FAMILY MEDICINE HEALTHCARE

Where compassion and a personal approach are the hallmarks of the doctor/patient relationship

by Rob Lauer

In a time that is seeing great changes in the American health care system, people often feel as if they are nothing more than a cog in a big, impersonal machine. Many patients can remember a time when their relationship with their primary care physician felt personable - something more akin to a friendship than a mere professional transaction.

This personal approach is a hallmark of doctor/patient relationships at Family Medicine Healthcare in Portsmouth. Dr. Samir Abdelshaheed - Medical Director of the practice since 2004 - feels called to offer personal care to all patients - pediatric, adult, and geriatric.

According to those who know him, when a person becomes a patient of Dr. Abdelshaheed's, he or she becomes very important to him. He takes his time with each of them, listens to them, takes everything in, and connects the dots - effectively becoming very protective of each and every one.

"Dr. Abdelshaheed and our team are committed to providing complete medical care for the entire family," Graisse Abdelshaheed says. Graisse is the manager and owner of Family Medicine Healthcare, and also Dr. Abdelshaheed's wife. As she explains, the practice is also dedicated to helping patients avoid the high cost of health care.

As insurance costs go up, the team at Family Medicine Healthcare works hard to educate patients about how to avoid certain problems. For example, many people assume that the only way to treat allergies is to get a prescription or to get a shot. But there are lots of very simple things that people can do to help cut down on the severity of allergies. Keeping windows closed stops pollen and dust from getting inside the house; taking a shower before bed after spending time outside gets pollen out of hair and off skin, and therefore pollen from getting on pillows and bedsheets; simple things like this can make allergies more manageable.

In addition, new technology can help educate people about ways to avoid illness. DNA tests can let people know if they are genetically predisposed to certain diseases and chronic conditions, which can help patients make lifestyle choices that might prevent certain diseases and conditions later in life.

Recently, Family Medicine Heathcare has added a number of in-house procedures and services.

Family Medicine Healthcare now performs ultrasounds and echocardiograms right on the premises. This means that patients don't have to make separate trips to the hospital for those procedures - avoiding hospital charges. Besides being more cost efficient, there's no waiting until the next day. By keeping these services in-house, there are also fewer eyes on the results, and greater continuity because everyone involved in the process works at the practice. The team consults with one another, and they know their patients' histories.

Dr. Abdelshaheed
is devoted to his patients for
the long term. If a patient is hospitalized
or enters a nursing home, Dr. Abdelshaheed follows
them and coordinates their care with the doctors and
staff there, committed as he is to providing
this kind of acute care.

According to his staff, Dr. Abdelshaheed is devoted to his patients for the long term. If a patient is hospitalized or enters a nursing home, Dr. Abdelshaheed follows them and coordinates their care with the doctors and staff there, committed as he is to providing this kind of acute care. He doesn't believe in complaining about hard work and long hours, but embraces with fervor his duties as a physician.

Recently, the team at Family Medicine Healthcare has grown, and the newcomers share Dr. Abdelshaheed's philosophy as well as his passion for always responding to patients' needs with compassion.

The practice's most recent addition, Joseph Hollis, MD, joined just this summer after a long, successful career of his own. Dr. Hollis graduated from Saint Louis University School of Medicine in 1969 and is board certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine. He joined Family Medicine Healthcare because he shares Dr. Abdelshaheed's commitment to caring for patients.

For as long as she can remember, Jessie Creakbaum has wanted to help people. This led her to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and General Science from Tiffin University in Ohio. She went on to graduate from the Medical University of South Carolina. Now as a physician's assistant at Family Medicine Healthcare, Jessie is dedicated to building strong relationships with her patients by caring for their entire well-being.

When a person
becomes a patient of
Dr. Abdelshaheed's, he or she becomes
very important to him. He takes his time with each
of them, listens to them, takes everything in, and connects
the dots - effectively becoming very
protective of each and every one.

According to her colleagues, Jessie's great strength is her bedside manner - imbued with a genuine warmth and a great sense of empathy for others. Jessie has a heart for older patients - and communicates with them in such a gentle, personable, and reassuring way. Patients learn that Jessie personifies the belief that old age is not a disease, but an important and worthwhile phase of a complete life.

Kristin Ramsey, DO, has also recently joined the practice. Having earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2011, she served her residency in family medicine at Danville Regional Medical Center in 2014.

According to her colleagues at Family Medicine, Kristin's strength is relating to kids and young adults. She really connects with them. And because she is young herself, she understands the concerns that young parents can have when she is treating their children.

Dr. Ramsey performs Osteopathic Manual Therapy - including muscle energy and myofascial therapy. When dealing with pain, her objective is to deal with the source and not the symptoms. Not only does she want her patients to get well, she also wants them to live well.

Dr. Ramsey also has a keen interest in women's health care, and for many of Family Medicine's female patients, having female providers is important. Especially when it comes to undergoing complete physical examinations or dealing with procedures of a more intimate nature.

Sensitivity to such issues is yet another testament to the ideal of compassionate service that is the foundation for everything at Family Medicine Healthcare, where patients find a team that is dedicated to listening, educating, and responding to the ongoing health and wellness needs of their patients.

Dr. Samir Abdelshaheed and Jessie Creakbaum, PA, of Family Medicine Healthcare