Focus On Physicians 2022

FAMI

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d v a s a t l C w t c M F c e

b s F e

DR. MICHAEL SMITH

BETHANY STEVENS, FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER

JENNIFER OLSON, FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER

OAKLEAF SOUTHSIDE CLINIC small-office feel means personalized care: Southside Medical Clinic has served the Valley for nearly 30 years

IN 1996, DR. MICHAEL SMITH and Dr. Thomas Peller

decided to open a clinic with the vision of offering patients personalized service in a small, intimate setting that allowed for the patient and provider to develop a relationship unlike those available in larger settings. As a result, Oakleaf Clinics – Southside Medical Clinic was opened and remains true to that vision today. Dr. Smith, board certified in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, practices alongside two Family Nurse Practitioners who care for patients throughout their entire lifespan.

“Our patients are loyal to us because they like the more intimate setting of Southside Medical Clinic.

From the support staff to the providers, patients are greeted in a wel-

coming, caring way,” states Bethany us to take the time to truly get to Stevens, FNP. “Being a part know our patients and their of a tight-knit team alfamilies on a comprelows all three of our hensive level. This providers to give type of practice the same level brings medicine “THIS TYPE OF of care and back to where personalizait started PRACTICE BRINGS tion because rather than we all share feeling MEDICINE BACK TO the same institutionalWHERE IT STARTED vision… ized.” to cater to Offering RATHER THAN FEELING the patient’s primary care, individual acute care INSTITUTIONALIZED.” needs.” services, pediJennifer atric, women’s Olson, FNP, has health, and interpracticed in Eau nal medicine are the Claire for much of her core of the care provided professional career. “Working at Southside Medical Clinic. In in a more intimate setting allows addition, the team provides DOT

physicals and Dr. Michael Smith is the only provider that provides FAA physicals in the Valley. Offering same day visits, the staff at Southside Medical Clinic strive to offer care whenever you need it, whatever the needs are.

The vision remains the same, small, individualized care while maintaining the highest quality.

Once you step foot into the clinic, you will feel it. “Come and see for yourself. You will not be disappointed in the outstanding customer service and care you receive,” Stevens said.

Southside Medical Clinic is open five days a week and has on-call services after hours. Their providers also see patients at Sacred Heart Hospital and Oakleaf Surgical Hospital.

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WILLOW CREEK WOMEN’S CLINIC where women’s voices are heard WILLOW CREEK WOMEN’S CLINIC

has been serving the women of the Chippewa Valley for over 17 years and has recently moved into a new space that allows for an expansion of services in the River Prairie Wellness Center in Altoona.

Linda Poirier became a certified Family Nurse Practitioner in 1996 and opened Willow Creek on Barstow back in 2006 so that women in the Valley had more options when it came to their primary care. A big misconception about Willow Creek is that they only deal in women’s reproductive health, but that certainly is not the case.

They specialize in women’s primary care and can help with concerns from mental health to colds and flu to annual checkups.

Willow Creek uses a nursing model as opposed to a typical medical model of care, which means the practitioners are not just diagnosing and then treating, but looking at the whole equation of your life and what may be causing issues. This is based on things like your diet, lifestyle, stress level, and more. They even offer evening appointment times on Wednesdays so women who work during the day don’t have to take time off to receive care.

“I think that’s why we’ve grown,” Poirier said. “Women come in for a problem, but we take the time to look into all pieces of their life, not just that single diagnosis.”

“Willow Creek’s appointment times are also longer than your average medical appointments, allowing

practitioners to build relationships of trust and collaboration,” said Willow Creek practitioner, Allison Wilson.

Since moving into their new office in River Prairie Wellness Center in May of this year, a new nurse practitioner, Amy Marvin, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Wendy Brousseau-Anderson, have joined the team to be able to give a more well-rounded experience for women.

“To be able to combine and collaborate with a mental health right in the same building has been the goal for most primary care practitioners,” Poirier said.

“It has been great to be able to collaborate with them on the therapy side of things while they work on the medication end,” said Brousseau-Anderson.

The process of receiving mental health care has become very fragmented with providers trying to piece together what’s happening in therapy and with medication, so having a therapist on their team has

“WE WANT TO GIVE WOMEN A CHANCE TO EXPLORE A DIFFERENT KIND OF CARE THAT MAY RESONATE BETTER WITH THEM.”

helped fix that system.

Willow Creek team is also very passionate about educating Chippewa Valley women about their health, which is why they often hold informational classes and support groups for different populations of women. These include classes on post-partum readiness, menopause, migraines, life balance, and more.

“Education is a huge piece of the puzzle of how we take care of women,” Poirier said. “We all kind of feel like we’re teachers more than anything. We educate about what a certain diagnosis is, what the different treatment options are, and how diet, exercise, and other lifestyle components are important.”

Whether you are in for a checkup or hoping to address some other health concerns, Willow Creek Women’s Clinic wants to be a place

where women know their voices and concerns will be heard and taken very seriously.

“It’s another option for women in the area,” Poirier said. “We want to give women a chance to explore a different kind of care that may resonate better with them. I think the more options and opportunities we have for people to choose what type of care best meets their needs, it’s all the better.”

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| DECEMBER 15, 2022

MERRICK PLASTIC & HAND SURGERY veteran surgeon focuses on healing hands and more with an old-fashioned, personal approach DR. CLINT MERRICK,

a board-certified plastic surgeon in Eau Claire, combines cutting-edge medical techniques with an old-fashioned approach to patient care.

Dr. Merrick’s practice, he explains, goes well beyond the cosmetic procedures that may come to mind when people hear the term plastic surgery. “We operate from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet, and we operate on 1-day-old to 100-year-old people,” he says. Specializing in plastic surgery, he says,“has provided this diversity which makes my practice of medicine so rewarding and interesting every single day. I’ve been doing it 20-something years now, and every day is new and exciting. We just absolutely love what we do.”

Plastic surgery encompasses reconstructive and cosmetic procedures, from breast reconstructions and face lifts to cyst removal and nerve repair. Dr. Merrick also specializes in hand surgery.

“In the hand it’s a real marriage of form and function,” he says. “Our job is to take bones and tendons and ligaments and nerves and blood

vessels and in some cases the skin and the coverage that’s required to get wounds to heal and apply that to the hand.”

After receiving his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick completed his surgery internship, general surgery residency, and an integrated plastic surgery training program at the University of Kentucky. During that time, he grew interested in operating on hands and completed a hand-surgery fellowship at The Kleinert Institute in Louisville, Kentucky.

Dr. Merrick says repairing patients’ hands that have been damaged by trauma is particularly gratifying. “(The hand is) so integral to everything we do that the gratification comes from seeing (patients) come in and say ‘I’m back to work, I’m able to cook again at home, my hand looks normal again, I don’t feel self-conscious in public,’ ” he says. “And so there’s a lot of psychological aspects, vocational aspects, and aspects related to their daily life that we’re able to restore.”

But healing hands is just part of what Dr. Merrick does. He also treats patients with burns, breast cancer, skin cancer, and other concerns, including

“WE TREAT OUR PATIENTS LIKE OUR FAMILY, PROVIDING PERSONALIZED CONSERVATIVE CARE TO EVERYONE.”

congenital abnormalities such as cleft lips and nasal deformities.

“It’s amazing to see these people afterwards,” he says. “They feel like they’re part of society again, and that too is super gratifying.”

In addition, Merrick’s cosmetic surgery practice encompasses breast augmentations and reductions, face and brow lifts, rhinoplasty, tummy tucks, and much more. In addition to these surgical approaches, Dr. Merrick’s office is also staffed by aestheticians, who provide services such as clinical facials, and injectionists, who offer Botox and other injectables and fillers. All these treatments can help patients gain and maintain healthy, beautiful skin.

And in partnership with a local orthopedist, Dr. Austin Crow, Dr. Merrick is the western Wisconsin pioneer of a new treatment called adipose-derived stem cell therapy, in which components of a patient’s abdominal fat and blood are injected into joints, a process that can improve arthritic pain and delay the need for

joint-replacement surgery.

Amid such innovative, 21st-century procedures, Dr. Merrick also provides the personalized bedside manner of an earlier era.

“That’s one of the areas that we really excel in,” he says. “My practice is committed to providing a truly old-school approach to medicine. Literally everybody who comes in feels like they’re a part of our family. Every one of my patients has my cellphone number.” Dr. Merrick adds that this provides a “distinctly different experience” than going to a big medical network where patients may be treated as numbers, not individuals.

“We want them to feel comfortable,” he continues. “We want them to leave with no questions unasked.”

Dr. Merrick’s clinic is currently on West Hamilton Avenue in Eau Claire, but in March he plans to relocate to a newly remodeled space on Oak Ridge Drive. There, he will have a more extensive operating room, allowing him to provide more procedures in-house.

But Dr. Merrick emphasizes surgery isn’t always the best option.

“Our No. 1 goal is to avoid surgery when we can,” he says. He will pursue conservative approaches first, rather than pushing patients toward more invasive – and costly – treatments.

“We focus on doing the right thing medically regardless of the effect on the business,” he says.

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