2023 Health Care Champions Physician: Dr. Mark Walterskirchen

Dr. Mark Walterskirchen is meeting a dire need in health care through his work as a urologist and surgeon at Citizens Memorial Hospital, as only 38% of U.S. counties have a practicing urologist, according to research from the American Urological Association.

“My mission is to provide a service that is not available locally in many communities,” he says. “This has substantial downstream consequences on access to care, delays in surgical evaluation and longer travel time for rural patients.”

Walterskirchen is not only meeting a need through his work in Bolivar – he’s also pushing the envelope through his interest in new technology and innovative treatments. He was one of the first providers in southwest Missouri to offer laparoscopic urologic care and was an early adopter of InterStim and Botox therapies to treat patients with incontinence. He says with many of the complex robotic cases he performs, he may be the only provider in the region or state to offer such procedures.

Walterskirchen says his team works quickly for patients, often treating patients with kidney stones, for instance, within 24 hours, he says. Living in a rural community shouldn’t mean a patient should have delays in access or expect less than top-notch care.

“With the price of gas, I see many of my patients struggle to afford the trip to the doctor’s office. Asking them to travel to Springfield, Kansas City or St. Louis many times is simply not feasible. Nor should it be,” he says. “I have embraced my role here in Bolivar and southwest Missouri to provide comprehensive and up-to-date urologic care.”

The path that led him to join the team at CMH in 2021 began as a child in his hometown of Kalispell, Montana.

“I was curious, dedicated and blessed with skilled hands, all of which led me to the field of medicine,” he says. “Growing up in a small town in Montana ingrained in me countless life skills that I continue to use to this day. The most important of these is to work hard.”

His family’s practice physician, Dr. Jerome Wildgen, performed the type of care he tries to emulate: “I imagine every person sitting across from me at the office is my mother or father. Seeing a doctor, especially when dealing with serious conditions like cancer, can be incredibly frightening and stressful. I deal with these issues daily, but for patients, my hope is that this is the only time they do. It is new and scary, and we, as physicians, must remember that.”

He was previously on staff at Mercy Hospital Springfield, joining the team in 2000, and completed residencies at Michigan State University and the Kansas University Medical Center. He says he hasn’t looked back since joining the team at CMH.

“I have always been drawn to smaller towns – the sense of belonging and family, the commitment to neighbors and the ways in which communities pull together and look out for one another,” he says.