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After more than 40 years caring for patients in and around Mountain Grove, Missouri, Dr. David Barbe has officially retired.
The long-serving family medicine doctor hung up his stethoscope on Dec. 31, 2024, capping an impressive career that impacted the health of the Mountain Grove community and left a lasting mark on health care within Mercy.
Not only was Dr. Barbe the founder of his family medicine practice in Mountain Grove, he served as Regional Physician Executive for Mercy Southwest Missouri, president of the American Medical Association and president of the World Medical Association. He even met Pope Francis.
Any physician would be proud of that résumé, but it is particularly noteworthy for a family medicine doctor in a rural town of 4,000 residents. Dr. Barbe grew up in Mountain Grove, and his experience in the Ozarks is what inspired him to pursue a career in family medicine in his hometown.
“This area has been underserved for years,” he said. “I saw setting up a practice here as a ministry. I knew this community needed it.”
After earning his medical degree at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and completing his family medicine residency in Wichita, Kansas, he and his wife, Debbie, who was his high school sweetheart and an obstetrics nurse, moved their young family back home to Mountain Grove.
After launching his family medicine practice in 1983, Dr. Barbe grew and expanded the operation until he realized he needed the support of a larger health system to meet the needs of his community. “We were out of space in our original building, and we needed help recruiting more physicians to practice in rural communities,” he said. He also noted that he’d delivered more than 2,000 babies during his 42 years as a small-town doctor. “My wife is a saint, and it helps that she’s a registered nurse. She understood the demands of a physician in this community.”
Dr. Barbe folded his private practice into Mercy’s network in 1997 and went to work expanding operations. “Mercy’s size and strength as a health system gave us access to additional resources and support,” he said.
Twenty-three years later, his son Dr. Nathaniel Barbe joined the practice, making the office a multi-generation family business. Since then, Dr. Barbe has brought on two more family medicine doctors, Dr. Robin Coffey and Dr. Jessica King.
Looking back on his legacy and the growth of the practice he started, it’s the longevity and community impact he’s most proud of. “We’ve had a significant impact on the health of this community,” he said. “Over the years, we‘ve gained the trust of our patients, and you must have that to make a difference. I’m very proud of the team we’ve assembled here, and we have great nurses and practitioners who will continue to care for this community. Plus, we have the support of Mercy’s continued investment in rural health care, which is truly invaluable.”
After more than four decades caring for patients, it’s not surprising that Dr. Barbe’s peers see his legacy reaching far beyond the Ozarks. “His contributions to health care, both locally and globally, have been nothing short of extraordinary,” said Charlene Rioux, vice president of primary care for Mercy Southwest Missouri. “His compassionate heart and visionary leadership have left a profound mark on our primary care clinics and providers. Personally, I have learned so much from Dr. Barbe, and his guidance has been invaluable.”
While he’ll continue to cheer on the clinic he launched more than 40 years ago, Dr. Barbe is looking forward to plugging into life in Mountain Grove in new ways and will care for patients at the MSU Care Clinic in Springfield, Missouri, two days a week. Meanwhile, the legacy of his many contributions continues.
“In his 20-plus years as a leader in Mercy, Dr. Barbe has inspired us with his unwavering commitment to our mission and patients,” said Dr. Brad Wyrsch, who has known and worked with Dr. Barbe for many years. “He has carried the small-town values of integrity, compassion and loyalty into every boardroom, every leadership role and every conversation he’s had with peers locally and from around the world. His passion for medical education and dedication to improving rural medicine are simply unmatched. The legacy he has left will continue to inspire us all.”
