Publication

While John Hines, DO, is Arbor Health's newest physician, he's no stranger to medicine—nor to East Lewis County. The son of Norman and Sue Layman, he grew up in Morton, graduating from Morton High School in 1990. He left the area to pursue his education and then worked as a physician in Arkansas for 20 years before he and his wife, Patti, moved back to Morton.

Dr. Hines is on the Arbor Health–Morton Hospital medical staff as a hospitalist and a primary care physician at the Morton Clinic. For him, primary care, also known as family medicine, was the right choice.

"When I was in medical school, I started looking at what specialty I wanted to do," he recalls. "I liked the unpredictable nature of primary care."

Ready for Anything

Dr. Hines enjoys the variety that a day in the clinic might bring. Patients might come in for diabetes, congestive heart failure, hypertension or maybe even a sore on their big toe, for example.

"The other thing that I really enjoy is the relationships that you form with the patients," he adds. "As a primary care physician, you delve into a lot more issues with people—marriage, kids, family. You know their mom and dad, psychosocial issues with the family or community, stressors at work, things like that."

When asked about his medical practice philosophy, he shares this story: "An old physician told me a long time ago, 'If you listen long enough, people will tell you what's the matter. You don't have to figure it out all the time.' And so, I've held on to that. I want people to know that I want them to talk to me—feel free to talk. We'll come up with the best options for them."

Glad to Be Back

While his father has passed away, his mother still lives in the area, as do his sisters, Gena, in Mossyrock, and Becki, in Longview.

Dr. Hines says he is glad to be back living near his family—and he fondly remembers small-town life. "I hope I can give back to the community," he says. "I was raised here; my mom and dad were intimately connected to this community. And they, the community, reciprocated that."

He is also looking forward to outdoor activities. He says that when he left home, there were four things he swore he would never do ever again. "I'd never do a garden, I'd never have chickens, I'd never cut another stick of wood and I'd never have horses. I've been able to avoid the horses," Dr. Hines says in good humor.

Dr. Hines and his wife have been married for 30 years. They have two children—a son, Cole, who lives in Arkansas with his wife, Kayle, and a daughter, Maci, who is attending Washington State University in Vancouver.

Categories: New Providers