Liberty Bell Family Medicine

03/02/2026

This is me with chickenpox as a child. 🙁

As both a parent and a physician, I'm grateful for the vaccines we now have to prevent diseases like chickenpox — once incredibly common, uncomfortable , and sometimes even fatal. (Look at those pox!)

I came across these old photos recently and felt inspired to share them, because of the measles outbreaks happening right now in Washington State and multiple other states. Like chickenpox, measles is vaccine-preventable. It's highly contagious because it's airborne (can linger in the air for up to 2 hours!), and about 20% of people who get it end up hospitalized.

Clinics in Okanogan County just received a notice from our health officer, Dr. James Wallace, reminding us to be prepared for cases here. As of February 17, Washington State has seen 24 cases in 2026—double the total number of cases in all of 2025—spread across four counties and linked to travel from areas with ongoing transmission. Every single Washington State case has occurred in someone whose immunity was not up-to-date or is unknown.

The single best thing you can do to protect yourself and your family? Get vaccinated.

Questions about measles, chickenpox, or vaccines in general? Let's talk.

02/23/2026

I came through the Methow Valley when I was seventeen for a hiking trip. Every summer in high school, I went on a long backpacking trip, but the one to the Cascades was far and away my favorite. During the six-week trip, we hiked across the Pasayten Wilderness and resupplied at Ross Lake before heading south. It’s when I really fell in love with this place. Then lots of life happened and I forgot about it for a long time. I finished high school, went to college, studied abroad, worked, worked some more, went to medical school, met my future wife, then we were living in Olympia and we would come visit the Methow, and I would have this déjà vu feeling… I’ve been here before and now I really want to stay… forever.

I know I’m not the only one with a story like this. I’d like to know: how’d you fall in love with the Methow Valley?

02/19/2026

"Fifty-one percent of physicians surveyed said they were feeling burned out." BUT there's a better way to be a doctor. I encourage you to watch this TED Talk with Dr. Rob Lamberts on the universal experience of physicians who leave the system due to burnout and then create Direct Primary Care (DPC) practices that ultimately provide vastly better care for patients and keep doctors from burning out.

Ready to burn out because of a system that seemed to hurt his patients, Dr. Lamberts quit his old practice and started again using an entirely different appr...

02/12/2026

Two possible symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that most people don’t expect:

• That getting ready for hibernation feeling of eating more, craving carbohydrates, and gaining weight

• That truly wanting to hibernate feeling of sluggishness, low energy, fatigue, and sleeping more than usual

If you notice that your mood, energy, sleep, or appetite consistently change with the seasons, talk to your healthcare provider. SAD can be diagnosed when you've experienced at least two consecutive years of seasonal depressive episodes that go into full remission when the season changes.

Don't wait to get help—effective treatments are available, and you don't have to struggle through the winter months. If you're experiencing thoughts of self-harm or su***de, seek immediate help by calling 988 (the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline) or going to your nearest emergency department.

02/06/2026

I just read "Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don't Have To" by Harvard researcher David Sinclair, PhD. I found it to be enlightening around the biology, genetics and overall science of aging, all of which is still very much being figured out. It included information on how exercising and diet efforts can slow aging, as well as medical interventions hopefully to come in the near future that may allow us to live healthier longer.

Looking at the year ahead, I’m excited to read a couple more books on the topics of aging and exercise: “Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity” by Eric Topol, MD, and “Training for the Uphill Athlete: A Manual for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers” by Kilian Jornet, Scott Johnston, and Steve House.

Why “Super Agers?” I have a lot of healthy, very active patients here in the Methow Valley who are already exercising so much more and eating so much healthier than our current preventive medicine guidelines recommend, that it takes seeking out more cutting edge research to know the best ways in which to advise them on how to be even healthier (if possible) and remain as healthy as they can be for as long as they can be.

I've read it a couple of times, but I also plan to reread “Training for the Uphill Athlete” again this winter/spring because it's such a great primer on endurance exercise physiology in general and training for the sports we love to do around here. I’m also training for my next 50 mile race here in May, so it’ll be full of good reminders for me too!

01/28/2026

Losartan for $3? Rosuvastatin for $3.5? Amoxicillin for $3? Z-pack for $5? This is the warm fuzzy happy look I see on my patients’ faces when they find out what “wholesale pricing on medications” means in real life.

01/26/2026

Read at Alex Pretti’s vigil today by a nightingale Minnesotan doc:

For Alex Pretti — From a Physician, For a Nurse

Every physician knows this:

We do not save lives alone.
We do it arm in arm with nurses.
With ICU nurses.
With the ones who catch what we miss.
Who speak up.
Who stay late.
Who hold families together when the medicine runs out.
Alex Pretti was that nurse.
He chose to serve his country throughout his life.
Working in the ICU at the VA.
Serving veterans.
Serving those who had already given everything.
Standing at bedsides where courage is quiet and exhaustion is constant.
Where nurses don’t get headlines — they get blood on their shoes and families in their arms.
Ask any doctor who worked with him and they will tell you:
He protected.
He taught.
He defended women colleagues.
He bought coffee for broken interns.
He made the ICU more human.
That is what great nurses do.
They don’t just carry out orders.
They carry the unit.
And then, one last time, he served as a nurse outside the hospital.
With a camera in his hand.
With his conscience in front of him.
He stepped toward someone being harmed.
Not as a threat.
Not as a protester looking for chaos.
But as a healer responding to suffering — the same reflex that defines this profession.
His gun was legally holstered.
His hands were occupied filming.
His instinct was the same one every ICU nurse knows:
See harm. Step in. Protect.
As physicians, we talk about teams.
About trust.
About partnership.
Alex was the kind of nurse every doctor hopes to have when things go bad.
The one who has your back.
The one who has the patient’s back.
The one who never looks away.
We didn’t just lose a man.
We lost a nurse.
A protector.
A healer.
And the hardest truth of all:
He spent his life running toward danger for others.
And in the end, that is what killed him.
Rest in power, Alex Pretti.
Medicine and humanity will feel your absence.🙌🏽💔🩺

Send a message to learn more

01/23/2026

Travel perks! When you’re a member of Liberty Bell Family Medicine, your doctor travels with you. Virtual care is part of your monthly membership, and unlimited appointments, so you can see Dr. McCloy, even if you’re out of the country. Dr. McCloy can discuss your symptoms and offer medical advice via video call, phone, text or email, so your care is always about you and getting on to the next adventure.

01/19/2026

WE'RE HIRING for a reliable, self-motivated, organized problem solver to assist with clinical and administrative operations of our growing independent, family-owned medical practice in the Methow Valley. This is a great opportunity for the right candidate who is customer service oriented, nimble and creative, and can think outside the box! See the job description here:https://libertybellfamilymedicine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Posting_-Medical-Assistant.pdf

01/17/2026

The Foot Care Clinic is now being handled by Liberty Bell Family Medicine. Give them a call to get scheduled for your nail care needs!

10/17/2025

We recently hosted two informational workshops about Direct Primary Care, with a focus on employer-based health plans. See my guest column in the Methow Valley Examiner for a quick summary.

Find out how Methow Valley Direct Primary Care by Dr. Kellar McCloy addresses the rising costs of healthcare for families.

09/25/2025

Are you a small business owner who wants to provide your employees with health benefits? Does that feel too expensive or hard to navigate right now? We can help!

Attend an info session with Dr. Kellar McCloy and Dr. Michael Tuggy. They’ll discuss their experience with Direct Primary Care as a model for affordable employee health plans, and answer your questions about options for your business. This event is free and open to the public.

Two sessions:

Thursday, October 9 at 5:30pm
YourSpace Room at TwispWorks

Monday, October 13 at 5:30pm
Community Room at the Winthrop Library

For more information, visit:
www.libertybellfamilymedicine.com