Dr. Steve Lavengood

Dr. John Steven (Steve) Lavengood is a family physician who has served the Durango community for more than 30 years. He is accepting new patients at La Plata Integrated Healthcare. He has practiced comprehensive family medicine throughout his career. Dr. Lavengood has provided primary care to thousands of patients, some spanning four generations, throughout the Four Corners area.

“Primary care is the backbone for healthcare,” said Dr. Lavengood. “I believe primary care delivery needs to focus on relationship-based care in conjunction with exceptional clinical acumen and quality.”

Dr. Lavengood has held various leadership positions, including Medical Director for Primary Care Services at Mercy Hospital from 2011-2017.  He then accepted the position of Medical Director for Comprehensive Primary Care Plus, a program initiated by Centers for Medicaid and Medicare, for the Southwest Operating Group under Centura Health Physician Group.

His passion has been to provide whole person care with a team-based approach. Over the last decade, he has presented on the national stage about an integrated approach of providing primary care. Dr. Lavengood led the Mercy clinic’s transformation effort, beginning in 2011. He helped integrate behavioral health, targeted care management, care coordination, pharmacy consultation, and diabetes education – all while listening to the voices of patients in a Patient and Family Advisory Council.

Dr. Lavengood is a graduate of Fort Lewis College. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and later completed his Family Medicine residency in Denver. He earned recognition as a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Lavengood practiced full spectrum family medicine for the first 25 years of his career, which included obstetrics, hospital care and ICU management, and currently focuses on outpatient family medicine. He continues to provide care for newborns, infants and children of all ages as well as adult care.

Dr. Lavengood has held various leadership positions in the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP), including board member, followed by president, and subsequently chairman of the board. He continues as Assistant Clinical Professor for the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He was more recently recognized as the Colorado Family Physician of the Year for 2017 by the Colorado Academy.

He and his wife Tamra raised their four children in Durango and have been involved in various community activities, including the Durango wrestling community. In this capacity he has served as Board President of the Durango Youth Wrestling Club as well as Assistant Wrestling Coach at Durango High School. He enjoys the pleasures of living in the Four Corners, including hiking, fly-fishing, skiing and exploring.