A Second Chance, A Sacred Calling

The remarkable rise of Charis Health

“It feels completely surreal to be sitting here right now,” says Dr. Sarah Stewart as she looks around one of the patient rooms in her brand-new medical clinic.

She knows that if it wasn’t for March 31, 2017, and a wreck that could have very easily proven fatal for her and her family, this venture — Charis Health Primary Care & Hypermobility in Billings — wouldn’t exist. In fact, when we first featured Sarah in YVW two and a half years ago, this clinic was just a dream.

“2017, that night, that cataclysmic night, I believe it set us on a course for this,” Sarah says.

That night, a drunk driver clipped her Suburban while trying to pass at a high rate of speed, sending her vehicle into a tailspin. The wreck broke Sarah’s pelvis and collapsed her lung. Her husband, Kit, was thrown 70 feet, landing in the middle of Highway 212. While her two youngest daughters were relatively unharmed, her then-14-year-old year old daughter, Naomi, bore the brunt of the force but walked away with only a broken rib.

“That night, we could have all died and it is just mercy that we lived,” Sarah says. “That second chance at life that we were given, I feel like we should give freely from the wealth of that.”

The next few years would be incredibly hard on Naomi. The crash sparked a four-year downward spiral with her health. She was losing weight and suffered severe migraines. When doctors couldn’t pinpoint a cause, Sarah kept praying and researching.

Eventually, they’d discover that Naomi was born with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Those with EDS are “bendy,” with hypermobile ligaments and joints. Sarah knows that if Naomi didn’t have EDS, she would never have survived the crash.

Through every step of Naomi’s healing journey, Sarah, a board-certified family physician, was there, learning, digging for information, finding experts in the field and, eventually, becoming one herself. She is now one of the primary EDS caregivers in the Pacific Northwest. Patients travel from a six-state region just for her care.

“I have 600 referrals waiting to be seen,” Sarah says. “Six hundred people.” Kit, who is helping to manage the new practice, adds, “It’s a little daunting at times and people get discouraged when they call. If they called today, it’s going to be a nine-month wait to get in.”

To start the clinic, Sarah had to wade through software and figure out how to handle insurance, along with Medicaid and Medicare. While the business side of things scared her, “Literally all of these steps have fallen into place,” she says. “I also am very blessed that I have a husband who's willing to come alongside me.”

After years of listening to Sarah talk about her work, it’s been rewarding for Kit to have a front-row seat to her patient care.

“It's super gratifying to meet the patients face to face,” especially after what we experienced with Naomi, Kit says. “Being on the other side and now being able to make an impact means a lot.”

Today, Naomi is 23 years old. Last spring she got married and she and her husband, Tim, are living in Iowa City, where Naomi works as the assistant to an associate dean of the Carver College of Medicine. To say she is proud of her mother’s new path in medicine would be an understatement.

“She’s been able to take a really hard event that impacted me, impacted her and Dad and turn it into something that is going to help hundreds of people. She’s just persevered through all the pain and fought for answers for me,” Naomi says. “Now she gets to fight for other people. It’s amazing and I don’t have the words for how incredible it is.”

As Sarah was getting ready to open her clinic, one of her dreams was to build collaboration with other professionals to expand access and care to those with Ehlers-Danlos — vascular doctors, cardiologists, physical therapists and more. Out of the blue, she received a phone call.

“Completely without my coordination, the genetics clinic in Helena, Shodair, contacted me and said, ‘Hey, would you like to be a part of a collaboration of EDS providers in the state?’ Yes, I would!” Sarah says.

The group has already had its first meeting, allowing Sarah to not only open her clinic, but look five years down the road. Her plan is ambitious.

“We really want to eventually open Charis Rehabilitation. It would have physical therapy, occupational therapy, massage therapy,” Sarah says. “That’s our five-year plan.”

The name “Charis” is Naomi’s middle name. It’s the Greek word for “grace.”

“If it weren't for her life, her story, her diagnosis, I would not have ever known about, thought about or worked with Ehlers-Danlos,” Sarah says. “And, this isn't just a clinic for Ehlers-Danlos, but the need to continue serving that population of people started with her life and her story.”

With the doors freshly open on her new clinic, Sarah knows it’s helping to leave quite the professional legacy of care.

“I have patients who feel hopeful for the first time in their lives that they are being heard,” Sarah says. “The fact that I am getting to do this is so completely surreal to me and I am blown away with gratitude.”