Meet Weatherby Healthcare's 2026 Locum Tenens of the Year award winners

Locum tenens providers continue to step up where the need is greatest. In rural hospitals, understaffed emergency departments, and communities with only one specialist for miles, these physicians and advanced practice providers keep quality care within reach.

Each year, Weatherby Healthcare honors locum tenens providers whose skill, commitment, and heart for patients set them apart.

In announcing the 2026 Locum Tenens of the Year winners, Weatherby Healthcare's president, Michael DePaolis, says, “These providers represent the very best of what locum tenens medicine can be—clinical excellence paired with a genuine commitment to the communities they serve. We’re honored to celebrate the impact they’ve made this year.”

2026 locum tenens of the year physician winners

Kenneth L. Lipow, MD, neurological surgery

After more than 40 years in practice and a career that reshaped neurosurgical care across Connecticut, Dr. Lipow made an unexpected choice: Instead of retiring, he joined Weatherby Healthcare exclusively as a locum tenens neurosurgeon. Four years later, he's still going strong. A Fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and former Chief of the Section of Neurosurgery at Bridgeport Hospital, Dr. Lipow built his reputation on clinical excellence long before his locum tenens career began. At multiple facilities, clinical teams who worked alongside him have gone on to send their own family members across state lines specifically to have him operate on them. “Every assignment is a new beginning. I am not slowing down,” he says. “I am just getting started in a different way.”

Nicholas King, MD, JD, neurology

Dr. King has practiced hospital-based neurology exclusively for 20 years, 13 of them with Weatherby Healthcare. Since joining as a locum tenens provider in 2013, he's worked in settings ranging from a county hospital to small community and suburban hospitals to large academic centers with more than 800 beds. Dr. King, who also holds a law degree and is currently pursuing a Master of Health Administration at Indiana University, has consistently gathered practice and administrative insights from every assignment and shared them with Weatherby, information that the team relies on to match the right providers to the right facilities.

Sara Forouhar, MD, pediatric hospitalist

Dr. Forouhar has worked locum tenens with Weatherby since completing her residency 10 years ago, building her career around rural and small community hospitals rather than major metropolitan areas. At one hospital, she found herself to be the only pediatrician within an hour's radius for a critically ill child. With no immediate specialist support, she relied on her training and clinical judgment to stabilize the patient. “I am grateful to have fallen into this very unique niche of pediatric medicine where I get to help underserved communities and make a meaningful impact where some of these locations would go without pediatric care,” she says.

Philip Daud Sardar, MD, medical oncology

Dr. Sardar trained in internal medicine in Memphis and completed a hematology/oncology fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis before building a career spanning more than two decades with Kaiser Permanente in the Sacramento area, where he also held an academic appointment at UC Davis. After retiring in 2023, he returned to medicine through locum tenens, joining Weatherby Healthcare in early 2024 to serve rural and community-based patients in Northern California. He calls the work a meaningful and rewarding extension of his career and plans to pursue international locum tenens assignments in the years ahead.

2026 locum tenens of the year advanced practice winners

Bethany Lacheney, NP

Triple board-certified as an adult-gerontology acute care, family, and emergency nurse practitioner, Bethany trained through Vanderbilt University's Emergency Nurse Practitioner Program. She has worked locum tenens since 2020, caring for patients in emergency departments across the country and adapting quickly to new clinical environments while delivering evidence-based care for a wide range of acute illnesses and injuries. Outside of work, she brings the same drive to her love of endurance sports, including Ironman triathlons and HYROX competitions.

Rochele H. Spires, PA-C

After 20 years in practice, Rochele began locum tenens work two years ago with the encouragement of her Weatherby recruiter and calls it some of the best moments of her career. Her longest assignment took her to a small community outside Knoxville, Tennessee, where cancer patients often travel more than two hours for treatment. A four-month contract turned into nine, and she's since returned twice, now serving the community again. She points to one encounter, a patient labeled “difficult” who opened up simply because someone finally listened, as a reminder of why she does the work. “Locum tenens has provided me with the opportunity to advance my skills, medical knowledge, and career without having to earn another degree,” she says. ”It has provided me with time that I did not have before, to spend with loved ones and activities I enjoy doing, which is priceless.”

About Weatherby Healthcare: Weatherby Healthcare is a leader in locum tenens staffing for physicians and advanced practice providers. Established in 1995, Weatherby is part of the CHG Healthcare family of brands and has received numerous industry and workplace awards.

Let our Weatherby consultants help you start your locum tenens career. Give us a call at 954.343.3050 or view today's locum tenens job opportunities.