For more than two decades, Cindy Stergar has strengthened Montana’s healthcare system by helping to build the primary care workforce, expanding access to medical services and championing physician education.
Now, after retiring as CEO of the Montana Primary Care Association, she leaves Montana with a stronger physician workforce and a lasting influence on the next generation of Montana doctors.
Whether recruiting physicians, advocating for healthcare policy or supporting medical students, Stergar has spent her career focused on one goal: making sure Montanans can access quality healthcare close to home.
“My number one job as an administrator of a primary care clinic was hiring clinical staff,” she said. “The WWAMI program and the TRUST program are so critical to Montana having a workforce so people can access healthcare.”
A longtime member of the Montana WWAMI Advisory Board, Stergar has supported the program since its early years. She also served as CEO of the Butte Community Health Center before leading the Montana Primary Care Association. In that role, she helped create opportunities for medical students to train in rural Montana and advocated for scholarship and loan repayment programs that make it possible for physicians to practice in underserved communities.
“We would not have had a physician workforce at the Butte Community Health Center without some type of loan support,” she said.
Among the physicians she helped recruit were Dr. Serena Brewer, now Montana WWAMI’s assistant clinical dean and WRITE Director, whose leadership expanded medical student and resident training in Butte; and Dr. Shawna Yates, a Montana WWAMI graduate who continues to care for patients at the community health center.
Throughout her career, Stergar also saw healthcare transformed through policy changes, including the creation of Medicare prescription drug coverage, the Affordable Care Act and Montana’s Medicaid expansion.
“Seeing my family, friends and people in my community finally have health coverage and go to the doctor when they needed to, was amazing,” she said.
As physician education has evolved, Stergar believes Montana WWAMI continues to stand apart because of its longstanding commitment to the state.
“The competition has helped WWAMI spotlight all of its greatness; its longevity in Montana, its partnership with the University of Washington and, most importantly, the many graduates who come back to practice in our rural communities.”
She also credits the TRUST program with encouraging students to consider caring for rural and underserved populations early in their medical education, giving many a firsthand understanding of the communities that need physicians most.
Looking back on her career, Stergar says the next generation of Montana WWAMI students gives her confidence in the future of healthcare.
Although retiring from formal leadership, Stergar plans to remain one of Montana WWAMI’s biggest supporters.
“I will continue to support the WWAMI program from afar and will always talk about it to friends, neighbors and our policymakers,” she said. “WWAMI is in great hands today.”