Beacon Cancer Care has expanded its services by opening Beacon Rheumatology in the Chinook Medical Building, at 980 W. Ironwood Drive, in Coeur d’Alene.

Board-certified rheumatologist Dr. Dustin Dinning joined the practice to launch Beacon Rheumatology after working at Kootenai Health since 2012. 

Beacon Rheumatology, which is located in the same building as Beacon Cancer Care, operates out of a 3,100-square-foot space with four exam rooms. Dinning began seeing patients at Beacon on April 3.

Rheumatology is a branch of medicine that focuses on diagnosing, preventing, and treating musculoskeletal diseases, according to Beacon Cancer Care’s website.

“We treat autoimmune diseases,” Dinning says. “Probably the most common of those would include … rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and then lupus.” Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of long-term arthritic inflammation, typically in the lower spine.

Dinning is currently accepting new patients.

“I’m excited to be a part of taking care of more patients in the North Idaho area,” he says.

Dinning is the only rheumatologist at Beacon Rheumatology, but he says he expects that to change.

“The goal is to expand (with) more providers and be able to accommodate more patients—the North Idaho people that need rheumatology care,” he says.

Dinning received his medical training at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences’ College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at Michigan State University, in Lansing, Michigan.

Beacon Rheumatology will offer IV infusions of medications, options for dispensing oral and injectable medications, and other services.

Dinning says that the rheumatology clinic shares some staff with Beacon Cancer Care, and that about 10 employees have roles with Beacon Rheumatology. He expects that number will grow, he says.

“Beacon Cancer Care as a whole has almost doubled their amount of employees in the past year, and I foresee that expanding even more with the addition of rheumatology,” says Dinning.

Dr. David Bartels, chief medical officer of Beacon Cancer Care, founded the practice in 2018. Along with rheumatology services, the Coeur d’Alene-based oncology care clinic provides radiation therapy, immunotherapy, oral chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. It also has a Post Falls clinic, at 1641 E. Polston.