May 16, 2024
Dr. Blyth works as a family physician at LeBauer HealthCare in Greensboro. She also serves as LeBauer’s Medical Director of Primary Care and Medical Co-Director of Primary Care at Cone Health Medical Group.
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Dr. Blyth met several family physicians in Seattle, where she grew up. “They were brilliant and could work anywhere because of their skillset,” she says. “I always admired their commitment and intellect, and I always knew I was going to practice Family Medicine. I never considered anything else.”
Before Dr. Blyth attended medical school, she worked for two years as a teacher for children in foster care. That job cemented her need to practice whole-patient care as a family physician. “The work really solidified the fact that the psycho-social part of medicine was the whole ball game,” she says. “I knew then that I had to be willing to take on the messy social aspects of patients, and Family Medicine meets that part better than anything else.”
After Dr. Blyth had completed her medical school and residency in New York, she arrived with her husband and young children to begin practicing in Tarboro, NC. “It was 2004,” she says, “and I chose Tarboro. It’s where we really fell in love with North Carolina.” And though Dr. Blyth moved to Greensboro in 2011, some of her Tarboro patients have continued visiting her for care. “They still want to see me, if you can believe that,” she says.
During her years in Tarboro, Dr. Blyth took up plenty of leadership roles because they were necessary and she was capable. “There was more work than bodies to do it,” she says. “So when they need someone to run the rehab floor at the hospital, you do it. When they need someone to help with the health department, you do it. When you’re asked, you help where your skillset allows. And I got tremendous job satisfaction out of all those roles.”
Dr. Blyth has continued to mix up her schedule with different work since coming to Greensboro. In addition to seeing patients, she also works as LeBauer’s Medical Director of Primary Care and as Medical Co-Director of Primary Care at Cone Health Medical Group. LeBauer and Cone Health aligned 25 years ago, so that LeBauer can have its employees in the larger system which provides resources and stability, while still operating with some of the autonomy of an independent clinic. “We’re a multi-specialty group,” Dr. Blyth says. “We can work very collaboratively within the larger system to care for our patients. It’s unique to primary care to have such close collaboration with sub-specialty colleagues, and I really value that.”
But the value of collaborative primary care isn’t only in Dr. Blyth’s job satisfaction, she says: “If you look at the numbers, patients do better with closer collaboration across the care continuum. Our structure across multiple specialties in the end benefits our patients. I have everything to provide holistic care.”
In addition to enjoying the care she and her colleagues give patients at LeBauer, Dr. Blyth enjoys leading her team. “I’ve hired many members of my team and have great faith in them,” she says. “When I started working here, we had 28 providers, and now we’re up to 64. At this point in my career, I feel compelled to help lead my system to care delivery that’s more viable for my team and our patients. That’s why I’ve become a cheerleader for Greensboro: to help family physicians come practice here.”