CHI St. Alexius Health awarded Steven Hamar, MD, the Pillars of the Foundation Award during the 2016 Gratitude Gala. The Pillars of the Foundation Award is presented annually to pay tribute to those significantly impacted the medical center. Those who are nominated for the recognition fall into one, or all, of these criteria: recipient is a long-time volunteer and/or donor to CHI St. Alexius Health, recipient has made a significant impact on CHI St. Alexius Health’s history and is more than likely a community member; however, associates can receive the recognition.
For more than 38 years, Dr. Hamar has contributed to the growth and well-being of CHI St. Alexius Health. He is recognized for the extraordinary care he gives and for the legacy he has created for health care within western North Dakota. He has served on several committees at Mid Dakota Clinic and CHI St. Alexius Health, and played a vital role in starting the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) program at CHI St. Alexius Health and the Vein Center at Mid Dakota Clinic. Dr. Hamar is greatly respected by his peers, current and past coworkers, his patients and many others who have entered his life.
Dr. Hamar’s Story …
It was Independence Day in 1978. The small town of Elgin, North Dakota was celebrating their annual rodeo celebration. The western skies turned pitch black; a storm was rolling in. A couple hours later, a destructive tornado swept through Elgin, turning out to be one of the deadliest tornadoes in North Dakota history.
Bang! Bang! Bang! That’s all Dr. Steven Hamar remembers hearing on his front door just two days after making the long U-Haul trip from Texas, where he attended medical school, to Bismarck. He was scheduled to begin work at Mid Dakota Clinic as a surgeon in mid-July, but there were a couple hundred patients anticipated to arrive at CHI St. Alexius Health who were severely injured in the tornado.
With no hospital privileges, no license to practice in ND and no insurance, Dr. Hamar arrived at the hospital prepared for what lay ahead. He was quickly shown the dressing room and operating room, and then taken to the emergency department. A man presented in the ER who had been badly injured. He was Dr. Hamar’s very first patient. Due to the outstanding experience he received at his residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, Dr. Hamar was prepared. He performed a diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) to check for internal bleeding, which was the first DPL performed at CHI St. Alexius Health. Dr. Hamar’s patient was eventually taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Because he needed to be reached in ICU to care for his patient, Dr. Hamar stayed as long as needed since he did not have a phone yet at his new home in Bismarck.
The dedication of Dr. Hamar that day and throughout the past 38 years has had an enormous impact on Mid Dakota Clinic and CHI St. Alexius Health. “I got involved as much as I could from the beginning and had great support from my fellow surgeons,” stated Dr. Hamar. He sat on several committees at the clinic and hospital and played a vital role in starting the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) program at CHI St. Alexius Health.
Dr. Hamar always had a love for trauma. In western North Dakota, CHI St. Alexius Health is a pivot point in trauma care. Around the time of Dr. Hamar’s arrival, emergency room physicians were just being introduced. Specialists from around the clinics and hospital were called in to the emergency room when a patient arrived. Now, there is a team of emergency and trauma providers.
Dr. Hamar experienced many changes over the past several years. He performed hundreds of surgeries during his time as a surgeon. He said, “Patients used to stay in the hospital for several days but now many surgeries are same-day surgeries. With transitional care and home health care, patients are being hospitalized less.” Dr. Hamar also recognized that vein surgery was becoming a popular procedure and this sparked his interest. More than a decade ago, he started the Vein Center at Mid Dakota Clinic. The Vein Center has had tremendous success in this region with Dr. Hamar performing numerous vein surgeries within CHI St. Alexius Health.
“The positive correspondence we received over the years from his patients has been very humbling,” stated Dr. Hamar’s wife, Donna. He loves making his patients laugh and is known for his humor, caring and skill as a surgeon. “The best words I can hear from a patient is ‘thank you’ and that’s what makes it all worth it,” stated Dr. Hamar.