The Dr. Stephen Gospe Memorial Fund

Steve Gospe was a volunteer rheumatologist at Santa Rosa Community Health Center’s Lombardi Campus from 2014 until his passing and especially loved educating the next generation of health care professionals as a lecturer in their Family Nurse Practitioner Residency. Steve was a vocal advocate for nurses and nurse practitioners and loved to joke that he knew who really did the work caring for patients.

Santa Rosa Community Health provides comprehensive, culturally sensitive health care to over 40,000 diverse, low-income people every year, so that all people can have the opportunity for a full and healthy life. Educating the next generation of medical providers is central to the Santa Rosa Community Health (SRCH) mission.

SRCH’s Family Nurse Practitioner Residency, where Steve taught, was the first accredited FNP residency program in the United States. The 18-month program offers hands-on experience and advanced education that prepares residents to enter primary care practice. Started in 2011, the program now also includes a focus on integrated mental health and substance use care: critical public health issues for Sonoma County and the nation. Professionals like Steve teach lectures in their specialties, while the residents move through diverse rotations.

The Dr. Stephen Gospe Memorial Fund will support the nurse practitioner residency, so these future health care professionals can continue to learn from the best in their field.

If you would like to make a donation, please click here and note “In honor of Dr. Gospe” in the comments section.

You may also make a donation by mailing a check to “Santa Rosa Community Health” at 3569 Round Barn Circle, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, and designating “Dr. Gospe Memorial Fund” or “In honor of Dr. Gospe.”

Biography

Stephen Roy Gospe, MD

1935 – 2021

Stephen Roy Gospe, 85, died peacefully at home in Santa Rosa on Jan. 12, 2021, in the loving company of his wife, children and grandchildren.  He was born May 22, 1935 in San Francisco, firstborn of Ruth & Sidney Gospe, MD.  After graduating from Lowell High School (1952), he attended Stanford University (BA, 1956), where he met the love of his life, Doris Ann Fallquist.  They married Mar. 22, 1958 in her hometown (Spokane, WA).  He graduated from Stanford School of Medicine (MD, 1959), then completed a rotating internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Philadelphia General Hospital until 1961. Cold War hostilities ended his residency prematurely when he was drafted as a Captain in the US Army Medical Corps.  He served for two years in Fort Chaffee, AR, then resumed his Internal Medicine residency, followed by a Rheumatology fellowship at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver from 1963 to 1965.

In 1965 Steve & Doris moved to Santa Rosa to raise their growing family and establish his private practice in Internal Medicine. He served the community as a master clinician and teacher for more than 55 years, practicing medicine as a calling and under his terms, never as a business or beholden to any special interests.  He was focused solely on the health and well-being of his patients.

Steve also loved sharing his knowledge and experience with other medical professionals.  Since his arrival in 1965 he taught countless residents and nurse practitioners in the County’s Family Practice Program, served as Assistant Professor for UCSF, lectured for the SRJC Nursing Program and as a regular continuing education speaker at all County hospitals.

In retirement, Steve found great satisfaction as a volunteer rheumatologist from 2006 to 2015 with Alliance Medical Center in Healdsburg, and Santa Rosa Community Health Center’s Lombardi Clinic from 2014 until his passing. He enjoyed helping immigrants and low-income patients live healthier lives. He loved educating the next generation of health care professionals and was a frequent lecturer in the Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Program. Steve was a vocal advocate for his patients, nurses and nurse practitioners.

Steve had diverse interests and was active for decades on many community nonprofit boards:  Becoming Independent, Disability Services & Legal Center, Visiting Home Care, Blood Bank of the Redwoods, Community Concerts, Santa Rosa/San Francisco Opera, and founding member of the Alliance Française de Santa Rosa.  He read, wrote and spoke French fluently and was passionate about French and Québécois culture, history and literature.

Steve is survived by his devoted wife of nearly 63 years, Doris Ann, and their 4 children:  Stephen Bradford (Lisa), Gregory Michael (Pam), Jeffrey Donald-Ole (Ann) and Kristen Elizabeth (Owen), plus 9 grandchildren and his brothers, Jay Michael Gospe, MD and Sidney Maloch Gospe, Jr., MD.

Steve was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Santa Rosa, where a celebration of his life will be held once it is safe to gather again.