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Dr. Lewis’s ‘Last’ Last Ride

 

Aug. 6, 2024 (Sturgis, S.D.) – Each August, The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally comes roaring through and, in its 84 years, it has evolved to mark the end of the summer season for many in the Black Hills. For Monument Health Sturgis Hospital and Clinic, the Rally also marks what’s become an unusual seasonal event for Charles Lewis, D.O.: his annual “final” rally.

You see, Dr. Lewis has twice announced his intention to retire from his position as a primary care physician at Sturgis Hospital, only to then twice unretire, albeit gradually and quietly. “He didn’t plan on being here for this Rally or the last one or the one before that. He had been talking about retirement forever, but I think he couldn’t let go of it. Because he’s had a long career here,” says Rikki Plaggemeyer, Nurse Manager at Sturgis Hospital. His staff has chosen the Rally as a fitting touchstone for his nowyearly “unretirements.” And for four years running, Dr. Lewis has bedeviled his own retirement plans. He just keeps showing up to work.

Last year, it finally happened. Well, technically. He officially retired in March of 2023. There was even a party with cake and gifts. But then he returned as a locum physician in the Emergency Department and hospital. But he was adamant about sitting out the Rally. “He said, ‘This is actually my last rally.’ And we gave him all sorts of grief last year, and he was pretty adamant last year like, ‘Nope, I’m not coming back. This is really it this year,’” says Dr. Lewis’s colleague–and daughter–Sarah Lewis, D.O., But then he picked up some shifts. And now he’s doing it again this year. And so his colleagues have taken to naming this time of year “Dr. Lewis’s Annual Last Rally.” 2024 Rally marks The 4th Annual Last Rally of
Dr. Lewis.

That Dr. Lewis is an important figure around the hospital is without question. His legend as a stoically wise mentor, a lovably cantankerous father figure and an unwavering advocate for his co-physicians and caregivers is firmly solidified. His legacy seemingly goes beyond time out of mind. Says Rikki: “I’ve been here 26 years. Dr. Lewis has been here longer than me. For maybe forty years.” Dr. Lewis’s colleague, Joy Mueller, M.D., says that Dr. Lewis was at Sturgis Hospital when her mother worked there as a nurse for a brief stint. Dr. Mueller was two years old at the time. For the record, 2024 is Dr. Lewis’s 40th year according to Dr. Sarah Lewis.

This year, however, things are subtly different as Dr. Lewis has, perhaps symbolically, relinquished a number of his responsibilities, handing them off to other colleagues such as Dr. Mueller, his successor as Sturgis Hospital’s Medical Director. There is also the matter of his daughter, Dr. Sarah Lewis, taking over his practice, which she now has.

To mark this year’s Rally there are even T-shirts. The shirts depict a youthful Dr. Lewis sporting his signature mustache, and a festive Hawaiian shirt as he often does while working his Rally shifts. The words, “4th Annual Last Rally” are stenciled next to the illustration of his face. It is bittersweet, though. Not just for Dr. Lewis, but also for the other caregivers and physicians at Sturgis Hospital. Much of the ongoing philosophy of care here was devised and implemented, in part, by Dr. Lewis. He is popular, steadfast and, “He’s done a really good job establishing a strong foundation,” as Dr. Mueller puts it. Plus: “He just practices damn good medicine.”

But for all of his importance to the Sturgis Hospital ecosystem, he tends to remain lowkey and sometimes has an amusingly vexatious habit of simply vanishing–even from his own retirement parties–when the attention gets too much, according to Rikki. And she doesn’t think this year will be any different. “He’s always been known for leaving the E.R. quietly and not telling you where he’s going, or not saying goodbye when hanging up the phone. So I fully expect him to do that.”

Or will he? Dr. Lewis the younger isn’t ruling out a Fifth Annual Last Rally. “I guess we’ll see. Maybe I’m wrong. He was pretty set last year that he absolutely was not going to come back,” she says. Then again, “He thought we would practice together from August of ‘22 to March of ‘23, and then he would fade off into the distance. But he’s persisted.”

Story by: Kory Lanphear

 

 

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