Who Should I Turn to for Vascular Surgery?
U.S. News article explains why vascular surgery is only a fraction of what vascular surgeons do
According to the Franklin Institute, a science museum in Philadelphia, the average human adult body contains more than 100,000 miles of blood vessels. This vast continue reading ...
NEWS
Jonathan Wilson receives Centerpoint's Frist Humanitarian Award
June, 2018 - The Frist Humanitarian Award was created in 1971 to honor outstanding individuals for their humanitarian and volunteer activities. Named in honor of Dr. Thomas F. Frist Sr., this award recognizes individuals who serve the community and those in need and whose daily dedication and caregiving epitomize the highest standards of quality and personal commitment. It is the highest honor award that HCA gives. For his mission work in Central America, Centerpoint Medical Center – part of HCA Midwest Health - proudly named Jonathan E. Wilson, DO , as its physician Frist Humanitarian Award recipient.
Man on a Mission
Jonathan Wilson, DO, is a vascular surgeon on a mission.
His involvement in humanitarian work began in college. His uncle, an ophthalmologist, introduced him to mission work in Guatemala through Health Talents International (HTI). There, Dr. Wilson became fully immersed with a local family, learning the culture and language and assisting in the medical clinics.
He was hooked.
He returned to Central America just before medical school, this time serving as a team leader during a three-month stay. As a student in the mobile medical clinics, Dr. Wilson saw patients with every kind of medical condition. Some of his first duties involved administering vaccinations and treating scurvy, a severe vitamin deficiency almost unheard of in the United States.
Initially his career specialty interests were in primary care, but that changed after seeing the needs in Guatemala.
“You see a lot of varicose veins and hernia issues there, in people who do hard labor, heavy lifting of things like firewood they need just to stay warm,” he says. “I decided to become a surgeon because knew I could help improve their health through simple procedures like hernia repair that don’t require a lot of technology.”
After he completed a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Missouri, he returned to Guatemala as part of a medical/dental clinic team. HTI teams include physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, optometrists, dental hygienists, and related health personnel. Mobile clinics serve Mayan and Ladino communities, often located in remote areas, to deliver basic services. Procedures of all kinds – from hernia repairs and hysterectomies, breast biopsies and cleft palate repairs – are performed.
His proficiency in Spanish, developed in high school classes and language school, helps him communicate on mission trips and in his practice in Kansas City with patients who don’t speak English. In remote areas of Central America, dialects sometimes present a challenge, but through physical exams and facial expressions that transcend language, he’s able to adequately communicate.
As with many who do mission work, Dr. Wilson is impressed by the simplicity of life in areas they serve. On his first trip to Guatemala, a family practitioner from the States he was traveling with shipped and donated a wheelchair to a boy he’d befriended who couldn’t walk. It was a small thing, but the joy it brought and the difference the wheelchair made in the boy’s life made a powerful impact.
“You realize that people who live simply are actually pretty happy. In some ways I come away envying them.”
Dr. Wilson is also thankful, reminded of how good health care in the U.S. is by comparison. “Things we consider basic health care here - like dialysis for example – is a luxury in third world countries.”
He’s witnessed both progress and decline during his years of mission service in Central America.
On his first trips, Dr. Wilson often stayed in local homes or slept on cots or sleeping bags on the floor wherever space was available. In recent years HTI built and opened a modern new facility, complete with surgical suites, exam rooms, pharmacy and lab. Adjacent dormitory and efficiency apartments, a commercial kitchen and dining space provide comfortable accommodations now for visiting team members.
He’s also noticed an unfortunate increase in diabetes and obesity, and decline in dental health, a result of the introduction of sugary cola drinks and other unhealthy foods in the area.
In addition to surgical talents, a sense of adventure and ability to adapt and improvise are valuable qualities. “You need to be willing to go outside your comfort zone, be willing to do things you maybe haven’t seen or done since you were a resident. In that environment, you have to be prepared for just about anything,” says Dr. Wilson.
Given a choice, he would do medical mission work full time. “The need for clinical expertise is so great.” His medical evangelism through HTI – a non-profit Christian organization - helps feed the desire to use his talents to promote healing in God’s service.
Continued mission work is definitely in his future, and hopefully more than just a week or so annually, he says.
NEWS
Midwest Aortic & Vascular Institute adds office-based procedure services
Endovascular Suite provides services in office setting outside of the hospital
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Nov. 14, 2016) – Midwest Aortic & Vascular Institute – the area’s largest vascular surgery practice – is offering office-based procedures at its Northland location.
Patients in need of uncomplicated procedures to diagnose, evaluate and treat a variety of vascular conditions may now have them performed in an Endovascular Suite located within the office at 2750 Clay Edwards Drive in North Kansas City, Mo.
The eight surgeons at Midwest Aortic & Vascular Institute specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of artery and vein disease while providing a wide spectrum of interventional procedures. The shift is part of an emerging trend in the nation to offer basic interventional vascular services in an office setting.
“Advances in technology have made it possible for some procedures to move to the office-based setting,” said Annette Small, CEO, Midwest Aortic & Vascular Institute. “Our new Endovascular Suite provides an added level of flexibility, speed, comfort and continuity of care to accommodate patients’ specific needs, helps them avoid the stress often-times associated with a hospital visit and lowers health care costs.”
As leaders in the vascular care community, the Endovascular Suite provides a solution to address the growing epidemic of Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI), providing testing and treatment for CLI in a time- and cost-efficient manner while maintaining safety outcomes. Midwest Aortic & Vascular Institute physicians are board-certified or board-eligible (it takes a minimum of 18 months after completing a vascular fellowship to become board certified) and highly specialized in the image-guided, minimally invasive procedures which often serve as alternatives to traditional, more-invasive forms of surgery.
The 1,176 square-foot suite is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to produce better outcomes for patients and minimize the discomfort that can be associated with traditional surgical procedures. Typical procedures performed in the Endovascular Suite include arteriograms, venograms and dialysis access management.