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BIZ BUZZ

AMMON

Founder of Idaho Falls Pediatrics looks back on 25 years of operation

AMMON – Inside the Quidditch room, one of dozens of themed spaces in the 14,000-square-foot castle at 3067 Eagle Drive in Ammon where Idaho Falls Pediatrics does business, Dr. Ron Porter reflects on the company’s 25 years of operation.

The 59-year-old Idaho Falls man founded the practice in 2000 off Sunnyside and Holmes Avenue and was its sole physician early on. Today, he’s one of five doctors who meet daily with patients, and it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences of his life.

“I like to see parents enjoying bringing their kids (to the office),” Porter tells EastIdahoNews.com. “I like to be able to help that enjoyment. When they’re stressed about an illness or something that’s going on with their development, I love to relieve that stress.”

Porter says celebrating the company’s 25th anniversary seems a bit unreal. He’s looking forward to celebrating with the community in some way, the details of which have not been finalized.

He couldn’t be happier about practicing medicine in eastern Idaho, and he’s amazed at how much they’ve grown over the years.

It all began in a little building off Sunnyside and Holmes Avenue in Idaho Falls on Jan. 2, 2000. Porter started the practice alone and started seeing patients.

He had graduated from medical school six years earlier and joined an existing practice for several years.

The decision to open his own pediatric clinic stemmed from his love of kids.

“In med school, I always enjoyed the rotations where there were kids involved,” Porter says. “When I did my OB-GYN rotation, we were delivering babies, and I was loving it. That moment when the baby is born, and you still need to be taking care of Mom, I just wanted to be with the baby. That’s when it dawned on me (to go into pediatrics).”

He was the sole physician at Idaho Falls Pediatrics for about 18 months before Dr. Scott Smith came on board. Together, they doubled the clinic’s workload.

Then in 2004, Dr. Joseph Moore became the third partner in the business.

The need for more space prompted them to move to a building on Coronado several years later.

“We were in that office for quite a while, and Dr. Mitchell Storts joined us over there,” Porter says.

Eventually, they added a building that resembles a schoolhouse on the west side of town when the Coronado building became inadequate.

Continued growth led to the development of the Eagle Drive location in Ammon. They broke ground on the building in 2019. It was completed in January the following year and opened in February.

RELATED | Idaho Falls Pediatrics opening new office in Ammon next month

Its unique design was intended to make going to the doctor fun for kids.

“We’ve always had murals on the wall and tried to make it kid friendly. We’ve gotten a little more creative with each building that we’ve done,” says Porter.

A fifth doctor, Dr. Ty Webb, joined the practice when the Ammon building opened in 2020. A sixth doctor is joining the business later this year.

Porter is grateful for the community’s support over the years and looks forward to continue serving patients in eastern Idaho.

“Our goal is just to provide good care for kids and help parents with those growing, developing children,” he says. “We love the community and it’s been a pleasure serving it.”

Idaho Falls Pediatrics is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday with a 6 p.m. closing time on Saturday.

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GOODING, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — It was a battle at Gooding High School Tuesday night in the 4A Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference.

The Kimberly Bulldogs girls basketball team (10-7) took on Gooding (8-6) as both teams entered 3-0 in conference play.

Points were tough to come by in the first quarter as both teams struggled to take the lid off the basketball.

Both teams found its groove but Kimberly took a strong 12-point lead into the break.

Gooding would close the margin in the third but the Bulldogs came to play and held off the Senators to win 68-52 and sit alone atop the conference.

Sophomore sensation Taya Plew led the Bulldogs with 20 points while freshman Brooklyn VerWey added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Hope Ward would finish in double-figures with 10 points while Ady Osborne had six points and 13 rebounds.

Gooding’s Emma Day scored 17 and Camryn Rycraft had 14.

Kimberly is back in action on Thursday to host Buhl.

Gooding will host Wendell on Wednesday.

Other girl’s basketball scores

6A

Madison 61, Canyon Ridge 24

5A

Burley 71, Minico 48

Mountain Home 56, Twin Falls 47

4A

Filer 41, Buhl 39

2A

Valley 64, Murtaugh 30

• Hailey Malone had 15 points for Valley while Peyton Stanger had eight for Murtaugh.

Raft River 54, Hagerman 23

• Ryan Udy led the way with 16 points along with five rebounds and steals. Brooke Bingham scored 14 in the win.
• Annalise Colt led Hageman with 11

1A

Carey 49, Hansen 18

Dietrich 72, Castleford 20

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