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Physicians Join KentuckyOne Surgical Associates in Lexington
LEXINGTON Rachel Mathis, MD, has joined KentuckyOne Health Surgical Associates. Mathis joins John Harris, MD, and Daryl Nisbett, MD, at the practice. Mathis received her Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Georgia and earned her undergraduate degree in history of science, history of medicine at Yale University. She completed her residency at the Inova Fairfax Medical Center in Falls Church, Virginia, where she served as chief resident, directed resident education, received the resident research award, and presented her research in simulation in surgical education at several national conferences.
Mathis recently completed a surgical fellowship in advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, where she continued her research in surgical education and presented at a national conference. She is board certified and specializes in general surgery, minimally invasive surgery, advanced laparoscopic surgery and bariatric surgery.
Moses Kim, MD, has joined KentuckyOne Health Surgical Associates, located at 1401 Harrodsburg Road, Suite C-100 in Lexington. Nick Abedi, MD, Keith Menes. MD, and Igor Voskresensky, MD, at the practice.
Kim received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Miami. He completed his residency at the University of Chicago and his Fellowship at the University of Florida. Kim is board certified, and he specializes in vascular surgery.
Kathryne J. Blair, MD. Joins KentuckyOne Health Surgical Associates in London
LONDON Kathryne J. Blair, MD, has joined KentuckyOne Health Surgical Associates in London. She joins the practice as a general surgeon, alongside Marco Hat Yung, MD, and Don Morring, MD. Blair received her Doctor of Medicine from and completed her residency at Marshall University. She received her undergraduate degree at Bellarmine University. She is board certified and specializes in general surgery.
TRAVIS SIZEMORE, DO, JOINS KENTUCKYONE HEALTH RHEUMATOLOGY ASSOCIATES IN LONDON
LONDON Travis Sizemore, DO, has joined KentuckyOne Health Rheumatology Associates in London.
Sizemore received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Lincoln Memorial University Debusk College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of South Carolina. He also has Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Kentucky. He is a member of the American Medical Association, American College of Rheumatology, and American College of Physicians.
Board-certified in internal medicine and board-eligible in rheumatology, Sizemore specializes in musculoskeletal and systemic autoimmune conditions. He treats conditions such as gout, lupus, myositis, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, and more. Available procedures include bursa injections, intralesional injections, joint injections and skin biopsies, as well as X-rays, labs, and EKGs.
Physicians Join Baptist Health Lexington
LEXINGTON Stephen Furlow, MD, has joined Baptist Health Medical Group Hospital Medicine.
Furlow earned a medical degree from the University of Kentucky, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine.
Alberto Castellanos, MD, and James Pezzi, MD, have joined Baptist Health Medical Group Gastroenterology.
A board-certified gastroenterologist, Castellanos completed a gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship at Louisiana State University in Shreveport after completing his internal medicine residency at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He earned a medical degree from UNPHU in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is a member of the American College of Gastroenterology, the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and the American Gastroenterological Association.
Pezzi earned a medical degree at Temple University in Pennsylvania, where he also completed a family practice residency. He completed a gastroenterology fellowship at Louisiana State University before completing an advanced endoscopy fellowship at Indiana University. He is board certified in gastroenterology and is a member of the American Gastroenterological Association.
Baptist Health Lexington Receives American Heart Association Accreditation for Acute Cardiac Care
LEXINGTON Baptist Health Lexington received the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Mission: Lifeline® Heart Attack Receiving Center Accreditation. Sister hospital Baptist Health Louisville also holds the same accreditation.
The accreditation program recognizes centers that meet or exceed quality of care measures for people experiencing the most severe type of heart attack, ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), in which blood flow is completely blocked to a portion of the heart. The accreditation identifies healthcare facilities that meet specific criteria for lifesaving heart attack treatments that restore blood flow.
This is the third consecutive Mission: Lifeline® Heart Attack Receiving Center Accreditation for Baptist Health Lexington. The hospital was the first in the state to receive the accreditation in 2012.
“Baptist Health Lexington is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our patients who suffer a heart attack, and the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program continues to help us accomplish that goal through internationally respected clinical guidelines,” said Susan Mobley, RN, BSN, MBA, NE-BC, vice president of cardiovascular services. “We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care, and I am very proud of our team.”
Baptist Health Lexington Repeats Its Top ‘A’ Grade for Hospital Safety
LEXINGTON Baptist Health Lexington has once again earned the top grade of “A” for hospital safety from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit healthcare ratings organization. Of the 51 hospitals rated in Kentucky by The Leapfrog Group, only 12 received an A grade.
Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades are assigned to more than 2,600 general acute-care hospitals across the nation twice annually. Baptist Health Lexington also received an A grade in Leapfrog’s April 2018 reporting. The Safety Grade assigns letter grades of A, B, C, D and F to hospitals nationwide based on their performance in preventing medical errors, infections, and other harms.
Baptist Health Lexington was one of 855 hospitals across the United States awarded an A in the November update of grades.
“To receive an A again this year reaffirms all of our efforts to provide the safest compassionate care available,” said William G. Sisson, president of Baptist Health Lexington. “We continue to be recognized on a national level for keeping quality and safety as our No. 1 priority.”
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses national performance measures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey and Health Information Technology Supplement.
Breast center organization reaccredits Brown Cancer Center
LOUISVILLE The James Graham Brown Cancer Center has been granted a three-year/full reaccreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a program administered by the American College of Surgeons. Accreditation by the NAPBC is granted to those centers that have voluntarily committed to provide the highest level of quality breast care and undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance.
To earn accreditation, the center must demonstrate compliance with standards established by the NAPBC for treating women diagnosed with the full spectrum of breast disease. The standards include proficiency in the areas of center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education, and quality improvement. The Brown Cancer Center first received NAPBC accreditation in 2009.
“A breast center that achieves NAPBC accreditation has demonstrated a firm commitment to offer its patients every significant advantage in their battle against breast disease,” said Nicolas Ajkay, MD, assistant professor of surgery, U of L Division of Surgical Oncology, who directs the breast cancer program as a surgical oncology specialist with U of L Physicians.
“I am extremely proud of this accomplishment. The breast program at the Brown Cancer Center was the first in Kentucky and remains the longest running NAPBC accredited breast program in our region,” said Beth Riley, MD, deputy director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center and a breast cancer specialist. “This continued commitment to excellence and quality care is evident among our dedicated team of specialists. Several areas of the program were also nominated for best practice highlights on a national level which speaks to the high level of care we are able to provide.”
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U of L Diabetes Prevention Program Earns CDC Recognition
LOUISVILLE The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has granted the Uof L Physicians Diabetes and Obesity Center full recognition as a certified Diabetes Prevention Program. The three-year designation recognizes programs that effectively deliver a quality, evidence-based program that meets all of the standards for CDC recognition.
The center is located in the U of L Physicians Outpatient Center, 401 E. Chestnut St., and serves as the clinical arm of the U of L Diabetes and Obesity Center headed by Aruni Bhatnagar, PhD, which focuses on research into prevention of diabetes. “It is immensely gratifying to see the science of diabetes prevention being implemented to improve the public’s health,” Bhatnagar said. “It is through programs such as this that we will turn the tide in the fight against the epidemic of type 2 diabetes.”
In addition to the CDC recognition, the U of L Physicians Diabetes and Obesity Center, in a partnership with the U of L Department of Medicine, is recognized by the American Diabetes Association for Quality Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support.
The ULP Diabetes and Obesity Center was created in part from support by KentuckyOne Health to provide preventive care and education and to promote research in diabetes and obesity. The Center is directed by Sri Prakash Mokshagundam, MD. “Once you have diabetes, you can’t get rid of it, but if you have prediabetes, which is higher than normal blood sugar levels, or if you are at risk for developing diabetes, you can prevent it with lifestyle changes,” Mokshagundam said. “Diabetes also can be effectively managed with physician-directed care. We want people to know they have the power to change their outcome.”
The program is directed by Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator Beth Ackerman, who cited U of L’s own employee wellness program, Get Healthy Now, in earning the recognition. “This recognition was made possible through collaboration with U of L’s Get Healthy Now and its director, Patricia Benson, assistant vice president for health, wellness and disease management,” Ackerman said. “We currently offer the program to U of L employees who are covered by the university’s health plan, and will begin offering it to other patients in January.
Lexington Clinic Welcomes New Family Medicine Doctor
RICHMOND Casandra Kendrick, DO, has joined Lexington Clinic at its Richmond, Kentucky location. Kendrick took her residency in Family Medicine at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, Somerset, Kentucky in 2018; her medical degree at the University of Pikeville – Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2015 and her undergraduate degree at Eastern Kentucky University in 2011.
Kendrick is board-eligible in family medicine. She provides services in general health; preventative care; chronic disease management including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol; well checks and immunizations; COPD; and women’s health.