Baby Kiwi

Smithsonian Biology Conservation Institute

Front Royal Virginia

April 26, 2012

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North Dakota Pediatrician 1980- 2020

Raising North Dakota: Farewell and thank you, Dr. Steve!

by: Alysia Huck

Posted: Dec 17, 2020 / 08:37 AM CST / Updated: Dec 17, 2020 / 08:37 AM CST

Our children are everything to us, so when it comes to finding the right pediatrician for our kids, it’s not always an easy, quick process.

So when you find the right doc, it can be a relief.

In this week’s segment of Raising North Dakota, Alysia Huck joins dozens of families in a farewell to a beloved doctor who is set to retire, for the second time!

A feather out of place, but that’s okay!

Pediatrician Dr. Stephen McDonough, also known as Dr. Steve, has helped countless kids with a “feather out of place” over his 40-plus year career in medicine, and now that chapter of his life is coming to a close.

In a recent post, he shared a photo he had taken of a majestic American Bald Eagle with a caption reading,

“Most of my 40-year career, I have worked with children who had a feather out of place, they had a condition that made them special, but that was OK. They were still beautiful, courageous, and majestic and worth fighting for, as were their parents!”

Parents and kids alike would say that Dr. Steve is a one-of-a-kind pediatrician, and finding another doctor to fill his shoes will be no easy feat.

Bismarck mom Toby Lunstad has taken her kids to Dr. Steve for years, and her daughter Addilynn agrees with mom.

Toby exclaims, “She loves him! We walk into Independent Doctors and she starts giggling, he’s the only one she’ll open her mouth for (giggle from Addilynn).”

A common trait that most families have come to appreciate is Dr. Steve’s ability to listen, and he even stressed the importance of listening to those he taught, once saying…

“Always listen to the mom, the mom knows, mom knows you need to listen to them and help them figure it out,” Toby says. “It’s at the core of what he does, valuing parents and what they have to say and helping them find answers.”

Jennifer Restemayer and her daughter Allison say it wasn’t only the parents he listened to.

“Some pediatricians they don’t always listen to what their patients actually need and so I am a really big fan of Dr. McDonough,” Allison says.

“His advocacy wasn’t just local, he cared about all kids and wanted to be sure all kids had the opportunity to be healthy no matter what they needed,” explains Jennifer, “and his advocacy went all the way to the federal level, and I’m so proud of him for that.”

Now with Dr. Steve is moving on to his next adventure, and families bidding him farewell and well wishes in the form of a parade, families will be seeking out new pediatricians.

Jennifer knows that process is not easy.

“There is something about the way Dr. McDonough will dig in and really try to find some explanation or answers to a problem, or even just some things to try and to have that much effort go into her care and to have that level of partnership that we had, it’s not the same,” Jennifer says. “Dr. McDonough is just a class act, he is in a league of his own.”

And that sentiment is shared by parents across the board, agreeing that Dr. Stephen McDonough is indeed one-of-a-kind.

While he’s retiring as a pediatrician, his wheels are always turning, and I assure you, there is much more to come from Dr. Stephen McDonough

https://www.kxnet.com/good-day-dakota/raising-north-dakota-farewell-and-thank-you-dr-steve/

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Wednesday afternoon was bittersweet for the pediatric patients of Horizon Clinic in Bismarck. Kids and parents held a special ceremony to say farewell to someone they say they could always count on.

It was a parade to commemorate a new beginning. Long-time patients of Dr. Stephen McDonough waived goodbye as he began a new chapter of his life: retirement.

Over the last 40 years, a single doctor made a lasting impression.

“I will always remember how you cared for me after I took a baseball to the mouth at a Little League game when I was 11, and you were 16,” said Dr. Stephen McDonough’s first patient and brother, Larry McDonough.

Parents and his patients agree, Dr. Stephen McDonough improved their lives and touched their hearts through his ability to hear their concerns.

“It is so hard to have a child that does not have a simple health care journey. To have somebody like Dr. Steve in your corner backing you up every step of the way, it just makes it so much easier,” said Toby Lunstad whose daughter, Addilynn, is a patient of Dr. Steve.

“He listens and believes in parents,” said Steph Orr, whose son, Brevin, is a patient of Dr. Steve.

“When he was done listening, he went into action,” said Kari Wolff whose daughter, Libby, is a patient as well.

They said he fought for them when no one else would.

“If Doctor Steve didn’t exist, I don’t know if anybody would even know that I would have Pandas or what to do with it or how to get me better or anything like that,” said Patient Brevin Orr.

The day came for Dr. Steve to hang up his stethoscope. But, his patients weren’t going to let him go without a last “thank you.”

“It’s really humbling and overwhelming. Every day that goes by, you just don’t realize the number of people that care for what you’re doing,” said pediatrician Stephen McDonough.

Dr. Steve says the secret to his success has been his ability to relate to his patients.

“Going to work every day was like interacting with my peers because I got to talk to kids, play with kids. Yeah, it’s just to be at their level,” McDonough said.

And while he will be missed by many, he won’t be too far from the kiddos.

“I’m going to some of the schools to talk about animals and their habitats. I’ve done some children’s books. I’m going to do some writing,” McDonough said.

The lasting impact he’s made will always be there. Dr. Steve says his retirement plans also include nature photography, exercising with his three golden retrievers and getting out to the Badlands.