Provider Spotlight

Jane Fore, MD, Hospitalist

Hospitalist physician Dr. Jane Fore has been part of the St. Joe’s Medical Staff since 1982. Throughout those 40 years, Dr. Fore has held private practice, worked in hospital admissions, provided consultations for other physicians, worked in St. Joe’s Wound Care, provided medical care for nursing home residents and patients at home, and served as a clinical professor at the University of Idaho. (Whew!)

In college, Dr. Fore decided on a career in healthcare. “Initially, I was going to pursue nursing, but my advisor recommended that I go to medical school,” she said. The Kansas City native completed her education at the University of Kansas with a residency in internal medicine before an ad in the New England Journal of Medicine lured her west to Idaho.

“My husband and I love the outdoors, and we saw that Lewiston had much to offer that we could enjoy,” she said. Dr. Fore recalled with a laugh that she had been looking forward to living in a smaller town than where she grew up, but “when we arrived, people told me that I had moved to a big city! Lewiston was the fifth-largest city in Idaho at the time.”

In her early days as a new physician, Dr. Fore practiced in a medical office, covering for another doctor who was on leave, and shared hospital work with colleagues. In building her own practice, she partnered with former medical school colleague Dr. Barbara Davis in 1984.  Three years later, “we built the Southway Professional Center,” Dr. Fore said and Dr. Patricia Brady joined the practice. (Southway Professional Center is now the location of St. Joseph Primary Care.  Dr. Davis is still a Primary Care provider at this location and Dr. Brady retired from St. Joe’s in 2021.)

Over the decades, Dr. Fore has built an esteemed career in the Lewis-Clark Valley, which she considers home. “My relationships with patients and their families and the people that I work with is consistently rewarding, and I enjoy collaborating with other physicians as we navigate the care of complex medical problems,” she said.  Dr. Fore also keeps her faith close to her practice, praying to God for direction as she and her team care for patients.

In addition to her practice, Dr. Fore said she’d like to teach again someday. “That time was such a joy,” she said. “I love to teach and I really enjoy students. Some may say that I’m ‘old school’, but some of the old should not be forgotten.”

Dr. Fore is also looking forward to inviting people to the cabin she’s been working to build for the last 11 years that she’s named the Seventh Day Cottage. “I see it as a retreat for people who need to rest. Holy rest is not passive,” she said. “It is resting in the assurance that God is in control, and we can take a breather and focus on Him rather than focus on our doing of things and controlling our lives.”

All in all, Dr. Fore loves every bit of the life she’s living. “I am thankful that God provides the wind in my sails and energy for the challenges,” she said, “and I want my colleagues and community to know that God loves them, that they are precious and that they are enough.” As a physician who is honored to share in special or challenging times in the lives of her patients, Dr. Fore said, “I do not believe that I would be happier doing anything else.”

Thanks for your service, care and ministry, Dr. Fore!  We are fortunate to have your experience and expertise at St. Joe’s.