Courtnay Crowell and Justin Smith are giving Lincoln area residents a sweet two-for-one deal.

The husband and wife team are family medicine practitioners, and will be sharing doctor duties at the Parker Medical Clinic in Lincoln when it reopens Sept. 4.

The clinic closed two years ago due to financial difficulties, but a new $282,000 annual federal grant - along with $150,000 grant for remodeling and expanding the facility - will allow Lincoln residents the opportunity to once again receive basic health care close to home.

Smith is a Montana native, and recalls passing through Lincoln a few times each year as they drove from his parents' home in Florence to visit an aunt in Shelby.

"We'd stop in for breakfast or coffee, and I remember Lincoln as a cool town with super friendly people," he said.

Smith is thrilled to call Lincoln home now, noting on Saturday that they've finally found a place to rent and hope to build a house in the near future.

"We looked all over the state, and there's no shortage of jobs ... but we liked it in Lincoln because with 1,100 people, it's the right size," Smith said.

"We are very committed to rural medicine," added Crowell. "It's fun and there's a lot of diversity."

She hails from Texas, and met her husband when they were completing their medical residency training in Billings. After finishing the three-year program, they moved to New Zealand for a year and a half with their son, Foster. They returned to the states after daughter, Isabeau - or "Beau" - was born five months ago.

The family came to Helena to start their job search because of its central location, and Crowell quickly picked up part-time work at the Leo Pocha Health Clinic and filling in at the Townsend hospital's emergency room.

But the Lincoln clinic seems to be a perfect fit for the whole family. Crowell plans on working there Mondays and Tuesdays, and Smith will cover Wednesdays through Fridays. Crowell said she'll continue her one-day stint at the Leo Pocha clinic in Helena on Fridays.

This way it's minimal daycare for the children, and since the clinic only is open during regular business hours, there's time for the outdoor sports - hunting, fishing and cross-country skiing - that the family enjoys.

Just as important to the family, however, is the fact that the Lincoln clinic charges clients on a sliding scale, based upon their income.

"It's a challenge for a young family or for senior citizens, who feel like they don't have enough money, or are under-insured or uninsured, to get the proper care," Crowell said.

Smith added that some services can be discounted up to 90 percent.

"We like to be able to serve our patients without having to wince when they walk out the door because of the bill," Smith said. "We want to tell them to not be shy - if they qualify for the discount, they should utilize that service."

Both doctors expect to be quite busy at first, since they've heard that many Lincoln residents put off medical treatments for the past two years while the clinic was closed, instead of driving to Helena, Great Falls or Missoula. Although the facility doesn't open until after Labor Day, appointments can be made, beginning today, by calling 362-4603.

They anticipate treating a wide range of maladies, but note that at this point, they don't have a lot of the equipment needed to perform some procedures, like colonoscopies or vasectomies. However, they can do minor surgeries and hope to acquire an x-ray machine in the near future, and possibly add some mental health care services too.