MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Kimberly Damrow, M.D.

BIOGRAPHY

Kimberly Damrow loved biology and science as well as animals when she was an undergraduate at the University of Montana in 1976, and thought of becoming a veterinarian. But she also wanted to do something with her life that would help people. When she graduated, she dropped the idea of becoming a veterinarian, and decided to go to medical school. It was a fortunate decision for the many veterans and others in need who have benefited from her care and compassion.

"I wanted to do work where I could help," Kimberly Damrow said of her work at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center in Montana. "I'm so fortunate working with the veterans. They are in a class by themselves. Some have been through so much. It's a kind of privilege to listen to them and to help. Every day I marvel at the inspiration and courage of my patients and what they can and do overcome."

Nominated by Representative Denny Rehberg (R-Mont) and Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont), Kimberly Damrow is, according to Rep. Rehberg, "not only a very highly qualified and skilled physician, but she is a profoundly compassionate and concerned individual as well."

As Chief of Ambulatory Care at Fort Harrison VA Medical Center, Kimberly Damrow is continuing the work she has done since graduating from the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle where she worked with homeless and indigent populations at Harborview Medical Center, as well as directing the Health Care for the Homeless Project at the Pioneer Square Clinic in Seattle.

At Fort Harrison, Kimberly Damrow has worked as Staff Internist and Chief of Ambulatory Care often treating veterans with serious health issues. She also specializes in sleep medicine and treats veterans with sleep disorders.

She has received the Veteran of Foreign Wars VA Health Care Provider of the Year, the Vietnam Veteran's of America Montana's Doctor of the Millennium, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs "Hand and Heart" awards.

But more telling are the letters and notes from veterans whom she has cared for. "Here is a great lady as well as a great doctor who has much passion and regard for veterans. I have been fortunate to have her as my primary doctor," wrote one patient.

Kimberly Damrow received her medical degree from the University of Washington and did her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington. She worked at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in several capacities and taught as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington before coming to the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center in Montana in 1991.

Her work with patients there has brought an outpouring of gratitude. "Her personality is such that it makes a person feel better just to talk to her," wrote one VA patient.