Category Archives: Health care

Policy change leads to employee grumbling on Via Christi Health’s Facebook page before comments were removed

May 9, 20135:12 p.m.

WICHITA — A policy change related to employee cafeteria discounts led to a minor Facebook dustup for Via Christi Health this week.

Employees no longer will receive discounts at any of Via Christi’s cafeterias.

“It’s a cost-savings measure,” says Judy Espinoza, chief human resource officer.

Also, she says there were a range of discounts depending on locations, and some sites didn’t have any.

“It was very inconsistent.”

After the change was announced, some employees took to Via Christi’s main Facebook page to complain.

“It was very obvious the employees did not know they were on the public page,” Espinoza says. “You could tell from the language.”

Also, she says some comments tagged employees who weren’t part of the conversation although they appeared to be.

“That kind of crosses the line,” Espinoza says.

“I’m not a Facebook savvy person,” she says, but if she were caught in a similar situation, “I’d just be mortified.”

She says Via Christi made the decision to remove the comments after one employee who was tagged expressed concern.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Facebook, Health care | Comments

Midwest Hearing Aids to move two offices

May 8, 201311:15 a.m.

WICHITA — Midwest Hearing Aids owner Terry Brewster is on the move again by partnering on two new locations with ophthalmologists.

“We’re trying to really put ears and eyes together,” he says. “It’s all about co-branding.”

Brewster says years ago it used to be that optical shops also sold hearing aids because people who needed hearing aids often needed glasses, too.

“Everything comes back full circle,” he says.

Brewster is moving his Newton shop to 1715 Medical Parkway in the same area that William Beck has his ophthalmology clinic.

“We have worked very hard, but we finally got a lease,” he says. “We’ve been working on Newton forever. . . . We’re real close to moving in.”

Brewster also is moving his office at 21st and Woodlawn to the Grene Vision Group office at 1851 N. Webb Road.

“It’s where the main Grene Vision Group offices are at,” he says. “I’m going to try to co-brand with Dr. (Mark) Wellemeyer.”

Wellemeyer says that the patient demographic for both groups is similar so there are benefits for both.

Brewster expects to make that move in early July.

There are 37 Midwest Hearing Aids sites in Kansas, and Brewster says two more are in the works. Look for news on those in the coming months.

 

 

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under East side, Health care, Newton, Real estate | Comments

Tim Adams to move his dental practice further west to 45th and Maize Road

May 6, 201311:32 a.m.

UPDATED — After 16 years at 37th and Arkansas, dentist Tim Adams is moving his practice.

“This building’s old,” he says of where his self-named business currently is.

Adams wants to start over with a new space in a new area, so he’s moving to the southeast corner of 45th and Maize Road and renaming the practice Maize Family Dentistry.

His move to the 3,000-square-foot space will give him about 500 extra square feet.

“That’s part of it,” Adams says.

He also lives on the west side, so the move makes sense for him, but Adams says he’s particularly excited about getting new space, buying new equipment and updating his office.

Don Piros of Landmark Commercial Real Estate handled the deal.

The new office will open around August.

 

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under Health care, Real estate, West side | Comments

Davis Family Pharmacy to open in former Lindsay Pharmacy near 21st and Ridge

May 6, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — A new pharmacy is opening in the west-side space where Lindsay Pharmacy closed late last year.

“Our plans are to open a small, independent pharmacy here at 21st and Ridge,” says pharmacist Darren Davis.

His Davis Family Pharmacy will open next month in about 1,000 square feet near the southwest corner of the intersection.

“When this became available, I guess I kind of thought maybe I could reclaim that atmosphere … where service and customer relationships come first,” Davis says.

“I grew up in a small town working at a little, independent pharmacy, and that’s kind of why I went to pharmacy school.”

Davis graduated in 1997 and worked for Walgreens for eight years.

He left in 2004 and has since been working for a long-term care pharmacy that services nursing homes.

“It’s never really felt the same as working for a small, independent pharmacy,” Davis says. “I would rather make less money and be able to know the customers by name and enjoy my job.

“It’s the way I want to practice rather than having a corporation telling me exactly what I have to do and what I can do,” he says. “They call them chain pharmacies for a reason because you’re in chains and can’t really do what you want to do.”

Davis Family Pharmacy will accept most major insurance plans and offer over-the-counter medicines.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Health care, Real estate, West side | Comments

Broadway Home Medical owners to open Lindsey Medical Supply on west side

May 3, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Broadway Home Medical owners Brian Lindsey and his father, Michael, are expanding their business with a new company.

Lindsey Medical Supply will be similar to Broadway Home Medical, but it won’t work with insurance companies or Medicare.

“The difference is that we’re going to do a cash-only store,” Brian Lindsey says.

“We’re looking for a whole different business model to get away from reimbursements from insurance companies because they’re getting harder to collect from,” he says. “They don’t want to pay you.”

Both outlets will carry similar supplies, including walkers, wheelchairs, bath safety items, breathing equipment, hospital beds and lift chairs among other things.

Brian Lindsey says Broadway Medical Supply can’t charge customers different amounts from insurance companies or Medicare out of the same retail outlet.

“You’re pricing has to be the same across the multiple players,” he says.

That’s why the Lindseys need a second outlet.

Broadway Home Medical is in 8,000 square feet, 6,000 square feet of which is the retail space, just north of Lincoln and Hillside.

Lindsey Home Medical will be in 4,000 square feet on Central just east of West Street. The Lindseys purchased the 8,000-square-foot building, which is home to Scharenberg Chiropractic Offices. Scharenberg will remain there for now, but its space is something that Lindsey Medical Supply likely will expand into one day.

Troy Farha of NAI Martens and Craig Ablah of Classic Real Estate handled the deal.

Lindsey Medical Supply will have a soft opening on Monday.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , Filed under Health care, New business, Retail, West side | Comments

Three dental specialists to open in one space at 37th and Maize Road

April 18, 20134:09 p.m.

WICHITA — Three dental practices are taking “just a great opportunity” and locating in one new building at 37th and Maize Road, says endodontist Terry Turner.

“This was an opportunity to be with other specialists under one roof, which is unique for Wichita for dental specialists,” he says.

The 15,000-square-foot building at 37th and Maize Road will open in July and be roughly divided into thirds for Turner, orthodontists Justin Trimmell and Paul Anders and pediatric dentist Matthew Healy.

Turner is expanding his Professional Endodontics from 1,729 square feet at the Reflection Ridge Office Park at 21st and Ridge to about 4,000 square feet in the new building.

Trimmell & Anders Orthodontics is moving its west Wichita office from Maple and Maize.

This is Healy’s first solo practice.

“I’ve always had a dream of being on my own,” he says. “I have a vision of how I want to run a practice.”

His Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry will be decorated with children’s themes and “really cool stuff.”

“It’s going to be really kid friendly,” Healy says. “We’re trying to build an environment that kids love and parents trust.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Health care, New business, West side | Comments

Cypress Heart to leave Kansas Medical Center for Heartland Cardiology

Jan. 25, 20132:05 p.m.

UPDATED — Cypress Heart, which has been with the Kansas Medical Center for a year and a half, is merging with Heartland Cardiology in April.

“That will make us the largest cardiology group in Wichita,” says Heartland administrator Jane Robinson. “We’re excited about that.”

The groups have considered merging in the past.

“We have a lot of things that we have mutually done together in the past,” says Roger Evans, a Cypress physician.

Heartland, which has eight physicians, has a main office at 551 N. Hillside. It also is on the west side at 8710 W. 13th.

Cypress Heart, which has six physicians, is at 9300 E. 29th St. North, which is where will it remain. At least three of its physicians are joining Heartland, two may stay with the Kansas Medical Center and one may leave Wichita.

“Part of the reason, really, we did this was to be ready for the new changes in health care,” says Heartland physician Assem Farhat. “That was also a driving force to try to provide more comprehensive and better services and more efficient … patient-centered care.”

Evans says it makes more sense for Cypress physicians to be affiliated with other physicians instead of a hospital, such as the Kansas Medical Center.

“It hasn’t worked out as well as we hoped,” he says.

“It’s just a vision for how to expand and grow the practice,” he says. “Hospitals, their primary goal is to have people in the hospitals. … Their vision was more along the lines of how to make the hospital grow best.”

Cypress physician Hussam Farhoud says the practice now will be entirely controlled by cardiologists.

“It will be more efficient,” he says. “We’ll have (more) physician input in the practice.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Health care, Medical | Comments Off

Ryan Dugan Eye Care to open in Andale

Jan. 11, 20132:15 p.m.

WICHITA — As a new optometrist looking to open a practice in the Wichita area, Goddard native Ryan Dugan decided to take the advice of a dentist.

His brother’s father-in-law, dentist Randy Newby, explained how he started his practice in Mount Hope and that it might make sense for Dugan to go to a smaller community as well.

“That kind of influenced me,” says Dugan, who graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tenn., in May. “I could really rely on him from personal experience.”

Also, he says the Wichita market is already “pretty saturated” with optometry clinics, and he thinks a smaller community might help him to “kind of to differentiate myself.”

So Dugan is opening Ryan Dugan Eye Care at 228 N. Andale Road in Andale where Via Christi Health used to have a medical building in 3,700 square feet.

“It’s a lot larger building than I actually need, but it’s great because I have room to expand in it,” Dugan says.

One day, he says, he’d like to have his own lens lab there.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under Andale, Health care, New business | Comments Off

My Dentist to open in former Kwan Court space near 13th and North Rock Road

Jan. 2, 201312:13 p.m.

WICHITA — The former Kwan Court space has sold, but not to a restaurant.

Oklahoma City-based My Dentist is taking the space at 1443 N. Rock Road just north of 13th Street.

“We’re a complete care dentistry,” says marketing project manager Kyearra Morris. “We usually build new, but that one will be a renovation. … It’ll be completely renovated from (the) ground up.”

It’s a $2 million renovation. There’s a chance the company may add on to the almost 7,000-square-foot space, though that’s not the plan now.

“New plans are coming out every single day,” Morris says.

She says there are plans for 12 work stations for hygienists. Initially, there will be one dentist, and a second will be hired almost immediately. Also, there will be a specialist on staff, but the company hasn’t decided if that will be an orthodontist, periodontist or another specialist.

My Dentist started in 1983.

“It has grown to over 40 offices,” Morris says.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under East side, Health care, New business, Real estate, Restaurants | Comments Off

You don’t say

Dec. 10, 20123:04 p.m.

“There are people still here in Wichita that don’t know we exist.”

– Doug Nunamaker of Atlas MD on recent attention the company has received for its concierge medicine on a “Here & Now” radio segment today and in a Bloomberg Businessweek article last week

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under Health care, Publications, Radio, You don't say | Comments Off