Dr. Baer Recognized As Iowa Family Physician Of The Year

A Mills County doctor says he’s humbled to be recognized as the 2024-2025 Iowa Family Physician Of The Year.

The Iowa Academy Of Family Physicians presented the award to Dr. Thomas Baer of Malvern during a ceremony earlier this month in Altoona. The Iowa Family Physician of the Year award is presented to “one outstanding physician in Iowa who best exemplifies the tradition of the family doctor and epitomizes the finest standards of family medicine.”

“I’m kind of uncomfortable about the whole thing because I’m not really an ‘in the limelight’ kind of guy. I really like to fly under the radar,” Dr. Baer said during an interview about the award. “It’s very humbling. I feel very honored and this is the time you remember that you don’t do this alone. I have lots of people to thank who make me look good. I have a great support staff. I have great administration that works with me in the clinic and obviously, I couldn’t have done this by myself by any stretch.”

Dr. Baer is a Malvern native and 1989 graduate of the University of Iowa College Of Medicine. He completed his residency at the Lincoln Medical Education Foundation in Lincoln, Neb., before returning to Mills County to practice family medicine. He’s spent the last 30 years of his professional career caring for patients in Mills County.

His work in Malvern began in 1994, initially spending just one or two days a week in the community.

“As time went on and we built up the practice, we came over here more and more,” he said. “We built the Methodist building in 2007 and in 2015 is when I started being over here full-time and not being in Glenwood and not being in Tabor.”

Dr. Baer left Methodist Health System in 2019 and became affiliated with Montgomery County Memorial Hospital.

In a nomination letter for the award, Dr. Baer was praised for his “deep commitment to his patients and his innovative approach to healthcare barriers.”

“Dr. Baer understands the challenges of accessing healthcare and will do whatever is necessary to address it,” the nomination letter stated. “He noticed that some patients struggled to come in during the week, so he opened his clinic for two additional days each month to accommodate those who could not visit during regular hours. Dr. Baer’s dedication extends beyond the clinic; he is an advocate for community involvement, recognizing that a strong community contributes significantly to the well-being of its members. Dr. Thomas Baer is not just a physician; he is an integral part of the Malvern community.”

Practicing in Malvern is Dr. Baer’s main priority, but he also serves the greater community in several other capacities. He’s the medical director for Glen Haven Village skilled nursing in Glenwood, on-call for care at the Mills County Jail, the medical director for the Malvern, Emerson and Silver City rescue units, medical director for the Crisis Pregnancy Center In Shenandoah and coroner for both Mills and Montgomery counties.

The Malvern clinic is just a short walk from his home – the same house he grew up in as a child in Malvern.

“I live two blocks from the clinic in the house where my parents lived. My wife and I took over their house and renovated it, so now I just walk to work every day,” he said.

The Iowa Academy of Family Physicians, representing over 1,700 members, is a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, which is one of the largest medical specialty societies in the United States with a membership of more than 129,000 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students.