first attracted to the ENT specialty after doing a rotation in Minnesota with an ENT.

“I remember the ENT up there, Dr. Fisher, doing a cut in an ear tube and I knew I found the right fit.”

ENT doctors specialize in the intricate systems of the ear, nose and throat. 

“A lot of what we do is ear tubes for kids with chronic ear infections, tonsilectomies, sinus surgeries for adults who have sinus issues,” said Anderson. “Other stuff is tumors or growths in the saliva gland, head and neck cancer diagnosis…  You get to see everybody. I’ve seen kids two months old and I’ve cleaned ears out from people over 100 years old. It’s pretty fun to have that mix of patients.”

Anderson said 15-20 percent of kids will be affected by ear tubes or tonsilitus.

BGH Marketing Specialist Robin Hanson said the new ENT clinic will be the first ear, nose and throat clinic in Sandpoint for over 15 years.

“What this does is provide a full-time ENT clinic in our area, which we haven’t had since 2002,” Hanson said. “The wait list to make an appointment used to be very long to be seen here in town. This will help fix that.” 

CEO Sheryl Rickard said, “BGH’s mission is to provide quality, compassionate care close to home. That is why we opened the new ear, nose and throat clinic in Sandpoint.”

Another way Anderson’s ENT clinic will help BGH’s overall services is with outreach to other rehab departments, such as speech therapy.

“For speech therapy, we have an intimate relationship,” she said. “If they have a patient with swallowing problems, they can refer them to an ENT, and same with voice disruptions, vocal polyps, that kind of thing.”

Anderson said another department that will benefit from having an in-house ENT is physical therapy.

“If they have people with balance issues, dizziness, etc., we’ll often work with physical therapy to restore them to their former selves,” she said.

Anderson said she was excited to make the move to North Idaho. She began skiing again recently after a 20-year hiatus and enjoys working out in the gym, getting on a mountain bike and is into classic cars.

“I’ve always been some place because of a job,” she said. “Now I had the opportunity to be where I wanted to be and have the job.”

Dr. Susan Anderson’s new ENT clinic is now accepting new patients. Call Bonner General Health at (208) 265-1003 for more information.