There has been so much change at Ponderosa Medical that we thought this Newsletter would be helpful for our patients. For the most part change is good, but the process can be challenging. As you read on you will find that Ponderosa Medical is really a family business.

A huge change is that Dr. Gilbert Lee decided to cease doing hospital work. This was a difficult decision having struggled for two years on the subject. 80% of after hours phone calls were from the hospital for patients that are not part of our practice. We admit about 1-2 patients per month with an average duration of stay at 3.0 days. When patients are sick enough to require hospitalization, they need the expertise of medical specialists such as Cardiology, Pulmonology, Gastroenterology, or Surgery. In a group of six physicians, the chance of being taken care of by your physician is 1 in 6. The role of a general Internist has changed over the years as we treat more illnesses on an outpatient basis and more surgeries on an outpatient basis. The role Dr. Lee enjoys is to take care of patients in the office when ill and to prevent illness from occurring in the first place. To do that we strive for timely appointments and do our best to stay on schedule as we respect our patient’s time. The unpredictable world of hospital medical demands was in juxtaposition to the goals of Ponderosa Medical.

If our patients need to be admitted to St. Charles, we or the ER will arrange for a specialist to do so or use one of the other Internists in town that enjoy hospital services. Our patients need to know that we are always available by telephone 24/7 to pass on information to any of the care providers at the hospital or to talk with you from your hospital bed.

Because Dr. Lee is no longer actively admitting patients to the hospital, Central Oregon Independent Practice Association (COIPA) By-Laws stipulated that he could no longer be a member. Since COIPA contracts out its membership to COIHS (Oregon Health Plan) and Clear Choice (Managed Care HMO Medicare and Commercial) Ponderosa Medical had to terminate care for patients covered under those plans and have the insurance companies reassign them new doctors. That was a painful experience for all involved.

Jeff Caba PA is now Director of the Lipid Clinic in town. His wife, Katie Caba PA has chosen to become a full time mother while her family is young. Dr. Dattilo had joined Ponderosa Medical, but has decided on leaving for personal and professional reasons. At time of publication she has made no decision regarding her future practice plans.

On a positive note, Dr. Gilbert Lee’s wife, Dr. Frost Lee is returning to the practice of medicine. Dr. Frost Lee has a passion for people, and medical care in particular. She was in practice with Dr. Gilbert Lee for 17 years until her lower spine required fusion to repair a congenital defect. Back surgery did not slow her down. She developed the software for Ponderosa Medical and has used her knowledge of patient care to benefit the education of physicians and their staff on practice management and most recently Kietra Corporation in Portland. She has been an integral part of Ponderosa Medical since its inception in 1999. We have been trying to lure her back to medical practice and are thrilled that she is becoming a more visible part of the team.

Drs. Lee’s son, Sean, has graduated from college and has taken over as the office administrator. He is learning the ropes of the business side of medicine. It has been wonderful to have him back and living near us. With an undergraduate major in physics and a lifelong exposure to the business of medicine, he is a tremendous asset to us all.

Diane Vogel, PA-C has joined our staff. She was a dietitian before becoming a Physician Assistant. She comes to us from Seattle where she had worked with mental health and eating disorders. She is also a certified Diabetic Educator.

Kelly Dooley, RD LD is a licensed dietitian who is putting a program together to help educate our patients with diabetes, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and hypertension. She will also be doing healthy eating courses that are derived from evidence-based medicine.

Our practice is unique in that we share medical information with our patients. If patients have e-mail availability with their consent, we can send copies of chart notes and diagnostic test results. We believe this improves communications and partnering with the end result being better health.

Our Website allows new patients to download the registration form and health questionnaire that makes our job easier at being thorough and comprehensive in providing medical services. The Website also contains in depth information about what services we provide and the advantages for our patients in our use of Complete Practice medical software.

One of our many goals is to create a personal relationship and honor our patient’s time. We strive to stay on schedule and statistically can prove that we see our patients within 6 minutes of the scheduled time. We can also show that we spend more face-to-face time with our patients than national averages. Since 90% of the diagnosis can be made with history alone, we attempt to use the history and physical exam to arrive at our diagnoses and use diagnostic tests if needed for confirmation.

Jane Meyers is renting space in our building and does mental health counseling and hypnosis. Jane is well published and has written the book “Magic Child”. She is certified through the Hendricks Institute in both body-centered and conscious-relationship therapies.

WMCI Prime Evaluations is a group out of Portland and Salem that uses our office 4 to 8 times per month doing independent medical evaluations for workman’s compensation. They bring in Neurologists, Orthopedists, and Neurosurgeons from throughout Oregon so that their clients do not need to travel to the Willamette Valley for this service.

St. Charles Medical Center Laboratory has space at Ponderosa Medical and provides phlebotomy services between 8:30AM and noon every weekday.

In July we will have available in our building physical therapy services provided by Dr. Zamboni. He is also certified in sports medicine and will be offering evaluations for exercise prescriptions.

Dr. Rod Wigle, Orthopedist is moving his practice next door to us in a newly built medical office building. While his new space is under construction, he will be sharing our office on a temporary basis.

Ponderosa is a family business. We believe in the importance of family and continuity of care. We see patients on an outpatient basis in the age range of 13 and older, but if we are taking care of the parents we will go down to age 11. We provide a broad range of medical outpatient services. We do preventative health exams, immunizations, school sport examinations, and travel clinics. We do GYN exams, skin surveys, breast exams, and prostate exams. As internists we manage chronic issues such as hypertension, heart disease, lung disease, bowel problems, and diabetes. We excise skin cancers and various moles. We repair and suture wounds and take care of sprains. We do exercise stress tests and EKGs in the office. We will be adding an occupational medicine program including drug testing, FAA airmen medical exams, ODOT exams, and other services to help area businesses.

We have begun to offer “Living Life to the Fullest”. It is a program with enhanced access to the physicians and expands the role of preventative medicine in areas not covered by traditional health insurance. Please see our Website for more details or pick up a brochure at our office.

Our group provides 24 hours per day 7 days per week availability to our patients for urgent and emergent medical issues. We do not do prescription refills over the phone and appreciate our patients not calling after hours for issues that should have been taken care of during office hours. By calling our office phone number, 312-8679, the phone is answered with a recording offering several options. One option is to leave a voice message that will be acted upon next business day. Another option is to page the physician on call for the practice. If that option is chosen, your call is forwarded to the paging service where you enter in the phone number where you can be reached. One of our physicians will call shortly thereafter. We often arrange to see patients in need at the office after hours and on weekends and holidays. We try to minimize the use of the Emergency Room. True emergencies are best handled in the Emergency Room setting.

Thanks to all of our patients for their patronage and support. We delight in being here for you. Your referrals are our best compliments.