Kansas City magazine January 2024

TOP DOCS 2024 The Most Respected Physicians in Kansas City, as Voted by Their Peers

Did Your Doctor Make the List?

Page 45

Top physicians and husband and wife Michael G. Abraham, MD Neurocritical Care, Neurology and Neurointerventional Surgery, and Ancy Maruthanal, MD Internal Medicine and Executive Health

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913.800.1812 MALFERKC.COM Malfer & Associates is a team of real estate agents affiliated with Compass Realty Group, a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. Photos may be virtually staged or digitally enhanced and may not reflect actual property conditions.

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OUR MISSION

CONGRATULATIONS

We love Kansas City like family. We know what makes it great, we know how it struggles, and we know its secrets.

Through great storytelling, photography and design, we help our readers celebrate our city’s triumphs, tend to its faults and revel in the things that make it unique.

To Our Top Doctors

PUBLISHER

Kathy Boos kathy@kansascitymag.com

Voted “The Best” By Their Peers

MANAGING EDITOR

Dawnya Bartsch dawnya@kansascitymag.com ART DIRECTOR

Kevin Goodbar kevin@kansascitymag.com ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR

Molly Higgins molly@kansascitymag.com FOOD EDITOR

Tyler Shane tyler@kansascitymag.com

Daniel Bortnick, MD

Mark Fleischman, MD

Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon

Board-Certified Dermatologist

Dominique Parsow dominique@kansascitymag.com

Fellowship-Trained Mohs Surgeon

Rachel Layton and Ryan Reed

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

EDITORIAL INTERNS COPY EDITOR

Kelsie Schrader WEB COORDINATOR

Madison Russell SALES

Angie Henshaw angie@kansascitymag.com WRITERS

Nina Cherry, Martin Cizmar, Emma Flannery, Molly Higgins, Dave Hodes, Rachel Layton, Reece Parker, Ryan Reed, Tyler Shane and Hampton Stevens

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Medical Dermatology Mohs Surgery Skin Cancer Treatment Plastic Surgery Cosmetic Dermatology Call (913) 451-7546 to Schedule an Appointment!

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8

KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

PHOTOGRAPHERS & GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Matthew Anderson, Julie Babcock, Zach Bauman, Caleb Condit, Jeremey Theron Kirby, Laura Morsman, Rebecca Norden, Fran Sherman and Brandon Waldrop

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Kansas City magazine is published monthly by 435 South, LLC. No part of this publication can be reprinted or reproduced without the publisher’s permission.

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FEATURES

48

Exercise Is the New Drug

Doctors say exercise is so beneficial to health it should be considered a drug.

45 Top Docs

Meet KC’s top docs.

Did your doctor make the list?

10

KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

56

68

Sweet Dreams

Last Call

A sleep doctor tells us why sleeping is so important.

KC bars with a Prohibition-era speakeasy vibe are making a comeback.

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS HOSPITAL

JANUARY 2024

In This Issue JANUARY 2024

FOCUS

19

Pickleball’s Pickle

TREND

TA S T E

33

101

Peach Fuzz

This soft, sweet hue is Pantone’s Color of the Year.

Hot Tamales

Check out this coffee shop known for its tamales and pottery.

Pickleball has a noise problem, and KC cities are trying to fix it.

34 New Year’s Edge 102 Flour Power Local wellness coaches give pointers to make 2024 your best year yet.

Your 36 Not Mother’s Apron

Anita Koul’s bespoke aprons are worn in the kitchens and dining rooms of the city’s trendiest spots.

Streamlined, 38 Cozy Retreat

A Leawood couple revamps their home’s main floor, creating a simple yet warm environment.

22

23

Spike

Dump the Dump

KC welcomes its first pro women’s volleyball team.

Two popular bakeries show us that tasty, sweet vegan treats are possible.

106 Amaro Amore

The Italian herbal liqueur is making a comeback.

108 ’Cue Card Mitch Meat’s smashburger is one of the best.

109 Perfect Day

Travis Kelce’s childhood friend and personal chef dishes about his dishes.

110 Newsfeed

The latest in KC food news

Communities south of KC are fighting plans to build a solid-waste dump on the border of Jackson and Cass counties.

E V E RY I S S U E

14

Editor’s Letter

16

Up Front

26 Calendar 112 Surreal Estate

SCENE

25

28

30

North

Record Machine

Backbeat

A new musical about a teenage boy and his mother trying to escape slavery

12

KC’s indie record label celebrates 20 years.

KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

A Dutch swinging jazz pianist has called KC his home for more than 30 years.

SPECIAL SECTIONS

77 Medical Profiles

O N TH E C OVE R

Photography by Jeremey Theron Kirby

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KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

13

FROM THE EDITOR

I

KNOW IT’S A CLICHE, but it’s true: Come January 1, it sure feels like the perfect time for a fresh start.

Most people call them New Year’s resolutions—those pesky things you’ve declared you are going to do, change or accomplish over the course of the next few months. I make them, too. I just don’t call them out. Sort of like voicing Voldemort out loud in the Harry Potter world, it’s just not a smart thing to do.

My modus operandi is “resolutions must not be named, just worked on in silence.” I realize this goes against the popular way of thinking these days, where it seems as if the more you reveal about your goals, personal struggles and plights, the better, but that’s okay. I’ve always thought that a bit more discretion is more becoming. I just want to get the job done.

But others say that you’re more likely to get the job done if you climb to the top of the nearest mountain and yell it out loud. This might be true, as I’ve been having difficulty Dawnya Bartsch recently accomplishing a few of my goals. So MANAGING EDITOR this year, I might do more than write a secret DAWNYA@KANSASCITYMAG.COM goals list. I might actually voice them. The prospect is a little terrifying. But after reading writer Dave Hodes’ piece, “Exercise is the New Drug,” in which he says research shows that physical movement is more important to our overall health than previously thought, I’m more motivated than ever to incorporate it into my daily life.

There, I said it: I’m going to incorporate exercise into my daily routine. I’ll admit I’ve made daily exercise resolutions in the past, but my approach to accomplishing such a feat has been rather lackadaisical. This year, though, I have a plan. Some days I’ll walk the dog, other days I might actually go to the gym or take a pilates class. This will be my resolution. Perhaps now I’ll feel a little more pressure to just “get the job done.” After all, I’ve told quite a few people.

The piece about exercising and the myriad ways it affects our overall health came about because this is our annual Top Doctors issue, where publish our list of the best doctors by speciality in the KC metro.

The list is compiled by a New York-based research firm that surveys physicians across the country.

After learning more about the doctors that made the list and the many ways they are helping us not only get healthy but stay healthy, I thought I better get to it myself. I’ll check in next January and let you know how it went.

14 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

C O N T R I B U TO R S

Matthew Anderson PHOTOGRAPHER

Photos of the home featured in this issue were taken by Matthew Anderson, an architectural and interior design photographer, YouTube content creator and (occasional) DJ.

Jeremey Theron Kirby PHOTOGRAPHER

Our cover was shot by photographer Jeremey Kirby, who has been shooting for the magazine for 10 years. Kirby, who recently opened Trondheim Studios in Overland Park, loves to travel and has been to 40 countries.

Julie Babcock

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Longtime friend of the magazine, graphic designer Julie Babcock designed this issue’s home feature. When not eating out at one of KC’s many dining establishments, Babcock can be found trying out a new recipe in her kitchen.

Westport Cafe

10 DAYS. COUNTLESS MENUS. ONE GREAT CAUSE. eggtc.

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Savor and save with multi-course menus at hundreds of the region’s hottest restaurants – all with a portion of proceeds benefitting Kanbe’s Markets.

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Platinum Sponsors: J. Rieger & Co. / Stella Artois / Unshackled Wines Simi Wines / Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Wines

UP FRONT

NUMBERS FROM THIS ISSUE

BEHIND THE SCENES

100+

The number of sleep disorders plaguing Americans.

PA GE 58

14

The number of years it will take for the KC region’s landfills to fill to capacity.

PA GE 2 3

1994

The year Bartle Hall’s four pylons were completed.

PA GE 112

Photographer Jeremey Theron Kirby shooting Drs. Michael Abraham and Ancy Maruthanal at the University of Kansas Medical Center for the cover.

SHOUT OUT WAT E R B A L LO O N Our story on how the Worlds of Fun water tower came to be brought back fond memories and elicited lots of happy comments from readers. It seems the water tower is more than just a Northland icon—it’s an icon for the entire metro.

Built in 1955, the water tower serendipitously needed a fresh coat of paint right around the time Worlds of Fun opened in 1973. At the time, painting water towers anything other than a bland, neutral color was unheard of, but it just so happened that local industrial paint company Tnemec had a new set of colors to try out, and Worlds of Fun was looking for as much advertising as they could get.

It was the first site I could see from the highway when my dad would take me to Worlds of Fun. You knew you were gonna have a fun day when you saw that tower way off in the distance.

– Jonas Barrish I grew up two blocks from the water tower and watched as it was being painted. It took us a while to figure out it was going to match the Worlds of Fun balloon.

– Dorri Partian The coolest thing I learned in this article is just how much of the nation’s water tower coatings are made by Tnemec!

– Adrienne Magee

That water tower has always made me happy. That means I am close to Worlds of Fun! – Austin Soverns We got a new tower in Shawnee a couple years ago.

Instead of something either decorative or unobtrusive, we just got a giant WaterOne logo that can be seen for miles.

– Terry Canning Watched it being painted.

– Diann Stout It looks beautiful. I like it.

– Joseph Lee

Thanks to photographers Caleb Condit and Rebecca Norden of the Pilsen Photo Co-op for moving quickly to shoot Pantone’s new Color of the Year, as it was announced only days before deadline.

CONTACT US

Kansas City

P.O. Box 26823 Overland Park, KS 66225-6823 (913) 469-6700 EMAIL: editor@kansascitymag.com

Corrections A story about Walt Disney’s first KC animation studio misstated his place of birth. Disney was born in Chicago.

“Exercise is non-negotiable. It is better than any pill or injection, and it will help you live a longer, healthier life.”

– Dr. Ancy Maruthanal

16 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

BE PART OF POLYCYTHEMIA VERA (PV) RESEARCH You may be able to help researchers learn more about an investigational study drug for people with PV. Find out if you qualify for the global VERIFY Phase 3 clinical research study.

Polycythemia vera (PV) is a rare blood disorder that causes the body to make too many red blood cells. The high red blood cell count can make the blood thicker, which can lead to strokes, heart attacks, organ, and tissue damage. The established goal of therapy is to maintain red blood cell levels, as measured by hematocrit, below 45%.

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. is developing rusfertide, an investigational drug designed to control the amount of iron available to make red blood cells. Rusfertide therapy is being studied in the VERIFY Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate its safety and ability to control the production of red blood cells in the blood, potentially reducing the need for phlebotomy treatment and improving patients’ quality of life..

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO JOIN THE STUDY? • At least 18 years old (or meets countryspecific age of consent).

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THOSE WHO QUALIFY TO BE STUDY PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE AT NO COST: • Access to the study investigational drug.

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LEADING THE CONVERSATION IN KANSAS CITY

FOCUS

Pickleball Pandemonium H OW TO FIX TH E P OP U LA R S PORT ’S NOIS E P R OBLEM AND KE E P TH E P EACE AMONG NEIG HBOR S

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZACH BAUMAN

BY EMMA FLANNERY

As we know, pickleball’s popularity is exploding across the country, and with Overland Park recently named the nation’s most pickleball-obsessed city, nowhere is pickleball mania more clear than right here in the metro.

For KC pickleball fanatics, that’s welcome news. But for others, it’s hard to hear. As more and more pickleball courts pop up around the city, neighboring residents are voicing their frustration over the noise produced when the balls hit the paddles and the ground. And they aren’t alone. Across the U.S., those living near pickleball courts have been working to limit pickleball play, and in some cases, they’ve pursued legal action.

Continued on next page KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

19

Continued from page 19 The game’s small paddles and wiffle balls are part of what make the game so enticing for players, but it’s also what makes it so loud. According to the online pickleball magazine Pickler, the sound of the ball hitting the paddle can reach 70 decibels.

This is almost twice as loud as the sound of a tennis ball hitting a racket, which can reach 40 decibels.

Reachel Beichley, a pickleball player who lives in Prairie Village, empathizes with neighbors’ noise complaints. “I can understand that someone would not be particularly happy with the pickleball noises in the early morning or late evening because it is louder than tennis,” Beichley says.

However, she hopes the complaints won’t cause Prairie Village to decide to remove its courts. “I hope [Prairie Village] will try to find other ways to mitigate the noise issues before they just do away with it.”

At a Prairie Village City Council meeting in early August, Mayor Eric Mikkelson said the city is looking into “sound dampening curtains” for the Windsor Park courts.

According to one city engineer’s study in Florida, the curtains, which are hooked to metal fences surrounding the courts, reduce game play noise by more than 10 decibels, which, to the human ear, sounds about half as loud as noise emitted without the curtain.

20 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

Mission Woods Mayor Darrell Franklin and his wife Laurie Franklin filed a lawsuit in May 2022 against Mission Hills Country Club, asking the club move its pickleball courts further from their home, citing the noise from the game as inflicting “emotional distress,” court records state.

In the lawsuit, the Franklins asked that the club be mandated to move the courts 500 to 600 feet away from any home. According to a letter from the club sent to members in May obtained by the Kansas City Star, the club had already taken measures to lessen the noise emitted by the game, including an “acoustic barrier” that reduces sound, similar to the curtains Windsor Park is considering. As of July 2023, the lawsuit appears to have been dropped.

“It’s not appropriate for individual houses in neighborhoods.

It’s just too loud.”

Ellen Yunger, another Kansas City resident and pickleball player, is actively trying to change city regulations to minimize the disruption caused by the game. “I love the game,” she says. “I also know the game well enough to know that it is super loud.”

Yunger’s main issue is not with pickleball clubs or organizations but with residents who build courts in their own backyards.

“It’s not appropriate for individual houses in neighborhoods,” she says. “It’s just too loud.” She notes that Mission Hills residents are required to notify neighbors if they are going to build a swimming pool, so it only makes sense they should be required to notify neighbors if they have plans to construct a pickleball court. Yunger is planning on attending the Mission Hills Planning Commission’s February meeting to begin the conversation about pickleball court guidelines and restrictions.

The Leawood City Council recently approved an amendment to the city’s development ordinance requiring setbacks and neighbor notifications along with evergreen landscaping that will screen neighbors’ view of pickleball courts for those wanting to build them in their backyards.

“People are super excited about [pickleball],” says Yunger, who also counts herself as a pickleball fan. “But the noise part is real.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZACH BAUMAN

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KC VOLLEYBALL LOVERS ARE ABOUT TO GET SERVED A professional women’s volleyball team will soon be calling KC home.

B Y R E E C E PA R K E R I T L O O K S A S I F 2024 will be a banner year for women’s sports in KC. Not only will the city be

home to the nation’s first stadium devoted entirely to a women’s soccer team, but a local power couple is also bringing a professional women’s volleyball team to town.

The nascent all-women’s Pro Volleyball Federation league announced that a new KC franchise to be headed by Kent and Missy McCarthy is in the works. The McCarthys, who are prominent University of Kansas alumni and donors, are not new to sports. They are co-owners of the Kansas City Royals, and their son and daughter currently play in KU’s basketball and volleyball programs, respectively.

“It’s no coincidence we wanted Kansas City to be the home of our professional women’s volleyball team,” Missy says. “Yes, it holds a special place in our hearts, but Kansas City is on the rise. The energy and momentum are electric. You can feel it.” The city was host to the 2023 NFL Draft, and it will host the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

22

KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

“Kansas City is famous for its passionate, welcoming sports fans, and we are thrilled for its franchise to join us in 2025,” says Dave Whinham, the volleyball league’s co-founder. The league’s inaugural season begins this January, debuting with seven teams in seven cities across the country from Atlanta to San Diego.

The KC franchise is still in the very early stages, with a team name, colors and logos yet to be picked, but the announcement is already sparking excitement.

“When I look at the trajectory of women’s sports and how they’ve grown in participation, investment and viewership, I’m proud to say Kansas City is leading the way, and I can’t wait to see the region embrace professional women’s volleyball,” says Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC. KC is no stranger to the sport.

It’s been a Midwest hub for competitive volleyball for years.

The Heart of America Volleyball Association, a regional youth volleyball organization based in KC, has over 17,000 club players and 3,000 coaches, sending players to all levels of collegiate volleyball.

Kansas City also broke attendance records for highest-attended collegiate volleyball games when they hosted the NCAA Championships in 2017.

The Pro Volleyball Federation is young, but the organization appears to be on the right trajectory, already setting new standards for women’s professional volleyball. With major brand endorsements and sponsorship partners, media companies, and games to be played in state-of-the-art venues across the country, sports fans are sure to witness exciting competition at the highest level. The league has promised a prime sporting experience, bringing together top athletes from around the globe ready to dive across the court and fight for every single point.

“Volleyball is an incredible sport to play and watch,” Missy says, “but there are no real opportunities to play it at its highest level in the United States.

Until now.”

PHOTOGRAPHY SHUTTERSTOCK; LOGO PROVIDED

FOCUS SPIKE

FOCUS NIMBY

THE BILL TO KILL THE FILL Raymore city officials are hoping the New Year will put the kibosh on a KC landfill proposal.

B Y R E E C E PA R K E R

PHOTOGRAPHY SHUTTERSTOCK

I F Y O U D R I V E through Raymore and its surrounding environs, you’ll see “Kill

the Fill” and “Don’t Dump on Us” yard signs, signaling an intense battle that has consumed the area.

Communities south of KC have been fighting plans by a private company to build a solid-waste landfill in a part of KC that borders Jackson and Cass counties.

For the residents of Raymore, the landfill is practically on their doorstep, with the proposed 460-acre landfill visible from city limits.

The proposal immediately began raising numerous safety, economic and environmental concerns due to its close proximity to neighborhoods, schools and even a golf course. At a public hearing in February 2023, one resident told the Raymore City Council in disbelief, “My backyard looks at the proposed site.”

According to a Missouri Waste Composition study, regional landfills are currently at 67 percent capacity and are projected to be at full capacity in about 14 years.

“It’s not just our residents in Raymore,” Raymore Mayor Kris Turnbow told KCUR’s Up To Date. “It’s also the people that live in the south Kansas City area, the Lee’s Summit areas, the Grandview [and] Belton [areas]. They’re all concerned about their health and safety and moving forward with a positive economic development plan in that area, which definitely would not include a landfill.”

KC Recycle & Waste Solutions, owned by Jennifer and Aden Monheiser, is spearheading the plans for the proposed landfill. Although the Monheisers have not sought an environment permit or rezoning for the property yet, they have been acquiring land for the project and enlisting the help of lobbyists.

The proposed KC site is located on privately owned land between Missouri Route 150 and 155th Street, just far enough from neighboring cities that a Missouri statute requiring approval from an adjacent municipality does not apply. But that doesn’t

mean people’s lives won’t be affected. According to the U.S. Census, 4,100 people live within a half mile of the proposed site, and 19,100 people live within a one-mile radius. At a Raymore City Council meeting, one resident said, “It is a huge implication for people’s futures—not just now, but for generations to come.”

The developer has not undergone any formal permitting process with the city or the state and did not approach surrounding municipalities before looking to develop the site. But rumors of a potential landfill surfaced, and soon after, Raymore city officials filed a formal statute expressing their opposition. Several other municipalities, school districts, HOAs and community groups followed suit. So far, at least 19 groups have filed formal oppositions and even formed the Kill the Fill PAC. While Raymore and surrounding communities have clearly voiced their objections, they have only been able to stall the project, not kill it.

Their new plan of action is to change the law.

Earlier this year, Missouri Rep. Mike Haffner (R-55) and Sen. Rick Brattin (R-31) sponsored House Bill No. 909, which would increase the required buffer zone for solid waste disposal from a half mile to a mile, preventing landfills from being built in people’s backyards. The bill received triumphant support, with constituents flocking to the Capitol in an impressive grassroots campaign and submitting more than 500 testimonials supporting the bill. It ultimately passed the House in a 139-16 vote.

However, the victory was short-lived when the legislation hit a wall and was filibustered in the Senate. The eight-hour filibuster was led

by Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-22). “We should have a serious policy discussion about setting standards for what the rules should be regarding where landfills should be based on actual environmental impacts,” she said. Coleman represents a sector of Jefferson County, a district nearly 250 miles away from the proposed landfill site.

As of now, landfill plans have been put on pause.

The Kansas City Council passed an ordinance banning the approval of landfills, solid waste facilities, permits and zoning changes for such projects. The moratorium expires June 1, 2024. During that time, the MidAmerica Regional Council’s Solid Waste Management District is conducting a regional landfill capacity study and is expected to present findings in January 2024.

As the summer deadline approaches, public officials and concerned community members are preparing to fight for a more permanent solution.

Mayor Turnbow hopes they will have another shot at passing the legislation in the next session. In his July State of the City address, Turnbow said: “We got somewhat of a late start last session, but we are going back to Jefferson City in the next session to continue our pursuit of an amendment to the current state statute. The work isn’t done, and I assure you the work won’t stop until the threat of a landfill on our city’s border no longer exists.” Mayor Turnbow is hopeful that the bill will get to the Missouri Senate floor for a vote by mid-February.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

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WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IN JANUARY

SCENE Pictured, left to right: Ethan Williams, Reyna Papotto, Jazmine Chappel, Jordan Crawford, Alyssa Holmes, Josh Howerton and Juliet Parker

Go: School shows on January 25 & 26 at 10 am & 1 pm; public shows on January 27 at 2 & 7 pm. Yardley Hall.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN CLAYTON

North In her debut theatrical production, Ashli St. Armant presents North, a powerful new musical about a teenage boy and his mother who escape slavery through the Underground Railroad.

The story explores the complex reality of Black life and the tapestry of experiences enslaved freedom seekers had. The narrative and original music compositions, inspired by true accounts of escape, explore contrasting themes of optimism, bravery, suspense and mystery in the face of insurmountable difficulties.

The story begins in Vacherie, Louisiana, in the mid-1800s, where teenage boy Lawrence and his mother Minnie are enslaved on Mr. Newsome’s plantation—the only reality they’ve ever known. After learning that her son’s life may be in danger, the mother and son duo make the difficult decision to try to escape in hopes of a better life.

Playwright St. Armant’s own ancestors were enslaved in Vacherie, making the setting a natural jumping-off point for her play and place for her to research the lives of enslaved people. The set design came from her personal observations while visiting the area where the plantation was located.

Many of her findings influenced her writing and were incorporated into the storyline, including characters like Tham the Brave, a real-life leader in a Maroons community who had been enslaved on the same plantation as St. Armant’s ancestors.

–MOLLY HIGGINS KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

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leaving, being lost and finding the way back home. There will also be souvenirs available, themed cocktails and personalized photo postcards to share with friends and family near or far. January 12–14. Times vary.

Kauffman Theatre.

Monster Jam January 13 & 14.

Sometimes you want to go to the opera. Sometimes you just need to watch oversized Matchbox cars tumble over each other in the dirt.

And that’s okay. Life is about balance.

January 13, 1 pm & 7 pm; January 14, 1 pm. T-Mobile Center.

12–21 KC Restaurant Week January 12-21.

Celebrate KC’s premier dining event at hundreds of restaurants throughout the metro. Show your support for KC’s restaurant industry and savor some of the best food the city has to offer, with special menu offerings throughout the week.

A portion of all proceeds will go to local charities, too.

January 12-21. KCrestaurantweek.com.

Kadesh Flow & Dino O’Dell January 6. 11 am.

The MTC Kids Jam concert series is designed with families in mind, with art activities led by StoneLion Puppet Theatre followed by a music and storytelling show focused on the planet’s cultural diversity. Using geography as a guide, hosts Kadesh Flow and Dino O’Dell travel the world, experiencing food, language, games and other cultural phenomena. January 6. 11 am.

Polsky Theatre.

Ella Al-Shamahi January 9. 7:30 pm.

As part of Kauffman Center’s Trailblazing Talks, paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi shares her insights into evolutionary biology in “2% Neanderthal: Redrawing Our Family Tree.” Considered to be one of the most unconventional paleoanthropologists working today, Al-Shamahi leads expeditions into unstable places to unearth fossils. She’s also a TV host and stand-up comedian. Al-Shamahi will share her insight into humanity’s

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KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

past and how we can create a more sustainable future. January 9. 7:30 pm. Kauffman Theatre.

Tyler Henry January 11. 7:30 pm.

Although Hollywood clairvoyant medium Tyler Henry gained fame less than a decade ago, he has had special gifts since childhood. Henry reached fame after appearing on reality shows Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry and Life After Death with Tyler Henry, highlighting his otherworldly spiritual talents. Now you have a chance to see him in person. January 11. 7:30 pm.

The Midland.

“Journey Home” Starring Joyce DiDonato January 12–14.

The Kansas City Symphony presents “Journey Home” starring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato with conductor Michael Stern. This classical concert’s theme is travel, and the pieces focus on the emotions that surround

Women of Note in Words and Song January 13. 8 pm.

This collaborative performance brings together the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and the Bach Aria Soloists for an all-female program featuring riveting scenes from Shakespeare classics like Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. January 13. 8 pm. Polsky Theatre.

The Devil Wears Prada January 16. 7 pm.

Ohio-based metal band The Devil Wears Prada reached widespread popularity, especially among millennials, in the mid-2000s thanks to their ironic name and brooding angry-emo sound. Now, with fellow early-aughts metal band Fit for a King, they’re on a tour aptly called Metalcore Dropouts.

January 16. 7 pm. Uptown Theater.

Rumours: A Fleetwood Mac Tribute January 19. 8 pm.

Formed in 2014, Rumours of Fleetwood Mac aims to provide a truly authentic recreation of live Fleetwood Mac shows. The band includes Mekenzie Zimmerman, who provides Stevie Nicks’ vocals; Adrienne Cottrell, who plays the keyboard and provides Christine McVie’s vocals; and Denny Hanson, who plays guitar and provides Lindsey Buckingham’s vocals. They pride themselves on being the most authentic Fleetwood Mac tribute without being a parody of the immensely celebrated rock icons.

January 19. 8 pm. Yardley Hall.

PHOTOGRAPHY SHUTTERSTOCK; PROVIDED

W H A T Y O U W A N T T O D O T H I S M O N T H B Y M O L LY H I G G I N S

January

SCE N E CALENDAR

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live!: King for a Day January 20. 2:30 pm.

The hugely popular Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live! is based on the No.1 PBS Kids show and Emmy Award-winning series that reimagines old-school favorite Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live!: King for a Day sees live characters like Daniel, O the Owl and Prince Wednesday embarking on a brand-new adventure in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, where Daniel learns what it takes to be king. January 20. 2:30 pm.

Kauffman Theatre.

Breath & Hammer: The Ties That Bind Us January 20. 8 pm.

Widely considered to be one of the greatest clarinet players of all time, David Krakauer teams up with South African-born pianist, composer and producer Kathleen Tagg in “Breath & Hammer.” In this musical performance, they fuse their disparate backgrounds into a new, eclectic and highly personal sound that is uniquely their own. January 20. 8 pm.

Polsky Theatre.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Isata KannehMason January 23. 7 pm.

The renowned Royal Philharmonic Orchestra returns to KC with piano soloist Isata Kanneh-Mason, who made her Kansas City recital debut in 2022, and the orchestra’s new music director Vasily Petrenko as conductor. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is recognized as being the UK’s most popular orchestra and continues to be celebrated as one the world’s most open-minded, forward-thinking and accessible symphony orchestras. January 23. 7 pm. Helzberg Hall.

Girl from the North Country January 23–28.

PNC Broadway in Kansas City presents Girl from the North Country, a Tony Award-winning musical written and directed by playwright Conor McPherson.

Featuring orchestrations by Simon Hale, this musical reimagines 20 of Bob Dylan’s legendary songs as they’ve never been heard before, with classics like “Forever Young” and “Like a Rolling Stone.” January 23–28. Times vary. Kauffman Theatre.

Elvis Costello January 25. 8 pm.

English songwriter and musician Elvis Costello comes to KC with his longtime band, The Imposters, and Charlie Sexton, who’s best known as a guitarist in Bob Dylan’s band.The artists will perform a selection of their most iconic songs, including the classics like “Pills & Soap” and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” on the 7-0-7 Tour. January 25. 8 pm.

Uptown Theater.

Disney On Ice: Into the Magic January 25–28.

Beloved Disney icons Mickey and Minnie Mouse host the audience on their adventures across raging seas, snow-covered mountains and the marigold bridge in Disney On Ice’s “Into the Magic.”

This live show features Disney characters from favorites like Moana, Frozen and Beauty and the Beast performing on ice skates. January 25–28. Times vary. T-Mobile Center.

No. 5, showcasing incredible artistry alongside Mozart’s incomparable classic. January 26–28.

Times vary. Helzberg Hall.

Ira Glass January 27. 7:30 pm.

Creator and host of now-iconic public radio’s This American Life, Ira Glass brings his insightful storytelling and soothing voice to Lawrence sponsored by Kansas Public Radio. Started in 1995, This American Life is widely considered to be one of the most influential radio shows of all time and is still heard each week by over five million listeners. Under Glass’ editorial direction, This American Life was awarded the first Pulitzer Prize for audio journalism.

January 27. 7:30 pm. Lied Center.

Sonic Symphony January 27. 8 pm

Sonic Symphony is an immersive live experience that celebrates the nostalgia of 30-plus years of music from Sega’s iconic mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. From classic eight-bit and 16-bit tunes to rock bands and EDM, this concert is a musical journey through the colorful world of Sonic the Hedgehog, brought to life by a full symphony orchestra. January 27.

8 pm. Music Hall Kansas City.

WindSync January 28. 2 pm.

Vibrant chamber ensemble WindSync performs wind quintet masterworks, adapting beloved music to their unique style and performing new works by contemporary composers. Formed over a decade ago, the quintet often performs from memory, which helps to create an intimate connection between the musicians and the audience. This personal performance style goes hand in hand with their mission of artistry, education and community building through music. January 28. 2 pm. Polsky Theatre.

Mean Girls January 31. 7:30 pm.

Direct from Broadway, Mean Girls is the hilarious hit musical from writer and SNL-alum Tina Fey and her husband, composer Jeff Richmond.

The musical is based on the now-iconic film of the same name, also written by Fey, which follows Cady Heron as she learns important life lessons through the social hierarchy of high school popularity. That’s so fetch! January 31.

7:30 pm. Lied Center.

19–21

Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 January 26–28.

Kansas City Symphony presents Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, with celebrated guest conductor Kazem Abdullah and violinist Jun Iwasaki. In this program, Abdullah leads the orchestra in Erich Korngold’s only symphony, Symphony in F-sharp, a triumph that fuses melody with tradition.

Concertmaster Iwasaki performs a solo in Mozart’s Violin Concerto

Cirque Carmen: Troupe Vertigo January 19–21.

The Kansas City Symphony presents Cirque Carmen: Troupe Vertigo set to the classic opera score by French composer Georges Bizet, with guest conductor maestro Jack Everly. Troupe Vertigo aims to create high-caliber cirque shows woven together with unique symphonic selections as physical feats are choreographed into works of art.

January 19–21. Times vary. Helzberg Hall.

KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

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PASSION PROJECT Nathan Reusch, founder of The Record Machine, celebrates 20 years of putting KC on the music map.

B Y R A C H E L L AY T O N I N 2 0 0 3 , Nathan Reusch was—as many twenty-somethings are—at

the precipice of his next chapter in life. Having been involved with music since he was 15 years old, attending shows and playing in his own band, Reusch had come to the difficult realization that he was not destined to become the next touring sensation. “[I] did start initially as being a musician, but I think I just saw a ceiling coming,” Reusch says.

But Reusch didn’t believe a career in music was over just because his own musical ambitions might be hitting a ceiling. He just needed to find where he could best apply himself, and when he did, The Record Machine was born.

In 2003, Reusch founded his record label, The Record Machine, from his KC home and began promoting and marketing bands from across the country. “I figured out that it wasn’t that I knew somebody and they gave me [my] position,” he says. “It was that I went out, met everybody and created relationships.”

Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, The Record Machine is a testament to both Midwestern creativity and Reusch’s own ability to adapt with the times. “When we started, we had to put out a physical CD or something to actually sign a band,” Reusch says.

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“I work with a lot of people that I think are great musicians, and I want to always see them continue to get bigger and better.”

“There was no digital distribution at the time. It wasn’t until three or four years in that we could put music on iTunes.”

The Record Machine, which typically represents anywhere from 12 to 15 bands at a time, has since become a blueprint for many independent record labels on how to not only adapt to but also push past their local music scene and step onto a national platform, taking their bands to locales across the country. Reusch is careful to consider each band’s current status, social media channels and arsenal of music before developing a plan to improve the band’s weakest promotion areas and highlight their strengths.

Reusch also created a music festival appropriately named Middle of the Map Fest. Middle of the Map was once held all over Westport, with bands playing at multiple venues, such as Riot Room. But with the pandemic and passage of time, Reusch says, “Kansas City’s music scene has changed, the venues changed.”

With these changes comes adaptation. The Lemonade Social, which Reusch developed during the pandemic in partnership with Voltaire, RecordBar and IndyGround, brought live music into a pandemic and post-pandemic world without Reusch losing too much ground. Held at Lemonade Park, an outdoor entertainment venue in the West Bottoms, the Lemonade Social is an open-air, two-day festival held in September.

Reusch says the festival is an ideal venue to promote his bands. This year’s event included Black Light Animals, Static Phantoms and Steddy P, among others.

Keeping true to the label and Reusch’s own motto that success is about adaptation and experimentation, Reusch says, “I thought [The Record Machine] was going to be super successful immediately, and there was a hard learning curve that this is what it takes to actually have success.”

At the heart of The Record Machine is Reusch’s dedication to individual talent. “I work with a lot of people that I’m super passionate about and think are great musicians, and I want to always see them continue to get bigger and better,” Reusch says.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRANDON WALDROP

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RAISING THE BAR Thirty years after moving to Kansas City, swinging jazz pianist Bram Wijnands is constantly evolving.

BY NINA CHERRY D U R I N G T H E S U M M E R of 1991, Dutch pianist Bram Wijnands made

his debut performance in Kansas City.

“We broke the fire code every night,” Wijnands says.

Deborah Brown––a jazz vocalist from Kansas City who had gained popularity in Europe––connected Wijnands with drummer and singer Richard Ross for a consistently sold-out weeklong stint at City Light Jazz Club on the Plaza.

Wijnands came back to KC later that year during the holiday season, working downtown at The Phoenix. By the following year, he found himself frequently shuttling back and forth across the Atlantic.

“You’ll say yes to anything when you’re in your twenties,” Wijnands says. “You want to see the world.”

While the pianist had no intention of making KC his home, work was plentiful, and he quickly came to enjoy the city. In 1992, Wijnands made the move.

Soon, Wijnands found himself at the historic Mutual Musicians Foundation’s after-hours jams. The Foundation soon became his second home, jamming and hanging every Saturday with the remaining “old

30 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

“Your playing should be like a wine that ages well. It tastes better after thirty years.”

guard” from the heyday of Kansas City swing––a style Wijnands had an affinity for. It was an invaluable first-hand education.

“The anecdotes they would tell me and the way they hung out with each other really brought the history I studied to life,” Wijnands says. “We would never get home on a Sunday morning before nine.”

A former professor at UMKC’s Conservatory, Wijnands is both a seasoned educator and a lifelong learner. While he’s still dedicated to playing standards from the swing era, his renditions are constantly evolving. And he has advice for the next generation of jazz musicians.

“You have to keep raising the bar,” Wijnands says. “Your playing should be like a wine that ages well. It tastes better after thirty years, and it tastes better because it’s different.”

Upon revisiting past recordings of himself, Wijnands explains he often finds himself dissatisfied–– often hearing things he would “never play again.”

“That means that’s progress,” Wijnands says. “That’s where it’s at.”

He’s passed this philosophy onto his daughter, vocalist Lucy Wijnands. The winner of the esteemed Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Jazz Competition in 2021, Lucy is now Brooklyn-based, but it’s a rare treat to witness the fatherdaughter duo––a seamless and enchanting collaboration––perform when she’s in KC. Now, Wijnands consistently attends Swing Sundays at KC Bier Co., a Waldobased brewery serving up German ales and fare. Known for his animated and charismatic performances, Wijnands delivers witty and cheeky interpretations of classic jazz standards—often including some of his favorites such as “Tea for Two,” “Laura” and, he says, “anything Gershwin.” And for those who dig polka, Winjands also delivers an equally lively set of the traditional Eastern-European music on Saturdays at KC Bier Co. GO: Swing Sundays with Bram Wijnands. Sundays from 3–5 p.m. KC Bier Co., 310 W. 79th St., KCMO.

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED

S C E N E BACKBEAT

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CURATING A BEAUTIFUL LIFE

TREND

PHTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

Peach Fuzz Every year, fashionistas and trendsetters eagerly await the release of Pantone’s Color of the Year, which has become a sort of cultural moment.

The color often represents hope for the future and new year. In 2022, it was Very Peri, a soothing shade of periwinkle regarded as comforting in the post-pandemic world. Last year, it was Viva Magenta, which touted itself as joyous and optimistic and whose hues we saw everywhere with the Barbiecore trend.

For 2024, Pantone’s Color of the Year is 13-1023 Peach Fuzz, which is a velvety, gentle peach tone that executive director of the Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman describes as echoing “our innate yearning for closeness and connection [...] radiant with warmth and modern elegance. A shade that resonates with compassion.”

The general sentiment is that Peach Fuzz is simple yet optimistic.

Unlike last year’s bold and bright Viva Magenta, this peach hue is understated and soothing. It’s clear from Pantone’s descriptions that they want the color to bring a sense of coziness, calm and unity, perhaps as a reaction to the global violence and conflicts that have plagued the end of 2023.

The romantic color’s name reflects a tactile or sensual quality, like velvety peaches or vintage silks, urging people to slow down—smell, touch, taste and reflect on the basic oneness of humanity in the midst of challenging times. —MOLLY HIGGINS KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

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T R E N D NEW Y EA R , NEW YOU

RE FL E CTION

“People often feel like they’re just going through the motions each day,” Wessling says. “They have these priorities that they set for themselves, but that tidal wave of modern-day life hits them and they can’t rise above it during that day, and they end the day disappointed that they couldn’t get as much done as they wanted to. A lot of people don’t even know how to reflect really well and then take that reflection into action and say, ‘How’s tomorrow going to be different? What did I learn from today?’ What are you tolerating in your life that probably needs to be cut out because maybe it’s not serving your higher purpose? Are you getting to the end of the day and you’re disappointed with everything you didn’t do? Are you ever taking a moment to be grateful for what you did do or be grateful for what did come your way that day?”

RE ME MBE R PAST S UCCESSES

“Most of my clients come to me because they are stuck and off track,” Stone says. “Generally, there is a sense of ‘I’ve tried so many things and failed.’

And sometimes my clients are also noticing that their biometrics are trending in the wrong direction—blood work, trouble sleeping, their weight is suddenly different from what it once was. There’s a feeling of ‘I am stuck. My life is off track.’ And so I will guide people to go back to those past experiences where you just nailed it. Get really specific: Who were you with?

What were you doing? How did you feel when you did it? Pick it apart and then figure out for yourself: What are the most important elements? What really stands out for me, and how do you pull that forward? Revisiting our past successes and really digging in and pulling that forward is really helpful.”

B Y M O L LY H I G G I N S

W I T H A N E W Y E A R comes new focus for most folks. For many, thoughts turn to improv-

ing their well-being, whether mental or physical, by creating healthy habits. But rather than just focusing on purely superficial results, such as losing five pounds, people are attempting to dig deep into all aspects of their lives with the help of experts.

Nancy Stone of Stone Wellness Coaching describes wellness coaching as “a clientcentered collaborative approach where the main goal is to make long-term sustainable transformation where the client is seen as the expert in his or her own life. The client is choosing the goals to work on and determining for themselves what is most important to them. Past approaches have been more of a one-size-fits-all, but wellness coaching takes individual needs into account by helping them get the clarity that they need around what is most important to them. And then once that clarity comes, it’s a lot easier to find an action plan.”

We spoke with Stone and Heath Wessling, founder and owner of Kansas City Wellness Club, for their expert insights on achieving better interpersonal wellness in 2024.

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KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

“A big part of being mindful is practicing a non-judgmental state of being,” Wessling says. “That means both non-judgmental to your outer environment as well as to yourself. Quite often, each of us can be our own harshest critics. Stop, breathe, reflect, respond. And if you can do that, you will find so much less doing or saying things that you regret. Do you actually act in that moment the way you wish you would have? What means the most to me at this moment? Do I really need to get caught up in this? Is it a distraction that I’ve been tolerating too much? And do I need to stop putting time and energy and thoughts toward that? It’s [important] to recognize what is causing stress in your life and what is holding you back from reaching that level of success in your life.”

ENVISION THE FUTURE YOU WANT

“Six months from now, a year from now, what do you want to tell me you’ve accomplished?” Stone says. “What were those life-giving health behaviors, social connections? What would you like to tell me are the highlights of the year? Putting them ahead of time has been a really great trick for my clients because it’s a moment for them to really be intentional. What do I want to be doing? How do I want to spend my time?”

ILLUSTRATIONS SHUTTERSTOCK

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T R E N D I N TERV I EW

L I T T L E D I D Anita Koul know that her side hustle

creating an online marketplace to help artisans from developing countries sell their wares would turn into a business making bespoke aprons for restaurants around KC. Koul, a native of India, moved to the Kansas City area nearly ten years ago after getting a master’s in public administration at Columbia University in New York. In 2019, Koul was working at Sprint (now T-Mobile) when she started her online global marketplace business.

Soon, the pandemic put unforeseen strains on shipping and international business, so Koul adapted her business model. She first began making handmade masks, and for every mask purchased, she donated one to a hospital. Later, as the demand for masks subsided, she once again adapted and began producing high-quality, locally made aprons for KC-area restaurants, and her business Kufukaa, a Swahili word that means “evolving,” was born.

Now a successful model of eco-friendly and sustainable business practices that employ refugees, Kufukaa aprons can be seen on staff at some of KC’s favorite restaurants like Fox & Pearl and The Antler Room.

How did you pivot to making aprons for Kufukaa?

[Refugee Employment Services of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas] trains immigrants and helps them to find employment. I recruited two people from that organization, Kyi Kyi and Than from Burma. I started Kufukaa as a sustainable brand focused only on [employing] refugee immigrants. They said, “What’s next? Do you think we can keep making masks?” But we love cooking at my place, and I started wearing an apron, and I was like, “This apron is not good.

I want to create something good and local.”

Tell us about the aprons that you make. I said,

NOT YOUR AVERAGE APRON

Anita Koul’s passion project Kufukaa became a successful model of sustainable and eco-friendly business practices, and now, her aprons are worn at some of KC’s hottest restaurants.

B Y M O L LY H I G G I N S

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KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

What’s the mission of Kufukaa? The goal and mission from day one is to be sustainable, eco-friendly, support local business and empower refugee immigrants.

I also do not want to buy fabric from China or India because of the carbon footprint to get fabric from those countries. What kind of process are [others] using to make that fabric, how much water are they using? And if that fabric is durable, if it will sustain—for how many washes? For me, sustainability is to be local and reduce [our] carbon footprint and to support local business.

Our aprons will sustain for 10 years, which means that you’re not buying more and more stuff.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZACH BAUMAN

“We should create something different where people will actually love to wear the apron, not just as something which can keep their clothes clean.” It can be for gardening, garage work, artists who work with paint—we make custom aprons for different body shapes and heights.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

395 REALTY: TODAY’S SUCCESSFUL WAY TO SELL YOUR HOME Owners Kevin Hopkins and Greg Shahan are focused on providing the highest level of service and cost savings to home sellers and buyers by using a hybrid commission plan of $695 plus .5%* of the sale price, while still offering the full service of a traditional real estate agency.

Measuring Experience

Changing the Model The internet has changed the process of selling in the real estate market, allowing Kevin and Greg to offer this concept to homeowners. Most clients turn to the internet and the convenience of their desktop or phone to review homes in their desired area. Much of the work that years ago was completed by an agent is now done by the buyer. Also, in the past, a large portion of the cost of selling a home went to an advertising budget for newspaper ads, brochures and more. Kevin and Greg claim the broker’s biggest expense has been eliminated, but those savings were never delivered to the customer.

That’s not the case at 395 Realty.

The dollars are being passed on, but the services are not being shortchanged. When 395 Realty gets a listing, it’s placed in the

Multiple Listing Services and within hours it’s broadcast to thousands of websites.

“What are you getting for those thousands of dollars in real estate commissions you pay at another real estate agency?

On a $300,000 home, that’s $9,000 just on the listing side of the equation, but clients aren’t getting $9,000 dollars worth of services,” shared Kevin. “At 395 Realty, we’ve created a fee structure that’s fair and reasonable for both parties. It’s not a gimmick; it’s not intended to be some type of a discount service. It’s a full-service real estate company with fees and structure based on what is fair and reasonable for the consumer and our company.”

“In addition, it’s our experience and technical knowledge that set us apart from the competition,” noted Greg. “When a client–buyer or seller–is looking at the services of a real estate agent, it should be the number of transactions they’ve had over time.

Experience comes from each and every one of them, which protects the seller’s or buyer’s best interest in that transaction.”

Together Kevin and Greg have more than 50 years of experience in real estate; that solid knowledge is the foundation of this successful company. Their business model is focused on selling hundreds of homes at a flat-fee rate, not a few houses sold at the typical six percent commission that other brokers use. Clients are delighted with the thousands of dollars that stay in their pockets.

If you’re contemplating selling your home, doesn’t it make sense to call Greg and Kevin at 395 Realty? Don’t pay for services that fit the market of a decade ago. Use their hybrid commission plan of $695 plus .5%* of the sale price and keep dollars in your pocket. *See 395Realty.com for details.

VISIT 395REALTY.COM OR CALL 913-944-4000.

TREND HOME

library Most of the home’s original library stayed intact. The space was updated with fresh paint and carpet.

Cozy in e v e r y corner

A warm, simple, cozy home was what the homeowners were looking to achieve when they decided to renovate their 1998 home’s entire first floor.

By Dawnya Bartsch | Photography by Matthew Anderson

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KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

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TREND HOME

“ O ur clients only got a little use out of their formal living room except for their very spoiled feline.”

“My clients wanted to make their home feel less formal and more inviting,” says Nina Schmidt of Schloegel Design and Remodel, the firm who handled the kitchen and main-floor overhaul.

The Leawood home originally had ornate molding throughout that changed from room to room and more formal spaces that were rarely used. “Our clients only got a little use out of their formal living room except for their very spoiled feline,” says Schmidt, who has been working in the design industry for more than a decade. “Overall, the house felt quite formal and a bit dark. Our clients wanted to make it less formal, [more] cozy and inviting.”

Although the footprint of each room remained the same, Schmidt and the homeowners focused heavily on design, including flooring, ceilings, staircases and lighting.

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staircase Originally the main entry staircase had carpeted treads, a curved, “snail-style” bottom railing and halfmoon-shaped sides on the bottom step. To give the stairs an updated, clean look while still presenting a grand entry, Schmidt switched out the ornate anchor posts, wood spindles and fully carpeted treads with square wood posts, iron spindles and wood treads with a stair runner.

In order to achieve the modern-rustic look and keep the staircase curved, Schmidt brought in expert craftsmen who used mostly hand tools.

Dream Kitchen Schmidt transformed the dark kitchen by bathing it in shades of white and then adding a few natural wood elements to keep it warm and inviting.

The original dark wood cabinets were replaced with soft-white cabinets that reach to the ceiling. In contrast to the white cabinets, the island and range hood are a white oak. “It took some time to match the island with the [kitchen] pocket door as well as the beam wrapping the case entry into the kitchen,” Schmidt says.

The pocket door hides a walk-in pantry with custom cabinets.

Schmidt and the homeowners worked tirelessly to find the perfect backsplash tile. “So many were too white, cream or had a tint of blue,” Schmidt says.

Ultimately, they selected a handmade square tile made by Sonoma Tilemakers.

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TREND HOME

“We’re huge fans of how the messy over-grout turned out.”

Formal Transformation A two-sided fireplace encased by a solid wall separated the formal living room and family room, creating formal spaces not often used. Schmidt decided to keep the fireplace but remove the walls on either side, opening up the living areas.

The see-through fireplace was given a facelift with a new rustic wood beam mantle and limestone veneer.

“We’re huge fans of how the messy over-grout turned out,” Schmidt says of the limestone work.

The ceilings became a huge focus for this project, Schmidt says. The home’s two living spaces are two different heights. The family room and kitchen have nine-foot ceilings whereas the formal living room’s ceilings were a few feet higher. “[The homeowners] knew they wanted beams, but they decided to do something a bit different on the lower ceilings,” Schmidt says, adding that the beams on the lower ceilings would have made the rooms appear small.

Ultimately, a shiplap ceiling in the family room and a criss-cross beam pattern in the living room were chosen.

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Dining Room The goal in the dining room was to create a more inviting space, toning down the heavy molding. This was accomplished by removing the half-wall wainscotting, heavy dental crown molding, the tray ceiling and the molding at the cased entry.

Powder Room Also overly ornate, the downstairs powder room needed a change and a color pop. “In addition to making it a bit more contemporary, our client wanted the powder room to inject color into the otherwise neutral main floor,” Schmidt says. Ultimately the bathroom was washed in a dusty navy blue and the vanity was replaced with cabinets that mimic the wood colors throughout the rest of the main floor.

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Celebrating Physician Excellence

Kansas City is fortunate to have many excellent physicians caring for our communities. In fact, The University of Kansas Health System alone has more than 1,000 physicians, many among the best in their fields, working to improve and

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save lives every day. They lead specialized teams and programs to care for people with conditions routine and rare. We thank them all and recognize our nearly 200 Top Doctors recognized by Kansas City Magazine.

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M E D I C I N E®

PHOTOGRAPHY SHUTTERSTOCK

TOP DOCTORS 2024 Here’s a look at the metro’s top physicians, as selected by their peers.

We spoke to several about the keys to a long, healthy life.

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ADOLESCENT MEDICINE Loretta Nelson, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 7301 Mission Road, Suite 350 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6300

ALLERGY & IMMUNOLOGY Sara Azzam, MD

TOP DOCTORS 2024 Methodology

Index to Specialties

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Celina Bernabe, DO

Allergy & Asthma Care 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-491-3300

Khaled Girgis, MD, PhD

College Park Family Care Center 12208 W. 87th St., Suite 180 Lenexa, KS 913-438-2581

H. Terry Levine, MD

Allergy & Asthma Care 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-491-3300

Cori Passer, MD

Allergy & Asthma Care 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-491-3300

Nguyen Tran, MD

Allergy & Asthma Care 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-491-3300

Derrick Ward, MD

Our annual Top Doctors list is compiled by our partners at Castle Connolly, a national health care research and information company. The firm works with hundreds of thousands of physicians as well as academic medical centers, specialty hospitals and regional and community hospitals. Castle Connolly’s physician-led team of researchers follows a screening process to select top doctors on both the national and regional levels. Its online nominations process (nominations. castleconnolly.com) is open to all licensed physicians in America. They can nominate physicians in any medical speciality and in any part of the country, as well as indicate whether the nominated physician is, in their opinion, among the best in their region in their medical specialty or among the best in the nation in their medical speciality. Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected and profiled as a Castle Connoly Top Doctors.

Adolescent Medicine..................... 46 Allergy & Immunology................... 46 Cardiac Electrophysiology............. 46 Cardiovascular Disease................. 46 Child & Adolescent Psychiatr..........47 Child Neurology..............................47 Colon & Rectal Surgery...................47 Dermatology...................................47 Diagnostic Radiology..................... 54 Emergency Medicine..................... 54 Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism.................................. 54 Facial Plastic Surgery/ Otolaryngology........................... 54 Family Medicine............................. 54 Gastroenterology........................... 54 Geriatirc Medicine......................... 54 Gynecologic Oncology................... 54 Hand Surgery................................. 55 Hematology................................... 55 Hospice & Palliative Medicine........ 55 Infectious Disease......................... 55

Allergy & Asthma Care 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-491-3300

Internal Medicine........................... 55 Interventional Cardiology.............. 55 Medical Oncology.......................... 59 Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine......... 59 Nephrology.................................... 59 Neurological Surgery......................61 Neurology.......................................61 Neuroradiology...............................61 Obstetrics & Gynecology................61 Ophthalmology...............................61 Orthopedic Surgery........................61 Otolaryngology.............................. 64 Pain Medicine................................ 63 Pathology...................................... 63 Pediatric Allergy & Immunology.... 63 Pediatric Anesthesiology............... 63 Pediatric Cardiology...................... 63 Pediatric Dermatology................... 63 Pediatric Endocrinology................. 63 Pediatric Gastroenterology............ 65 Pediatric Hematology-Oncology.... 65 Pediatric Infectious Disease.......... 65

Kansas City Allergy & Asthma Associates 8675 College Blvd., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-491-5501

ANESTHESIOLOGY Cheen Alkhatib, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Brian Balanoff, MD Olathe Medical Center 20333 W. 151st St. Olathe, KS 913-791-4220

CARDIAC ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY Loren Berenbom, MD

Pediatric Otolaryngology............... 65 Pediatric Pulmonology................... 65 Pediatric Rheumatology................ 65 Pediatric Surgery........................... 65 Pediatric Urology Pediatrics....................................... 65 Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation... 66 Plastic Surgery............................... 66 Psychiatry...................................... 66 Pulmonary Disease........................ 66 Radiation Oncology....................... 66 Reproductive Endocrinology/ Infertility........................................ 66 Rheumatology............................... 66 Sleep Medicine.............................. 66 Surgery Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery............67 Urogynecology/Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery..................67 Urology...........................................67 Vascular & Interventional Radiology..67 Vascular Surgery.............................67

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Martin Emert, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Michael Giocondo, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Sanjaya Gupta, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Rajesh Kabra, MD

Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute 5100 W. 110th St., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-449-1297

Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, MD Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute 5100 W. 110th St., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-449-1297

Rhea Pimentel, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Brian Ramza, MD, PhD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Yeruva Reddy, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Daniel Steinhaus, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Rangarao Tummala, MD

Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute 5100 W. 110th St., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-449-1297

Alan Wimmer, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Ravi Yarlagadda, MD

Olathe Health Cardiology Services 20805 W. 151st St., Suite 400 Olathe, KS 913-780-4900

Omair Yousuf, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Mazhar Afaq, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St., Suite G600 Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Suzanne Arnold, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Bethany Austin, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Timothy Bateman, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Mazda Biria, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery 9100 W. 74th St., Suite 350 Merriam, KS 913-632-9400

Timothy Blackburn, MD

Midwest Heart & Vascular Specialists 17067 South Interstate 49, Suite 200 Belton, MO 816-348-4281

Steven Bormann, MD

Craig Lundgren, MD

Dwarakraj Soundarraj, MD

Anthony Magalski, MD

Brett Sperry, MD

Healient Physician Group 1000 Carondelet Drive, Suite 201B Kansas City, MO 913-956-2250 Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Michael Main, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St., Suite G600 Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Matthew Bunte, MD

Justin McCrary, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 20 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 240 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-931-1883

Kevin Bybee, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 12330 Metcalf Ave., Suite 280 Overland Park, KS 816-931-1883

Paul Chan, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Matthew Deedy, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 20 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 240 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-931-1883

Mark Everley, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Timothy Fendler, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Arthur McGhie, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

James O’Keefe, MD

Ujjaval Patel, MD

Midwest Heart and Vascular Specialists – Overland Park 5100 W. 110th St., 2nd Floor Overland Park, KS 913-253-3000

Charles Porter, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 230 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Carlos Rivas-Gotz, MD

Joseph Goeke, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 20 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 240 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-931-1883

Anna Grodzinsky, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Andrew Kao, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 230 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Mohammed Saghir, MD

Laura Schmidt, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Ashley Simmons, MD

Mikhail Kosiborod, MD

David Skolnick, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Randall Thompson, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Carrie Totta, MD

Midwest Heart & Vascular Specialists 2820 E. Rock Haven Road, Suite 205 Harrisonville, MO 816-380-8088

Brian Weiford, MD

Martin Zink, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Riaz Rabbani, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 230 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Steven Owens, MD

Adam Fleddermann, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St., Suite G600 Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Tracy Stevens, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Jonathan Freeman, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9700

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 20 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 240 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-931-1883

Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists 2521 Glenn Hendren Drive, Suite 306 Liberty, MO 816-407-5430

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227 Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 12330 Metcalf Ave., Suite 280 Overland Park, KS 816-931-1883

CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY Man Anand, MD

Psychiatric Care Associates 3515 S. Fourth St., Suite 100 Leavenworth, KS 913-651-2202

Sharon Cain, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Marillac Campus 8000 W. 127th St. Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

Ram Chettiar, DO

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Developmental and Behavioral Health 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3674

Anne Clark, MD

10500 Barkley St., Suite 220 Overland Park, KS 913-738-9235

Ann Genovese, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-1300

Kayla Gertsema, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Marillac Campus 8000 W. 127th St. Overland Park, KS 913-574-3800

Shilpa Sachdeva, MD

The University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Christopher Van Horn, DO

Psychiatry Associates of Kansas City 8900 State Line Road, Suite 380 Leawood, KS 913-385-7252

Debra Willsie, DO

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Developmental and Behavioral Health 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3674

CHILD NEUROLOGY Ahmed Abdelmoity, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Neurology Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3490

Daniel Christiansen, MD Resolute Dermatology 6800 Hilltop Road, Suite 102 Shawnee, KS 913-901-5001

Mark Fleischman, MD

Dermatology & Skin Cancer Centers 7901 W. 135th St. Overland Park, KS 913-451-7546

Holly Fritch, MD

11201 Nall Ave., Suite 100 Leawood, KS 913-451-3030

Michael Haag, MD

Dermatology & Skin Cancer Centers 7901 W. 135th St. Overland Park, KS 913-451-7546

Keith Coffman, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Neurology Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3490

David Kaplan, MD

Adult & Pediatric Dermatology 4601 W. 109th St., Suite 116 Overland Park, KS 913-469-1115

Mohammed Ilyas, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Neurology Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3490

Anne Kettler, MD

Jean-Baptiste Le Pichon, MD, PhD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Neurology Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3490

College Park Family Care Center 15101 Glenwood Ave. Stanley, KS 913-681-8866

Lauren Kyle Tkachuk, MD Blue Valley Dermatology 7520 W. 160th St., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-871-8221

Mark McCune, MD

COLON & RECTAL SURGERY

Epiphany Dermatology 8505 College Blvd.

Overland Park, KS 913-541-3230

John Ashcraft, DO

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Jeremy Cravens, MD

Colorectal Surgical Associates 4370 W. 109th St., Suite 350 Overland Park, KS 816-941-0800

Allen Jetmore, MD

Midwest Hemorrhoid Treatment Center 11111 Nall Ave., Suite 116 Leawood, KS 913-451-0600

Benjamin Martin, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Lina O’Brien, MD

Colorectal Surgical Associates 4370 W. 109th St., Suite 350 Overland Park, KS 816-941-0800

Darcy Shaw, MD

Colorectal Surgical Associates 4370 W. 109th St., Suite 350 Overland Park, KS 816-941-0800

Meggan Newland, MD

Saint Luke’s Dermatology Specialists 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 400 Kansas City, MO 816-932-4500

Emily Ochoa, MD

Saint Luke’s Dermatology Specialists 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 400 Kansas City, MO 816-932-4500

Trisha Prossick, MD

Johnson County Dermatology 151 W. 151st St. Olathe, KS 913-764-1125

Anand Rajpara, MD

University Health Dermatology 2101 Charlotte St. Kansas City, MO 816-404-7810

Braden Rance, MD

Dermatology Consultants Midwest 10777 Nall Ave., Suite 220 Overland Park, KS 913-469-0110

Scott Ravis, MD

Saint Luke’s Dermatology Specialists 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 400 Kansas City, MO 816-932-4500

Colin Ruff, MD

U.S. Dermatology Partners 11550 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 913-451-7546

Meena Singh, MD

James Allen, MD

KMC Hair Center 5820 Lamar Ave., Suite 200 Mission, KS 913-631-6330

Rebecca Chain, MD

University Health Dermatology 2101 Charlotte St. Kansas City, MO 816-404-7810

DERMATOLOGY KMC Dermatology 11301 Nall Ave., Suite 205 Leawood, KS 913-451-5934

Allison Swanson, MD

Dermatology Consultants Midwest 10777 Nall Ave., Suite 220 Overland Park, KS 913-469-0110

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EXERCISE IS YOUR NEW DRUG

BY DAVID HODES

Move your body as if your life depends on it – because it does.

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Dr. Nicole Yedlinsky, MD

ell, here we are: a new year and the same old you standing there, looking in the mirror and pondering a personal resolution revolution—getting ready to tackle new fitness goals. Starting, well, really soon.

Most of us will have one particular goal in mind this new year: a better, stronger, healthier, happier you.

In fact, vowing to exercise more, eat healthier and lose weight were the top three New Year’s resolutions in the U.S. in 2022, according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey.

Most doctors tell their patients that exercise should be part of their daily routine. Why? When you exercise, you sleep better. When you exercise, you’re able to organize tasks better. Exercise can reduce depression, anxiety and the risk of dementia. It can even reduce complications from surgery.

Exercise is your new medicine. Researchers are even saying that exercise should be considered a psychoactive drug, with “dosing” defined as the volume and intensity of exercise. Your doctor can be your cheerleader and guide for getting started, especially if your doctor has their own exercise regimen that goes beyond just a few jumping jacks after lunch.

Exhibit A on the benefits of working out: Dr. Nicole Yedlinsky, a family medicine doctor at the University of Kansas Hospital. She has a background in sports medicine and is an ultramarathon runner currently training for a 50-kilometer (31-mile) race in January. “I don’t care if you hula hoop, I don’t care if you jump rope—I just want you to move,” she 50 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF K ANSAS HOSPITAL; SHUTTERSTOCK

“I want to get your body sweating a little bit. Any bit of physical activity helps.”

Dr. Jeffrey Holzbeierlein, MD

Do Your Jumping Jacks Here are six identified benefits of exercise in almost every area of physical and mental well-being, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

“Exercise can really help treat diseases and produce better outcomes.” tells patients. “I want you to get your heart rate up. I want to get your body sweating a little bit. Any bit of physical activity helps.”

“Exercise can really help treat diseases and produce better outcomes,” says Dr. Jeffrey Holzbeierlein, a urology oncologist at the University of Kansas Hospital. Like Yedlinsky, he practices what he preaches, too.

He exercises with a running group three to four times a week and lifts weights the other two to three days. “There might be certain groups of people that even benefit more from exercise,” he says. “That’s something we’re continuing to explore.”

Holzbeierlein has patients do a “prehab” routine when they are going to have a urology-related surgery. “We know that a patient might have to have chemotherapy or they might have to have some other treatment,” Holzbeierlein says. “We start working before that and start getting them their goals of exercise.”

Holzbeierlein ran a trial where he gave Garmin devices that tracked steps to all his patients, with goals on how many steps a day they were to do. “What we found was that patients who were able to achieve those goals got out of the hospital faster, had faster recoveries and had less complications with their surgery.”

One of the things that happens with surgery or chemo, or when a patient is fighting a disease, is that the body is using more energy, Holzbeierlein says. “It’s using more protein, and the muscles are breaking down. Exercise is the attempt to maintain that muscle and maintain that mass.”

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• Improved bone health and weight status for children ages three through five years • Improved cognitive function for youth ages six to 13 years • Reduced risk of cancer • Brain health benefits, including possible improved cognitive function, reduced anxiety and depression risk, improved sleep and quality of life • For older adults, reduced risk of fallrelated injuries • For people with various chronic medical conditions, reduced risk of allcause and diseasespecific mortality, improved physical function and improved quality of life KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

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Dr. Charles Porter, MD

Be Proactive Preventable chronic disease and physical activity

Seven of the 10 most common chronic diseases—including arthritis, asthma and diabetes—are favorably influenced by regular physical activity, and yet nearly 80 percent of adults are not meeting the key guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity. Only about half meet the key guidelines for aerobic physical activity.

This lack of physical activity is linked to approximately $117 billion in annual health care costs and about 10 percent of premature mortality, according to Azar.

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“The association of exercise and cognitive function is increasingly evident.”

Continued from page 51

Cardiologist Dr. Charles Porter, also with the University of Kansas Health System, says that research keeps revealing more exercise benefits for both physical and mental health. “I’s been recognized in the last couple of years that in muscle contraction, skeletal muscle cells send out little signals that talk to other cells,” Porter says. “And these cells can cross the blood-brain barrier and impact neurotransmitters in the brain. So the association of exercise and cognitive function is increasingly evident,” Porter says. “It’s not just the runner’s high.”

Competitive bodybuilder and University of Kansas Hospital cardiovascular nurse Elizabeth Hart agrees that exercise has been a big benefit to her mental health. “Not only did I see physical benefits, such as my cholesterol got better, my blood pressure got better and all of those things that you would expect from exercise,” says Hart, who is a busy new mom. “But I also noticed a shift in my mental health. I had more self-confidence, especially during that hard time as a new mom.”

Hart continues strength training about four times a week, doing cardio work and yoga as well. Her advice is to “prioritize your mental health.”

“I don’t think that we talk about it enough as providers,” Hart says.

“It’s a huge part of just being healthy. We’re not just focusing on the body. We’re focusing on the mind, too.”

Physical activity is 1.5 times more effective at reducing mild to moderate symptoms of depression, psychological stress and anxiety than medication or cognitive behavior therapy, according to a study by Dr. Ben Singh

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF K ANSAS HOSPITAL; SHUTTERSTOCK

About half of all American adults—that’s around 117 million people—have one or more preventable chronic diseases, Alex Azar, the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in a letter that was published in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition.

Elizabeth Hart, RN

Don’t Stop Here are some simple ways to maintain exercise’s health benefits, according to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

“We’re not just focusing on the body. We’re focusing on the mind, too.” published in the September 2023 edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. One of the first large studies to focus on the connection between mental health and physical activity, its finding “underscore the need for physical activity, including structured exercise interventions, as a mainstay approach for managing depression and anxiety.”

It also doesn’t take weeks or months to see positive health changes from exercise, according to a physical activity report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A single bout of moderate to vigorous physical activity will reduce blood pressure, improve insulin sensitivity, improve sleep, reduce anxiety symptoms and improve cognition on the day that it is performed.

Yedlinsky says that she likes patients to start with five to 10 minutes of exercise. “If they can, say, eat dinner and then go for a five minute walk, or eat lunch and then go for a five minute walk, or wake up a little bit early in the morning, put some clothes on and do some type of physical activity,” that’s a good way to start, she says. “I sometimes ask people, how much time do you spend watching TV? How much time do you spend on social media or on your phones? Is there a way to balance that time you spend on those more sedentary activities and substitute them with something that’s going to be good for your body, good for your brain, good for your heart, good for your gut? Exercise, along with excellent sleep and attention to nutrition, are the three things that have the most bang for your buck in terms of getting not just years of life but quality of life, too.”

• Adults should do at least 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 minutes to 150 minutes a week of vigorousintensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.

Preferably, aerobic activity should be spread throughout the week.

• Additional health benefits are gained by engaging in physical activity beyond the equivalent of 300 minutes of moderateintensity physical activity a week.

• Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity that involve all major muscle groups two or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits.

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DOCTO

University of Kansas Hospital Endocrinology, Metabolism and Genetics 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6022

Leland Graves, MD

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Amanda Tauscher, MD

Johnson County Dermatology 151 W. 151st St. Olathe, KS 913-764-1125

Viseslav Tonkovic-Capin, MD Cass Regional Medical Center Department of Dermatology 2820 E. Rock Haven Road, Suite 150 Harrisonville, MO 816-887-0312

DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY Ryan Ash, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Radiology 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Jeffrey Brent, MD

Diagnostic Imaging Centers 6650 W. 110th St. Overland Park, KS 913-491-9299

Jennifer Crawley, MD Diagnostic Imaging Centers 6650 W. 110th St. Overland Park, KS 913-491-9299

Shelby Fishback, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Radiology 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Jessica Sanchez, MD

Saint Luke’s Imaging Associates Radiology Department 4401 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 816-932-2550

Pauline Sleder, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Radiology 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Louis Wetzel, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Radiology 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

University of Kansas Hospital Endocrinology, Metabolism and Genetics 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6022

Kristine Grdinovac, MD University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Marie Griffin, MD

Saint Luke’s Endocrinology Specialists 4061 Indian Creek Parkway, Suite 300 Overland Park, KS 913-323-4747

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Adrian Delaney, MD

Clay Platte Family Medicine Clinic 5501 N.W. 62nd Terrace, Suite 100 Kansas City, MO 816-842-4440

Christopher Ehly, MD

Candice Rose, MD

Renato Sandoval, MD

Saint Luke’s Endocrinology Specialists - East 20 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd, Suite 300 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-347-5200

FACIAL PLASTIC SURGERY/OTOLARYNGOLOGY J. David Kriet, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

Jeffrey Markey, MD

Craig Barbieri, MD

Vein Clinic of Greater Kansas City 4400 W. 109th St., Suite 150 Overland Park, KS 913-541-3377

Rebecca Baskins, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care 600 N.E. Adams Dairy Parkway, Suite 200 Blue Springs, MO 816-347-4600

Jane Brunner, DO

Sunflower Medical Group 10950 W. 86th St. Lenexa, KS 913-722-4240

Sunflower Medical Group 5675 Roe Blvd.

Roeland Park, KS 913-432-2080

A. Ernest Ojeleye, MD Ottawa Family Physicians 1418 S. Main St., Suite 5 Ottawa, KS 785- 242-1620

Jeffrey Parker, MD

James Rahto, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care – Cushing 1001 Sixth Ave., Suite 320 Leavenworth, KS 913-651-6565

University of Kansas Hospital Endocrinology, Metabolism and Genetics 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6022

Erin O’Laughlin, DO

Neal Erickson, MD

Sajeev Menon, MD

Olathe Health Internal Medicine 20805 W. 151st St., Suite 224 Olathe, KS 913-355-8400

Town Plaza Family Practice 5701 W. 119th St., Suite 330 Overland Park, KS 913-345-3650

Saint Luke’s Primary Care - Barry Road 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 110 Kansas City, MO 816-880-6100

Saint Luke’s Primary Care – Independence 4801 S. Cliff Ave., Suite 300 Independence, MO 816-251-5200

Jacobson & McElliott Diabetes & Endocrinology Center 12541 Foster St., Suite 240 Overland Park, KS 913-317-3170

Nicole Niemann, MD

Town Plaza Family Practice 5701 W. 119th St., Suite 330 Overland Park, KS 913-345-3650

Jeffrey Kallsen, MD

FAMILY MEDICINE

Saint Luke’s Endocrinology Specialists 6185 Jefferson Ave. Parkville, MO 816-880-2600

Leawood Family Care 7025 College Blvd., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-338-4515

AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care at Shawnee Mission 7450 Kessler St., Suite 300 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-2900

Saint Luke’s Endocrinology & Diabetes 4321 Washington St., Suite 6100 Kansas City, MO 816-932-3470

Erica Carney, MD

Brian Allenbrand, MD

Louis Christifano, DO

Mitchell Hamburg, MD

EMERGENCY MEDICINE

ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES & METABOLISM

Saint Luke’s Primary Care Independence 4801 S. Cliff Ave., Suite 300 Independence, MO 816-251-5200

Kansas City Family Medical Care St. Joseph Medical Center 1000 Carondelet Drive Kansas City, MO 816-943-4758

Ascentist Healthcare 6815 E. Frontage Road Merriam, KS 913-914-5975

University Health Truman Medical Center 2301 Holmes St. Kansas City, MO 816-404-1000

Jayne Lora Bumgarner, MD

M. Kathryn Foos, MD

Todd Fristo, MD

Amy Holman, MD

John Horton, MD

Leawood Family Care 7025 College Blvd., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-338-4515

Frederick Keenan, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care - Barry Road 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 110 Kansas City, MO 816-880-6100

Susan Lee, MD

College Park Family Care Center 11725 W. 112th St. Overland Park, KS 913-469-5579

Kim Smith, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care – Barry Road 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 110 Kansas City, MO 816-880-6100

KU Family Medicine Clinic 2000 Olathe Blvd., MOB Building, 1st Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-1908

James Miller, DO

Nursery Street Family Care Clinic 617 W. Nursery St. Butler, MO 660- 200-3627

Wesley Nash, DO

College Park Family Care Center 17050 W. 96th St. Lenexa, KS 913-359-1771

Jonathan Horwitz, DO

Consultants in Gastroenterology 2521 Glenn Hendren Drive Liberty, MO 816-478-4887

Alka Hudson, MD

Premier Gastroenterology 5100 W. 110th St., Suite 120 Overland Park, KS 913-234-7600 x 1120

Sreenivasa Jonnalagadda, MD Saint Luke’s GI Specialists 4321 Washington St., Medical Plaza III, Suite 5100 Kansas City, MO 913-491-9100

Eric Molloy, MD

Jennifer Teegarden, MD

Health Suite 110 Direct Primary Care 7199 W. 98th Terrace, Suite 110 Overland Park, KS 913-948-7652

Jessica Yoakam, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care - Cushing 1001 Sixth Ave., Suite 320 Leavenworth, KS 913-651-6565

Tahira Zufer, MD

KU Family Medicine Clinic 2000 Olathe Blvd., MOB Building, 1st Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-1908

GASTROENTEROLOGY

John Bonino, MD

Hannah Maxfield, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Division of Gastroenterology 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Suite 4035 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6019

KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road Shawnee, KS 913-588-1227

Ottawa Family Physicians 1418 S. Main St., Suite 5 Ottawa, KS 785- 242-1620

Randy Luzania, MD

Village Office Center 7301 Mission Road, Suite 350 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-1227

Scott Grisolano, MD

Dennis Spratt, MD

Ajay Bansal, MD

Sharissa Mabry, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Division of Gastroenterology 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Suite 4035 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6019

KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road Shawnee, KS 913-588-1227

AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care at South Overland Park 7840 W. 165th St., Suite 160 Overland Park, KS 913-373-2141 Town Plaza Family Practice 5701 W. 119th St., Suite 330 Overland Park, KS 913-345-3650

Tuba Esfandyari, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227 University of Kansas Hospital Division of Gastroenterology 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Suite 4035 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6019

Daniel Buckles, MD

Mitesh Patel, MD

Amit Rastogi, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Division of Gastroenterology 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Suite 4035 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6019

Prateek Sharma, MD

Kansas City VA Medical Center 4801 E. Linwood Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-861-4700

Michael Thompson, MD

WestGlen Gastrointestinal Consultants 16663 Midland Drive, Suite 100 Shawnee, KS 913-631-2600

Steven Weinman, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-6183

Jeffrey Young, MD

Gastrointestinal Associates 10116 W. 105th St. Overland Park, KS 913-495-9600

GERIATRIC MEDICINE

University of Kansas Hospital Gastroenterology Division 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Suite 4035 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6019

Shelley Bhattacharya, DO

Wendell Clarkston, MD

Christopher Geha, MD

Ervin Eaker, MD

GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY

Saint Luke’s GI Specialists 12330 Metcalf Ave., Suite 420 Overland Park, KS 913-491-9100 WestGlen Gastrointestinal Consultants 7230 Renner Road Shawnee, KS 913-962-2122

University of Kansas Hospital 3599 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Ward Parkway Health Services 8800 State Line Road Leawood, KS 913-383-9099

Lowell Byers, MD

AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Gynecologic Oncology 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 130 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-9130

Julia Chapman, MD

Overland Park Regional Medical Center Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute 10600 Quivira Road, Suite 110 Overland Park, KS 913-541-5550

Andrea Jewell, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Jason Knight, MD

Saint Luke’s Cancer Specialists 4321 Washington St., Suite 4000 Kansas City, MO 816-932-3300

Sara Lange, MD

AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Gynecologic Oncology 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 130 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-9130

Brenda Shoup, MD

AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Gynecologic Oncology 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 130 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-9130

Lori Spoozak, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

HAND SURGERY Jacob Brubacher, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Christine Cheng, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Orthopedic Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3075

Scott Langford, MD

Rockhill Orthopedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302

Charles Rhoades, MD

Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance 3651 College Blvd.

Leawood, KS 913-319-7600

HEMATOLOGY Raed Al-Rajabi, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE MEDICINE Christi Bartlett, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Kevin Hubbard, DO

Saint Luke’s Cancer Institute 4401 Wornall Road, Peet Center Kansas City, MO 816-932-3300

Lindy Landzaat, DO

Apoorv Kalra, MD

Jennifer Linebarger, MD

Michael Luchi, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227 Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Palliative Care 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-855-1716

Karin Porter-Williamson, MD The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Christian Sinclair, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Benjamin Skoch, DO

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

INFECTIOUS DISEASE Sarah Boyd, MD

Saint Luke’s Infectious Disease Specialists 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 300 Kansas City, MO 816-880-6238

Lisa Clough, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045

Samir Desai, MD

Metro Infectious Disease Consultants 931 N.E. Columbus St. Lee’s Summit, MO 816-875-0565 University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045

Fernando Merino, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045

Jessica Newman, DO

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Stephen Waller, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045

INTERNAL MEDICINE Thomas Alcox, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care – Lee’s Summit 20 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-347-5100

Neal Anson, MD

The Liberty Clinic Internal Medicine and Pediatrics 2609 Glenn Hendren Drive Liberty, MO 816-781-7730

Matthew Barton, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care – Lee’s Summit 20 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-347-5100

Jennifer Bequette, MD

Albert Eid, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care – Mission Farms 4061 Indian Creek Parkway, Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-317-7990

Wissam El Atrouni, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care at Deer Creek 6240 W. 135th St., Suite 150 Overland Park, KS 913-632-9500

KC Infectious Disease Consultants 7255 Renner Road, Suite 100 Shawnee, KS 913-631-0405 University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045 University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045

Daniel Geha, MD

Ward Parkway Health Services 8800 State Line Road Leawood, KS 913-383-9099

Kassem Hammoud, MD University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045

Dana Hawkinson, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045

Daniel Hinthorn, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases 2000 Olathe Blvd., 4th Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-4045

Jennifer Brown, MD

Jane Broxterman, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-3974

Marie Brubacher, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-3974

Cory Carpenter, DO

University of Kansas Health System 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 310 Corporate Medical Plaza, Building 3 Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

Donald Cohen, DO

5701 W. 119th St., Suite 419 Overland Park, KS 913-498-2123

Michael Dahl, MD

Medical Group of Kansas City 6675 Holmes Road, Suite 550 Kansas City, MO 816-363-7710

John Dunlap, MD

Bruce Salvaggio, MD

5701 W. 119th St., Suite 145 Overland Park, KS 913-491-6633

Andrea Ely, MD

Medical Plaza Internal Medicine 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 310 Overland Park, KS 913-945-6900

Jonathan Finks, MD

Quivira Internal Medicine 10601 Quivira Road, Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-541-3340

John Goldberg, MD

KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road Shawnee, KS 913-588-1227

Rita Hyde, MD

Saint Luke’s Perryman Primary Care 4321 Washington St., Suite 3000 Kansas City, MO 816-932-3100

Vijaya Samuel, MD

Sunflower Medical Group 10950 W. 86th St. Lenexa, KS 913-722-4240

Danielle Stebbins, MD

Saint Luke’s Primary Care 12541 Foster St., Suite 300 Overland Park, KS 913-317-3200

Steven Stiles, MD

Statland Medical Group 12140 Nall Ave., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-345-8500 Westwood Medical Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Suite 2201 Westwood, KS 913-588-9800

Sarah Stolte, MD

Jonathan Jacobs, MD

Pamela Weinhold, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care at Deer Creek 6240 W. 135th St., Suite 150 Overland Park, KS 913-498-1444

Anne Jones, MD

KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road Shawnee, KS 913-588-8465

David Wilt, MD

Statland Medical Group 12140 Nall Ave., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-345-8500

KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road Shawnee, KS 913-588-8465

David Kennedy, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care at Shawnee Mission 7450 Kessler St., Suite 300 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-2900

Janice Langholz, MD

Westwood Medical Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Suite 2201 Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Carrie Lehr, MD

Corporate Medical Plaza 10787 Nall Ave., Building 3, Suite 310 Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

Becky Lowry, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-3974

Ancy Maruthanal, MD

University of Kansas Executive Health 10700 Nall Ave., Suite 101 Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

Sheila McGreevy, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-3974

Michael Monaco, MD

INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY Dmitri Baklanov, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 12330 Metcalf Ave., Suite 280 Overland Park, KS 816-931-1883

Adnan Chhatriwalla, MD Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Daniel Dunker, MD

Liberty Cardiovascular Specialists 2521 Glenn Hendren Drive, Suite 306 Liberty, MO 816-407-5430

J. Aaron Grantham, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Kamal Gupta, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Anthony Hart, MD

MDVIP 12140 Nall Ave., Suite 305 Overland Park, KS 913-948-6400

Timothy Pasowicz, DO

Saint Luke’s Primary Care – Mission Farms 4061 Indian Creek Parkway, Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-317-7990

Micholee Polsak, DO

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-3974

Courtney Rhudy, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 6501 W. 135th St. Overland Park, KS 913-588-3974

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-3974

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 230 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Kenneth Huber, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

Chetan Huded, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 230 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

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SWEET DREAMS

BY HAMPTON STEVENS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZACH BAUMAN

We talked to a sleep doctor who says the best version of yourself begins with a good night’s rest. r. Abid Bhat will put you to sleep. Literally. Not because he’s boring. Quite the contrary.

He’s an engaging man, lively and quick to laugh. Bhat will put you to sleep because you want it. Because you need it. Because your body falls apart without it, and because Bhat is passionately committed to his work.

That passion radiates off him. It’s evident when we meet on a wet winter afternoon at his office in southern Shawnee, in the squat, stucco-coated building that houses his Sweet Sleep Studio. He is a professor at the UMKC School of Medicine and a member of Your Wellness Connection, a collective of medical and therapeutic professionals offering alternative treatments like acupuncture, chiropractic and massage therapy, along with traditional Western medicine. The place is charming and fragrant. There’s an aura of care and attention to detail.

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Top Sleeping Disorders Sleep disorders are conditions that affect sleep quality, timing or duration and impact a person’s ability to properly function while they are awake. According to The Sleep Foundation, there are more than 100 specific sleep disorders.

Here are the most common: • Insomnia: an ongoing difficulty falling or remaining asleep • Sleep apnea: a breathing disorder that disrupts nighttime breathing • Narcolepsy: a condition that makes people feel excessively tired during the day despite having an adequate amount of sleep • Restless legs syndrome: a tingling or crawling sensation that creates an irresistible urge to move your legs • Parasomnias: a group of unusual sleep behaviors that can occur before falling asleep • Excessive sleepiness: a medical term that describes extreme grogginess occurring almost everyday for at least three months • Shift work disorder: a condition among people who work late at night or early in the morning that causes issues with falling asleep, staying asleep or excessive sleepiness at unwanted times.

• Non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder: for most adults, the circadian rhythms guide our sleep-wake cycle, and these cycles remain consistent. For people with this condition, their cycles can vary drastically. –DB

PHOTOGRAPHY SHUTTERSTOCK

“Twenty-five years ago, 1998, I came to this country,” he tells me. His voice bounces with the lilting accent of his native Kashmir, a contested area between India and Pakistan.

Buffalo was his first stop, and Bhat shudders to remember the winters there. He moved to Kansas City in 2006, but not before a change in career. Sleep, he explains, was not his first love. He began his practice as a pulmonary critical care doctor.

“So I deal with patients who are very sick in the ICU, okay?” he says. “But what I found was every time I step into the clinic, every patient, literally every patient, has some sleep issues.”

The light bulb moment, he says, came when he helped a man go to bed with his wife. That’s not a euphemism.

“A patient came to me with a history of heart failure,” he says.

“The wife said that they hadn’t shared the same bedroom in ten years. His snoring was too loud.”

Helping him, Bhat says, didn’t just give the man better heart health—it changed the trajectory of his marriage. It was a gift of love, and Bhat saw a new path.

After a fellowship in Sleep Medicine from the University at Buffalo, Bhat moved to KC, later tacking on an MBA from the Bloch School.

In the nearly two decades since, he has provided medical care to people with various sleep disorders.

He is adamant that he is not a “snoring doctor,” sounding a bit disdainful of the idea. There are 70 different sleep disorders, he notes, and he treats them all. One of the fascinating things about his practice, in fact, is how wide-ranging it is. For so many doctors, medicine has grown ever more specialized. They just do elbows, knees or noses. For Bhat, medicine is deep and broad in scope— holistic, even.

“That’s my differentiation from the other doctors in this town,” he says. “I blend Western medicine and holistic medicine. They both have a place. I have practiced Western medicine for 25 years.

I see the limitations and I see the advantages.”

Good sleep, he says, is essential to preventing chronic ailments like obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and a host of other disorders. Good sleep fights depression and memory loss, too, Bhat says. Yet, Americans are chronically sleep-deprived.

“The CDC has declared sleep problems as an epidemic,” Bhat says. “Forty-five percent of people in this country complain about lack of sleep.”

Bhea and I talk about apnea and the health risks that come with it.

We talk about nightmares and how psychologists under the clinic’s aegis can help. We talk about mattresses and white noise machines, about night sweats, menopause and restless legs syndrome.

Bhat is very keen to call out the common misconception that people must spend a night in the clinic to be tested. The test can be done at home with a simple, small device you get on loan from the clinic.

He is also keen to say that he’s hesitant about prescribing sleep medications, especially drugs like Ambien.

“There’s a known side effect of these medications that is so strange and dangerous, called parasomnia. It means that part of your brain is awake.” He tells of a woman who would go night shopping. She would get up, drive to the grocery store, shop for groceries, come home, get back in bed and find her bags the next morning, all with no recollection of leaving home.

“I call sleep, good diet and exercise the three pillars of good health,” he says. “I see people go to the gym, I see people eating good food, but unfortunately they’re sleeping four hours a night. It’s like a three-leg stool. If you have only two legs, it’s going to fall down.”

There’s only one kind of falling Bhat wants you to do—and that’s into a restful slumber.

AdventHealth Medical Group Hematology Oncology at Shawnee Mission 9301 W. 74th St. Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-9100

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883

David Lee, MD

David Safley, MD

Heather Male, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 4330 Wornall Road, Suite 2000 Kansas City, MO 816-931-1883 816-931-1883

Adam Salisbury, MD

Saint Luke’s Cardiovascular Consultants 20 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 240 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-931-1883

Peter Tadros, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

Mark Wiley, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9600

MEDICAL ONCOLOGY Larry Corum, MD

Olathe Health Cancer Center 15123 S. OMC Parkway Olathe, KS 913-355-8000

Furha Cossor, MD

Saint Luke’s Cancer Specialists 4401 Wornall Road, Peet Center, 5th Floor, Entrance C Kansas City, MO 816-932-3300

Gary Doolittle, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Carol Fabian, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Suite 1102 Westwood, KS 913-588-4821

Rakesh Gaur, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Hematology Oncology at Shawnee Mission 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 100 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-9100

Marc Hoffmann, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center 12200 W. 110th St. Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

Chao Huang, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-3671

Olathe Health Cancer Center 15123 S. OMC Parkway Olathe, KS 913-355-8000 University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1250

Joseph McGuirk, DO

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-3671

Prakash Neupane, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-3671

Anne O’Dea, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Suite 1107 Westwood, KS 913-588-7791

Shajadi Patan, MD

Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at Research Medical Center 2316 E. Meyer Boulevard Kansas City, MO 816-276-4700

Timothy Pluard, MD

Saint Luke’s Cancer Specialists 4321 Washington St., Suite 4000 Kansas City, MO 816-932-3300

Abdulraheem Qasem, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Hematology Oncology at Shawnee Mission 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 100 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-9100

Leyla Shune, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Ali Shwaiki, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Hematology Oncology at Shawnee Mission 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 100 Merriam, KS 913-632-9100

Jacob Smeltzer, MD

Saint Luke’s Cancer Specialists 110 N.E. Saint Luke’s Boulevard, Suite 500 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-932-3300

Joseph Stilwill, MD

Midwest Oncology Associates 12140 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-498-7409

Weijing Sun, MD

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-1227

Elizabeth Wulff-Burchfield, MD University of Kansas Clinical Research Center 4350 Shawnee Mission Parkway Fairway, KS 913-588-1227

NEONATALPERINATAL MEDICINE Jessica Brunkhorst, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Neonatology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3591

John Daniel, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Neonatology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3591

Katherine Florendo, MD

Pediatrix Medical Group of Kansas 4401 Wornall Road, Suite 2708 Kansas City, MO 816-932-2493

Winston Manimtim, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Neonatology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3591

Steven Olsen, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Neonatology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3591

NEPHROLOGY Ahmed Awad, DO

Kansas City Kidney Consultants 4320 Wornall Road, Suite 208 Kansas City, MO 816-531-0552

Arnold Chonko, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 3901 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6074

Diane Cibrik, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-6183

Tarek Darwish, MD

Kansas City Kidney Specialists 11661 College Blvd.

Overland Park, KS 913-495-5517

Cassandra Kimber, DO University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-3974

Jeffrey Klein, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Ryan Lustig, MD

Kansas City Kidney Consultants 4320 Wornall Road, Suite 208 Kansas City, MO 816-531-0552

Franz Winklhofer, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6074

Alan Yu, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6074

NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY Paul Camarata, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Neurological Surgery 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3, Suite 3E Kansas City, KS 913-588-6122

Jonathan Chilton, MD

Midwest Neurosurgery Associates 2330 E. Meyer Blvd., Suite 411-B Kansas City, MO 816-363-2500

John Clough, MD

Neurosurgery of South Kansas City 5340 College Blvd.

Overland Park, KS 816-942-0200

Jules Nazzaro, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Neurological Surgery 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3, Suite 3E Kansas City, KS 913-588-6122

Paul O’Boynick, MD

Shawnee Mission Neurosurgery 7450 Kessler St., Suite 202 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-9480

William Rosenberg, MD

Midwest Neurosurgery Associates 2330 E. Meyer Blvd., Suite 411-B Kansas City, MO 816-363-2500

Timothy Stepp, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Neurological Surgery 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3, Suite 3E Kansas City, KS 913-588-6122

NEUROLOGY

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M. Jameel Kyasa, MD

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Parveen Khosla, MD

St. Joseph Neurology Associates 1004 Carondelet Drive, Suite 300 Kansas City, MO 816-942-4500

Patrick Landazuri, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Comprehensive Epilepsy Clinic 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-6820

Rola Mahmoud, MD

Kansas City Physician Partners 4440 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-531-1918

Coleman Martin, MD

Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City Department of Radiology 4401 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 816-932-2550

Lori Noorollah, MD

Midwest Neurology Physicians 19550 E. 39th St., Suite 200 Independence, MO 816-350-4200

Karin Olds, MD

Michael Abraham, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Margo Block, DO

Midwest Neurology Physicians 19550 E. 39th St., Suite 200 Independence, MO 816-350-4200

Jeffrey Burns, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Alzheimer’s Disease Center 4350 Shawnee Mission Parkway Fairway, KS 918-588-0970

John Croom, MD

Saint Luke’s Neurology 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 520 Kansas City, MO 816-960-7600

Mazen Dimachkie, MD Landon Center 3599 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Saint Luke’s Neurology 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 520 Kansas City, MO 816-960-7600

Rajesh Pahwa, MD

University of Kansas Health System and Medical Center 3599 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6472

Mamatha Pasnoor, MD Landon Center 3599 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6820

Robert Reddig, MD

Midwest Neurology Physicians 19550 E. 39th St., Suite 200 Independence, MO 816-350-4200

Michael Schwartzman, DO Saint Luke’s Neurology 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 520 Kansas City, MO 816-960-7600

Russell Swerdlow, MD

Alexander Fong, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Neurology at Shawnee Mission 7450 Kessler St., Suite 205 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-632-9810

Nancy Hammond, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-6820

University of Kansas Hospital Alzheimer’s Disease Center 4350 Shawnee Mission Parkway Fairway, KS 918- 588-0970

Utku Uysal, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Comprehensive Epilepsy Clinic 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-6820

Jeffrey Kaplan, MD

College Park Family Care Center 10600 Mastin St., Entrance C Overland Park, KS 913-438-0868

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DR. ANCY MARUTHANAL, MD COVER

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“Patients need a more proactive approach to medicine in order to live better and longer.”

DOCTOR

SPOTLIGHT

Exercise is non-negotiable. “It is better than any pill or injection, and it will help you live a longer, healthier life,” says Marunthanal, the medical director of the Executive Health and Advanced Primary Care Program at the University of Kansas Health System. “It’s about being well-rounded and staying active in different ways. Park a little further away, take the stairs and walk outside when you can. Experiment, and find what works for you.

The American Heart Association recommends a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderateintensity exercise. At this level, you should still be able to hold a conversation but not necessarily be able to sing a song.”

As medical director of her program, Maruthanal provides comprehensive care for patients who need an ally in navigating the complexities of medicine.

“Patients need a more proactive approach to medicine in order to live better and longer,” says Maruthanal, whose philosophy of care revolves around the patient, understanding their health care goals and creating a plan to achieve those goals.

“We want to act as early as possible to prevent people from developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.”

How do you go about doing that? Well, Maruthanal has a few suggestions: • Eat more plants. I recommend shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store.

This is where you will find more whole and unprocessed foods. The standard American diet is low in fiber. Aim to get 30 grams of fiber a day. This can come from vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains.

• Prioritize sleep. Your body needs sleep to unwind and regenerate cells. Chronic sleep deprivation can trigger underlying diseases.

• Practice mindfulness and meditation. The brain has neuroplasticity and can change and reorganize connections in response to learning. A positive outlook in life and gratitude can go a long way. Continue to have goals in life. Being socially engaged and emotionally connected is a big factor in reducing cognitive illnesses like dementia.

• Visit with your primary care physician annually. Have your blood pressure checked, and have your cholesterol, glucose and vitamin levels checked. Don’t skip out on the annual mammogram or be afraid of that screening colonoscopy.

“Medicine has come a long way, and we have so many tools to live better,” Maruthanal says. –DB

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

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Alan Reeves, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1030

OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY Errick Arroyo, MD

Kansas City ObGyn 12200 W. 106th St., Suite 230 Overland Park, KS 913-948-9636

Timothy Billharz, MD

Northland Obstetrics & Gynecology 2529 Glenn Hendren Drive, Medical Plaza East, Suite 200 Liberty, MO 816-781-7820

Peter Caruso, MD

Saint Luke’s Women’s Health South 12330 Metcalf Ave., Suite 420 Overland Park, KS 913-323-9000

Rocco Florio, DO

Saint Luke’s Women’s Health East 2737 N.E. McBaine Drive Lee’s Summit, MO 816-251-5780

Amy Giedt, MD

Women’s Health Associates 9119 W. 74th St., Suite 300 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-677-3113

Carrie Grounds, MD

Women’s Clinic of Johnson County 8901 W. 74th St., Suite 100 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-491-4020

Lori Kramer, MD

Saint Luke’s Women’s Health North 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 310 Kansas City, MO 816-880-1025

Frederick Lintecum, MD Lintecum & Nickell 4320 Wornall Road, Suite 720 Kansas City, MO 816-531-2111

Phaedra Lombard, MD

Women’s Clinic of Johnson County 8901 W. 74th St., Suite 100 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-491-4020

Christopher Lynch, MD Johnson County OB/GYN 7440 W.Frontage Road Merriam, KS 913-236-6455

Michael Magee, MD

Women’s Care Obstetrics & Gynecology 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 325 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-384-4990

Ana Martinez, MD

Women’s Health Associates 9119 W. 74th St., Suite 300 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-677-3113

Kimberly Matthews, MD Women’s Health Associates 9119 W. 74th St., Suite 300 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-677-3113

Fred Bodker, MD

Kansas City Eye Clinic 7504 Antioch Road Overland Park, KS 913-341-3100

Anjulie Quick, MD

KU Eye Center 7400 State Line Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6600

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University of Kansas Hospital Department of Radiology 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Kansas City ObGyn 12200 W. 106th St., Suite 230 Overland Park, KS 913-948-9636

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Emily Minderman, MD

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NEURORADIOLOGY

Crystal Newby, MD

Emily Broxterman, MD

Javed Sayed, MD

Sarah Newman, MD

Tyler Brundige, MD

Ajay Singh, MD

Kelly Nichols, DO

Susan Carney, MD

Jason Sokol, MD

Ward Ohlhausen, MD

Timothy Cavanaugh, MD

Erin Stahl, MD

Timothy Badwey, MD

Jason Stahl, MD

Joshua Bunch, MD

Marilyn Richardson, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Eye Center 7400 State Line Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6600

Ryan Christensen, MD

Stephen Stechschulte, MD

Douglas Burton, MD

Leah Ridgway, MD

Retina Associates 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 210 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-831-7400

Discover Vision Centers 11500 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 816-478-1230

Ann Stechschulte, MD

Scott Cook, MD

Sharla Shipman, MD

Retina Associates 8600 Quivira Road Lenexa, KS 913-831-7400

Beatty Suiter, MD

Matthew Daggett, DO

Evelina Swartzman, MD

Discover Vision Centers 4741 S. Cochise Drive Independence, MO 816-296-9239

Carrie Wieneke, MD

Discover Vision Centers 4741 S. Cochise Drive Independence, MO 816-478-1230

Reagan Wittek, MD

Retina Associates 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 210 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-831-7400

Kansas City ObGyn 12200 W. 106th St., Suite 230 Overland Park, KS 913-948-9636 Meritas Health Pavilion for Women 2790 Clay Edwards Drive, Suite 530 North Kansas City, MO 816-452-3300 Northland Women’s Health Care 8600 N.E. 82nd St. Kansas City, MO 816-741-9122 Northland Obstetrics & Gynecology 2529 Glenn Hendren Drive, Medical Plaza East, Suite 200 Liberty, MO 816-781-7820

Madhuri Reddy, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 3901 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6200 KC Wellness Center 1412 N.W. Vivion Road Kansas City, MO 816-214-5276

Women’s Health Associates 9119 W. 74th St., Suite 300 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-677-3113 Women’s Clinic of Johnson County 8901 W. 74th St., Suite 100 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-491-4020 Women’s Health Associates 9119 W. 74th St., Suite 300 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-677-3113

University of Kansas Hospital 3901 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6200 Women’s Health Associates 9119 W. 74th St., Suite 300 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-677-3113

OPHTHALMOLOGY Radwan Ajlan, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Eye Center 7400 State Line Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6600

KU Eye Center 7400 State Line Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6600 Discover Vision Centers 9401 N. Oak Trafficway, Suite 200 Kansas City, MO 816-750-6261 Northland Eye Specialists 1200 Landmark Ave. Liberty, MO 816-792-1900 Cavanaugh Eye Center 6200 W. 135th St., Suite 300 Overland Park, KS 913-897-9200

Mary Champion, MD

Blake Cooper, MD

Douglas Dehning, MD

John Doane, MD

Gregory Fox, MD

Kenneth Frank, MD

Karl Hendricks, MD

David Amsterdam, MD

Kristin Biggerstaff, MD

Kansas City Eye Clinic 7504 Antioch Road Overland Park, KS 913-341-3100

Christopher Ketcherside, MD

Johann Ohly, MD

Joseph Parelman, MD Mid America Eye Center 3830 W. 75th St. Prairie Village, KS 913-384-1441

Impact Orthopedics & Sports Medicine 5200 W. 94th Terrace, Suite 113 Prairie Village, KS 913-906-8640 Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance 4320 Wornall Road, Medical Plaza Building 1, Suite 610 Kansas City, MO 913-319-7600

Children’s Mercy Broadway Ophthalmology Clinic 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-960-8000 Durrie Vision 8300 College Boulevard, Suite 201 Overland Park, KS 913-491-3330

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227 University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9900 Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance 3651 College Blvd., Suite 100B Leawood, KS 913-362-0031

Stiles Eyecare Excellence 7200 W. 129th St. Overland Park, KS 913-897-9299

Sano Orthopedics 2861 N.E. Independence Ave., Suite 201 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-525-2840

Retina Associates 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 210 Shawnee Mission, KS 913-831-7400

Steven Unterman, MD

Suzanne Elton, MD

Mid America Eye Center 3830 W. 75th St. Prairie Village, KS 913-384-1441

W. Abraham White, MD

KU Eye Center 7400 State Line Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6600

Thomas Whittaker, MD

Anne Wishna, MD

Kansas City Eye Clinic 7504 Antioch Road Overland Park, KS 913-341-3100

Kansas City Eye Clinic 7504 Antioch Road Overland Park, KS 913-341-3100

KU Eye Center 7400 State Line Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6600

Milton Grin, MD Grin Eye Care 21020 W. 151st St. Olathe, KS 913-829-5511

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Michael Azzam, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Eye Center 7400 State Line Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6600

Neeti Alapati, MD

Discover Vision Centers 11500 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 816-478-1230

Discover Vision Centers 11500 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 816-478-1230

Frank Eye Center 1401 S. Main St. Ottawa, KS 785- 242-4242

Medical Surgical Eye Care 8919 Parallel Parkway, Suite 226 Kansas City, KS 913-299-8800

Discover Vision Centers 11500 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 816-296-9391

Discover Vision Centers 9401 N. Oak Trafficway, Suite 200 Kansas City, MO 816-296-9354

The University of Kansas Health System Eye Center 7400 State Line Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6600

Jeff Wongskhaluang, MD

Kansas City Bone & Joint Clinic 10701 Nall Ave., Corporate Medical Plaza, Building 1 Overland Park, KS 913-381-5225

Daniel Farrell, MD

Overland Park Surgical Specialists and Sports Medicine 12200 W. 106th St., Suite 400 Overland Park, KS 913-541-5500

Larry Frevert, MD

Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302

Wesley Frevert, MD

Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302

Daniel Gurley, MD

Grin Eye Care 21020 W. 151st St. Olathe, KS 913-829-5511

College Park Family Care Center 10600 Mastin St., Entrance A Overland Park, KS 913-469-6447

ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-6100

John Anderson, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Orthopedic Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3075

David Anderson, MD

Archie Heddings, MD

Jon Hedgecock, MD

Orthopedic Health of Kansas City 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 100 North Kansas City, MO 816-561-3003

Kansas City Joint Replacement and Sports Medicine 5701 W. 119th St., Suite 410 Overland Park, KS 913-345-6901

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DR. SUSAN LEE, MD SPOTLIGHT

“Studies have shown that social isolation is one of the worst things we can do for our health.”

For Dr. Susan Lee, spiritual and emotional health are the foundations to building a healthy life. It’s these building blocks that help lead to other healthy choices, such as exercising and making smart food choices.

“I often talk with my patients about doing their best to enjoy life as it comes, and I encourage them to intentionally engage with others who can provide them with support and guidance,” Lee says. “Studies have shown that social isolation is one of the worst things we can do for our health. Sure, we know that eating right, exercising and physical health are all important, but the value of mental wellness can’t be overstated. I find that for myself and many of my patients who have had very long lives—or would like to—the emotional and spiritual health affects our physical health more than anything else,” says Lee, who practices family medicine at AdventHealth Medical Group Primary Care at South Overland Park.

“As a young woman, it was so very important to me to have the love and security of my family, friends and church community in building the foundation for the faith and resilience that would come to help me withstand the storms of later life,” says Lee, who earned her degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine.

These core values have served her well. “I am grateful to have the privilege of providing medical care for so many treasured families throughout the years,” Lee says. “A wise friend once told me ‘gratitude produces joy which produces peace which drives more gratitude.’

Therein lies the key to a healthy life.” –DB

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF K ANSAS HOSPITAL

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Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance 3651 College Blvd., Suite 100B Leawood, KS 913-362-0031

Howard Rosenthal, MD

Kansas City Joint Replacement and Sports Medicine 5701 W. 119th St., Suite 410 Overland Park, KS 913-345-6901

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Sarcoma Center 10730 Nall Ave., Suite 201 Overland Park, KS 913-588-3671

Kathryn Keeler, MD

Jonathon Salava, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Orthopedic Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3075

Vincent Key, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Sports Medicine and Performance Center 10730 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-588-6100

Jeffrey Krempec, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Sports Medicine and Performance Center 10730 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

C. Craig Satterlee, MD

Orthopedic Health of Kansas City 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 100 North Kansas City, MO 816-561-3003

Richard Schwend, MD

Orthopedic Health of Kansas City 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 100 North Kansas City, MO 816-561-3003

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Orthopedic Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3075

Kevin Latz, MD

Aakash Shah, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Orthopedic Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3075

Christopher Maugans, MD

Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302

Megan Mayer, MD

Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302

Scott Mullen, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Sports Medicine and Performance Center 10730 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

Paul Nassab, MD

Orthopedic Health of Kansas City 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 100 North Kansas City, MO 816-561-3003

Donna Pacicca, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Orthopedic Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3075

Andrew Palmisano, MD Ascentist Healthcare 4801 College Blvd.

Leawood, KS 913-286-4434

Amar Patel, MD

Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302

Nigel Price, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Orthopedic Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3075

Jay Rapley, MD

Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302

Kansas City Joint Replacement and Sports Medicine 5701 W. 119th St., Suite 410 Overland Park, KS 913-345-6901

Shyam Shridharani, MD

Olathe Health Integrity Spine Surgery 20375 W. 151st St., Doctor’s Building 1, Suite 105 Olathe, KS 913-355-8100

Mark Sinclair, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Orthopedic Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3075

John Sojka, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Orthopedic Surgery 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Jacob Stueve, MD

Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance 3651 College Blvd., Suite 100B Leawood, KS 913-362-0031

Kimberly Templeton, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Orthopedic Surgery 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6100

Bryan Vopat, MD

The University of Kansas Health System Sports Medicine and Performance Center 10730 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

Alan Zonno, MD

Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Boulevard, Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302

OTOLARYNGOLOGY Jill Arganbright, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall ENT Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3040

Gregory Ator, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

Matthew Beuerlein, MD

The Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic 2521 Glenn Hendren Drive, Suite 104 Liberty, MO 816-781-1001

Daniel Bruegger, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

Alexander Chiu, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

Douglas Cowan, MD

Ascentist Ear, Nose & Throat 4801 College Blvd.

Leawood, KS 816-478-4200

PAIN MEDICINE Joel Ackerman, MD

KC Pain Centers 200 N.E. Missouri Road, Suite 103 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-763-1559 Saint Luke’s Hospital Pain Management Clinic 4321 Washington St. Medical Plaza III, Suite 1200 Kansas City, MO 816-932-2932

Edward Braun, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Anesthesia Pain Medicine Division 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9900

Andrea Chadwick, MD

Robert Cullen, MD

James Garnett, MD

Kansas Pain Management 10995 Quivira Road Overland Park, KS 913-339-9437

Douglas Girod, MD

Genesis Pain Clinic 6700 W. 121st St., Suite 300 Overland Park, KS 913-871-9888

Colleen Johnson, MD

North Kansas City Hospital 2790 Clay Edwards Drive, Suite 700 North Kansas City, MO 913-647-4119

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701 University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701 Ascentist Ear, Nose & Throat 2300 Hutton Road, Suite 106 Kansas City, KS 816-478-4200

Kiran Kakarala, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

Frank Koranda, MD

Midwest Medical Specialists 8490 College Blvd.

Overland Park, KS 816-454-2655

Christopher Larsen, MD University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

James Lin, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

Brian Metz, MD

Midwest Ear, Nose & Throat 20375 W. 151st St., Suite 106 Olathe, KS 913-764-2737

David Rouse, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 220 Overland Park, KS 913-588-1227

Yelizaveta (Lisa) Shnayder, MD University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

Hinrich Staecker, MD/PhD University of Kansas Hospital 2000 Olathe Blvd., Floor 3 Kansas City, KS 913-588-6701

DOCTO

Mark Bilezikjian, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Anesthesia Pain Medicine Division 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9900

Ascentist Healthcare 3100 Broadway Blvd., Suite 509 Kansas City, MO 816-478-4200

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Mark Rasmussen, MD

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Michael Hellman, MD

Mayank Gupta, MD

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PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY Aliessa Barnes, MD

Children’s Mercy College Boulevard Heart Center 5520 College Blvd.

Overland Park, KS 816-234-3700

Brian Birnbaum, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Cardiology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3880

Philip Chang, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Cardiology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3880

Raza Jafri, MD

Kenneth Goertz, MD

Dwayne Jones, MD

Talal Khan, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Anesthesia Pain Medicine Division 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-9900

Smith Manion, MD

Shawnee Mission Health Center for Pain Medicine 9100 W. 74th St. Shawnee, KS 913-676-2370

University of Kansas Hospital 7301 Mission Road, Suite 350 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-6300

Stephen Kaine, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Heart Center 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 913-696-5830

Ryan Romans, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Cardiology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3880

David Sutcliffe, MD

PATHOLOGY Kamani Lankachandra, MD University Health Truman Medical Center 2301 Holmes St. Kansas City, MO 816-404-1000

PEDIATRIC ALLERGY & IMMUNOLOGY

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Cardiology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3880

Luisa Waitman, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Cardiology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3880

PEDIATRIC DERMATOLOGY

Jay Portnoy, MD

Kimberly Horii, MD

PEDIATRIC ANESTHESIOLOGY

PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGY

Adam Booser, MD

Jennifer Boyd, DO

Christian Taylor, MD

Tania Burgert, MD

Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 5808 W. 110th St. Overland Park, KS 816-960-8900

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Anesthesiology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3464 Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Anesthesiology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3464

Children’s Mercy Broadway Dermatology Clinic 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700 Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

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DR. MICHAEL ABRAHAM, MD COVER

“Knowing your body is very important.

If you notice something is not right, reach out to your doctor.”

SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Michael Abraham is a doctor and professor of neurointerventional surgery and neurocritical care. In other words, he treats stroke patients.

Abraham, who is an assistant professor and surgeon with the University of Kansas Health System, describes what he does as “minimally invasive surgery into the brain through the arteries or veins.” And like every expert in the medical field is saying today, Abraham says the key to a long and healthy life—and to preventing things like strokes—is actually living a healthy lifestyle.

“A common question patients and their families ask is how to prevent strokes or how to prevent brain aneurysms from occurring,” Abraham says. “Preventative care is an essential step. Having a regular primary care doctor, eating well, exercising regularly, avoiding tobacco use and [getting] good sleep are all very important. Additionally, knowing your body is very important. If you notice something is not right, reach out to your doctor.”

Abraham has been involved in clinical research that has greatly improved the lives of stroke patients. “We are now able to remove blood clots from the brain in minutes compared to 10 years ago where the surgery would take an hour,” he says. “We are able to treat a larger number of stroke patients based on data from clinical trials we have been a part of, and [we’re] now giving more patients a chance to walk out of the hospital rather than being wheelchair-bound and more patients going home rather than to a nursing home.”

Abraham says patients frequently ask him, “If I was your family member, what would you do?” His answer: “That is how I have always approached every patient. Throughout medical school, my mother always stressed to me to really listen to my patients and understand what they are going through.” –DB

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY

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DOCTOR

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Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Francesco DeLuca, MD Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Kelsee Halpin, MD

Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Jill Jacobson, MD

Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Ryan McDonough, DO Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Naim Mitre, MD

Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Wayne Moore, MD,PhD Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Tiffany Musick, DO

Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Emily Paprocki, DO

Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Angela Turpin, MD

Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

Ryan Fischer, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

Craig Friesen, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

Aileen Har, MD

Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas Gastroenterology 5808 W. 110th St. Overland Park, KS 913-696-8000

Nadia Hijaz, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

Stephanie Page, MD

Midwest Pediatric Specialists 10550 Quivira Road, Suite 520 Overland Park, KS 913-310-0482

John Rosen, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

Valentina Shakhnovich, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

Voytek Slowik, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY-ONCOLOGY Ibrahim Ahmed, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-302-6808

Keith August, MD

Ruba Abdelhadi, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-302-6808

Julie Bass, DO

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Hematology, Oncology, and BMT 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-302-6808

Jennifer Colombo, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Hematology, Oncology, and BMT 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066 Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066 Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

Shannon Carpenter, MD

Alan Gamis, MD

Maxine Hetherington, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Hematology, Oncology, and BMT 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Karen Lewing, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-302-6808

Michael Silvey, DO

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-302-6808

PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE Angela Myers, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Infectious Diseases Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-983-6325

Jordan Jones, DO

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Rheumatology Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Richard Hendrickson, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall General and Thoracic Surgery 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3097

Corey Iqbal, MD

Pediatric Surgical Specialists 12200 W. 106th St., Suite 210 Kansas City, KS 913-752-8500

Kurt Schropp, MD

PEDIATRIC NEPHROLOGY Douglas Blowey, MD

PEDIATRIC UROLOGY

Vimal Chadha, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Kidney Center 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3030

Bradley Warady, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Kidney Center 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3030

Darcy Weidemann, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Kidney Center 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3030

PEDIATRIC OTOLARYNGOLOGY Adriane Latz, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall ENT Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3040

Robert Weatherly, MD Children’s Mercy Adele Hall ENT Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3040

PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY Christopher Oermann, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Pulmonology & Cystic Fibrosis Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-983-6490

PEDIATRIC RHEUMATOLOGY Ashley Cooper, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Rheumatology Clinic 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

DOCTO

PEDIATRIC SURGERY

University of Kansas Hospital Pediatric Surgery 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas Pediatric Nephrology 5808 W. 110th St. Overland Park, KS 913-696-8000

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Sarah Edwards, DO

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Children’s Mercy Broadway Endocrinology and Diabetes 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

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Joseph Cernich, MD

Paul Bowlin, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Urologic Surgery 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3199 Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Urologic Surgery 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3199

Allison Hettinger, MD Preferred Pediatrics 824 W. Frontier Lane Olathe, KS 913-764-7060

Christopher Koster, MD

AdventHealth Specialty Care at Ottawa 901 S. Main St. Ottawa, KS 785-229-8891 Meritas Health Pediatrics 2700 Clay Edwards Drive, Suite 500 North Kansas City, MO 816-421-4115

Stephen Lauer, MD

Village Office Center 7301 Mission Road, Suite 350 Prairie Village, KS 913-588-1227 Leawood Pediatrics 5401 College Blvd., Suite 101 Leawood, KS 913-825-3627

Huda Alani, MD KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road Shawnee, KS 913-588-6300

David Lowry, DO

Platte County Pediatrics 1104 Platte Falls Road Platte City, MO 816-858-5253

Thomas Attard, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Gastroenterology 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3066

Janice Martin, MD

Lynn Beck, MD

Pediatric Professional Association 10600 Quivira Road, Suite 210 Overland Park, KS 913-541-3300

Todd Bush, MD

Premier Pediatrics 8675 College Blvd., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-345-9400

Carolyn Davis, MD

Pediatric Care Specialists 7400 W. 129th St., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-906-0900

Pediatric Care Specialists 7400 W. 129th St., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-906-0900

Jennifer Mellick, MD

Children’s Mercy Pediatric Partners 2111 E. Kansas City Road Olathe, KS 913-888-4567

Vernon Mills, MD

Drs. Heidgen and Mills 3550 S. Fourth St., Suite 120 Leavenworth, KS 913-772-6046

Rozina Mohiuddin, MD

Ann Gassman, MD

Children’s Mercy Cass County Pediatrics 503 N. Scott Ave. Belton, MO 816-322-4769 Swope Health KidsCARE Golon Pediatrics 1001 Sixth Ave., Suite 210 Leavenworth, KS 913-682-3920 Leawood Pediatrics 5401 College Blvd., Suite 101 Leawood, KS 913-825-3627

Children’s Mercy Broadway Primary Care Clinic 3101 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-234-3700

Megan Loeb, MD

PEDIATRICS

Mary Hamm, MD

Sarah Hampl, MD

Eve Krahn, MD

Joel Koenig, MD

Lori Golon, MD

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KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road Shawnee, KS 913-588-6300

Charles Moylan, MD

Pediatric Associates 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 206 Kansas City, MO 816-561-8100

Mary Nagy, MD

Leawood Pediatrics 5401 College Blvd., Suite 101 Leawood, KS 913-825-3627

Kathryn Petelin, DO KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road Shawnee , KS 913-588-1227

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PLASTIC SURGERY

DOCTO

Joseph Barnthouse, MD

1010 Carondelet Drive, Suite 401 Kansas City, MO 816-943-8004

Richard Bene, MD

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Monarch Plastic Surgery 4801 W. 135th St. Leawood, KS 913-663-3838

Daniel Bortnick, MD Marion Pierson, MD

Village Pediatrics 8340 Mission Road, Suite 100 Prairie Village, KS 913-642-2100

Susan Ratliff, MD Pediatric Partners 7450 W. 135th St. Overland Park, KS 913-888-4567

Stuart Shanker, MD Preferred Pediatrics 824 W. Frontier Lane Olathe, KS 913-764-7060

Aundria Speropoulos, MD Leawood Pediatrics 5401 College Blvd., Suite 101 Leawood, KS 913-825-3627

Amy Voelker, MD Preferred Pediatrics 824 W. Frontier Lane Olathe, KS 913-764-7060

Claire White, MD

Pediatric Care Specialists 7400 W. 129th St., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-906-0900

Jason Wichman, MD

Pediatric Care Specialists 7400 W. 129th St., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-906-0900

Deborah Winburn, MD

Premier Pediatrics 8675 College Blvd., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-345-9400

David Yu, MD

Sunflower Medical Group Heartland Primary Care 2040 Hutton Road, Suite 102 Kansas City, KS 913-299-3700

PHYSICAL MEDICINE & REHABILITATION Shynda Miles, MD

Miles Medical Group 11111 Nall Ave., Suite 218 Leawood, KS 913-261-9812

Bortnick Plastic Surgery 7901 W. 135th St. Overland Park, KS 913-754-4939

James Butterworth, MD University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-2000

Joseph Cannova, MD

Associated Plastic Surgeons 11501 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 913-451-3722

J. Douglas Cusick, MD

4601 College Blvd., Suite 222 Leawood, KS 913-661-0202

Keith Hodge, MD

Monarch Plastic Surgery 4801 W. 135th St. Leawood, KS 913-663-3838

Richard Korentager, MD University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-2000

Paul Leahy, MD

Monarch Plastic Surgery 4801 W. 135th St. Leawood, KS 913-663-3838

Garry Martin, MD

Saint Luke’s Plastic Surgery Specialists 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 400 Kansas City, MO 816-932-0288

Mark McClung, MD

Associated Plastic Surgeons 11501 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 913-451-3722

Thomas McEwan, MD

Saint Luke’s Plastic Surgery Specialists 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 400 Kansas City, MO 816-932-0288

Barbara McGrath, MD St. Luke’s Health System 7509 Nall Ave. Prairie Village, KS 913-381-5544

Thuan Nguyen, MD

Rajorshi Mitra, MD

Saint Luke’s Plastic Surgery Specialists 4400 Broadway Blvd., Suite 400 Kansas City, MO 816-932-0288

Terrence Pratt, MD

Victor Perez, MD

Neil Segal, MD

John Quinn, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227 Rockhill Orthopedic Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 200 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-246-4302 KU MedWest 7405 Renner Road, Pod C Shawnee, KS 913-588-9900

Renue Aesthetic Surgery 11532 W. 119th St. Overland Park, KS 913-685-1108 Quinn Plastic Surgical Center 6920 W. 121st St., Suite 102 Overland Park, KS 913-492-3443

Jon Rast, MD

Associated Plastic Surgeons 11501 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 913-451-3722

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Sheryl Young, MD

John Nelson, MD

PSYCHIATRY

Tammy Ojo, MD

Associated Plastic Surgeons 11501 Granada Lane Leawood, KS 913-451-3722

Irfan Handoo, MD

Interpersonal Psychiatry 7011 W. 121st St., Suite 105 Overland Park, KS 913-357-1290

Norman Heisler, MD

Saint Luke’s Behavioral Health Specialists 601 S. 169 Highway Smithville, MO 816-532-7220

Poonam Khanna, DO

Minds that Matter 14221 Metcalf Ave., Suite 123 Overland Park, KS 913-912-7054

Charles Lake, MD/PhD Lake’s Consulting 836 W. 57th St. Kansas City, MO 816-678-4848

Colin MacKenzie, MD

TelePsychiatry Associates 9393 W. 110th St., Suite 500 Overland Park, KS 913-766-7246

Kevin Mays, MD

Psychiatry Associates of Kansas City 8900 State Line Road, Suite 380 Leawood, KS 913-385-7252

Sergio Zaderenko, MD

Heartland Psychiatric 8340 Mission Road, Suite 210 Prairie Village, KS 913-642-0100

PULMONARY DISEASE Mario Castro, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6045

Michael Crosser, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6045

James Kaplan, MD

Kansas Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists 10550 Quivira Road, Suite 335 Overland Park, KS 913-599-3800

Heath Latham, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6045

Vincent Lem, MD

Saint Luke’s Midwest Pulmonary Specialists 4321 Washington St., Suite 6000 Kansas City, MO 816-756-2255

Trenton Nauser, MD

Menorah Pulmonary and Critical Care Consultants 5701 W. 119th St., Suite 308 Overland Park, KS 913-253-3070

Kansas Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists 10550 Quivira Road, Suite 335 Overland Park, KS 913-599-3800 University of Kansas Hospital Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6045

Mark Plautz, MD

Kansas City VA Medical Center 4801 E. Linwood Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-861-4700

Maykol Postigo Jasahui, MD University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Franklin Quijano, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6045

Damien Stevens, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6045

Jennifer Svetlecic, MD

Saint Luke’s Pulmonary Specialists 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 300 Kansas City, MO 816-880-6238

Timothy Williamson, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine 2000 Olathe Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-6045

RADIATION ONCOLOGY Ronald Chen, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4001 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Bhaswanth Dhanireddy, MD Advent Health Cancer Center 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 100 Merriam, KS 913-632-9100

Andrew Hoover, MD

University of Kansas Hospital 4001 Rainbow Blvd.

Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Bradley Koffman, MD

Menorah Medical Center Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute 5721 W. 119th St., Medical Building 1 Overland Park, KS 913-498-6270

Kenon Qamar, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 10701 Nall Ave., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-647-4168

Kelly Rhodes-Stark, MD Olathe Health Cancer Center 15123 S. OMC Parkway Olathe, KS 913-355-8000

Mark Thompson, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 17525 Medical Center Parkway Independence, MO 816-994-3157

REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY/ INFERTILITY Celeste Brabec, MD

Reproductive Resource Center 6650 W. 110th St., Suite 320 Overland Park, KS 913-894-2323

Dan Gehlbach, MD

Midwest Reproductive Center 20375 W. 151st St., Suite 403 Olathe, KS 913-780-4300

Michael Lydic, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Women’s Health Specialty Center 10777 Nall Ave., Suite 200 Overland Park, KS 913-588-2229

Ryan Riggs, MD Blue Sky Fertility 14253 Metcalf Ave. Overland Park, KS 913-218-0162

RHEUMATOLOGY Pooja Bhadbhade, DO

University of Kansas Hospital Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology 4000 Cambridge St., 1st Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Mehrdad Maz, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology 4000 Cambridge St., 1st Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Carrie Mihordin, DO

Mid-America Rheumatology Consultants 5701 W. 119th St., Suite 209 Overland Park, KS 913-661-9980

Paul Schmidt, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Allergy, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology 4000 Cambridge St., 1st Floor Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Ann Warner, MD

Kansas City Physician Partners 4440 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 816-531-0930

SLEEP MEDICINE Abid Bhat, MD

Sweet Sleep Studio 7410 Switzer Road Shawnee, KS 913-309-5963

David Cocanower, MD

AdventHealth Ottawa Health Park 901 S. Main St. Ottawa, KS 785- 229-8882

Gregory Canty, MD

Children’s Mercy Kansas City Sports Medicine Center at Village West 1801 N. 98th St. Kansas City, KS 816-701-4878

VASCULAR & INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY

Alexander Schoofs, MD

B. Moore, MD

Patrick Nosti, MD

Lindsay Hertzig, MD

SURGERY

Timothy Schmitt, MD

Ian Rosbrugh, MD

Christian Hettinger, MD

John Shook, MD

Gary Sutkin, MD

Daniel Holmes, MD

Stephen Wassinger, MD

Jeffrey Holzbeierlein, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Radiology 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Gregory Horwitz, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Radiology 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Liberty Hospital Primary Care 8380 N. Tullis Ave., Suite 300 Kansas City, MO 816-415-3451

Mazin Al-Kasspooles, MD

University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-3671

Robert Amajoyi, MD

Saint Luke’s Surgical Specialists 4320 Wornall Road, Medical Plaza 1, Suite 530 Kansas City, MO 816-932-7900

Michael Arroyo, MD

Saint Luke’s Surgical Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 220 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-932-7900

Christa Balanoff, MD

Saint Luke’s Surgical Specialists 4320 Wornall Road, Suite 530 Kansas City, MO 816-932-7900 University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-6183 Saint Luke’s Breast Surgery Specialists 4401 Wornall Road, Floor 3 Kansas City, MO 816-932-7900

Geoffrey Slayden, MD

Saint Luke’s Surgical Specialists 12330 Metcalf Ave., Suite 500B Overland Park, KS 816-932-7900

Jared Smith, MD

Independence Surgical Clinic 19550 E. 39th St., Suite 325 Independence, MO 816-373-4646

University of Kansas Hospital 10710 Nall Ave. Overland Park, KS 913-945-9400

THORACIC & CARDIAC SURGERY

Mindi Beahm, MD

Mid America Heart & Lung Surgeons 4320 Wornall Road, Suite 50 Kansas City, MO 816-931-3312

Independence Surgical Clinic 19550 E. 39th St., Suite 325 Independence, MO 816-373-4646

Romano Delcore, MD

University of Kansas Cancer Center Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion 2650 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 913-588-3671

Nicole Fearing, MD

HCA Midwest Physicians Bariatric and Metabolic Specialists 5100 W. 110th St., Suite 110 Overland Park, KS 913-345-6960

Stanley Hoehn, MD

AdventHealth Surgery Center The Bariatric Center of Kansas City 23401 Prairie Star Parkway, Suite 300 Lenexa, KS 913-677-6319

Robert Kenney, DO

Saint Luke’s Surgical Specialists 5844 N.W. Barry Road, Suite 120 Kansas City, MO 816-932-7900

Heather Klepacz, MD

University Health Truman Medical Center Surgery Clinic 2301 Holmes St. Kansas City, MO 816-404-0099

Anne Kobbermann, MD

Midwest Breast Care 10600 Quivira Road, Suite 460 Overland Park, KS 913-227-0565

Sean Kumer, MD,PhD

University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-6183

Patrick McGregor, MD

Meritas Health Surgery & Trauma 2750 Clay Edwards Drive, Suite 600 North Kansas City, MO 816-453-4000

Megan McNally, MD

Saint Luke’s Surgical Specialists 120 N.E. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Suite 220 Lee’s Summit, MO 816-932-7900

Keith Allen, MD

William Cooper, MD

Meritas Health Cardiothoracic Surgery 2790 Clay Edwards Drive, Suite 520B North Kansas City, MO 816-691-5198

Emmanuel Daon, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Cardiothoracic Surgery 4000 Cambridge St., Suite G600 Kansas City, KS 913-945-9378

Gregory Muehlebach, MD University of Kansas Hospital 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-7743

Graham Pollock, MD

Mid America Heart & Lung Surgeons 4320 Wornall Road, Suite 50 Kansas City, MO 816-931-3312

Prem Samuel, MD

Midwest Heart & Vascular Specialists 19550 E. 39th St., Suite 225 Independence, MO 816-833-0381

George Zorn, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Cardiothoracic Surgery 4000 Cambridge St., Suite G600 Kansas City, KS 913-945-9378

UROGYNECOLOGY/ FEMALE PELVIC MEDICINE & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY Charles Butrick, MD

Urogynecology of Kansas City 10707 W. 87th St. Overland Park, KS 913-262-3000

Richard Hill, MD

Saint Luke’s Urogynecology Specialists 4321 Washington St., Suite 5000 Kansas City, MO 816-932-1785

Urogynecology of Kansas City 10707 W. 87th St. Overland Park, KS 913-262-3000 Meritas Health Pavilion for Women 2790 Clay Edwards Drive, Suite 530 North Kansas City, MO 816-452-3300 University Health 2101 Charlotte St. Kansas City, MO 816-404-4966

Saint Luke’s Urogynecology Specialists 4321 Washington St., Suite 5000 Kansas City, MO 816-932-1785

UROLOGY Justin Albani, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 200 North Kansas City, MO 816-781-8400

Jason Anast, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 20375 W. 151st St., Suite 409 Olathe, KS 913-780-3388

Marcus Austenfeld, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 4321 Washington St., Suite 5300 Kansas City, MO 816-531-1234

David Bock, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 10701 Nall Ave., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-338-5585

Joshua Broghammer, MD University of Kansas Hospital Urology 2000 Olathe Blvd., Level 2A Kansas City, KS 913-588-6146

Bradley Davis, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Urology 2000 Olathe Blvd., Level 2A Kansas City, KS 913-588-6146

David Duchene, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Urology 2000 Olathe Blvd., Level 2A Kansas City, KS 913-588-6146

Andrew Flum, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 10701 Nall Ave., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-338-5585

KCUC Urology & Oncology 10701 Nall Ave., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-338-5585 KCUC Urology & Oncology 10701 Nall Ave., Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 913-338-5585

KCUC Urology & Oncology 4321 Washington S., Suite 5300 Kansas City, MO 816-531-1234 University of Kansas Hospital Urology 2000 Olathe Blvd., Level 2A Kansas City, KS 913-588-6146

KCUC Urology & Oncology 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 200 North Kansas City, MO 816-842-6717

Brandan Kramer, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 200 North Kansas City, MO 816-842-6717

Sam Kuykendall, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 4321 Washington St., Suite 5300 Kansas City, MO 816-531-1234

James Magera, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 2529 Glenn Hendren Drive, Suite 202 Liberty, MO 816-781-8400

Scott Montgomery, MD KCUC Urology & Oncology 7450 Kessler St., Suite 110 Merriam, KS 913-831-1003

Ajay Nangia, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Urology 2000 Olathe Blvd., Level 2A Kansas City, KS 913-588-6146

Son Nguyen, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 7450 Kessler St., Suite 110 Merriam, KS 913-831-1003

Ellen Yetter, MD

Advanced Radiology Consultants of Kansas City 4901 W. 136th St. Leawood, KS 913-393-9729

VASCULAR SURGERY Jeffrey Cameron, MD

Kansas City Vascular & General Surgery 5100 W. 110th St., Suite 300 Overland Park, KS 913-754-2800

Joe Cates, MD

Kansas City Vascular & General Surgery 5100 W. 110th St., Suite 300 Overland Park, KS 913-754-2800 University of Kansas Hospital Vascular Surgery Associates 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-574-0560

Karthik Vamanan, MD

Mid America Heart & Lung Surgeons 4320 Wornall Road, Suite 50 Kansas City, MO 816-931-3312

Billy Perry, MD

John Gatti, MD

University of Kansas Hospital Urology 2000 Olathe Blvd., Level 2A Kansas City, KS 913-588-6146

Steven Lemons, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 200 North Kansas City, MO 816-842-6717

KCUC Urology & Oncology 4321 Washington St., Suite 5300 Kansas City, MO 816-531-1234

Tomas Griebling, MD

Philip Johnson, MD

Gerald Park, MD

Anton Galich, MD

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall Department of Urologic Surgery 2401 Gillham Road Kansas City, MO 816-234-3199

University of Kansas Hospital Department of Radiology 4000 Cambridge St. Kansas City, KS 913-588-1227

Kirk Hance, MD

AdventHealth Medical Group Urology Care at Ottawa 1301 S. Main St. Ottawa, KS 785- 229-3390

KCUC Urology & Oncology 20375 W. 151st St., Suite 409 Olathe, KS 913-780-3388

Zachary Collins, MD

Brandon Pomeroy, MD

Susan Sweat, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 7450 Kessler St., Suite 110 Merriam, KS 913-831-1003

Douglas Tietjen, MD KCUC Urology & Oncology 451 N.W. Murray Road Lee’s Summit, MO 816-524-1007

Thomas Herrick, MD

KCUC Urology & Oncology 1950 Diamond Parkway, Suite 200 North Kansas City, MO 816-842-6717

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68 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

PHOTOGRPAHY COURTESY OF K ANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY

Kansas City’s notorious prohibition-era speakeasies are making a comeback, but this time around, no passwords are required.

BY RACHEL LAYTON

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Tom Pendergast, a Kansas City political boss who was considered one of the country’s most corrupt unelected political influencers, ruled the city from 1925 to 1939, helping the city’s speakeasies thrive during Prohibition.

S T R I K I N G U P A conversation with any

KC bar connoisseur is certain to lead to a list of dark and moody bars reminiscent of a time long gone. Nostalgically referred to as speakeasies, the modern versions of clandestine Prohibition-era bars are experiencing a surge in popularity that just so happens to coincide with the 104th anniversary of Prohibition.

It’s easy to simply accept speakeasies—a name that came about when patrons needed to “speak easy,” or quietly, about places selling illegal booze—as yet another modern-day “retro” trend. However, here in KC, these ventures spring from a rich, complicated past that’s intertwined with the city’s infamous history of corruption.

In 1920, just as the Constitution’s 18th Amendment was adopted prohibiting the manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors in the United States, Kansas City was in the midst of entering a political era known as the Pendergast Years.

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Tom Pendergast, considered one of the country’s most corrupt political bosses, was an unelected city dealmaker and leader of the Goat faction of the local Democratic Party, referencing the many goats the city’s Irish population housed in their backyards. Under Pendergast’s reign, from 1925 to 1939, KC was known as “the only major city in the country that largely ignored national Prohibition laws,” says Ryan Maybee, career bartender and founder of J. Rieger & Co. Distillery and the Hey! Hey! Club.

Chuck Haddix, a jazz historian and the curator of UMKC’s Marr Sound Archives, says Pendergast was “never elected to any office […] He delivered votes for the machines, and since he controlled city hall, he was able to foster graft and corruption in Kansas City.” The city’s perceived lawlessness garnered it the title “Paris of the Plains” and, more darkly, the “Crime Capital of the Country.”

Under Pendergast’s reign, from 1925 to 1939, KC was known as “the only major city in the country that largely ignored national Prohibition laws.”

Speakeasies and Pendergast

PHOTOGRPAHY COURTESY OF K ANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY

I N T H E B O O K , Kansas City Jazz: From

Ragtime to Bebop, co-authored by Haddix and the late Frank Driggs, the authors muse that Prohibition in Kansas City was a part of the city’s ongoing “tradition of vice and lawlessness,” stemming from the city’s roots as a frontier town.

Under the Pendergast machine, Kansas City’s nightclubs, prostitution, gambling and alcohol sales flourished. All these and more were housed within the city’s dozens of ‘speaks,’ or speakeasies.

Maybee defines the Prohibition speakeasy as, “simply put, a place you could drink during Prohibition when it was illegal. [Speakeasy] referenced either ‘careful who you tell about it,’ or, a lot of times you would want to keep the noise level down to keep from being caught.” However, in the Pendergast years, getting caught was the last thing on most proprietors’ minds. “Kansas City was the only major city that did not have a single felony arrest for the sale of alcohol during Prohibition,” Maybee says. This was largely due to “Boss” Tom Pendergast.

As the head of the Jackson County Democratic Club, Pendergast controlled city hall with ease, with cronies judge Henry McElroy and police chief Otto Higgins under his thumb. Through his influence and power, both financially and through relationships he’d fostered with illegal sellers of spirits, Pendergast encouraged city officials to look the other way when it came to nightclubs, liquor sales, prostitution and gambling.

Pendergast didn’t just open the market for proprietors of all things vice; he himself was in the business of illegal gambling and liquor sales. During Prohibition, the Pendergast machine opened the Riverside Park Jockey Club as an illegal race track. There were an estimated 50 bars promoting live music and spirits between 12th and 18th streets alone, and brothels such as Annie Chambers’ aristocratic brothel were operated with women positioned in well-lit street-facing windows, openly procuring customers. In reference to the city’s civic sanctioning of prostitution, Higgins, the police chief at the time, is quoted by Haddix as saying: “If you bother the girls, you just push them into the back room. Then you don’t know what’s going on. This way we can maintain control over them.”

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Left: 18th & Vine District sign. Below: Speakeasy proprietor Milton Morris, who opened his first bootlegging business at the age of 18.

Worst-Kept Secret I N S I M I L A R laissez-faire fashion, night-

clubs and dance halls lined the streets with little concealment. In an article remembering the legacy of speakeasy proprietor Milton Morris, Haddix writes: “As part of the christening [of nightclubs], it was considered good luck to give a cab driver the key to the club and five bucks with instructions to drive as far as he could and throw away the key.

The doors [to the clubs] never closed.”

Morris was one of many who began his career in liquor during Prohibition.

In 1929, at just 18 years old, Morris opened his first bootlegging business, Rendezvous, which was a drugstore on 26th Street and Troost known to sell alcohol under the guise of using it for medicinal purposes. In 1931, Morris opened his infamous speakeasy, Hey Hay

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Club, on Fourth and Cherry streets in a converted barn where patrons sat on bales of hay, hence the club’s name.

Like its fellow speakeasies, Hey Hay did not conceal itself as a den for liquor and marijuana, boasting 25 cent whiskey shots and marijuana joints on a cardboard sign in plain view. As Morris noted, since both were illegal, why not? Morris, who went on to become a legend in the Kansas City bar scene, was known as a great storyteller of his Prohibition days, often blurring the lines of truth and fiction and always telling the tales while smoking his trademark cigar. Morris’s club quickly became entangled in the jazz scene, which was flourishing with the rising opportunities for musicians to entertain at speakeasies.

Jazz leviathans like Count Basie, Jo Jones, Lester Young and Ben Webster were regular performers at Hey Hay.

Kansas City’s lack of discretion during Prohibition meant the city held tremendous influence on the development of jazz at this time, with the plethora of clubs creating jobs for musicians across the Southwestern territories. “Musicians from across the country flocked to Kansas City, drawn by the easy ambience and plentiful jobs in the dance halls and nightclubs sprinkled liberally between 12th and 18th streets,” Haddix and Driggs write.

The influence of jazz bands can still be seen in KC bar culture today, with Hotel Kansas City’s speakeasy, Nighthawk, paying homage to the Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra, which recorded and performed throughout Kansas City during the Pendergast Years. The historic 18th and Vine District, often referred to as Kansas City’s other downtown, is regularly credited as the birthplace

PHOTOGRAPHY SHUTTERSTOCK; PROVIDED

MORRIS was regularly found posted by the door swapping stories with regulars .

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMEY THERON KIRBY; BOOK COVER COURTESY OF AUTHOR

for the distinctive Kansas City jazz style. Andy Kirk of Twelve Clouds of Joy—a jazz band that often played in the area— described the historically Black neighborhood as “a regular Mecca for young Blacks from other parts of the country aspiring to higher things than janitor or chauffeur.” Jazz musicians at that time were regular patrons of the speakeasies, frequenting the Sunset Club (located on the southwest corner of 12th and Woodland), the Reno Club (just east of City Hall), Hey Hay and the red-light district running south on 14th Street.

In contrast to KC’s thriving underground bar scene, distilleries had more difficulty surviving under national Prohibition laws. Leading up to prohibition, J. Rieger & Co. Distillery—first established in 1887 by Jacob Rieger—was not just a Kansas City brand but a national brand built on shipping spirits across the country.

“Bars and nightclubs continuing to operate during Prohibition is one thing, but if you were an actual manufacturer, that would have been a far more challenging thing,” Maybee says.

In 1920, Jacob’s son Alexander Rieger, who by then had taken over the business, transitioned into banking because, as Maybee says, “[J. Rieger & Co.] was just too big.”

With distilleries shut down, bootlegging became a lucrative business for everyone from citizens to law enforcement themselves. In a letter to the Kansas City Star in December of 1928, Rev. O. W. Stanbourgh wrote, “One of the first things I learned about the community was that a bootlegging joint was being operated upstairs over 616 East Thirteenth Street.” The reverend alleged to the Star in his letter that he saw “police officers in uniform frequent the place” and “motorcycle patrolmen would frequently leave their mounts […] and remain for half an hour and sometimes even several hours.”

Although the city’s relationship with speakeasies and bootlegging remained largely unchallenged, the repeal of Prohibition in December of 1933 forced the major players in speakeasies,

bootlegging, gambling and prostitution to navigate their entrepreneurship in new ways.

Morris went on to open several other bars, including the original The Ship downtown on East 10th Street and his namesake, Milton’s Tap Room, where he was regularly found posted by the door swapping stories with regulars.

Today’s Speakeasies I N 2 0 1 4 , Alexander Rieger’s great-great-

great grandson and only living relative, Andy Rieger, along with career restaurateur Maybee, relaunched J. Rieger & Co. Distillery, making it Kansas City’s first distillery since the Prohibition era.

Shortly after, Tom’s Town Distilling Co. opened in January of 2016, with its name and menu paying homage to Tom Pendergast and the Prohibition era.

Above: Chuck Haddix at The Blue Room and the cover of Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop, a book by Chuck Haddix and the late Frank Driggs chronicling KC’s famous jazz scene.

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Now, 104 years after Prohibition was first enacted, conversations with KC bartenders and avid cocktail enthusiasts alike are still almost certain to lead to a list of today’s best speakeasies. But what makes these modern bars “speakeasies,” and what exactly has brought the term back into use? Maybee has an answer. “The modern day speakeasy started roughly in 2000, with a place in New York City called Milk & Honey,” he says. “[Owner] Sasha Petraske tried to recreate that spot of going into a speakeasy during Prohibition, which required discretion and sense of doing something wrong.” Maybee goes on to describe this atmosphere of rule breaking as a “powerful experience that was quite a bit different than the loud, bright, bustling nightlife we were used to.”

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From there, the modern speakeasy became a trend that spread throughout the country’s community of bar owners, bartenders and booze connoisseurs, with legendary modern speakeasies such as The Violet Hour in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood and The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company in Philadelphia following soon after.

“Other entrepreneurs and bar owners started to mimic that concept, and I was one of them,” says Maybee, referencing his bar, Manifesto, which operated in the basement of J. Rieger & Co.’s distillery for 12 years before closing during the pandemic in 2020. Manifesto, one of Kansas City’s earliest contemporary speakeasies, is still legendary. Local career bartender Nate Weber recalls entering the intimate

bar lit exclusively by tea lights through a back door after heading down a long alley.

Manifesto is now remembered in Maybee’s latest speakeasy, the Hey! Hey! Club, paying homage to Milton’s Hey Hay Club. “Hey! Hey! is kind of Manifesto’s second act,” Maybee says. J. Rieger & Co.’s Hey! Hey! Club, now located at 2700 Guinotte Ave., can be entered from the ground floor of the distillery, where visitors are greeted by intimate velvet and leather accents, wingback chairs and a functional fireplace.

Another speakeasy you’re bound to hear praised is the elusive Swordfish Tom’s—elusive mainly because of its popularity. It’s located discreetly in the basement of an unmarked building at the eastern end of West 19th Terrace,

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GASTINGER WALKER

Above: The entrance to the modern-day speakeasy The Hey! Hey! Club. Right: The club’s cozy interior.

Opposite page: The Voo Lounge, located in the basement of the historic Hotel Muehlebach.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

and upon entering the bar’s unmarked alleyway door, you descend a staircase in hopes you’ll find a green light outside the bar’s door, indicating there’s space for new customers to enter. If you’re lucky, after finding the light green, you’ll knock to be let into the underground speakeasy’s red-brick room, with a massive wrought iron heater taking up the majority of the right side of the hall and the bar’s modest four-stool bar in the back left corner. Customers lounge closely with one another in plush seats and along couches, sipping cocktails from a seasonally rotating menu.

Further downtown, there’s the regal Hotel Phillips. Slipping down a side entrance behind the hotel’s front desk leads you into a truly secretive speak-

easy, P.S. Speakeasy. At P.S.—in old Prohibition fashion—you’re likely to find jazz bands playing loudly in a basement adorned with private booths, where well-dressed customers sit while discreet bar staff carefully serve cocktails in thin, delicate glassware.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Mutual Musicians Foundation, more commonly known as the Foundation, located in historic 18th & Vine. Famously known by KC’s service industry workers as the “last stop of the night,” the Foundation is a jazz club built inside an old house with a bar equivalent to one you may find at any regular house party. Upstairs, jazz bands play melodic rhythms well into the early hours of the morning.

Outside, attendees share cigarettes on the backyard-style patio. A club well aware of its historic roots, the Foundation is maybe as close to living in Prohibition as you can get today.

With Prohibition-inspired bars now opening regularly throughout Kansas City—most recently, Voo Lounge opened in February 2023— it makes you wonder what exactly it is about speakeasies that still draws crowds. Maybee credits the draw of speakeasies to a need felt by almost every hardworking resident: the need for escapism. “People are looking for an experience and an escape,” he says. “Going out is an escape. You want to escape the day-to-day ritual of your life.”

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES RECOGNIZING THE BEST OF THE KANSAS CITY MEDICAL COMMUNITY

The doctors in this special advertising section give our readers more information about their credentials, expertise and accomplishments.

Whether you’re looking for a primary care provider or a skilled specialist, start your research here.

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES

Left to Right: Emma Stoss, TMS Coordinator; Omozuwa Omigie, APRN; Stefanie Sizemore, Lead TMS Technician; Dr. Irfan Handoo; Katie Sigman, Patient Coordinator; Lauren Bamber, Office Manager and Dr. Handoo’s Assistant; Elizabeth Hiatt, Director of Ketamine

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INTERPERSONAL PSYCHIATRY

IRFAN HANDOO, MD

D

Kansas City’s Largest Deep TMS and IV Ketamine Clinic

r. Handoo has been at the cutting edge of psychiatry and has been recognized as one of the leading psychiatrists in the country. He specializes in treatment-resistant depression and is one of the most experienced TMS and IV Ketamine psychiatrists in the U.S. Deep TMS Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) uses magnetic waves to reach a deep, targeted brain area called the limbic system. Advanced research shows that improperly functioning neurons and nerve cells in the limbic system strongly correlate to depression symptoms.

Patients who undergo Deep TMS typically receive five treatments per week for six consecutive weeks for a total of 30 sessions, followed by six maintenance sessions over a 2-week period. All insurance plans cover Deep TMS. Dr. Handoo has successfully performed TMS for nearly 1,000 patients over the past 7 years.

IV Ketamine IV Ketamine treatments are another form of therapy for treatment-resistant depression.”It is perhaps the most important breakthrough in antidepressant treatment in decades,” according to Dr. Thomas Insel, the former director of the National Institutes of Mental Health. Patients undergoing IV Ketamine treatments receive the medication Ketamine by IV once a week for six consecutive weeks. Dr. Handoo sees all Ketamine patients prior to each treatment.

In 2016, Dr. Handoo was the first doctor to start IV Ketamine treatments in the Kansas City area and has administered more than 5,000 IV Ketamine treatments over the past seven years.

Dr. Handoo is a member of the American Society of Ketamine Physicians and is in touch with leading Ketamine providers nationwide helping develop the best treatment for his patients. Both Deep TMS and IV Ketamine treatments have shown dramatic results and breakthroughs for depression when all other methods have failed. The benefits for many patients have lasted for years.

In the News Dr. Handoo was featured on the front page of The Kansas City Star discussing Deep TMS and its effectiveness for treatment-resistant depression. In November 2022, Dr. Handoo was also featured on the Fox 4 Morning News Show with Matt Stewart discussing Deep TMS. In June 2023, Dr. Handoo was again featured on the Fox 4 Morning News Show with Matt Stewart discussing IV Ketamine treatments.

An article in The Journal of Psychiatric Research in 2019 showed Deep TMS to be significantly more effective than rTMS, which only penetrates superficially at 0.7 cm. All insurance plans cover deep TMS. Dr. Handoo has been recognized as a 2022, 2023, and 2024 Top Doctor by Kansas City Magazine.

On June 19, 2023, Dr. Handoo and his staff moved into a new 4,000-square-foot office in Corporate Lakes at 121st and Metcalf.

This move marks a significant milestone for Dr. Handoo and his team as they continue their commitment to providing exceptional care and expanding access to cutting-edge treatments for patients struggling with mental health conditions. The new facility offers an environment that fosters comfort

and healing, providing a welcoming space for patients seeking Deep TMS and IV Ketamine treatments.

Led by Dr. Irfan Handoo, Office Manager and Dr. Handoo’s assistant Lauren Bamber, Omozuwa Omigie, APRN, Lead TMS technician Stefanie Sizemore, TMS Coordinator Emma Stoss, Director of Ketamine Elizabeth Hiatt, Patient Coordinator Katie Sigman, Interpersonal Psychiatry Overland Park is committed to providing the highest level of psychiatric care in the Kansas City area.

For more information or to schedule a consultation, patients may call or text Dr. Handoo’s office at (913) 357-1290 or send a message through his website www.drhandoo.com.

Did You Know Whereas rTMS (superficial TMS) relies on a figure-8 coil design, which only reaches a depth of 0.7 cm. Deep TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) uses a three-dimensional H1-coil design, which encompasses a much broader surface area and stimulates deeper brain structures directly, reaching a significant depth of 4 cm.

A study in the Journal of Psychiatric Research in July 2019 showed that deep TMS was significantly more effective in reducing depression levels and helping achieve remission compared to rTMS (superficial TMS).

7011 W 121st Street, Suite 105 / Overland Park, KS 66209 913-357-1290 / www.drhandoo.com

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LEBLANC & ASSOCIATES

r. Michael LeBlanc, Dr. Kyle Pederson, Dr. Mary Le, Dr. Emily Meyer, Dr. Stefanie Curtis, Dr. Bryan Henrie and Dr. Sara Crow are a team of pediatric dentists committed to helping children achieve the best possible dental results in the most comfortable and friendly environment possible, complete with child-friendly chairs, TVs, headphones and an overall welcoming environment filled with bright colors and a welcoming staff.

The LeBlanc team uses the latest dental care techniques and the most current and progressive methods supported by accepted research. Dr. LeBlanc actively participates in dental educational research to assure that we remain current at the highest level.

For more than 10 years, Dr. LeBlanc has been recognized by Kansas City Magazine and USATop Dentists as one of the finest pediatric dentists in the entire Kansas City metro area. He has also received the distinct Pierre Fauchard Award for clinical excellence as well as the prestigious Arther Iwerson award for excellence in pediatric dentistry.

Throughout his career, he has continued to be active in the dental community.

Currently, Dr. LeBlanc is a Fellow of t he American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, a member of the American Dental Association and is a member of the Kansas Dental Association. He speaks fluent Spanish and has volunteered for dental missions in Venezuela and Mexico.

Locally, he has participated in volunteer events for the Team Smile organization and the Kansas Special Olympics.

80 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

MICHAEL LEBLANC, DDS

Dr. Emily Meyer, DDS grew up in Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. She earned her undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University before attending dental school in Baltimore at the University of Maryland. Dr. Meyer then completed her medical residency at NYU Langone Hospital earning the prestigious title of Chief Resident. She has been a part of the LeBlanc team since 2018.

Dr. Stefanie Curtis grew up in a Northwest suburb of Chicago. She attended the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology. She later pursued her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree at the University of Southern Illinois School of Dental Medicine. Following the completion of her DMD, she completed a two-year pediatric residency at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Dr. Kyle Pedersen was born in Elgin, Illinois. After receiving his dental degree from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, he went on to complete a two year pediatric residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Pederson is a board certified pediatric dentist and is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

After studying Spanish for one year while living in Costa Rica, he and his family moved to the Dominican Republic where they lived for four years. During that time, he and his wife worked alongside community leaders and pastors to support various ministries focused on community development, medical and dental care. Dr. Pederson joined the LeBlanc & Associated team in 2020.

Dr Mary Le grew up in Kansas City and graduated from the six year B.A/D.D.S. program at UMKC in 2000 afterwards she moved to California for her postdoctoral residency at the University of California at San Francisco and was chosen Chief Resident in her last year there. She graduated in 2003 with both a clinical certificate in pediatric dentistry and a Master’s degree in Oral and Craniofacial Sciences.

After living in California for more than 18 years she and her husband relocated to Kansas City to raise their family.

Dr. Le is a board certified Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. Her passion is minimally invasive pediatric dentistry (ART treatment, Hall crowns) and she has personal experience with high needs children.

Dr. Bryan Henrie grew up in Leawood and Atlanta. After 7 years as a practicing attorney, he took an exciting career change and attended the University of Utah where he earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. Upon discovering his passion for helping children he completed a pediatric dental residency program at the University of Minnesota.

Fluent in Spanish and an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Henrie has participated in multiple dental missions to Mexico that he organized through his charitable organization.

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PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY

Introducing Dr. Sara Crow

The newest addition to the team, Dr. Sara Crow, is excited to bring her experience and knowledge of Pediatric Dentistry to LeBlanc & Associates.

She earned her Doctorate of Dental degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Dentistry and completed a two-year Pediatric Residency at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, where she was chosen as Chief Resident.

Locations OVERLAND PARK:

OLATHE:

PRAIRIE VILLAGE:

KANSAS CITY, KANSAS: 1601 N 98th Street, Suite #104 New Patients: 913-933-8208 Current Patients: 913-299-3300

14420 Metcalf Ave. New Patients: 913-349-8772 Current Patients: 913-387-3500

8226 Mission Rd. New Patients: 913-349-9479 Current Patients: 913-378-9610

kidsmilekc.com

15151 South Black Bob Rd. New Patients: 913-349-9512 Current Patients: 913-764-5600

Michael LeBlanc, DDS

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FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

ANU AESTHETICS AND OPTIMAL WELLNESS ™

I

CRISTYN WATKINS, MD NORTH: 10090 NW Prairie View Road Kansas City, MO 64153 RIVER MARKET: 547 Grand Blvd Kansas City, MO 64106 anuaesthetics.com / 816-359-3310

n the evolving landscape of Kansas City, Dr. Cristyn Watkins emerges as a trailblazer in advanced alternative healthcare. Board certified in family medicine with additional distinctions in functional, metabolic, and nutrition medicine, she has forged an exceptional path by directing her practice towards advanced medical aesthetics, regenerative medicine, healthy aging, and personalized wellness medicine.

Dr. Watkins’ professional journey began in underserved regions such as Brooklyn, NY, Summit, NJ, and Northwest Missouri. Functioning as a frontline provider, she addressed dermatological concerns and executed diverse skin procedures encompassing rashes, cysts, moles, acne, and skin biopsies.

However, her affinity for dermatology led to an expansion into advanced medical aesthetics. In 2011, she inaugurated her first aNu Aesthetics location in KC North, merely two years post her Chief Resident tenure in 2009, concurrently sustaining her commitment to underserved communities.

functional medicine, acquiring her second board certification.

Simultaneously, her practice underwent a name transition to aNu Aesthetics™ and Optimal Wellness, augmenting her focus to include anti-aging and functional medicine.

Dr. Watkins now directs her attention towards an extensive array of medical issues, including but not limited to autoimmune diseases, chronic infections, toxins, endocrine issues, infertility, insulin resistance/PCOS, anxiety/depression, medical weight loss, and bio-identical hormones. Notably, she utilizes traditional and alternative modalities to determine the root causes of disease, thereby developing a comprehensive and personalized treatment plan for each patient.

Further elevating her practice, Dr. Watkins underwent advanced training in 2017, incorporating regenerative medicine into her repertoire. Leveraging modalities such as PRP, ozone, peptides, IV nutritional therapy, and advanced biologics, she has undertaken extensive research and practice in these domains, earning recognition as a National Regenerative Medicine Trainer. The ownership and subsequent transition of the successful Regenerative Treatment Centers of Kansas in 2021 exemplify her commitment to advancing patient care.

Over a decade, Dr. Watkins maintained her traditional family medicine practice, culminating in herappointment as the youngest Chief Medical Officer at Northwest Health Services in 2014. Overseeing nearly twenty nurse practitioners and physicians across seven Northwest Missouri underserved Dr. Watkins, along with locations, she encountered her own Karen True of This Little health challenges, compelling her to seek Light non-profit, organize alternative solutions beyond conventional an annual wellness retreat pharmaceuticals. As a response, she each year, specifically deenvisioned a synergistic medical practice, signed for breast cancer addressing internal and external aspects patients. Participants engage with healthcare of patient well-being, encompassing both professionals to explore wellness and aesthetics.

Making A Difference

2016 marked a transformative period in Dr. Watkins’ professional trajectory. Post the birth of her twin daughters, her personal health began to deteriorate, with traditional medical avenues yielding limited answers.

Fueled by an intrinsic motivation for answers, she embarked on a journey into

naturopathic approaches to cancer and stress management techniques.

Healthy meals, lodging, massage, facials, yoga and other experiences are all donated during this retreat. It’s a guided celebration of resilience and overall wellness for those dealing with breast cancer.

Dr. Cristyn Watkins stands at the forefront of healthcare innovation, fusing traditional medical principles with contemporary and alternative modalities. With multiple locations serving the Kansas City area, she continues to inspire confidence, enhance vitality, and empower individuals to attain their optimal health and wellbeing. Dr. Watkins symbolizes not only a practitioner, but a visionary, shaping the future of healthcare through a dynamic and integrated approach to wellness and aesthetics.

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DERMATOLOGY

BLUE VALLEY DERMATOLOGY Whitney Fancher, MD, FAAD, FACMS, Lauren Kyle, MD, FAAD (Center), Brittany Oliver, MD, FAAD (Right)

B

lue Valley Dermatology is a trusted source for skin care in the Kansas City region. The practice is led by owner, Dr. Lauren Kyle, a boardcertified dermatology specialist recognized on Castle Connelly’s Top Doctors list. The team primarily provides general dermatology services, such as skin cancer screenings and treatments for acne, rosacea, psoriasis, rashes and other skin related conditions. Each provider also delivers cosmetic services, such as injections, fillers and other rejuvenation treatments. Dr. Kyle, a native of Johnson County, has built her practice in her hometown community and on local community values. From the receptionists to the friendly nursing staff and providers, the team at Blue Valley Dermatology creates a welcoming environment, while providing knowledge, expertise and a commitment to patient care.

Making A Difference

Blue Valley Dermatology is a proud partner of TLC KC, a nonprofit organization that is focused on sunshade projects and a scholarship program to help aspiring physicians embark on their medical careers.

The mission of the organization aligns with Blue Valley’s physicians in a journey to help more females thrive in the medical community and offer patients healthy options for their skin.

Visit tlckc.com for donation information.

Dr. Kyle received her undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas, while her postgraduate work was done at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. She graduated at the top of her class, achieving Alpha Omega Alpha honors.

Dr. Kyle also served as chief resident at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Her training was focused on adult, pediatric, cosmetic and surgical dermatology, as well as dermatopathology. As a working mother of three, she masterfully balances her time between work and home, relying on the great team at Blue Valley Dermatology and recruiting amazing doctors to expand the practice.

Blue Valley Dermatology is also home to Kansas City’s Rising Star, as recognized by Castle Connelly. Dr. Brittany Oliver was nominated by her peers as an emerging leader in the medical community, with clear contributions to the advancement of healthcare through clinical care, research, community service, education and leadership.

Dr. Oliver is a board-certified dermatologist, completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida. She went on to graduate with distinction from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC. Her dermatology residency took her to the University of Pennsylvania where she received training in adult, pediatric, surgical and cosmetic dermatology, as well as dermatopathology.

Blue Valley Dermatology’s newest provider is a skin cancer specialist and expert in the field of Mohs Surgery. Dr. Whitney Fancher’s arrival at the practice was in response to the practice’s growth and their response to the rising skin cancer rates, Dr. Fancher is a fellowship-trained, double-board-certified dermatologist and Mohs surgeon with extensive training and experience in cutaneous oncology, Mohs micrographic surgery, and complex facial reconstruction. She grew up in Missouri, where she performed her undergraduate training at Truman State University and earned her medical degree at The University of Missouri. Her residency training took her to the University of Illinois-Chicago where she served as chief resident during her final year. Dr. Fancher’s last stage of training was her fellowship in Mohs micrographic surgery and cutaneous oncology at the renowned University of Wisconsin – where Dr. Fredrick Mohs invented the surgical technique now considered the gold standard treatment for skin cancer across the world. In fact, Dr. Fancher is a third-generation trainee of Dr. Mohs himself! During her fellowship, Dr. Fancher received intensive training with three different Mohs surgeons, as well as specialists in facial plastic reconstructive surgery and cosmetic dermatology.

Dr. Fancher has performed over 10,000 Mohs surgeries in her career and now actively treats skin cancer patients and accepts outside referrals at Blue Valley Dermatology.

7520 W 160th St. Suite 100 / Overland Park, KS 66085 913-871-8221 / bluevalleydermatology.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES DID YOU KNOW

We all want to be Trim, Fit, Healthy, and Happy!

Unfortunately, being overweight, with associated fatigue, medical problems, and loss of self confidence is more often the case! And common weight loss efforts are almost always ineffective. Food cravings, chronic hunger, and a sluggish metabolism can sabotage weight loss efforts, making lasting weight loss impossible. Our powerful, individualized medical treatment plans can be a key to success. Getting started is simple, just call us for a free consultation.

WEIGHT LOSS SUCCESS

CENTER FOR NUTRITION & PREVENTIVE MEDICINE P.A.

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Rick Tague, MD, MPH, Caleb Tague, MD, MPH, Kari Brown, APRN

r. Tague’s Center for Nutrition is a locally owned, family-operated medical clinic specializing in Medical Weight Loss, Nutrition, and “Optimum Health”. It is led by Rick Tague MD, MPH, Caleb Tague MD, MPH, and Kari Brown APRN.

Rick Tague, MD, MPH and Caleb Tague, MD, MPH are both certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine and the American Board of Family Medicine and hold Master’s Degrees in Public Health.

Specializing in medical approaches to weight loss and nutrition, which are often powerful for improving quality of life, Dr. Tague’s clinics offer customized, physician-directed treatment plans using the latest information from nutrition and weight loss research.

Their passion is helping people reach

86 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

optimum health using thorough evaluations, cutting edge nutrition, medical weight management, and personalized care plans.

Dramatic improvements in self-esteem, energy levels, activity levels and health measures have been typical among CFN patients while losing 20, 40, 60, 100 pounds or more.

Following a thorough medical evaluation, the Center for Nutrition helps patients manage common appetite problems such as excessive hunger, food cravings, chronic overeating, “yo-yo” dieting and stress eating.

They also manage the common challenges of a “sluggish” metabolism using medical strategies.

Dr. Tague’s team of physicians, nurse practitioners and dietitians design powerful,

comprehensive treatment plans that address root causes of weight gain. As a patient, you will receive a plan specifically designed to help you lose weight while taking into account important medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol.

Founded in 1996, the Center for Nutrition & Preventive Medicine has assisted over 35,000 patients in their pursuit of weight loss and improved health.

Dr. Tague’s Center for Nutrition clinics are in Leawood and Topeka. For more information or to schedule an educational, free, no-obligation consultation, contact the Center for Nutrition at 913-814-8222 in Leawood or 785-273-4443 in Topeka, or visit TagueNutrition.com.

4963 W . 135th St. / Leawood, KS 913-814-8222 / taguenutrition.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY & SPORTS MEDICINE

KANSAS CITY BONE & JOINT CLINIC Suzanne Elton, MD

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r. Suzanne Elton joined the team at Kansas City Bone & Joint Clinic in 2008 following completion of her fellowship in hand and microsurgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She is board-certified in orthopedic surgery and has a special interest in endoscopic (minimally invasive) carpal tunnel surgery, the treatment of hand and wrist arthritis and tennis elbow treatment.

Making A Difference

Dr. Elton is a member of the Signature Health Foundation, and they host an annual tournament at Top Golf. The money raised at this tournament benefits Operation Family Help, which allows physicians nearly instant access to $500 to provide patients with assistance in medical treatments, service or goods for patients in need. Elton recognizes the impact it has on a patient who can’t afford therapy, co-pays, medications or other items.

Dr. Elton earned her undergraduate degree at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas and her medical degree at the University of Kansas, School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. Orthopedic surgery is a passion of hers because she “likes fixing things and fixing people.” She is driven by helping patients overcome their injuries and getting back to doing the things they love. “It’s satisfying to meet patients in the community and hear how they’re doing and have them refer friends and family members, since they feel that they trust my care”.

Dr. Elton balances her time between evaluating and diagnosing patients and performing surgery. Her areas of expertise include arthritis, carpel tunnel, fractures, tendon injuries and other issues focused on the hand, wrist and upper extremity.

Although surgery is a required solution for some injuries, Elton also focuses on non-surgical treatments that provide patients’ relief.

Dr. Elton is a member of the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS), and MAYO alumni Association.

OVERLAND PARK: 10701 Nall Ave., Suite 200 LEE’S SUMMIT: 3151 NE Carnegie Drive, Suite B 913-381-5225 / kcbj.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES

PODIATRY

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KANSAS CITY FOOT SPECIALISTS David Laha, MD; Andrew Hall, MD

ince founding Kansas City Foot Specialists in 1985, Dr. Laha and his team have worked diligently to provide the best foot care for their patients. Because of this commitment to excellence, Kansas City Foot Specialists has earned the reputation as one of the premier providers of foot care in Johnson County. Since its inception, Kansas City Foot Specialists have used their knowledge, training and experience to treat more than 70,000 patients. They are in the unique position of having a licensed ambulatory surgery center as part of their practice. The Surgery Center of Blue Valley is the only facility of its kind in the Kansas City area that specializes solely in foot and ankle

surgery, with more than 10,000 procedures having been performed in the facility.

Dr. David Laha is board-certified in foot and ankle surgery. He has also served as a past president of the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts and the Kansas Podiatric Medical Association. Dr. Laha enjoys all aspects of podiatric medicine but has a special interest in reconstructive foot surgery.

“The foot is very complex and having an experienced, compassionate surgeon is key”.

Dr. Hall has been a part of the practice since 2013 and is board-certified by the American Board of Foot & Ankle Surgery.

He is confident in treating simple forefoot

complaints to complex rearfoot and ankle pathologies. Dr. Hall’s podiatric interests include sports medicine, trauma, wound care and limb preservation. “At KC Foot Specialists, we have the most modern treatments available such as shockwave therapy, amniotic injections, 3D orthotic scanning and our own state-of-the-art surgery center, among others.”

The practice is accepting new patients and for additional information on their experience and treatments offered, visit them online.

7230 W . 129th Street / Overland Park, KS 66213 / 913-338-4440 / kcfoot.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY

KANSAS CITY ORTHOPEDIC ALLIANCE C. Lan Fotopoulos, MD

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r. Fotopoulos is an interventional physiatrist board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

He also holds board certifications in sports medicine, pain management and in undersea and hyperbaric medicine. Since 2003 he has specialized in acute and chronic low back and neck pain. Additionally, he specializes in treating vertebral compression fractures, spinal cord stimulation, radio frequency ablations and other minimally invasive procedures for the treatment of low back and neck pain.

He is a graduate of the University of Missouri Kansas City’s six year medical program. The medical field is synonymous with his family as his father was a general surgeon, his mother was one of the first bachelor of science nurses in the state of Missouri. His wife has her master’s degree in Nursing. His brother is a hospitalist at AdventHealth’s hospital program, his sister-in-law is a neonatal nurse practitioner, and most recently his son has decided he would like to become an orthopedic surgeon specializing in joint replacement.

When not working at Kansas City Orthopedic Alliance, he is an adjunct instructor at the Police Academy and assists as the medical director of a local SWAT Team.

Dr. Fotopolous enjoys working directly with his patients and enjoys the ability to assist in making healthcare decisions without the interference of a corporate entity.

3651 College Blvd. / Leawood, KS / 913-319-7600 / kcorthoalliance.com

Dr. Fotopoulos has been seeing great success with a new procedure called Minimally Invasive Percutaneous Sacroiliac Joint Fusion for the treatment of sciatic pain. This treatment takes a few minutes to perform and requires a small ½ inch incision. There is a small implanted device the size of an almond that prevents the joint from moving as much which is usually the source of pain.

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES

Dr. Nahid Shahrooz

PLASTIC SURGERY

ASSOCIATED PLASTIC SURGEONS AND MED SPA

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(Top: L to R) Mark McClung, MD; Joseph Cannova, MD; Jon Rast, MD; Jacob Smith, MD) (Bottom: L to R) Sheryl Young, MD; Elizabeth Killion, MD

ssociated Plastic Surgeons continues a path of growth with multiple locations in the KC area, including Leawood and Lee’s Summit. Their team is comprised of six surgeons, a dermatologist and a supporting staff of registered nurses, surgical technologists and patient care coordinators.

With both surgical and non-surgical treatments offered, you can begin a skin care journey with APS, starting with less invasive treatments in their med spa, progressing to surgical options with their award-winning plastic surgeons.

Drs. Mark McClung, Sheryl Young, Joseph Cannova, Jon Rast, Elizabeth Killion and Jacob Smith have more than 95 years

combined experience treating patients.

With specialists in all areas of the face and body, you can choose a physician that is an expert in your area of concern.

BREAST: Lift, Augmentation, Reduction, Implant Removal, Revision, Reconstruction, Male Breast Reduction, Lift with Implant Exchange, Mommy Makeover FACE: Face Lift, Brow Lift, Neck Lift, Eyelid Surgery, Ears, Rhinoplasty, Injectables & Fillers, Lips, Chin BODY: Tummy Tuck, Liposuction, Brazilian Butt Lift, Mommy Makeover, Thigh Lift, Arm Lift, Post Weight Loss

The team at Associated Plastic Surgeons also includes Dr. Nahid E. Shahrooz.

She is a board-certified dermatologist practicing at the Leawood location. Dr. Shahrooz specializes in early detection of and treatment of suspicious skin growths. She advocates for skin care education and preventive medicine to help patients with awareness of possible skin conditions.

APS delivers a commitment to excellence and continued education that has enabled them to become one of the Kansas City area’s premier destinations for looking and feeling your best.

Cosmetic surgical consultations and med spa consultations are complimentary.

11501 Granada Ln. / Leawood, KS 2861 NE Independence Ave. Suite 205 / Lee’s Summit MO 913-451-3722 / apskc.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES SLEEP MEDICINE

SWEET SLEEP STUDIO Abid Bhat, MD, MBA

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bid Bhat, MD, MBA, is a professor of medicine, a sleep coach and a sleep medicine specialist certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

He completed his fellowship in sleep medicine from University at Buffalo and earned his master’s degree in business administration from the UMKC Bloch School of Management.

With more than 17 years’ experience, Bhat is a firm believer that good quality sleep, along with proper diet and exercise is one of the three main pillars of good health. Millions of Americans suffer from sleep issues that make it difficult to fall and stay asleep, resulting in daytime fatigue, tiredness, and irritability. Snoring, anxiety, depression, weight gain, high blood pressure, heart attacks, motor vehicular accidents and other conditions are all linked to sleep disorders.

By helping people sleep better, Bhat believes everyone can enjoy healthier and happier lives. However, rather than relying solely on medications, Bhat employs a holistic approach to find and fix the root cause of sleep issues.

By combining Western medicine with alternative medicine and methods such as acupuncture, Bhat helps reverse sleep disorders and improve physical, emotional and psychological health.

Patients have shared their positive experiences, such as “Thanks to Dr. Bhat, I am finally on the right path and found a solution to my health concerns” and “he finally diagnosed my complicated health and has brought such relief.”

Dr. Bhat shares his knowledge of sleep and its role in health frequently, whether it be at local and national lectures or in reputable national and international research journals. Bhat is often featured on local news channels as well, where he shares his expertise in sleep medicine.

Sweet Sleep Studio can assess your sleep patterns through a home sleep study, it could be the start to improving your sleep, health and quality of life. All major insurances are accepted.

7410 Switzer Road / Shawnee, KS 66203 / 913-309-5963 / sweetsleepstudio.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES

Introducing Erica Ketchem DDS

New to Herre Holistic Dentistry is Dr. Erica Ketchem.

Dr. Ketcham attended Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska where she was a member of the university tennis team. She then attended the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry. She aims to build upon the long legacy of Herre Holistic Dental providing whole health for the whole family.

Dr. Erica is an active listener, and foward-thinking, and emphasizes honest, quality care.

TMJ AND AIRWAY-FOCUSED DENTISTRY

HERRE HOLISTIC DENTAL KC

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Timothy R. Herre, DDS and Erica Ketchem, DDS

ERRE HOLISTIC DENTAL is a wellness-centered, third-generation dental practice that has served Kansas City since 1953. Their mission is to provide personalized dental health care services, nurture caring relationships with patients, and offer progressive treatment options that promote enduring health for every member of your family.

As biological dentists, Dr. Tim and Dr. Erica use the safest dental materials that are the most compatible with your own body and health. They also practice rejuvenation dentistry, which is a conservative dental approach to restore the entire bite and mouth, creating jaw stability and proper oral function. Instead of a one-size-fits-all

approach that focuses on managing disease, their mission is to get you back to health by rejuvenating the entire system so the body can thrive.

There are many treatments offered at Herre Holistic for your health journey, including TMD/TMJ treatment, tongue tie releases, orofacial myofunctional therapy, airwayfocused orthodontic treatment, early orthodontic expansion for kids, holistic mercury-safe dentistry and Cerec one-visit crowns. Dr. Tim has more than ten years of experience treating TMJ/jaw pain and bite issues to address how your teeth fit together.

Clenching or grinding your teeth and jaw misalignment are signs you may have an airway issue. The team at Herre Holistic

Dental believes that a healthy airway is the key for your body to function optimally.

With on-site 3D X-ray technology, they can help find the root cause issue and provide you with choices that best fit your needs.

Dr. Tim Herre is the first third-generation dentist in Kansas and has focused on functional, airway-centered dental care for more than a decade. He is passionate about helping kids grow optimally with early intervention to prevent long-term health issues and sees patients as young as newborns. Dr. Tim and Dr. Erica strive to learn and optimize their treatment in ways that surpass traditional dentistry.

11201 Nall Ave., Suite 120 / Leawood, KS 66211 / 913-491-4466 / holisticdentalkc.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES SLEEP CENTER

EXCELLHEALTH SLEEP CENTER Maniza Ehtesham, MD

Individuals 65 and older require a minimum of 5 and up to 9 hours of sleep nightly depending on their overall health and activity, while a newborn requires up to 17 hours of sleep nightly.

It is good to identify your own ideal amount of sleep and work toward achieving a regular routine of bedtime habits. Both children and adults benefit from a nightly routine that allows time to wind down and settle down for sleep.

What happens when chronic sleep deprivation occurs?

Some of the most serious potential problems associated with chronic sleep deprivation are high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, dementia and depression.

Other potential problems include obesity, ADHD, impairment in immunity and lower sex drive. Chronic sleep deprivation can affect your appearance, too.

Dr. Ehtesham’s practice,Excellhealth Sleep Center, specializes in helping sleep-disordered patients with comprehensive therapy.

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hy is Sleep Important?

Sleep research shows that after being awake for 19 hours, you’re as cognitively impaired as someone who is intoxicated with alcohol. Poor sleep results in 20 percent of serious car accidents and many man-made disasters including Bhopal, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Exxon Valdez. All of these events were at least partially blamed on lack of sleep.

• 25 million U.S. adults have obstructive sleep apnea • 48 percent of Americans say they snore • 37 percent say they unintentionally fall asleep during the day at least once a month

“We provide sleep consultations in-clinic and at affiliated hospitals. We also offer sleep studies and sleep therapies. We are also offering telemedicine services, as needed,” says Dr. Ehtesham.

• 5 percent of the overall proportion of obesity in adults could be attributable to short sleep How many hours of sleep do you need?

Optimal sleep is essential for your wellbeing. Getting the right amount for your mind and body feels great and helps you wake up rested and refreshed. Every person is different when it comes to the exact amount of sleep that’s optimal for them, but most people fall within a range, depending on their age. These guidelines can help you determine how much sleep you really need, while providing some easy ways to achieve it.

A good patient dialogue/history and diagnostic sleep testing are important steps in evaluating how to treat a patient’s sleep issues.”

Dr. Ehtesham says. Excellhealth Sleep Center is AASM accredited and provides a full suite of sleep services including home sleep testing, in-lab sleep testing and treatment, nocturnal oxygen testing, sleep diaries/logs, sleep counseling and education.

“When any patient is treated for sleep disorders, it not only improves their sleep but also improves their overall health and quality of life.

Their bed partner may sleep better too.”

10640 W . 87th St. / Overland Park, KS 913-203-4040 / excellhealthsleep.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES

ASCENTIST HEALTHCARE Featured Top Doctors from left to right: Douglas Cowan, MD, Otolaryngology, Robert Cullen, MD, Otology and Neurotology, Colleen Johnson, MD, Otolaryngology, Andrew Palmisano, MD, Orthopedic Surgery and Jeffrey Markey, MD, Facial Plastic Surgery

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scentist Healthcare provides ethical, high quality and state of-the-art care for not only ears, nose and throat, head and neck, but also general surgery, pulmonology, otology and neurotology, plastic surgery, laryngology, pain management, and orthopedics. The practice has grown into one of the largest privately owned multi specialty healthcare practices in the Kansas City area. Ascentist now has 16 offices, 36 physicians, 15 Audiologists, 8 physician assistants, 13 nurse practitioners and 2 speech and language pathologists.

While the history of Ascentist goes back nearly 80 years, their values and commitment to patients that were established by the founding physicians continue to be embedded in their strategic mission and day-to-day operations.

Lee’s Summit, MO / Kansas City, MO / Belton, MO Overland Park, KS / Kansas City, KS / Leawood, KS Missouri: 816-478-4200 / Kansas: 913-721-3387 / ascentist.com

OPHTHALMOLOGY & REFRACTIVE SURGERY

DURRIE VISION

William C. Cheek, OD, Jason E. Stahl, MD, and Kelly Grosdidier, OD

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urrie Vision is a refractive surgery center and research facility specializing in laser vision correction to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia. Offering the most advanced combination of diagnostic and treatment technology available, Durrie Vision is dedicated to delivering exceptional results through customized vision correction procedures, including SBK advanced LASIK, Phakic IOL, Refractive Lens Exchange and Refractive Cataract Surgery.

Why choose Durrie Vision?

• Phenomenal patient experience • World-class doctors • The best available technology When it comes to patient care, Durrie Vision pays attention to the little details that make a big difference. Visit durrievision.com to schedule your complimentary consultation.

8300 College Blvd., Ste 201 / Overland Park, KS / 913-491-3330 / durrievision.com

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES PLASTIC SURGERY

QUINN PLASTIC SURGERY & AESTHETIC CENTER John Quinn, MD

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or more than 35 years, board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John Michael Quinn has delivered personalized care for patients who desire natural-looking results.

At Quinn Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Center, Dr. Quinn takes the time to listen and understand each patient, so they feel confident in his recommendations and surgical expertise—one of the many reasons he is considered one of Kansas City’s most trusted plastic surgeons.

Overseen by Dr. Quinn, his team of highly trained specialists at Quinn Aesthetic Center set the same high standards for patient care, and ensure patients leave each visit knowing their aesthetic goals are always top of mind. It has become a Kansas City favorite for non-surgical procedures like Botox, lasers, CoolSculpting, and others.

The respected team of professionals is highly regarded by their patients, as seen in their referrals to friends and family. Go online to learn more about Quinn Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Center.

6920 W . 121st St. #102 / Leawood, KS 66209 / 913-492-3443 quinnplasticsurgery.com

PLASTIC SURGERY

MONARCH PLASTIC SURGERY & SKIN REJUVENATION CENTER

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he 2023 Top Doctors® recognizes Drs. Bene, Hodge and Leahy among the best plastic surgeons for the Kansas City area. Monarch is proud to showcase its expertise in cosmetic, reconstructive and plastic surgery from these boardcertified surgeons and their peers on the surgical team, which also includes Jeffrey Dillow, MD, FACS, and Kalila Steen, MD. This recognition follows Monarch’s Ashley Williams, RN, BSN, being recognized as Best Injector in the 2023 Best of KC reader’s poll. With support from their team of dedicated nurses and skilled aestheticians, Monarch offers the most advanced surgical and skin care procedures, including breast surgery, liposuction, facelifts and full-body contouring, skin rejuvenation, nonsurgical cosmetic treatments, and much more. Look your best and feel even better with Monarch Plastic Surgery & Skin Rejuvenation Center.

4801 W . 135th Street / Leawood, KS 66224 913-663-3838 / monarchps.com

(Top: L to R) Keith Hodge, MD, FACS, Paul Leahy, MD, FACS, Richard Bene, MD, FACS (Bottom: L to R) Kalila Steen, MD, FRCSC, Jeffrey Dillow, MD, FACS

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES PLASTIC SURGERY

CUSICK PLASTIC SURGERY

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Doug Cusick, MD

riven by a passion for service, Dr. Doug Cusick has firmly established himself as one of the most respected and sought after plastic surgeons in the region.

Having performed more than 28,000 surgeries during his 30 years in practice.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Dr. Cusick began his career doing part time mission work before opening his own practice, Cusick Plastic Surgery in Leawood. As one of the founding members and a volunteer with the Medical Missions Foundation, Dr. Cusick has completed 53 missions in 23 underprivileged countries where he trains local surgeons and performs reconstructive facial surgery on kids, such as cleft lips and palates as well as hand reconstruction.

Locally, Dr. Cusick and his staff have worked together for many years and dedicated their lives to their patients. He and his team of board-certified plastic surgeons perform approximately 800 to 900 cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries per year, as well as numerous non-surgical treatments such as Botox, Restylane injections and microdermabrasion among others.

Dr. Cusick has a Doctorate of Medicine from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was president of his medical class. After completing a General Surgery residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Southern California in 1990, he completed two years of Plastic Surgery residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Cusick is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Cusick has been voted Top Doctor for the past six years.

4601 College Blvd., Suite 222 / Leawood, KS / 913-661-0202 cusickplasticsurgery.com

PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION

MILES MEDICAL GROUP

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Shynda Miles, MD

r. Shynda Miles is a physiatrist and the medical director of Miles Medical Group, a private practice with a primary specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation. The focus of the practice is neurological rehabilitation, restoration of function, chronic pain management, and a return to a high quality of life. Patients may have muscle, bone, soft tissue or nervous system injuries. Subspecialities include sports medicine and the treatment of arthritic pain.

Dr. Miles received her medical degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. She is board certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

11111 Nall Ave., Ste 218 / Leawood, KS / 913-261-9812 miles-medical-group-lie.business.site

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES FAMILY DENTISTRY

KISLING FAMILY DENTISTRY Rebecca Kisling, DDS

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r. Kisling graduated second in her class from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. After graduation, she attended UMKC School of Dentistry’s Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency. Kisling Family Dentistry opened in August of 2022, and is proud to be a 100% family-owned small business in Leawood, KS. Kisling Family Dentistry will change your perception about going to the dentist. From the moment you walk in the door, you’ll feel at ease in a relaxed and lighthearted environment curated by Dr. Rebecca Kisling and her team. The office delivers quality, non-judgmental, and compassionate dental care in a low pressure and friendly way.

She and her team offer patients of all ages a variety of treatment including cosmetic and therapeutic Botox, snoring and sleep apnea appliances, as well as preventative, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry. They are accepting new patients and welcome the opportunity to show you the Kisling Family difference. Visit them online or on social media @kislingfamilydentistry.

13401 Mission Rd., Suite 212 / Leawood, KS 66209 / 913-357-8333 kislingfamilydentistry.com

ORTHOPAEDICS

ROCKHILL ORTHOPAEDIC SPECIALISTS Michael D. Hellman, MD

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r. Michael D. Hellman is a renowned hip and knee replacement surgeon at Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, where he has earned a reputation for excellence in patient care. With a deep commitment to improving the quality of life for his patients, Dr. Hellman brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the field of orthopedics.

As a fellowship-trained, board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Hellman specializes in hip and knee replacement surgery. He is known for his compassionate approach, always listening to patients’ concerns and thoroughly explaining treatment options.

Dr. Hellman is dedicated to staying at the forefront of medical advancements, utilizing the latest minimally invasive surgical techniques and non-surgical treatments to provide the best possible outcomes for his patients. His commitment to comprehensive care and patient education ensures that individuals in Lee’s Summit and the surrounding areas receive the highest standard of orthopedic treatment.

120 Northeast Saint Luke’s Boulevard, Suite 200 / Lees Summit, MO / 816-246-4302

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES UROGYNECOLOGY

UROGYNECOLOGY OF KANSAS CITY Patrick Nosti, MD, FACOG

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s a reconstructive pelvic surgeon, Dr. Patrick Nosti and his team are focused on restoring women’s independence, dignity and quality of life. He has over a decade of experience treating women with female pelvic floor disorders including conditions such as vaginal prolapse, urinary incontinence, painful intercourse and recurrent urinary tract infections. He is double-board certified and one of few Kansas City metro area surgeons fellowship trained in Urogynecology.

Dr. Nosti’s journey toward excellence began under the mentorship of renowned Urogynecologists at Georgetown University and included training with Urologists, Colorectal Surgeons, and Plastic Surgeons enriching his knowledge and skills. With a primary focus on minimally invasive vaginal and robotic surgery, Dr. Nosti is able to offer patients all options ensuring the best outcomes possible for each individual.

Moreover, many procedures, such as labiaplasty and laser vaginal rejuvenation are offered in the office. With his specialized training and dedicated team, Dr. Nosti can handle routine and complex cases, making him a trusted choice for patients seeking top-tier care.

10707 W 87th St. / Overland Park, KS / 913-262-3000 / urogynkc.com

Innovative care.

Clinical excellence.

Convenient access.

That’s why more people in Kansas City choose us for care.

Congratulations to our doctors who earned Kansas City magazine Top Doctor awards.

Find a top provider at HCAMidwest.com.

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2024 HEALTHCARE PROFILES ORAL AND FACIAL PLASTIC SURGERY

PEDIATRICS

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AESTHETIC SURGICAL ARTS Dr. Joseph Camarata, MD, DMD

r. Camarata’s resume includes dual medical degrees and residencies in both oral and maxillofacial surgery and plastic and reconstructive surgery, being boardcertified in both.

He has maintained his interest in both specialties, with particular interest in complete dental reconstruction of the upper and lower jaws with dentalimplants.

He specializes in techniques utilizing specially designed dental implants that allow for reconstruction of the jaw when minimal bone is present. The unique combination of specialties in plastic surgery and oral surgery allows him to assess and treat a vast array of complicated facial and dental abnormalities.

12541 Foster St, Suite 330 / Overland Park, KS 66213 913-270-0649 / asa-kc.com / nulifekc.com

PREFERRED PEDIATRICS Amy Voelker, MD

referred Pediatrics has multiple physicians recognized on Castle Connelly’s Top Doctors list, including Dr. Amy Voelker. She is an Olathe native and attended the University of Missouri Kansas City for her undergraduate and medical school degrees. She completed her pediatric residency at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga, TN. Dr. Voelker provides patient care from newborns to college, with a personal focus on developmental and behavioral pediatrics.

Her professional initiative is helping families lead healthy and active lifestyles without a focus on weight. She partners with families to keep kids safe and healthy and provide optimal care for every patient.

824 W. Frontier / Olathe, KS 66061 913-764-7060 / preferredped.com

OPHTHALMOLOGY

CAVANAUGH EYE CENTER VISIT KANSASCITYMAG.COM TO VIEW A COMPLETE LISTING OF ALL OF OUR 2024 TOP DOCTORS

I

Timothy Cavanaugh, MD

n practice since 1991, Timothy B. Cavanaugh, MD is a boardcertified ophthalmologist and noted innovator in the field.

He has performed more than 30,000 LASIK, cataract, and other cornea vision correction procedures. Dr. Cavanaugh received both his medical degree and his ophthalmic residency training at the University of Kansas and completed a surgical fellowship in advanced corneal and refractive surgery at Wilmer Institute of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He is committed to offering only the most advanced and effective technologies and is recognized as a Top Doctor for the KC metro region. His philosophy is “never stop learning” and his staff is handpicked to reflect that thinking.

6200 W. 135th St., Suite 300 / Overland Park, Kansas 66223 913-897-9200 / cavanaugheye.com

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TASTE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

Hot Tamale Is it possible that a pottery shop, cafe and tamale vendor could be wrapped into one? Yes. Richard Clifton, along with his mother, Kitty Jackson, his brother, Daniel Reynolds, and his friend Drew Thorson, purchased Three Bees Pottery and Coffee Shop (925 Southwest Blvd., KCK) from its original owners two years ago. They have since established it as a quaint coffee shop that just so happens to sell pottery—and that is also known for its authentic and exceptional tamales.

Inspired by his step-mother’s Mexican cooking, Clifton manages recipe development and frequently rotates the shop’s seasonal tamale offerings. The tamales are made with a masa recipe that comes from Clifton’s stepmom, who grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico. “A lot of people don’t realize that tamales are a really regional style food—much like BBQ,” Clifton says.

Three Bees’ tamales are distinctively Northern Mexican tamales, and staff say its Mexican customers often say the tamales remind them of home. Three Bees offers eight staple tamales year-round, including pork, chicken, beef, cheese, veggie and a vegan option.

However, it’s the strawberry tamale, made with fresh berries and a house-made strawberry jam filling and served with a strawberry puree, that stands out.

“Tamales are one of those foods that are a blank slate,” Clifton says.

“You can put anything inside it you want. Three Bees also has a variety of seasonal dessert tamales. Recent options include a disassembled apple pie tamale and Calabaza en Tacha—a traditional pumpkin pie-style dessert tamale made during Dia de los Muertos. –RACHEL LAYTON KANSASCITYMAG.COM JANUARY 2024

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Left: The Littlest Bake Shop Right: Mud Pie Bakery

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Plant-Powered

PA S T R I E S

Two KC vegan bakeries make plant-based eating a piece of cake.

BY TYLER SHANE PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN V E G A N I S M H A S L O N G B E E N the red-headed stepchild of food

movements: tolerated but rarely respected by outsiders. Celebrity chefs—Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Anthony Bourdain—even made scoffing at vegans and their tofu-laden plates part of their brash personalities. But the plant movement prevails. Slowly but surely, veganism continues to make inroads into the mainstream culinary scene, if only for reasons of health and sustainability.

It helps that vegan chefs are continuing to prove that cardboard tofu and rock-hard breads are a thing of the past. Two vegan bakeries in our cattle-loving city, The Littlest Bake Shop and Mud Pie Bakery, are

leading the charge in plant-based sweets. They’re not the only spots serving vegan pastries in town; eateries like Gigi’s Vegan + Wellness Café and Mattie’s Foods whip up a dang good dessert as well. But they’re the only bakeries completely dedicated to plant-based baked goods year-round—no milk, no eggs and no refined cane sugars.

The Littlest Bake shop is entirely gluten-free, and Mud Pie offers a significant amount of gluten-free items. Just try the Hostess chocolate cupcake at either of these two shops and you’ll wonder how any of the aforementioned ingredients were ever thought of as baking imperatives.

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The Littlest Bake Shop

5511 Troost Ave., KCMO, littlestbakeshop.com H A V I N G O P E N E D I N the middle of 2019, owner Iris Green laughs

can be preordered online. The key to her vegan baking is that she’s when mentioning her “impeccable” timing for opening her niche not concerned about trying to replicate non-vegan flavors such as pastry shop. It’s a response dripping in sarcasm, of course. But eggs or meat. even in the throes of the pandemic, Green quickly developed a “I’ve never eaten meat in my life, so I’m not trying to substitute loyal clientele. or replace any meat products when I’m cooking because I don’t Green estimates she is one of a dozen spots around the country have any frame of reference,” the KC native says. “I’m looking for dedicated to serving both vegan and gluten-free baked goods. Plantthings that stand on their own. I think people are sometimes afraid based gluten-free lemon cupcakes and cherry muffins aren’t just to season, and I’m not.” ideal for those choosing to forgo animal products; they’re also a For something more savory, Green’s comfort food-driven breakfast great alternative for those who have dietary restrictions, possibly and lunch menu is a hit for both vegans and non-vegans. Sandwiches due to autoimmune disorders or severe allergies. are built with gluten-free bread, smeared with the likes of roasted garlic “People who are vegan or gluten-free, they want the special things, aiolis or a pesto and served with a side of roasted potatoes. The BLT, too,” Green says. made with Thrilling Foods salt-cured, double-smoked soy-based bakon, Green has been a vegetarian since birth and transitioned to vegan is one of her most popular menu items. No, it won’t have that porky tang, and gluten-free as an adult. She lived in Los Angeles for a spell and, but it’s salty, crunchy and delivers an umami-filled bite nonetheless. when there, dabbled in culinary side gigs, such as selling her baked “Don’t sleep on the sweet grilled cheese,” Green advises. The grilled goods at the Brentwood Farmers’ Market, a hot spot for celebrity cheese sandwiches are an unexpected hit. They’re made with Follow sightings, and teaching vegan cooking classes at her own venue, Your Heart’s dairy-free cheese and jazzed up with a spread of chipotle Green’s Center for Plant Based Nutrition. apple butter or a homemade peach jam.

As a carnivore adverse to dietary labels, I was hesitant to bite into In early December, Green moved her bakery from East Brookside to the chai cupcake dolloped with a swirl of shortening-based frosting.

55th Street and Troost, doubling her bakery from 500 to 1,000 square Gluten-free can often translate to a dense texture. feet. Before, her shop was a cozy 12-seater. Now, Top left: Littlest Bake Shop pastries from left After all, it’s the gluten that adds those air bubbles it has 28 seats, a full bar counter and much more to right: floral cake, strawberry jam thumbprint that make for a spongy, soft cake. But the cake kitchen space. She’s still sticking with the bakery’s cookies, persimmon spice muffins and floral was surprisingly moist, and the warm chai spice original name, though, and all the quirks are still cupcakes. Top right: Mud Pie dishes clockwise might as well have been singing as it harmonized from top left: Village Coffee Roastery latte, pumpkin there: mismatched tables and chairs, rustic bundt chocolate chip muffin, strawberry toaster pastry, with November’s cool air perfectly. pans hung on the walls and a vintage stereo as the gluten-free blueberry crumb cake, chikn sandwich Green’s whimsical, customizable floral cakes and caramel macchiato shortbread cookie. host stand.

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Mud Pie Bakery

7319 W. 95th St., Overland Park, KS, mudpiebakery.com U N L I K E T H E L I T T L E S T Bake Shop’s colorful vintage vibe, Mud Pie

feels more like an old-school coffee shop. You could easily grab a cup of joe and never realize the entire menu is plant-based.

In 2011, Michael Valverde had been working at the 39th Street cafe Javanaut when it closed. Having developed a passion for coffee and seeing the potential of the downtown market, he saw the opportunity to start his own coffee shop alongside his wife Ashley Valverde—but with a vegan twist. But strict vegan businesses were nearly unheard of in Kansas City back then.

“Initially, no one would give us a loan,” Michael says. “It’s cowboy town, especially back then.”

Ashley’s parents saw the vision, however, and eventually became business partners and part owners in Mud Pie. Next, they had to convince KC of their vision. How do you sway those hesitant about vegan food?

Free samples. A splash of oat milk here and a vegan muffin there began to break down wary customers’ preconceived notions.

Over a decade later, the couple has figured out what works. Everything is made from scratch, even their milk varieties—oat, almond, cashew and soy. They have a selection of constantly rotating pastries, such as blueberry and cream crumb cake,

jalapeno-cheddar scones, pumpkin chip muffins and vanilla chocolate donuts, to name a few.

But it’s the kolaches, a traditional Czech pastry stuffed with various fillings, that the Valverdes hang their hat on. The filling of vegan sausage and cashew cheese is a great savory option, but they often switch up the flavors. On my last visit, I snagged a green onion and tofu cream cheese kolache and was not disappointed.

The chef, or “weapon in our arsenal,” Ashley says, is William Sims. Sims has a food science degree and brings a unique understanding to vegan and gluten-free baking. As Mud Pie continues to expand its gluten-free offerings, Sims has been experimenting. His latest gluten-free venture?

Toaster pastries and French silk pie (with a homemade gluten-free graham cracker crust).

Needless to say, both flew off the shelves.

Mud Pie’s 39th Street location closed in 2021, partly due to the pandemic and the Valverdes’ own need to slow down. But their Overland Park location remains a low-key safe haven for those with special dietary needs.

“People come to us when they’re trying to avoid certain allergens,” Michael says.

“I would say [people with allergens are] one of our main clients that come into our shop,” Ashley adds.

Over a decade later, the couple has figured out what works. Everything is made from scratch, even their milk varieties— oat, almond, cashew and soy.

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TA S T E DR I N K

AMARO AMORE B Y R YA N R E E D

You don’t have to be part of Kansas City’s storied speakeasy and cocktail culture to know what amaro is, but it sure helps. An Italian herbal liqueur, amaro has been around for centuries, but it became well-known when the popular Campari brand hit the market and the bartender-favorite Fernet-Branca made its debut.

A low-proof digestif, the term “amaro” is so broad that it encompasses everything from bright rhubarb-forward styles such as Aperol to rooty dark versions like Montenegro. You can even make your own amaro, something that local bartenders have been playing with for years.

Brothers Josh and Ben Edwards opened North Kansas City bar and retail shop Mitch e Amaro (306 Armour Road, North Kansas City)

in 2019 to be the kind of place they were looking for. It specializes in exactly what home bartenders without access to service distributors would want. Half their customers come because they are curious; the other half come with something very specific in mind. “I would say about 20 percent of the bottles on our shelf are things people asked us to order and we decided to keep in stock,” Josh says.

The Edwards brothers started Mitch e Amaro because they loved Kansas City craft cocktail culture. The duo would go to local spots like Swordfish Tom’s to find obscure bottles that were unavailable through retailers. “We were looking to get into the business and saw a need,” Josh says. “Kansas City has one of the best craft cocktail communities in the country. We are very happy to be a small part of it.”

“Kansas City has one of the best craft cocktail communities in the country. We are very happy to be a small part of it.”

106 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN

M O R E S W E E T, less bitter, amaro is here to stay.

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TA S T E ’CU E C A R D

MITCH, PLEASE Meat Mitch Barbecue has a game-changing smashburger.

BY MARTIN CIZMAR

Burger, but this isn’t far behind. And on Monday nights, you can Former Chiefs offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz is a fan of the get it with a handful of honey-kissed curly fries and a cheap marg.

Leawood barbecue spot of the same name, as he let “I’m a smashburger guy,” Benjamin says. “I like me know at the recent Monsters of Barbecue dinthem both, but I’m usually going smashburger. The ner hosted by Ted Liberda of Buck Tui Barbecue. richness in the brisket and the char you get from the Schwartz’s go-to order at Meat Mitch, and the one griddle gives a unique, unbelievable flavor, and the that prompted me to revisit, is the smashburger. cheeses and sauces really make it great. It really has Created by Mitch Benjamin, the owner of Meat turned out to be a hero on the menu.”

“The richness Mitch, pitmaster behind Char Bar and cookbook author The trick to the smashburger is the blend of fresh in the brisket of BBQ Revolution: Innovative Barbecue Recipes and smoked meat. At Meat Mitch, they use sixty from an All-Star Pitmaster, the smashburger is an percent fresh ground beef and forty percent smoked and the char extension of a recipe for a smoked brisket burger brisket. “The reason we really have to err on the side you get from Benjamin developed at Char Bar. The original recipe of too much hamburger is just to keep it together,” was created as a way to use leftover brisket, but the Benjamin says. the griddle Meat Mitch version takes it to a new level by turning You can find the recipe in Benjamin’s book, BBQ gives a unique, Revolution, along with the sauces. “We do our own that brisket, plus some fresh ground beef, into a twopatty smashburger as opposed to the traditional thick blend of a smash sauce, which is just a mixture of unbelievable burger you’ll find at Char Bar. barbecue sauce, ketchup and things like that.” Plus flavor, and the The Meat Mitch smashburger is indeed one of charred mayo—that is barbecue sauce and mayo that’s the best uses of leftover smoked brisket I have yet actually charred on the grill. cheeses and encountered, pairing phenomenal char with American This is an overbuilt burger that has a lot going on, sauces really cheese and grilled onions on a steamed-then-griddled which is a great thing. Add it to your list of must-try bun. My favorite smashburger in town is still Cosmo make it great.” dishes from KC ’cue spots.

108 KANSAS CITY JANUARY 2024

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED

I F Y O U E V E R meet Mitch, you should ask him about Meat Mitch.

TA S T E PER FECT DAY

P E R F E C T DAY Brunch: Recently, we’ve been going to Rye. I was so impressed by their chicken-fried steak. It’s huge, with a side of sausage gravy, two sunny-side-up eggs, mashed potatoes on the bottom. I instantly felt like it should be a sought-after Kansas City thing.

Shopping: First, I’d start in Westport at Dva Percent owned by my bro Roman Khachaturyan. They have kicks, Hypebeast, vintage tees, all kinds of cool gear. Up the street is Reset for all types of vintage. The third stop would be WyCo Vintage. They have the largest collection of vintage shirts in North America. They have heat, whatever you can think of.

Butcher shop: The Upper Cut KC for their grass-fed bone-in filets, for sure. They bring in really fresh seafood along with their privately raised cattle, so their beef is amazing. Then Anton’s Taproom on Main. Their filets are great, but I recently got grain-fed ribeyes that were incredible.

Soul food: I’ll be at PeachTree Cafe’Teria grabbing a Big Mama’s Plate— three meats, three sides. I try to swing through on a Friday for gumbo, but other than that, I get fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens, cabbage mix. Oh, and an Arnold Palmer sweet tea.

COOKING FOR KELCE Travis Kelce’s childhood friend is now his personal chef.

BY TYLER SHANE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURA MORSMAN

I T M AY S E E M stressful to be responsible for the diet of a professional athlete,

especially one that’s recently skyrocketed to celebrity status, but Kumar Ferguson doesn’t sweat it. He may be Travis Kelce’s personal chef, but the two go way back.

The Cleveland, Ohio, natives have been friends since childhood.

“Growing up, I would cook for all the bros after we’d be hanging out all day,” Ferguson says. “That kitchen table hangout has always been a center for all of us. We have definitely carried that tradition with us.”

Ferguson got a call from Kelce in 2016 asking for his help. The tight end wanted to step up his diet. At the time, Ferguson, who was driving a truck and had been for six years, had never worked in a professional kitchen.

“I flew out four days later and we haven’t looked back since,” Ferguson says.

Two Super Bowls later, it’s clear that Kelce’s dietary regimen is working. During the football season, Ferguson cooks three meals a day for the athlete, shopping for

groceries between each one. Kelce handles the tunes while Ferguson whips up oatmeal with fresh fruit for breakfast and a seafood alfredo for dinner. But it’s not all counting calories (the tight end consumes over 4,000 calories on practice and game days).

Ferguson keeps Kelce’s diet fresh by regularly studying and consuming food news, always looking for new meal inspiration. Luckily, one of the perks that came from Ferguson’s truck-driving days was being exposed to various regional cuisines. Ferguson says his on-the-road culinary adventures and growing up with an African-American father and Indian mother influenced his cooking style. Soul food and Indian spices made regular appearances on his family’s table.

Kelce, however, grew up on steaks.

“His dad is actually a grill master, so that’s where I got filets in our diet,” Ferguson says. The chef jazzes up the usual meaty proteins with a little soul food flare or an unexpected spice mix. Deep-fried Australian lobster tails paired with a yum yum sauce and tangy Hawaiian heat wings keep Kelce lean and satisfied.

When asked if Travis ever critiques his food, Ferguson responds yes, but that just comes with the territory.

“Being brothers is funny because we can throw shots at each other all day, but Travis is incredible when it comes to professionalism and just being on top of taking whatever he’s investing into,” says Ferguson.

“The communication has been open from the jump.”

Between his friendship with Kelce and being a creative at heart (the chef is also passionate about fashion, whether it be collecting vintage or spray painting clothing), Ferguson doesn’t let the pressure get to him.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. He’s thriving under it.

Although he isn’t quite ready to go public with his latest business venture, he says he’s created a platform that connects and contracts personal chefs with athletes.

“We actually just broke into the NBA this summer with full-time clients and year-round chefs,” he says.

It seems the sky’s the limit not just for Kelce but for Ferguson, too.

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VIta’s Place before opening

A Beer Garden is coming to Berkley Riverfront Park

NEWSFEED

WHAT’S NEW IN KANSAS CITY FOOD & DRINK

BY T Y L E R S H A N E

An East Coast-style wine bar opens in Brookside Ryan and Jenny Sciara opened Underdog Wine Co., a wine shop in Brookside’s Crestwood Shops, almost a decade ago. Now, the husband and wife duo are dipping their toes into a new venture—Vita’s Place, an East Coast-inspired wine bar located just a few shops down from their flagship store (5514 Oak St., KCMO).

“After I went to New York, I became obsessed with doing a small neighborhood wine bar in Kansas City because we really don’t have one, outside of Ça Va and Vintage ’78,” Ryan says.

Vita’s Place, named after Ryan’s Italian paternal grandmother, opened in December and features a menu with more than 200 wines. The top floor seats 34 while the basement will seat 20.

“It’s going to be tight,” says Ryan, who wanted a small space to create the feel of a neighborhood bar one might stumble upon in New York or Boston.

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With the help of designer and carpenter John O’Brien, who also designed Bacaro Primo, Earl’s Premier and Golden Ox, you’d never know the wine bar was a former hair salon. It looks as if it’s been sitting in the Crestwood Shops strip for years with its rustic dark wooden bar complete with a mustard-yellow subway tile backsplash from local ceramicist Andy Brayman. Pops of brass along the bar and lighting fixtures give its tattered East Coast vibes a polished look.

Vita’s menu overwhelmingly consists of wine, with the exception of Ryan’s personal favorite spirits like gin. Customers will be able to build their own gin and tonics and spritzes.

“I’m adamant that we stay true to being a wine bar,” Ryan says. “I don’t want to become a craft cocktail bar. We’ve got plenty of those.

We can make a Manhattan, we can make an old fashioned, but it’s really more about winebased cocktails like negronis, boulevardiers, plus spritzes.”

The food menu is small but substantial with Italian, Spanish and French influences.

Berkley Riverfront Park has several new developments in the works, including a new beer garden. The Origin Hotel, a boutique five-story hotel, is expected to be finished in 2024, and as of last month, developers broke ground on a new beer garden.

The beer garden, Two Birds, One Stone, will be stationed on the waterfront directly across from the Origin Hotel. Expected to open in the summer of 2024, Two Birds, One Stone is a nearly 8,200-square-foot, two-story structure housed on a portion of the park known as The Grove.

Two Birds, One Stone’s design will use “simple and refined building materials immersing the visitor into the park atmosphere,” according to Port KC. Along with the new beer garden, The Grove will also see extensive new native landscaping and tree plantings.

“The beer garden will offer more outdoor food and entertainment options to residents in the Riverfront neighborhood and Kansas City visitors looking for more outdoor entertainment, and [it] offers convenient options for both Riverfront event attendees and Origin Hotel guests planning their entertainment, sporting and vacation trips,” the developers say.

TA S T E B I T E S

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Popular chef-driven Food Hall opens third location at a Plaza Hotel The popular Strang Chef Collective continues to expand, opening a third food hall on the Country Club Plaza with four diverse, chef-driven spots to eat.

The new site opened inside the Marriott’s Cascade Hotel, a boutique hotel that’s part of a $105 million two-hotel development (4600 Wornall Rd., KCMO).

Strang Chef Collective also operates downtown Overland Park’s Strang Hall and Strang Chef Collective at Lightwell. “With exciting flavors from around the world, every location captures unique chef-driven concepts that you can’t find elsewhere in town,” states a Strang Hall Instagram post.

The 11,000-square-foot, two-story space features two full-service bars and four innovative and fresh food vendors—Parma, Gasthaus, Verde and Khai-noy—offering something for everyone.

Parma’s menu is inspired by Tuscany, Sicily and Italy’s coastal regions and serves housemade pasta. Gasthaus is led by chef Bruce Dunseith and, according to a Strang Instagram post, is “geared toward German cuisine with some traditional American dishes.”

Verde showcases Latin-American flavors with menu items like elote salads topped with jerk chicken and loaded tacos.

Chef Chris Jones from Anousone, Strang Hall’s flagship location in Overland Park, helms Khai-noy. Meaning “little egg” in Lao, the food stall is inspired by Southeast Asian cuisine and serves dishes like pork belly platters, chilaquiles, curry fried rice and purple ube cookies.

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SURREAL ESTATE

T H E S TO R I E S B E H I N D K A N S A S C I T Y ’ S M O S T E Y E - C ATC H I N G B U I L D I N G S

ORBIT CITY For 30 years, these four space-age looking sculptures have helped define KC’s skyline.

L I K E C A N D L E S L I T aflame on a birthday cake, the four pylons soaring into the sky atop Bartle

Hall explode into space-age metal objets d’art.

Completed in 1994, the pylons are an engineering necessity allowing for 388,800 square feet of column-free exhibit space to exist in Kansas City’s convention center. Bartle Hall, named after past KC mayor Harold Bartle, is said to be the largest column-free convention environment in the world.

The pylons are topped with an art installation by R.M. Fisher called Sky Stations, and in the 30 years that the aluminum sculptures have been teetering atop the pylons, they have become an unmistakable part of the city’s skyline.

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The pylons stand out, of course, in what is a very innovative building to begin with. The convention space was dreamed up as a way to expand KC’s convention center, located in the heart of the city, where space is at a premium. It was built like a bridge over a six-lane freeway. Interstate 670 runs underneath the hall, and the 300-foot pylons support its roof.

Fisher says the sculptures were inspired by the 1930s Art Deco style that can be seen in the original municipal auditoriam’s chandeliers and decorative elements. Fisher wanted to create a feature that “would enhance what already was there, in terms of the architecture,” he said in an interview with KCUR. “When I went into that building, there are these magnificent lighting fixtures throughout the auditorium, Art Deco designs, extravagant, beautiful, optimistic.”

Those elements were his clue. He decided he would emulate them in sculpture and attach them to the tops of the pylons. Fisher worked with Zahner, a KC-based architectural metal and glass company, to produce the stainless steel and aluminum sculptures. The sculptures were lowered into place from a helicopter and a skycrane specifically engineered for heavy lifting.

“I think it was a once-in-a-lifetime project,” Fisher says. “And the building, too, is very special, the way it hovers over the highway, almost floating in space, as I hoped the Sky Stations would be.”

—DAWNYA BARTSC H

PHOTOGRAPHY SHUTTERSTCOK

“The building, too, is very special, the way it hovers over the highway, almost floating in space.”

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