BY KAREN BOSSICK

He started out fixing big, hulking farm machinery. Now Dr. Derek Ipsen specializes in fixing that more delicate appendage known as the hand, which boasts 27 tiny bones and some of the densest areas of nerve endings in the body.

Ipsen is joining St. Luke’s Wood River’s team of orthopedic surgeons after retiring as a U.S. Army colonel, during which he served throughout the world. He will offer expanded hand care and take orthopedic calls, as well.

“Dr. Ipsen’s expertise in hand surgery and extensive experience in orthopedics provides our community with exceptional expanded care,” said Carmen Jacobsen, chief operating officer and CNO for St. Luke’s Wood River. “We are thrilled to welcome him to our team and to the valley.”

Ipsen grew up on a farm in rural Idaho where he learned at an early age to fix farm machinery to get it back to work as soon as possible. But he became smitten with the medical world after his high school football coach--a biology teacher--took the class to see a cadaver.

“When I saw that cadaver, I thought that seeing how things worked together in the human body was the most incredible thing ever.  I enjoyed the work on the farm, but this became my calling,” he said.

Ipsen did his first hand rotation during residency and decided it would be his focus.

“I wanted to learn how to fix the tiny, intricate structures that made up the hand since it is so important to people’s occupation, livelihood and everyday life,” he said.

His military career took him around the world, taking care of gunshot wounds, burns incurred in combat and other upper extremity problems. In time, he returned to focusing on elbow and hand surgery, most recently at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

He has volunteered with the Shriner’s and helped those in need in the Pacific Islands. And, until COVID restricted travel, he traveled once a year to Haiti to assist Haitians who lacked medical care.

Ipsen says he is happy to return to civilian life and his Idaho roots. He and his family are looking forward to skiing, fishing and getting to know the Sun Valley community.

Ipsen will work at St. Luke’s Clinic—Sun Valley Sports Medicine, 100 Hospital Drive, Physician Office Annex, Suite 105. To learn more, call 208-726-5027.