By: Kathy Hubbard
Today I have the great pleasure of introducing you to Bonner General Health Family Clinic’s newest primary care provider, Dr. Dean Kubacz, MD. If you’ve been looking for a PCP, look no further.
Dr. Kubacz’s bio reads like a travel brochure. He and his wife, who is also a physician, took a circuitous route to spend several years working in Africa providing medical care in underserved areas before the call of the mountains brought them back to the U.S. and, fortunately for us, to North Idaho.
Dr. Kubacz’s knowledge and experience in family medicine is extensive. From hospital medicine, outpatient care, obstetrics and a particular emphasis on pediatrics, he is known for bringing both seriousness and humor to his work.
I asked him for his opinion on the key advantages of having a primary care provider care for the entire family. He said, “In bygone days, smaller communities had one or only a few primary care providers. It was the norm for those providers to care for the entire family. Medicine, and life, has become much more complex, and our knowledge has increased exponentially.
“Medical providers can now specialize into very refined fields of practice. And while it is an immense blessing to have access to a specialized provider when needed, most of the time we need someone who can care for a wide variety of medical concerns. And when that same person can care for all the members of the family, the advantages are multiplied.
That provider has typically been trained to care for a wide variety of physical, emotional, and mental health needs. They are able to follow family members over the course of time and coordinate their care when they need to be referred to a specialist.
When I asked what he likes best about treating children, he said, “When children are in the office, there is often an energy that feels charged with ‘potential.’ Each child is a new beginning for humanity. A child is fragile yet resilient, unique yet somewhat predictable, and always full of unrealized potential.
“As adults we try to prioritize our own health among our many concerns and responsibilities. But when it comes to our children, we’ll often deprive ourselves in order to give them what they need most. So, treating children feels like an incredible privilege, we’re helping parents take care of the treasures that they treasure most.”
One of the procedures Dr. Kubacz is bringing to BGH is one that many people have strong opinions about, and that’s whether to circumcise a baby boy. Dr. Kubacz pointed out that the procedure is purely a matter of personal preference.
“There are differing views on circumcision and each family needs to decide whether it is what they desire,” he said.
He told me that they’ve already begun doing them in the office, and that the procedure takes around twenty minutes. After-care involves applying an ointment and gauze every diaper change for one to two weeks.
And speaking of controversial subjects, I asked him if he would weigh in about vaccinations. “My hope is that all of us will continue to explore available evidence with open minds, but also with a healthy skepticism. As parents, we want what we believe is best for our children. But that doesn’t mean we all have the same ideas about what is best. Working in the developing world has given me the heart-wrenching experience of seeing children, pregnant women, healthy young men, etc., die of diseases that are nearly absent from the developed world because they could have been prevented by vaccinations.
“In that regard, I am very grateful for the role of vaccines. At the same time, it makes sense to be cautious before introducing something new into the bodies of our vulnerable children; we want to protect them without exposing them to undue harm in the process.”
Dr. Kubacz is also enthusiastic about seeing older patients. “I’ve been encouraged to see that many of my patients remain very active and are focused on maintaining their health, even some who are in their 90s!”
About his first impressions of Bonner County, he said that he and his family have met kind people here and that they are beginning to enjoy all the outdoor activities that our area offers.
Call 208-265-2221 for an appointment with Dr. Dean Kubacz.
Kathy Hubbard was a charter member of Bonner General Health Foundation. She can be reached at [email protected]. This article was written for publication in the Bonner County Daily Bee on August 5, 2026.