Altru staff honor Grand Forks physician who died Monday

May 8—GRAND FORKS — Hundreds of doctors, nurses and hospital personnel lined up Wednesday morning outside Altru Hospital in a silent ritual honoring a recently deceased physician.

Whitney Temple, a family practice doctor at Sanford Health's Grand Forks health clinic,

died Monday,

two years after she was first diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.

On Wednesday, Temple made her "last rounds," a physician's equivalent to an end-of-watch call for deceased police officers.

A silver hearse led by a police cruiser rounded the corner, past Altru Health System's psychiatric facility, and turned past the main entrance of Altru Hospital.

For a moment, the hearse was flanked on either side by men and women in scrubs and lab coats, who stood with hands clasped in front of them, shoved into pockets or wrapped around themselves.

Temple spent eight years at Altru as a UND medical student and then as a resident.

Two obstetrician fellows, Allison Daniel and Ashlyn Kamrath, stood in the crowd as Temple's hearse rolled past.

Both had completed their residencies alongside Temple, while Kamrath had known Temple since medical school.

"We were together right away in med school, had our first test together," Kamrath said. "She was my buddy. She was always so encouraging. Never said a bad word about anyone."

The trio started their residency in 2020, in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even facing an unprecedented public health crisis as a new doctor, Temple stayed upbeat, Daniel said.

After Temple was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in 2022, the last year of her residency, she'd text her fellow doctors about her plans to return to work.

"She was always looking forward," Daniel said. "She would text our Facebook group, 'I'm getting ready to come back.' ... She was always looking forward to the day she was going to be done with this and come back full time."

The event aimed to honor Temple's legacy and thank her for making a difference to her patients, according to Altru case manager Courtney Caron.

"We wanted to show her family how much she was respected and cared for by the Altru team," Caron said in a statement.

Temple's husband, real estate developer Joshua Temple, faces criminal charges for

allegedly beating Whitney

just weeks before her death.

Whitney Temple was admitted to Altru Hospital on April 3 after calling an ambulance "due to deteriorating health and safety concerns," per an affidavit filed in the case.

Joshua Temple

allegedly physically and verbally abused his spouse

and withheld medical care; Altru doctors expressed concern in a letter to police whether Whitney would survive further abuse if she returned to her husband.

Joshua Temple faces four criminal charges, including a Class B felony for endangering a fellow adult, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

He is out on bail after posting a $25,000 bond in a court appearance April 9. A preliminary hearing and arraignment for Temple are scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 20.

Police told WDAY earlier this week it will take about two months to determine whether Whitney Temple died as a result of her cancer battle or the alleged assault by her husband.

Herald reporter Sav Kelly contributed to this report.