BY KAREN BOSSICK
St. Luke’s Wood River has a new psychiatrist.
Dr. Jeralyn Jones has joined the hospital’s Mental Health clinic in Hailey, moving here from Boise where she had been seeing patients through her private practice.
Jones was also a provider at Saint Alphonsus, Boise State University and Family Medicine Residence of Idaho, where in 1999 she became the first psychiatrist hired as faculty to teach family medicine residents various psychiatric topics.
Jones attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed her psychiatry residency at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. She was the Medical Director for an outpatient psychiatry clinic at University of California-San Francisco before moving to Boise to practice and teach psychiatry in 1992.
Jones has taught psychiatry to family medicine and psychiatry residents for over 20 years. She helped start the Idaho/University of Washington Psychiatry Residency track and directed the program for six years. She is currently Assistant Clinical Professor for the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry, a position she has held since 2010.
Dr. Jones received several teaching awards at University of Washington, as well as the 2013 Ada County Medical Society’s Physician of the Year award.
“People’s culture, genetics, psychological, social and medical status are all relevant background informing treatment in the moment,” she said. “As a general psychiatrist, I feel fortunate to hear stories that humble and inspire me. I am always learning from my patients.”
Jones and her husband Steven Brown needed no introduction to Sun Valley. Steve was born in the Sun Valley Lodge when it was the local hospital and he was raised in the Wood River Valley. A psychologist, Steve met Jones in training in San Francisco.
Alison Burpee, LCSW, said that the behavioral team at St. Luke’s Clinic – Mental Health is thrilled to welcome Jones: “She is a true collaborator, she is bright, thorough and thoughtful. And we scored big with her addition to the team. I’m certain our patients, our entire St. Luke’s crew, and the greater Wood River Valley community is in good hands.”
The community is encouraged to talk to their primary care physician or call St. Luke’s Center for Community Health at 208-727-8733 if they think they might have symptoms of a mental health condition. To make an appointment at the Mental Health Clinic, call 208-727-8970.