UK establishes Vascular Medicine Clinic to address chronic disease
LEXINGTON, Ky , Sept. 21, 2015 – In response to the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in the Commonwealth, UK HealthCare announced the creation of the UK Vascular Medicine Clinic in the Kentucky Clinic.
The Vascular Medicine Clinic, a service sponsored jointly by the UK Departments of Surgery and Family & Community Medicine (FMC), provides comprehensive, patient-centered care for people with complex vascular diseases. Dr. Mary Sheppard, a family medicine physician with an extensive background in vascular disease and treatment research, was recruited by UK HealthCare to staff the clinic.
““We want to provide a service that helps primary care physicians and providers manage their patients with chronic vascular diseases,” Dr. Sheppard explained. She plans to work in partnership with providers throughout the region to aggressively monitor and treat patients suffering medical co-morbidities that affect vascular outcomes, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and smoking.
Sheppard earned her medical degree at the University of Kentucky and completed a residency in family medicine at the University of Virginia. While in training, Sheppard was a co-investigator on several National Institutes of Health-funded research studies into connective tissue and vascular disorders which play a significant factor in aortic pathology.
In addition to follow-up and support, the clinic will provide access to advanced vascular diagnostics including genetic screening and familial counseling. Focus will also be applied to mental health and psychosocial factors that contribute to the failure of patients to follow a prescribed health plan, said Dr. Sheppard.
Dr. Joseph Bobadilla, medical director of the surgical clinics at UK HealthCare and one of six specialists in vascular surgery at the university, described the UK Vascular Medicine Clinic as an integrated, interdisciplinary unit in which primary care specialists work alongside UK’s vascular surgeons to provide real-time, point-of-care consultation, management, and advanced vascular profiling.
Kentucky has a high incidence of complex vascular co-morbidity mostly due to excessive tobacco use and diet, Dr. Bobadilla commented. Unfortunately, despite treatment, most vascular diseases persist over time and require long term management for patients to improve.
Those facts are key reasons why UK created the Vascular Medicine Clinic and recruited Dr. Sheppard, said Dr. Bobadilla. The clinic fosters the development of regional medical teams of physicians and vascular surgeons to maintain longitudinal follow-ups on patients to improve their health and reduce the need for hospital stays.
The clinic is also a significant component to UK HealthCare’s progress toward becoming a national Aortic Center of Excellence, Bobadilla added.
Over the last decade, UK has progressed to be among the dominant national institutions in the study and treatment of cardiovascular illness. Only a handful of hospitals across the country have established vascular medical clinics like the one UK has created, he said.
In addition to providing a high level of clinical care, the Vascular Medicine Clinic will also serve as a portal for patients into clinical studies working to translate basic science discoveries into therapies that will improve the care of all people with vascular disease.
To schedule an appointment at the Vascular Medicine Clinic, contact the UK HealthCare Patient Access Center at 859-257-3253.
