Mecklenburg Medicine November/December 2015 by Mecklenburg Medicine

November/December 2015 • Vol. 45, No. 10

Mecklenburg Medicine A Publication of the Mecklenburg County Medical Society | www.meckmed.org

Physicians, PA’s and MCMS ... Mecklenburg County Medical Society • Mecklenburg Medical Alliance and Endowment Founders of: Bioethics Resource Group, Ltd., Hospitality House of Charlotte, Teen Health Connection, N.C. MedAssist, Physicians Reach Out

Together, we can knock out pediatric cancer Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® bring world-renowned pediatric care to our region Austin Wilson is more than a cancer survivor, he’s a superhero. And superheroes are always stronger when they join forces. That’s why Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital joined the St. Jude Affiliate Program to deliver advanced treatments and innovative clinical trials to children in our community battling cancer and blood disorders. St. Jude Affiliate Clinic at Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital is one of only seven St. Jude affiliate clinics in the nation. We’re proud to bring this level of care close to home and help children like Austin focus on bigger things — like saving the world.

Learn more about our affiliation and what it means for pediatric care in our community. NovantHealth.org/Hemby/StJudeClinic

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Table of Contents 5 President’s Letter: “Playoffs?! Are you kidding me? Playoffs?!” By Simon V. Ward III, MD 6 Feature: Family Medicine for America’s Health:

Family Medicine’s Strategic Plan to Improve Healthcare for All Americans

By Jewell P. Carr, MD 8 Feature: What’s Wrong With Wellness (Programs)? By Gordon Hull, PhD 9 MCMS Annual Meeting to Feature Kathy Reichs 12 MMAE 12 National Health & Wellness Observances, November and December 2015 12 Charlotte AHEC Course Offerings 13 Member News 13 Upcoming Meetings & Events 13 New Members 14 At the Hospitals 16 Independent Physicians of the Carolinas 17 Advertising Acknowledgements

Nov/Dec 2015 Vol. 45 No. 10 OFFICERS President Simon V. Ward III, MD President-Elect Stephen J. Ezzo, MD Secretary Elizabeth B. Moran, MD Treasurer Scott L. Furney, MD Immediate Past President James B. Hall, MD

BOARD MEMBERS John R. Allbert, MD Raymond E. Brown, PA W. Frank Ingram III, MD Stephen R. Keener, MD, MPH Scott S. Lindblom, MD Shivani P. Mehta, MD, MPH Robert L. Mittl, Jr., MD Pulak D. Patel, MD Cheryl L. Walker-McGill, MD, MBA

EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS Sandi D. Buchanan, Executive Director Mecklenburg County Medical Society Mimi Compton, President Mecklenburg Medical Alliance & Endowment Docia E. Hickey, MD NCMS President Darlyne Menscer, MD NCMS Delegate to the AMA Marcus G. Plescia, MD, Health Director Mecklenburg County Health Department Douglas R. Swanson, MD, FACEP, Medical Director Mecklenburg EMS Agency

EXECUTIVE STAFF Executive Director Sandi D. Buchanan Meetings & Special Events Jenny H. Otto

1112 Harding Place, #200, Charlotte, NC 28204 704-376-3688 • FAX 704-376-3173 meckmed@meckmed.org

Finance & Database Specialist Stephanie D. Smith

MECKLENBURG MEDICINE STAFF

Editor Stephen J. Ezzo, MD

Mecklenburg Medicine is published 10 times per year by the Mecklenburg County Medical Society, 1112 Harding Place, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28204. Opinions expressed by authors are their own, and not necessarily those of Mecklenburg Medicine or the Mecklenburg County Medical Society. Mecklenburg Medicine reserves the right to edit all contributions for clarity and length, as well as to reject any material submitted. Mecklenburg Medicine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

Managing Editor Sandi D. Buchanan

Non-members may subscribe to Mecklenburg Medicine at a cost of $30 per year, or $3.50 per issue, if extra copies are available. Classified Ads: Open to members, nonprofits and non-member individuals only; advance approval of the Managing Editor and advance payment required. Member rate is 0, non-members $20 for the first 30 words; $.75 each additional word. Display Ads: Open to professional entities or commercial businesses. For specifications and rate information, contact Mark Ethridge at mecklenburgmedicine@gmail.com. Acceptance of advertising for this publication in no way constitutes professional approval or endorsement of products or services advertised herein. We welcome your comments and suggestions: Call 704-376-3688 or write Mecklenburg Medicine, c/o Mecklenburg County Medical Society, 1112 Harding Place, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28204.

Copy Editors Lee McCracken Stephanie Smith Advertising Mark Ethridge mecklenburgmedicine@gmail.com Editorial Board N. Neil Howell, MD Scott S. Lindblom, MD Jessica Schorr Saxe, MD Simon V. Ward III, MD Graphic Design — Wade Baker

Mecklenburg Medicine • November/December 2015 | 3

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President’s Letter

“Playoffs?! Are you kidding me? Playoffs?!” By Simon V. Ward III, MD

ery few of us made it to the University of Toledo/Northern Illinois game. Those who did certainly jumped with the loud boom of the “Touchdown Cannon” fired every time Toledo scored. More of us go to the Sunday NFL games at Bank of America Stadium. Each time the Panthers score, four people run across the field from each corner carrying big Panther flags. The stadium erupts when the Panthers score, especially in a tight game. Scores are good. It’s how we win a football game. Winning is more fun. It affects the city. We are a happier place when the Panthers are 7-1 as opposed to 1-7. Even 6-2 “ain’t bad.” The importance of a team to a city certainly was demonstrated 10 years ago. When my hometown literally was up to its neck in water, the New Orleans Saints team served as a rallying point for the city in its rebuilding. The hard part is when we look at the NFL rankings, there are exactly as many scores in the loss column as there are in the win column. Except for a rare tie, every game played produces one of each. We love our team no matter what. It is the team for Charlotte. We also know that these are men with real lives. Many of them have kids who depend on them just as our kids depend on us. All that is true, but the measure of success is the number of wins. Are we playoff bound? Even though the odds may be small, we want that opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl. The only way to get there is to be in the playoffs, and that means wins. I have to admit, I do get a bit jealous of these players. After a game, players often are interviewed about how the team played. They talk about passes caught, runs made, teamwork and the desire of the team to win. It would be nice if the same thing happened to us. Imagine walking out of the OR and someone walks up to you with a microphone. “How did it go today?” “Well the identification of surgical planes went very well. I felt my electro dissection and clamp placement were especially good. We did not get penalized for a wrong instrument count. The patient survived, so it looks like another win.” It is not likely that will happen anytime soon. What we do is not a game. While certainly there are wins and losses, for us the win column has to be significantly longer than the loss column. Pick up the phone and dial any medical practice. If you are on hold, you will be told about the excellent level of care offered by that group. Not only does it provide comprehensive medical care, but it provides it in a personalized way. Turn on the television in any city in America. The local medical facility will tell you how highly ranked they are. (At least 300 hospitals in the U.S. are ranked in the top 50 — must be new math.) They will tell you about the cutting-edge (no pun intended) surgery practiced there. You hear about the high-quality care provided. All these wonderful claims probably work as well as car dealerships that guarantee the lowest price in the city. The folks who gain the most are the advertising people we pay to think up new ways to say the same thing over and over. It does, however, serve a purpose. Just like Ralphie, the buffalo that leads the

University of Colorado team out on the field to a cheering crowd before every game, we should affirm for ourselves that we strive for excellence. We had to attain a high level of excellence to make it through school. Gross anatomy, pharmacology and neuroanatomy were no walks in the park. We also had wonderful role models. Every medical or physician assistant school has those professors who really demonstrate what it means to be the best. One of ours was an infectious disease professor with a Cajun accent. His brain was a catalog of every conceivable fact about pathogenic organisms, plus a whole lot of general internal medicine. He demonstrated the habit of excellence. When I would get all riled up about my Saints losing, a wonderful and now recently retired physician would say to me, “Remember, it is for entertainment purposes only.” Players do television interviews. Physicians and physician assistants get the job done without media coverage … EVERY DAY.

❧

Several of you, who are better practitioners than I ever will be, have been complimentary of the musings on this page this year. For someone who consistently made his worst grades in high school in English, those words have been very sweet. I deeply appreciate what you said and thank you for allowing me a forum to speak about things in the practice of medicine that I felt important. I hope I have not wasted your time. The Mecklenburg County Medical Society has wonderful leadership coming up. Dr. Stephen Ezzo is an energetic and capable leader who will take the Society to new heights. Please support him. The Society is one of the few in the county where every practitioner is welcome — physician assistant, physician, all specialties, any hospital affiliation, group, solo, laser-focused, space cadet — everyone. For those who want to participate, there are educational speakers, social events and worthwhile community projects. For those who don’t, just joining makes a difference. Please, pick up the phone and ask a friend or colleague to join. If everyone who reads this magazine would encourage one person to join, the Society would definitely make it to the playoffs. MCMS works with the North Carolina Medical Society, which communicates every day with state legislators. No one will listen if we don’t say anything. The Society can be the voice for you and your patients’ futures.

P.S. May your lives and work always be playoff bound, and may the coming weeks be a time of peace, happiness and rest with family and good friends.

Mecklenburg Medicine • November/December 2015 | 5

Feature

Family Medicine for America’s Health: Family Medicine’s Strategic Plan to Improve Healthcare for All Americans By Jewell P. Carr, MD, Faculty Physician, Carolinas Medical Center, Dept. of Family Medicine, Elizabeth Family Medicine

espite the astronomical costs of health care in the United States, Americans do not get better health outcomes than those in other developed countries. To improve outcomes, the specialty of family medicine has developed a new strategic plan titled Family Medicine for America’s Health (FMAH or FMAHealth). Healthcare systems based on a foundation of robust primary care deliver care of better quality at lower cost. This is believed to be true because of the basic tenets on which primary care is based: accessibility as the initial contact point with the healthcare system and comprehensive care that addresses the majority of personal health needs. In addition, coordination of care in the context of acute and chronic illness, and sustained relationships with patients, are important. Recognition by current policy makers for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), along with an urgency to improve Healthcare systems the health of the based on a foundation American people, led to development of robust primary care of the current deliver care of better strategic effort, FMAH. Included quality at lower cost. in the development are these key organizations: American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, American Board of Family Medicine, Association of Departments of Family Medicine, Association of Family Practice Residency Directors, North American Primary Care Research Group, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians. Over a decade ago, the key organizations convened to develop and define the core attributes of a family medicine physician and to better define the role of the family medicine doctor in the delivery of health care. This project was titled Future of Family Medicine. Charged with renewing the specialty to meet the needs of people and society, strategies and tactics were developed which served as a launching point in the early stages of FMAH. Over the past two years, with the assistance of CFAR, a private management consulting firm, and APCO Worldwide, a global communication stakeholder engagement and business strategy firm, the steering committee set out to develop the strategic and communications plans for FMAH. The committee consulted many stakeholders,

including other specialists, payers, students, residents and family medicine physicians and patients. CFAR developed a three-phase plan focusing first on the current state of family medicine, then exploring family medicine’s options for the future, and third developing a strategic plan. Also determined were the tactics for implementation. APCO Worldwide undertook the process of interviewing hundreds of stakeholders, including healthcare policy makers, employers/purchasers, healthcare payers, patients, family physicians, physicians of other specialties, residents, medical students and various other clinical team members concerning their attitudes and opinions about family medicine and family physicians. Through the work with CFAR, patient expectations regarding care from family physicians were developed. As the key to moving from strategy to implementation, seven core strategies were refined to six major tactics. These six tactical areas are technology, practice, payment, workforce education, research and engagement. Each is being addressed by smaller tactical teams comprising young and established family physicians, physicians in small practices and other stakeholders. The importance of inclusion of residents and students has been emphasized. Often, they are among the best advocates for family medicine as they have great interest in the future of the specialty. Implementation of the tactics is expected to take five years. The findings of the APCO Worldwide studies have been used to guide communication of FMAH to the public. The communication plan is called Health is Primary, in order to emphasize the connection between primary care and health. Directed to patients, the medical community, students, payers and policy makers, Health is Primary was launched first at the AAFP assembly in 2014.

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Feature

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The campaign includes television and magazine advertisements and city tours. An early city tour was held in Raleigh in the spring of 2015. A panel of both national and local leaders discussed the project, its history and its future with media and other invited guests. The simplest description of a desirable outcome for the project is encouraging deeper, more meaningful relationships between patients and primary care providers, as well as creating systems that better meet the needs of our patients. We can help achieve the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s triple aim of improved health of the population, improved quality of care and lower overall cost of care. As we all work in a system that is slowly becoming more quality-driven, physicians of all specialties are in a position to decide what quality really means, based on outcomes and the satisfaction of both patients and providers. FMAH seeks to define what it means to provide high-quality primary care and to educate the population as to its importance. _______________________________________________________________________

For more information on Family Medicine for America’s Health and the Health is Primary Campaign, visit one of the following websites: • Family Medicine for America’s Health: www.fmahealth.org • Health is Primary: www.healthisprimary.org • Family Medicine (official journal of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine) Sept 2015 issue dedicated to FMAH: www.stfm.org/FamilyMedicine/Vol47Issue8 • Annals of Family Medicine, Oct 2014: FMAH: A Collaborative Project of the Family Medicine Community: www.annfammed.org/content/12/Suppl_1/S1.full.pdf

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Mecklenburg Medicine • November/December 2015 | 7

Feature

What’s Wrong With Wellness (Programs)? By Gordon Hull, PhD, Director, Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, UNC Charlotte

et me begin by introducing myself. I am the current director of the UNC Charlotte Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, replacing Prof. Rosemarie Tong, who retired a couple of years ago. I know she periodically contributed to the MCMS newsletter, and Sandi Buchanan has graciously extended the invitation to me. I hope to be able to contribute to it on a semi-regular basis. I bring a somewhat different perspective than Prof. Tong — my own background is in the history of political theory, and then in current issues of law and technology, particularly intellectual property and privacy. But the spirit of the Ethics Center has been involved heavily in clinical and medical ethics for some time, and I’d like to continue to honor that tradition. So, onto the topic: employee wellness programs. A colleague at the University of Maryland Law School and I are doing the initial work on a paper on these programs. The more we learn, the more concerned we get about them. Increasingly popular, these offer employees a discount for meeting (or attempting to meet) certain health targets. Smoking cessation apparently is the most popular, although BMI-oriented weight loss targets rapidly are gaining ground. As a state employee in North Carolina, I get a discount for not smoking (or provably trying to quit), for having a primary care physician listed on my insurance card and for completing an annual online health assessment. I also get periodic emails telling me how important it is to look at my personalized health webpage, because I have new health information posted (I am noncompliant with that one, because the time I did check, there was nothing new). These programs pose some actuarial and some moral issues. I’m not qualified to talk about the actuarial ones. But the moral issues are non-trivial. The first is medical privacy. How does one prove that one is trying to lose weight, for example? One option would be to wear a Fitbit, and have it report to the doctor (or directly to the insurance agency) every few weeks. But then there’s a problem: Miss my 10,000 steps too many days in a row, and my premium goes back up. If the idea of transmitting that information to one’s insurance agency doesn’t cause alarm, then the probability that it will end up in the hands of advertisers should. A few years ago, I was doing some work on the BRCA1/2 mutation in the context of the patent litigation surrounding it, and I did enough PubMed searches that I got an email suggesting I might consider alternative treatment regimens for my cancer diagnosis.

What happens when the insurance company wants your bar receipts (or your credit card statements, more generally)? Too much beer, and your premium goes up and you get inundated with AA advertising. Did you supersize your meal? This level of surveillance may or may not improve public health, but we need, as a society, to have an honest conversation about how much medical surveillance is acceptable in a democracy. Or, in different and more solutionoriented terms, we need to think about more than individual choice. We need to look at the role of our built environment — the roads, buildings, etc. — in making some choices a lot easier than others. Then we need to think not just about what modifications to the built environment and lifestyle are most efficient, but also which ones make the best moral sense. Policies like employee wellness programs need to be compared to policies like banning trans-fats or super-sized drinks, or putting higher taxes on alcohol. Banning trans-fats doesn’t violate anyone’s medical privacy. A second — and, to my mind, more serious — problem is that it blames individuals for behaviors that have been heavily rewarded by their environments. A lot of smokers start as teenagers, before their brains fully understand consequences; they get started either via peers or due to influence by advertising. Similarly, for large numbers of people, it’s very difficult to get good food to eat, and then to have time to cook it properly. Julie Guthman, a professor at Santa Cruz who works on problems of food, famously quipped that reading Michael Pollan made her want to eat Cheetos. His remedy to our food problems seems to involve everyone growing their own organic vegetables, or at least being lectured to for not buying local organic produce at the farmers market. She made an important point: Eating well is unreasonably difficult for many people. Not only do they work too many hours for too little money, but they are surrounded by a decaying infrastructure that offers no adequate grocery stores. There are no grocery stores because those stores don’t stay in business. So people in these neighborhoods have at least a transit problem, and, given that good food costs more, a wage problem. Which would improve public health more: better mass transit, a higher minimum wage, or wellness-program incentives? I don’t have the answer, but I think it’s the right kind of question to be asking. At the moment, we’re looking at public health crises in a way that dubiously blames individuals for being in situations that aren’t entirely their fault. And, on the whole, we’re refusing to consider anything that involves a bigger picture. Even for something that would do as much good as radically reducing smoking rates or making a dent into metabolic syndrome.

8 | November/December 2015 • Mecklenburg Medicine

M A R K

YO U R

C A L E N D A R !

MCMS ANNUAL DINNER MEETING Thursday, February 18, 2016

Myers Park Country Club

Keynote Speaker

Kathy Reichs Author of

SPEAKING IN BONES

Wine, Dessert Pairing, Book Signing and Networking to Follow Registration information available soon.

Mecklenburg Medicine â&#x20AC;˘ November/December 2015 | 9

Womens Physicians Section

CWA CHARLOTTE WOMEN ATTORNEYS

Fighting for Women with Fashion

The Women Physicians Section of the Mecklenburg County Medical Society and the 2015 Planning Committee thank you for making the fifth annual Fighting for Women with Fashion event on October 6 an amazing success! Through your support, Safe Alliance raised more than $60,000 for the Clyde & Ethel Dickson Domestic Violence Shelter.

2015 Planning Committee

NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY OF GASTROENTEROLOGY

PROMOTING HIGH STANDARDS OF CARE FOR N.C. PATIENTS

SAVE THE DATE February 27-28, 2016

2016 ANNUAL CONFERENCE Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, NC

TARGET AUDIENCE: Physicians in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Physician Assistants, Nurse Anesthetists and Nurses working specifically in Gastroenterology. FEATURED SPEAKERS: Marcia Irene Canto, MD David T. Rubin, MD Christopher C. Thompson, MD MORE INFORMATION:

For more information on how to become a member of the North Carolina Society of Gastroenterology, visit: http://ncgisociety.org or contact Sandi Buchanan, executive director at sbuchanan@meckmed.org.

10 | November/December 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ Mecklenburg Medicine

Happy Holidays! Brackett Flagship Properties would like to thank the Mecklenburg County Medical Society for making 2015 a successful year! We greatly appreciate your business and look forward to continued and new relationships in the coming years. May you enjoy a wonderful holiday season and a healthy 2016! Your Healthcare Real Estate Specialists

Reed Griffith Partner, Leasing & Brokerage direct 704-971-8908

Tiffany Slayden VP, Leasing & Brokerage direct 704-971-8906

Will Robertson Associate, Leasing & Brokerage direct 704-971-8904

2701 Coltsgate Road, Suite 300 | Charlotte, North Carolina 28211 | 704-442-0222 | www.brackettflagship.com

Mecklenburg Medicine â&#x20AC;˘ November/December 2015 | 11

MMAE

NATIONAL HEALTH & WELLNESS OBSERVANCES

Dear Friends, I hope you have received your directories by now. The new directory was made possible because of the generous giving of our Angels. We try to keep our operating expenses as low as possible, and we run a very tight ship, but the reality is that costs for everything continue to rise and our dues barely cover our basic operating expenses. We love our Angels and thank those of you who choose to contribute in this manner. This month, I would like to feature another nonprofit that MMAE was instrumental in founding: MedAssist. MedAssist was founded in 1997 as a charitable pharmacy program to assist uninsured and lowincome North Carolinians gain access to prescription medications. Through collaborations with Second Harvest Food Bank, an over-the-counter medicine program also has been implemented. To learn more about NC MedAssist, go to www.medassist.org. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with lots of special times with family and friends. See you in the New Year!

Mimi Compton

2015-2016 MMAE President

NOVEMBER 2015 American Diabetes Month COPD Awareness Month Diabetic Eye Disease Month Lung Cancer Awareness Month National Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Disease Awareness Month National Epilepsy Awareness Month National Family Caregivers Month National Healthy Skin Month National Hospice and Palliative Care Month National Stomach Cancer Awareness Month Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month Prematurity Awareness Month November 19: Great American Smokeout November 23-29: Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Awareness Week

DECEMBER 2015 National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention (3D) Month Safe Toys and Gifts Month December 6-12: National Hand Washing Awareness Week December 6-12: National Influenza Vaccination Week

Charlotte AHEC Course Offerings Charlotte AHEC is part of the N.C. Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program and Carolinas HealthCare System.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

2016 Grants and Disbursements The 2016 Grants and Disbursements Committee of the Mecklenburg Medical Alliance and Endowment (MMAE) will begin accepting grant applications on January 1, 2016. The applications can be accessed through the MMAE website, mmaeonline.com. The application process, including the rules and guidelines for submitting a grant request, can be found on the website. A hard copy of the application must be on file with the Grants and Disbursements Committee by February 28, 2016. Grants will be presented at our annual meeting on May 24, 2016. Please contact Gina Clegg, vice president of Grants and Disbursements, at gclegg50@gmail.com with any questions.

11/7 8th Annual VTE and Anticoagulation Conference 11/12 3rd Annual Stephen Matarazzo IBD Conference 11/14 Carolinas Trauma Related Issues and Critical Knowledge Symposium (TRICKS) of Fracture Management 11/14 1st Annual Levine Cancer Institute Hematologic Malignancies Update 12/17 18th Procrastinator Marathon: Appropriately Covering the Evolving World of Infectious Disease Online DOT Medical Examiners Course Online Social Media: Risks & Benefits for Physicians Online Prevention & Management of Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Online Motor Vehicle Crash Victims For more information or to register for these courses, call 704-512-6523 or visit www.charlotteahec.org.

12 | November/December 2015 â&#x20AC;˘ Mecklenburg Medicine

Member News

NEW MEMBERS

Welcome!

Carolina E. Fasola, MD Radiation Oncology Southeast Radiation Oncology 200 Queens Road #200, Charlotte, NC 28204 704-333-7376 Emory University, 2010 Michael J. Goretsky, MD Pediatric Surgery CHS Pediatric General & Thoracic Surgery 1025 Morehead Medical Drive #275, Charlotte, NC 28204 704-403-2662 State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1991 William C. Graham, MD Orthopaedic Surgery OrthoCarolina 10650 Park Road #120, Charlotte, NC 28210 704-323-2000 University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008 Anthony Stallion, MD Pediatric Surgery CHS Pediatric General & Thoracic Surgery 1025 Morehead Medical Drive #275, Charlotte, NC 28204 704-403-2662 University of Michigan, 1987

Join us in welcoming Masoud Ahdieh, MD, as a courtesy member to the Medical Society. Dr. Ahdieh is fully retired from the practice of medicine and recently moved to Charlotte from Rockingham. He specialized in pediatrics and practiced in Richmond County for 35 years.

Donald D. Fraser, MD, Joins Piedmont Plastic Surgery & Dermatology Piedmont Plastic Surgery & Dermatology recently announced Donald D. Fraser, MD, joined its Cotswold office at 309 S. Sharon Amity Road, effective Oct. 1. Dr. Fraser is one of the most experienced Board-certified dermatologists in North Carolina. He has been a leader in general, surgical and cosmetic dermatology since 1984. Prior to moving into solo practice, he was affiliated with the Nalle Clinic, Department of Dermatology, until 1989. He was awarded the very distinguished Dr. Jacob Bleiberg Award for Excellence in Dermatology and was inducted into the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Donald D. Fraser, MD Fraser has served as past president of both the North Carolina Dermatology Society and the Charlotte Dermatology Society. Although Fraser’s practice has included the broad spectrum of diseases of the skin, he has developed particular expertise in psoriasis, skin cancer and cosmetic dermatology.

Upcoming Meetings & Events

NOVEMBER

Meetings are at the MCMS office unless otherwise noted.

Tuesday, Nov. 3 MCMS President’s Dinner and Board meeting. Myers Park Country Club. 6 p.m. n Tuesday, Nov. 10 MedLink meeting. Mecklenburg County Health Dept. 8:30 a.m. n Monday, Nov. 16 MCMS Executive Committee meeting. 5:45 p.m. n Wednesday, Nov. 18 MMAE Finance/Board meeting. 9 a.m./10 a.m n

G. Bernard Taylor, MD Urogynecology CMC Mercy Dept of OB/GYN Urogynecology 2001 Vail Ave. #360, Charlotte, NC 28207 704-304-1160 University of North Carolina, 1994 Steven Teich, MD Pediatric Surgery CHS Pediatric General & Thoracic Surgery 1025 Morehead Medical Drive #275, Charlotte, NC 28204 704-403-2662 State University of New York at Buffalo, 1981 Gena M. Walker, MD Internal Medicine (Hospitalist) CMC Mercy Hospitalist Group 2001 Vail Ave., Charlotte, NC 28207 704-304-6070 West Virginia University, 2000

Thursday, Nov. 19 CAMGMA meeting. Myers Park Baptist Church Cornwell Center. Noon. n Friday, Nov. 20 Child Health Committee meeting. 7:30 a.m. n Monday, Nov. 23 January magazine deadline. n Thursday-Friday, Nov. 26-27 Thanksgiving holiday — MCMS office closed. n

DECEMBER No MCMS Board meeting.

Tuesday, Dec. 1 AAFP quarterly meeting. Location TBD. 6:30 p.m. n Tuesday, Dec. 8 MedLink meeting. Mecklenburg County Health Dept. 8:30 a.m. n Wednesday, Dec. 16 MMAE Finance/Board meeting. 9 a.m./10 a.m. n

Kristin C. Washburn, MD Anesthesiology Providence Anesthesiology Associates 200 Providence Road #101, Charlotte, NC 28207 704-749-5800 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009

Thursday, Dec. 17 February magazine deadline. n Thursday, Dec. 17 CAMGMA holiday party. Location TBD. 4-8 p.m. n Thursday-Monday, Dec. 24-28 Christmas holiday — MCMS office closed. n

Mecklenburg Medicine • November/December 2015 | 13

At the Hospitals

SouthEnd Pediatrics Joins Novant Health SouthEnd Pediatrics, 325 Arlington Ave., Suite 510 in Charlotte, has joined Novant Health. Under the new name Novant Health Pediatrics SouthEnd, pediatricians Rebecca Alkire, MD, FAAP, and Christi Bartell, MD, FAAP, will continue to provide a range of services dedicated to the health of children from birth through college. Dr. Alkire received her undergraduate and medical degrees from West Virginia University. Her pediatric training was completed at Inova Children’s Hospital (formerly Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children) in Northern Virginia. She has been dedicated to outpatient Rebecca Alkire, MD, FAAP pediatrics since completion of residency in 2008 and has called Charlotte home since 2009. Alkire is Board-certified and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Bartell received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of South Carolina. She completed residency at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. She is a Board-certified pediatrician and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Bartell has been awarded the Local Federal Credit Christi Bartell, MD, FAAP Government Union Employee Productivity Award and the 2012 Gaston County Employee of the Year Award for her work as a pediatrician at the Gaston County Health Department. For information, call 704-774-3024. n

Novant Health Cancer Specialists Open Charlotte Office Novant Health Cancer Specialists is pleased to announce the opening of a new hematology-oncology clinic in Charlotte. Located at 1718 E. 4th St. on the first floor of the Presbyterian Medical Tower, the practice will focus on the care of adult patients with blood disorders and cancer diagnosis. As a fully integrated clinic within the cancer program, patients will have improved access n

to a variety of treatment options tailored to minimize side effects while maximizing cancer-fighting benefits. Novant Health Cancer Specialists Charlotte will be staffed by hematologistoncologists Jennifer Dallas, MD, Ayla Kessler, MD, and Nasfat Shehadeh, MD. These physicians offer access to advanced testing, multidisciplinary cancer clinics, hematology services, an infusion suite, and survivorship and rehabilitation care.

Novant Health Cancer Specialists has a location in Matthews, 1700 MatthewsTownship Pkwy. near Novant Health Matthews Medical Center. This clinic is staffed by Nusrat Chaudhary, MD, Lance Lassiter, MD, Adam Kuykendall, MD, and Alfred Newman, MD. To refer a patient to the Charlotte office, call 704-316-4485. To refer a patient to the Matthews office, call 704-841-8151. Visit nhcancerspecialists.org to learn more about services offered.

Building a Hospital for the Growing Mint Hill and Surrounding Communities The new Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center and physician plaza are under way at the corner of Albemarle Road and Interstate 485. The medical campus will be completed in phases, beginning with the physician plaza, a 13,000-square-foot facility comprising family medical practices and other specialists. This first phase is scheduled to open in fall 2016. The second phase will include construction of a 100,000-squarefoot hospital and 80,000-square-foot medical office building that will provide Mint Hill area residents with convenient and easy access to a full-service Joy Greear community hospital and even more doctors’ offices and outpatient services. The medical center is expected to open in 2018. The medical center’s planned services will include: • 24-hour emergency care with 16 treatment rooms • 36 general hospital rooms • 8 labor and delivery maternity rooms • 4 intensive care beds • Surgical operating rooms • Endoscopy room • Imaging services, such as mammography, ultrasound, 16-slice CT scanner, mobile MRI • Onsite hospital physicians for inpatient admissions • Pharmacy • Laboratory Joy Greear has been named president and chief operating officer of the future medical center. She will continue in her role as vice president of professional and support services for Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center while overseeing construction of the hospital. Greear has worked for Novant Health for the past 23 years in different capacities. n

14 | November/December 2015 • Mecklenburg Medicine

At the Hospitals

New Cath Lab Project to Begin in January The Congenital Heart Center at Levine Children’s Hospital will start construction in January on a new suite of two pediatric cardiac catheterization labs to better study and treat heart defects. The new suite is expected to open in fall 2016. Here are five things to know about the new lab: • More sick hearts means expansion. Because of an increase in referrals over the last five years, the demand for this procedure has grown by more than 50 percent. • The new space will contain two state-of-theart biplane cardiac catheterization laboratories to perform diagnostic, interventional and electrophysiology procedures for children and adults with congenital heart disease. • New equipment means the lowest radiation exposure to patients and staff of all pediatric cath labs in North Carolina. • The equipment will have the ability to generate three-dimensional reconstruction images of the heart. In many cases, these pictures will increase understanding of complex hearts and help plan for patients’ treatment. • Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute will be increasing physician manpower with an additional pediatric interventionalist and pediatric electrophysiologist.

Physician First in Nation to Implant New Heart Device Joseph A. Paolillo, MD, director of the Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Program at Carolinas HealthCare System, is the first physician in the country to successfully implant a newly FDA-approved device to treat atrial septal defects. The device, a septal occluder, was approved by the FDA in May. On July 27, the first day it was available for use, Dr. Paolillo performed three procedures to correct atrial septal defects. All procedures were successful. An atrial septal defect is a congenital heart defect that allows blood to flow between the

left and right atria by way of a hole. This creates a surplus of blood in the right side of the heart and an increase of blood to the lungs. The more blood that is diverted, the harder the heart and lungs need to work, leading to additional stress and possible weakening or enlargement of the right side of the heart, as well as an abnormal heartbeat. The new device presents a nonsurgical option to correct this abnormality. Paolillo, who participated in evaluating the prototype 10 years ago, believes it presents a safer, more effective way to treat atrial septal defects. In addition to being the first in the country to utilize the device on a patient, Paolillo played an integral role in getting the device approved by the FDA. While it was still in the clinical trial phase, Paolillo enrolled several patients from Carolinas HealthCare System to receive treatment with the device, prompting the System to become one of the highest enrollment sites in the country. Support for Current and Former Pediatric Cancer Patients Levine Children’s Hospital has launched two unique efforts, a pilot mentor program and survivorship clinic, to provide support for current and former pediatric cancer patients as they adjust to treatment and plan for life after cancer. The new pilot program is monitoring the impact of a mentor support system on the quality of life and coping in adolescents and young adults with cancer (the mentees), as well as those who have completed cancer treatment (the mentors). The research study is spearheaded by Amii Steele, PhD, Lynnae Schwandt, RN and Kendall Hankins, RN. They analyzed research that shows teens and adolescents ages 13-25 prefer a peer-to-peer support system rather than a support group. The mentor support system allows participants to communicate with each other through their phones, and they can decide when and where to meet instead of relying on a set schedule. The mentor system also requires less manpower, less finances and it can be done anywhere at any time. Mentees currently are on active cancer treatment. The mentors have gone through treatment and have been in remission/cancer free for six months or more. The study will last

about 12 months, with each mentor and mentee relationship to last a full year. The hope is to expand this pilot study and continue to offer peer support and mentoring to adolescents during and after cancer treatment. In addition, because of advances in treatment, the majority of childhood cancer survivors are living long, productive lives. However, survivorship comes with significant risks to their health and well-being, which they must deal with long term. That’s where the Survivorship Clinic at Levine Children’s Hospital steps in. Under the leadership of Jennifer Pope, MD, the team teaches cancer survivors about their past medical history and treatment, while guiding them to live their lives to the fullest. The team is multidisciplinary, comprising doctors, nurse practitioners, a psychologist, dietician, teacher, social worker and child life specialists. The clinic takes place every Wednesday morning, with each cancer survivor coming in once a year. Currently, there are 200 active survivors in the program. The survivorship clinic reinforces the fact that cancer survivors can do nearly everything their friends or siblings can do — they just need a little help. Even though they are no longer sick, the cancer is not over. It leaves a lasting impression on their lives. Levine Children’s Hospital has the most comprehensive survivorship program in the nation. Patients come from all over the region and even across states to participate.

Thank you! ... to our 2015 MCMS membership networking event sponsors

Mecklenburg Medicine • November/December 2015 | 15

Independent Physicians of the Carolinas WELCOME

New Members for 2015: Awa Igbinadolor, MD, St. Mary’s Medical Clinic Robert Liesman, DPM, Mecklenburg Foot & Ankle Associates and Diabetic Foot Clinic Babak Mokari, DO, Center For The Healing Arts Independent Physicians of the Carolinas is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) membership organization whose mission is to create public awareness of medical doctors not employed by a network or hospital system and to provide educational programs and resources to physician members and their administration. Visit us at IndependentPhysicians.org. Inadvertently left out of the CONGRATULATIONS to our physician members being chosen as a TOP DOCTOR in Charlotte Magazine’s list 2015: ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY Vandana Patel, MD

Vandana Patel, MD, Asthma & Allergy Specialists, PA

Charlotte Parent readers nominated these independent doctors for the “Mom-Approved” list: PEDIATRICS

Dino P. Kanelos, MD, Carolina Family Healthcare in Ballantyne Wissam Nadra, MD, Lakeshore Pediatric Center in Denver Matthew D. Samarel, MD, Kids First Pediatrics in Blakeney/Ballantyne ALLERGY/ASTHMA

Hugh R. Black, II, MD, Asthma & Allergy Specialists, offices in Charlotte and Monroe Sanjay Khiani, MD, Family Allergy Asthma & Sinus Care in Pineville Maeve E. O’Connor, MD, Allergy Asthma & Immunology Relief of Charlotte, offices in Charlotte and Salisbury With the growth in the Lake Norman area, Charlotte Gastroenterology & Hepatology’s Huntersville office is preparing for an expansion, which will include infusion therapy. Plans also are in the works for an expanded Mooresville location. All offices are looking forward to welcoming new members to their medical team in order to better serve the Charlotte region. Check out their progress at www.charlottegastro.com.

Left to right: Justin Favaro, MD; Lisa Kelley, NP, with daughter Anna; Sherie Bradshaw, Jason Shultz, MD, with son Pearce.

Oncology Specialists of Charlotte sponsored the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s annual PurpleStride 5k “WAGE HOPE” awareness in September to raise funds for research. This was the fourth annual event and the draw increased to more than 1,700 runners and walkers. The Charlotte chapter exceeded their goal. Coach Ron Rivera of the Carolina Panthers led the way to the kick-off of the morning event. Rivera’s brother, Mickey Rivera, fought a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer before his death this past July.

Providers and staff at Allergy & Asthma Center of Lake Norman participated in the annual “Be the Match” Walk/Run on September 26 to raise money and awareness for blood cancers and the need for bone marrow donors. They have offices in Huntersville and Mooresville to serve patients of all ages. Join the providers and staff at Allergy Asthma & Immunology Relief (AAIR) for Yoga Fridays every other Friday at 1 p.m. in their office at 1523 Elizabeth Ave., Suite 200, Charlotte. For more information on the yoga schedule, visit www.AAIRofCharlotte.com.

16 | November/December 2015 • Mecklenburg Medicine

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