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Warren Clinic Specialty Spotlight
WA R R E N C L I N I C S P E C I A LT Y S P OT L I G H T
The physicians of Warren Clinic General Surgery in Tulsa, McAlester and Muskogee offer a wide range of procedures and unique expertise. With stateof-the-art surgical suites at Saint Francis Hospital as well as advanced surgical technologies, such as the daVinci™ robotic surgical system, available at regional sites, Saint Francis is proud to serve eastern Oklahoma and all those who call it home.
Warren Clinic general surgeons include (left to right): Steven Feher, MD; Guido Sclabas, MD; John King, MD; Samuel Pangburn, DO; and Patrick Ross, MD
“General surgery” is a term you have heard but may not know exactly what it entails. Dr. Samuel Pangburn says general surgery procedures are focused on the area from approximately the neck to the hip. This includes gastrointestinal surgery, thyroid removal, appendectomies, hernia repair and lung surgery.
“As far as surgeries go, we have everything covered,” says Dr. Pangburn, an Oklahoma native who grew up in Ponca City. “We probably do twice as many procedures as the average surgeon does. Saint Francis Health System ensures that we have access to the best technology and that every part of the process is patientcentered.”
Dr. Pangburn says about 90 percent of his procedures are done with robotics. With robotic-assisted surgery, surgeons need to only make a few short incisions instead of a single long incision that open surgery requires. The advantages of minimally invasive robotic surgery may include: • less pain and blood loss; • less scarring; • reduced trauma; • shorter hospital stay; and • quicker recovery.
From the general to the specific.
Most general surgeons have expertise with specific diseases or conditions of the body. Dr. Pangburn, for example, receives many referrals for his skill in hernia repair and colon surgery, among other procedures. For pancreatic and liver cancer surgery, Dr. Guido Sclabas is the resident authority.
Born in Switzerland, Dr. Sclabas came to America in 1988 to do research at MD Anderson in Houston. He never left the U.S. as his research and studies took him to several renowned hospitals around
Warren Clinic also offers a broad range of surgical services in Muskogee and McAlester. With an experienced team of surgeons as well as robotic surgery capabilities, emergency surgical services, endoscopy procedures and more, patients who live in the region have access to care, closer to home.
Richenda Herren, MD Muskogee Sumit Kumar, MD Muskogee J. Martin Hayes, MD McAlester
the country, including the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee.
“I trained an extra two years with specific focus on the pancreas and liver,” says Dr. Sclabas. “It’s not common in this part of the country to be fellowship-trained in these areas. In fact, that is one of the reasons I was attracted to Saint Francis Health System. I saw that, for my specialty, this region is underserved. I felt I could make more of an impact here.”
“I really like the multidisciplinary team we have here, with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, gastroenterologists and interventional radiologists. We get together every week to discuss patients and make decisions about the best treatment plan for them. But my favorite aspect of the job is taking care of people. A lot of anxiety comes with a diagnosis of liver or pancreatic cancer. It has a big impact on my patients’ lives, and I’m here to help them.”
Providing a broad range of surgical care
As Dr. Sclabas relates, there is a personal aspect of the general surgery specialty that is often overlooked—the compassion of one human being for another. It is not uncommon for general surgeons to choose their profession for personal reasons. As a young boy, Dr. Sclabas had asthma and went to the doctor frequently, which began his interest in medicine. And his mother died of pancreatic cancer, which narrowed his focus.
Dr. Patrick Ross, the newest member of the Warren Clinic General Surgery team, also had motivations that began in childhood. “When I was a kid, my friend’s dad was a surgeon, and he’d come home after work and tell us all these interesting stories,” he says. “Then, when I was in college, my dad got sick and needed a lot of surgery.”
After more than ten years as a surgeon in Tulsa, Dr. Ross joined Warren Clinic in February of this year. A Tulsa native and graduate of Edison High School, Dr. Ross specializes in cancer and complex gastrointestinal surgery. “I’m really excited to join this group to provide outstanding surgical and cancer care to our community,” he says. “I wanted to work at Warren Clinic because of the vision and commitment to the quality of care here, and the fact that it is locally owned. I could’ve gone anywhere, but I didn’t need to.”
Warren Clinic General Surgery in Muskogee
Richenda Herren, MD Sumit Kumar, MD
101 Rockefeller Drive, Suite 201 Muskogee, OK 74401
Warren Clinic McAlester General Surgery
J. Martin Hayes, MD
1401 East Van Buren McAlester, OK 74501
Warren Clinic General Surgery Physicians in Tulsa
Saint Francis Hospital
John King, MD Patrick Ross, MD Guido Sclabas, MD
6475 South Yale, Suite 406 Tulsa, OK 74136
Saint Francis Hospital South
Steven Feher, MD Samuel Pangburn, DO
10501 East 91st Street South Tulsa, OK 74133
For more information, referrals or to schedule an appointment with Warren Clinic General Surgery in Tulsa, McAlester or Muskogee, please call Saint Francis Health Link, 918-488-6688.
