|
|
|
When a person is ill and they call for a doctor's appointment, they are scheduled for a short block of time with the actual doctor because of physician time constraints. That might be okay if a patient just has the flu or a cold, but a patient with a scarier diagnosis, might want more time with their doctor. The Oak Clinic, in Green, is a specialized practice dealing only with Multiple Sclerosis. Two top neurologists, Dr. Timothy Carrabine and Dr. Christopher Sheppard, left a traditional practice in neurology to work at the charitable clinic, located next to the Green YMCA.
Each patient, regardless of money or insurance is given the best of care.
"We are a charity,” Heather Durfee, a nurse at the clinic, said. “Most clinics see about 40 patients a day. We see about 8-10.”
"We spend a lot more time with patients than a traditional practice,” Sheppard said. “We will spend just as much time with each patient, even if they don't have money. We run this place totally different. This is a lot more hands on. There is a lot more personal care. We get to know the patients better.”
Each new patient gets a two hour block of time with the actual doctor. Walk-ins are also welcomed.
“This is the way medicine is supposed to be practiced,” Carrabine said. “We don't get a lot of calls at night because we are so thorough. We go over the diagnosis and what we know of it as an autoimmune disease. We cover how that becomes a disease of the central nervous system. We go over their MRIs. We go over medications and help them to slow down the disease. We treat symptoms. We also treat their depression. We have a licensed social worker come in and run a support group. It fulfills people's needs and it fulfills our needs, too. We are here to help. It is nice to provide specialty care like MS. We can provide better care because this is all we do.”
The clinic runs on donations, grants and benefactors, Jim and Vanita Oelschlager.
"We have been very fortunate to have benefactors who support the clinic. I tell everybody I have the best job in America. It is nice to be able to spend the time with your patient and not feel rushed or have to hear a patient say they can't afford a test. The most important thing we do is listen and give them time,” Carrabine said.
When a person is ill and they call for a doctor's appointment, they are scheduled for a short block of time with the actual doctor because of physician time constraints. That might be okay if a patient just has the flu or a cold, but a patient with a scarier diagnosis, might want more time with their doctor. The Oak Clinic, in Green, is a specialized practice dealing only with Multiple Sclerosis. Two top neurologists, Dr. Timothy Carrabine and Dr. Christopher Sheppard, left a traditional practice in neurology to work at the charitable clinic, located next to the Green YMCA.
Each patient, regardless of money or insurance is given the best of care.
"We are a charity,” Heather Durfee, a nurse at the clinic, said. “Most clinics see about 40 patients a day. We see about 8-10.”
"We spend a lot more time with patients than a traditional practice,” Sheppard said. “We will spend just as much time with each patient, even if they don't have money. We run this place totally different. This is a lot more hands on. There is a lot more personal care. We get to know the patients better.”
Each new patient gets a two hour block of time with the actual doctor. Walk-ins are also welcomed.
“This is the way medicine is supposed to be practiced,” Carrabine said. “We don't get a lot of calls at night because we are so thorough. We go over the diagnosis and what we know of it as an autoimmune disease. We cover how that becomes a disease of the central nervous system. We go over their MRIs. We go over medications and help them to slow down the disease. We treat symptoms. We also treat their depression. We have a licensed social worker come in and run a support group. It fulfills people's needs and it fulfills our needs, too. We are here to help. It is nice to provide specialty care like MS. We can provide better care because this is all we do.”
The clinic runs on donations, grants and benefactors, Jim and Vanita Oelschlager.
"We have been very fortunate to have benefactors who support the clinic. I tell everybody I have the best job in America. It is nice to be able to spend the time with your patient and not feel rushed or have to hear a patient say they can't afford a test. The most important thing we do is listen and give them time,” Carrabine said.
The clinic received a plaque from the National Multiple Sclerosis Association in March. March is MS Awareness Month for the state of Ohio.
“We have a comprehensive care program that clinics can apply to,” Janet Kramer, president of MS Society, Ohio Buckeye Chapter, said. “The Oak Clinic completed all of their applications. It was reviewed by the National organization board and they have been approved as a partner.”
The clinic has seen more than 3,000 individuals and currently has 1,200 active patients from 17 counties.
Patty Blake is a research nurse at the clinic and is also a patient.
“I've had MS for 30 years and because of medicines and improvements in therapies in the last five years, I've been up walking more. I was actually so bad at one point, I didn't drive for two years, but now I keep losing my (wheel) chair,” she said.
Blake is very proud of the clinic and the connection they have with the MS Society.
“Our most important mission here is to collaborate with the MS Society. It is a seamless integration of services. It eliminates the redundancy and it makes sure that all of the patients needs are covered. The biggest funder of MS is the MS Society,” Blake said.
The clinic serves the entire family effected by MS, Blake said.
“There is such a large spectrum of care. In the whole scope of services, we have the physical support, the financial support, the psychosocial support, and support for the caretakers and family. It's just a massive amount of needs that we meet together,” she said.
The clinic was planned by an architect with MS, Dr. Carrabine, Mr. Oeschlager's, who has MS and is a patient at the clinic said Blake, who helped with the architectural design of Oak Clinic. The doors are extra wide and are slide-in, slide-out doors. They have a hands-free bathroom where the button opens and shuts just with your hand. The toe is cut off under the desk so if you are in a wheelchair, you can roll up to it without smashing your toes. All the counters are wheelchair height. The doors have a delay so if you are in a wheelchair you can just roll through.
“MS is often misunderstood,” Guyla Wehman, communications coordinator and marketing director of the Ohio Buckeye Chapter, said.
Phyllis Griffith is a grant writer/fundraiser for the clinic. She too is an MS patient.
“I help the clinic raise money so that people who really need the money can have it. Dr. Carrabine is my doctor, but Dr. Sheppard is just as much involved in my care. That is the beauty of this clinic. Everybody is actively involved,” said Griffith.
With there being 20,000 registered Ohioan's with MS in 38 counties and 11,100 registered with the Ohio Buckeye Chapter, there is a lot of MS research conducted in Northeast Ohio and at the clinic.
“Right now, we have $7.5 million being invested in Northeast Ohio institutions for 22 research projects that are going on right now,” Wehman said.
The clinic recently concluded a trial for the first oral medication approved by the FDA for MS patients.
“They first came out with MS medications in the early 90s,” Carrabine said. “Before that, there was no treatment for MS. They used steroids for attacks, but the long term was just decline and disability. Now, we get aggressive. With some of the newer meds, we try to keep them the way they are. The new FDA approved drug though costs $4,000, a month and $48,000 a year. With these newer medications, we can tell them that hopefully they can be chasing their grandkids down the beach some day. We can keep them more stable and this has really been just in the last 3-5 years that we have seen this.”
“They say there are 400,000 people with MS in the United States,” Kramer said. “We think that figure is low. MS is not reportable by the NIH (National Institute of Health). There has been no database to record it, but we recently passed some legislature to put together that database. At some point, doctors will have to register patients with MS. That will give us a better count.”
“I think that number should be a couple million,” Carrabine said.
“If they do not use the MS Society,” Kramer said, “we simply do not know they have it. We don't think our records are accurate. We estimate that there are now 10,000 kids who have MS. We never used to say that.”
“Ohio has one of the largest numbers in the world for MS,” Carrabine said. “It is very concentrated in Northeast Ohio. It is the most common cause of disability in young Americans from age 20-40. It is a very prevalent disease. Everybody knows somebody who has it.”
The Oak Clinic is located at 3838 Massillon Road, (Rt. 241) Suite 360 in the city of Green. To reach the clinic call 330-896-9625 or to donate to the clinic or learn more about MS, go to http://www.oakclinic.com. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society Ohio Buckeye Chapter is located at 6155 Rockside Road Suite 202, Independence. Their telephone phone number is 800-667-7131. The website is www.MSohiobuckeye.org.
