Memphis Medical News July 2016

Test, Treatment Alter Approach to IBS Patients Now Can Avoid Expensive, Invasive Exams, Says CattauA new test and a new treatment recently approved by the FDA will for the fi rst time allow physicians to defi nitively diagnose and treat patients who may be suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) according to Gastro One gastroenterologist Edward Cattau, MD ... 5

Medical Construction Shifts Toward DowntownSeveral Healthcare Facilities Launch Major Expansion ProjectsWhile the healthcare industry’s expansion and development continue to be a vital piece of the Memphis-area real estate picture, the focus has clearly shifted from the eastern portion of Shelby County to the areas in and near downtown Memphis ... 7

December 2009 >> $5

ONLINE:MEMPHISMEDICALNEWS.COM

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

July 2016 >> $5

BY JUDY OTTO

While the practice of medicine in any of its

diverse forms is about fi xing and healing, some-times part of the process itself needs fi xing and healing. That’s where the blend of skills mas-tered by Greg L. Thompson, MD, president of LifeLinc Anesthesia, make themselves most welcome.

His 20-plus years as a board-certifi ed anes-

thesiologist include 18 years serving Memphis Anesthesia Group PA (MAG) and Methodist Hospitals of Memphis, which afforded him not only clinical experience but leadership opportu-nities in the administrative area with Methodist, where he served as president and chief of staff, among other roles.

“When hospitals have issues with their anesthesia group, it’s most commonly due to

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)

Thompson Leads OpeningOf New Pain Centers

Regional One East: Bringing ChangeCoopwood ‘Wants to Do Things Differently and Better’

BY JAMES DOWD

Regional One Health’s new state-of-the-art East Memphis campus at 6555 Quince boasts innovative technology, state-of-the-art equipment and a rapidly ex-panding patient base.

But for the coalition of medical pro-fessionals who worked for years to bring the gleaming facility from concept to re-ality, that’s just the beginning. Their vi-sion includes even more developments in the coming years for the recently opened center.

“We saw a need for differentiation in Memphis healthcare and when we sat down to discuss this center, we imagined what that would look like,” said Reginald W. Coopwood, MD, president and CEO of Regional One. “Our goal is to improve the level of care and research and create a new standard of men’s healthcare in our community.”

The center is off to an impressive start.The fi ve-story, 50,000-square-foot building has been converted from offi ce space

to a modern medical facility with all the latest bells and whistles. There is a wing dedicated to reproductive medicine and another to rehabilitative


PRST STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDFRANKLIN, TN

PERMIT NO.318

Keep your fi nger on the pulse ofMemphis’ healthcare industry.

Available in print or on your tablet or

smartphone

www.MemphisMedicalNews.com SUBSCRIBE TODAY

PAGE 3

PHYSICIANSPOTLIGHT

Colin Howden, MD

ON ROUNDS

FOCUS TOPICS GASTROENTEROLOGY • HEALTHCARE REAL ESTATE • PAIN MANAGEMENT

HealthcareLeader

There are numerous hospitals and centers all over the country specializing in women’s health ... but you just don’t see that many focused on men’s healthcare. We want to change that.

– Dr. Robert Wake

Kelly Truitt

Dr. Edward Cattau

2 > JULY 2016 m e m p h i s m e d i c a l n e w s . c o m

Dr. Gerald Lieberman

Save even more

lives: let us help

your patients

beat the odds.

Dr. Rande Smith

Dr. Edward Friedman

Dr. Ken Fields

Dr. Paul Bierman

MEMPHIS BRIGHTON COLLIERVILLE COVINGTON MILLINGTON WEST MEMPHIS

901.201.6200 www.colonscreening.com

Join us in the fight against cancer by championing prevention with your patients — colorectal cancer is the second

biggest cancer killer in the U.S. Through education we can increase our practice of early detection via screening for CRC

and adenomatous polyps. GI Specialists have been at the forefront of digestive disease care for over 20 years, from IBS

and liver disorders to esophageal, pancreatic and all forms of gastrointestinal cancers. Consider us your valued partners

in the care and well-being of your patients, we want to help them beat cancer before it starts.

SEND YOUR PATIENTS TO US FOR THEIR SCREENING COLONOSCOPY.

Help us Fight Colorectal Cancer.

G I S P E C I A L I S T S F O U N D A T I O N

m e m p h i s m e d i c a l n e w s . c o m JULY 2016 > 3

UTHSC’s Colin Howden Helping Establish Two New Guidelines Aiming at Treatment of Dyspepsia, Management of H. Pylori Infection

BY RON COBB

Colin Howden, MD, describes it as a case of being in the right place at the right time.

Howden, chief of the Division of Gas-troenterology in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, was barely out of medical school at the University of Glasgow in his native Scot-land when his fledgling career got a huge boost.

One of his mentors, John Reid, a pro-fessor whom Howden describes as a clinical pharmacologist, was approached by Astra, a pharmaceutical company, about develop-ing a compound that at the time was sim-ply a number. It later became omeprazole, a drug that proved to be revolutionary in the treatment of stomach acid. It was later marketed in the United States as Prilosec.

“As someone who had just started his training in gastroenterology, I was directed by Professor Reid to learn about omepra-zole and how it might affect stomach acid production,” Howden said. “Together, we were among the first people in the world to actually give omeprazole to human beings to see what it would do to stomach acid se-cretion. It was the first in the class of drugs called PPIs, or proton pump inhibitors.

“I was able to produce and publish original research, and I had the opportunity of presenting some of that research in New Orleans in 1984 at the annual Digestive Disease Week conference.”

That occasion led to an introduction to another of Howden’s mentors, Professor Richard Hunt, who offered him a position in the Division of Gastroenterology at Mc-Master University in Hamilton, Ontario.

By then, Howden’s career was off and running. After two years in Canada, he returned to Scotland and worked for four years in teaching hospitals at the University of Glasgow. Then, in 1991, he accepted an offer from the University of South Caro-lina and has been in the United States ever since.

In 1999, he moved on to Northwest-ern University, and in 2014 he accepted an offer to come to UTHSC.

Howden is active in the two primary professional societies for gastroenterologists in the United States – the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the Ameri-can Gastroenterological Association.

“With the ACG, I am currently help-ing to author two important practice guide-lines,” he said. “One is for the management of H. pylori infection. I’m one of four peo-ple in North America who are preparing a new, updated guideline for that, and we hope to have that finalized soon.

“The other guideline I’m involved in is a joint effort between the ACG and the Ca-

nadian Association of Gastroenterology for the evaluation and treatment of dyspepsia, which can have many causes, one of which is peptic ulcer.

“Most people with dyspepsia don’t have any obvious diagnosis to explain their symptoms, and sometimes we have to give them this diagnostic label of functional dys-pepsia, which really means you have symp-toms but I’m afraid we don’t have a precise cause for them. And that gets into the area of so-called functional gastrointestinal disor-ders, or this can overlap between brain-gut interactions and how some people perceive

stomach or intestinal symptoms differently to others.”

Brain-gut interaction is a relatively new concept for some physicians and many pa-tients.

“This term – disorders of brain-gut in-teraction – you’re probably going to hear a lot more about in the next few years,” How-den said.

For conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome or dyspepsia, Howden said symp-toms “may include things like abdominal pain and disturbance of bowel habit, and yet diagnostic tests that we have available to us don’t really give us an explanation of why the patient is having these symptoms.

“In the past, these conditions were viewed differently by the medical profes-sion. I think a lot of doctors assumed that these conditions were psychological, or psy-chosomatic, or were due to stress, and a lot of patients were given erroneous informa-tion. Patients may have been told in the past that your symptoms are stress-related, or it’s all in your head, or you’re imagining it.

“Those attitudes were quite wrong, and no reasonable physician would take them now. We like to get the message across that the symptoms are real and they are not imagined. They’re not in your head, they’re in your belly. The whole concept of brain-gut interaction implies that the brain and the gut are communicating the whole time, and although the intestinal tract and the brain are a long way apart, anatomi-cally there is a very, very active connection, a connection of nerves between the brain and the gut. They’re constantly talking to

each other, if you like.”Howden’s wife, Jackie, also is from

Scotland. She was head of nursing at a hospital in Glasgow before she came to the U.S. and was Northwestern University’s di-rector of home healthcare for several years.

“She now tells me she’s retired,” How-den said.

Howden will be 60 this year but says he hasn’t given much thought to retiring or, for that matter, moving back to the UK.

“It’s a possibility,” he said, “but it’s not in my immediate plans.”

A lifelong rugby fan, Howden became a Chicago Cubs fan when he and Jackie lived in Chicago.

“We still follow the Cubs a little bit,” he said. “We used to live near Wrigley Field, and we walked to the occasional game.”

In a Q&A with a gastroenterology website several years ago, Howden com-mented that he was puzzled by some of the differences in medical practices between the U.S. and UK.

We asked him to cite an example.“When medical students are being

taught how to examine a patient’s abdo-men, in the U.S. they’re taught that it’s very important that they use the stethoscope first before they lay a hand on it,” he said. “In the UK they are taught that listening to the abdomen with the stethoscope must be the last thing you do.

“When both sides of the Atlantic have adopted a completely opposite approach to something like that, it strikes me that neither is absolutely correct and probably it doesn’t matter.”

PhysicianSpotlight

Dr. Colin Howden


Simply Fabulous Catering901-578-3900

Deli at 165 Madison Ave.901-523-4121

Check our website for menu ideaswww.simplyfabulouscatering.biz

Open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• We specialize in Complete continentalor hot breakfast Bar • Boxed lunch meals

• Sandwich trays • Fresh hot lunches

• Delicious hot or cold Hors d’oeuvres

• Corporate and Board Meetings

8135 Goodman Road, Olive Branch, MS 38654 • parkwoodbhs.com

Serving the needs of individuals and

families facing mental health or

substance use crisis for nearly 30 years

• Services for Ages 5- Older Adult

• Inpatient, Partial, and Intensive Outpatient Services

• Adolescent Residential Program

• Specialized Male Adolescent Sexual Off enders Program

• Specialized Older Adult Program

C O N V E N I E N T LY L O C AT E D J U S T O U T S I D E O F M E M P H I S I N N O R T H C E N T R A L M I S S I S S I P P I

For free, 24-hour assessments or for more information Call: 800.477.3422 or 662.895.4900

medicine. The campus offers multispe-cialty care, including cardiology, endocri-nology and rheumatology, along with a pharmacy and imaging services.

On the fi fth fl oor is a full-service urol-ogy practice, which is designed to evolve into a comprehensive men’s healthcare clinic.

“The whole concept of a comprehen-sive men’s health center has been in my mind for years,” said Robert Wake, MD, chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of Ten-nessee Health Science Center and a specialist at the new Regional One campus.

“There are numerous hospitals and centers all over the country specializ-ing in women’s healthcare and they provide valuable services, but you just don’t see that many focused on men’s healthcare. We want to change that.”

A 2015 report published in the Asian Journal of Urology supports Wake’s claim.

A review of US News & World Report’s50 top-ranked hospitals in America re-vealed that while 98 percent of the facili-ties offered some type of women’s health center, fewer than one-third offered cen-ters devoted to comprehensive men’s healthcare.

“It’s really only been within the last

decade that there has been any kind of a movement to offer clinics focused on men’s health,” Wake said. “There are few of them across the country and perhaps that’s because it hasn’t proven to be a sus-tainable model, or perhaps we’re just at the forefront of a new wave of healthcare practices. I hope it’s the latter.”

The urology divi-sion of Regional One’s new campus offers a

suite of services for pa-tients and features an MRI Ultrasound Fusion imaging machine that more ac-curately pinpoints biopsies to detect and diagnose prostate cancer. The urology component of the clinic is the foundation of what Coopwood and Wake envision as the fi rst comprehensive men’s health clinic in the region.

Regional One has invested some $9 million in the facility and additional funding will be required to offer ad-ditional services dedicated to men’s

healthcare. The goal is to expand the of-ferings and provide the comprehensive men’s care in three to fi ve years.

“We want this to be a place where men can feel comfortable coming in for blood pressure and cholesterol checks, maybe see a urologist about prostate

issues or erectile dysfunc-tion or see a specialist to get help with weight loss or smoking cessation or sleep problems or to dis-cuss preventative medi-cine,” Wake said.

“We’ve come a long way in the last few years since starting this project and we know we’ve got a way to go, but we’re on the way. This is a tremen-dous start.”

Since the center launched with a soft open-

ing in late 2015, about 12,000 patient visits have been recorded. There are 15 physicians on campus and about three dozen support staff.

The innovative design of the build-ing ensures that patients aren’t walking through corridor after corridor to see different doctors; instead, the medical professionals come to them.

After patients are signed in they receive tags that contain RFID chips and track where they are and how long

they’ve been waiting. Medical person-nel also carry badges with the implanted chips and the chips are also located on various machines for easy location.

Patients remain in one room while specialists come to them and an elec-tronic chart near the medical staff station shows where each patient is situated, where medical personnel are at any given moment and even where portable machines are in use.

“This is not your typical office building or medical facility,” Coopwood said. “We want Regional One to be part of the Memphis medical community that’s known as disruptive. We want to do things differently and do things bet-ter. Memphis deserves this.”

In addition to the medical services, patients will be able to visit the onsite pharmacy to get prescriptions fi lled. Eventually, Wake would like to see counseling services offered and possibly outpatient surgery.

“We’re building a medical neigh-borhood where you can come in for most of your health issues and see medi-cal professionals who will address those with you,” Wake said. “It’s not exactly a ‘Field of Dreams’ situation where we believe that if we build it people will come, but we’re optimistic that they will. This is something that we believe will make our community a better place to live.”

Regional One East: Bringing Change, continued from page 1

We want Regional One to be part of the Memphis medical community that’s known as disruptive. We want to do things differently and do things better. Memphis deserves this.

– Dr. Reginald W. Coopwood


Our team of professionals with nearly 300 years of combined

experience can create a plan that maximizes benefits and

minimizes costs. Whether you’re an individual, small company

or large corporation, The Barnett Group will navigate the

process and tailor a solution that’s right for you, your business

and your employees.

DON’T LEAVE YOUR BUSINESS’ HEALTH

AND FINANCIAL FUTURE TO CHANCE.

Group Employee Benefits• Medical

• Dental

• Vision

• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability

• Life

• Long-Term Care

• Voluntary

• Corporate Sponsored Retirement Plans

• Pharmacy Benefit Management

Individual Financial Services• Financial Planning

• Estate Planning

• Retirement Accounts

• Brokerage Accounts

• Annuities

• Life

• Disability

• Long-Term Care

7906 Players Forest Drive • Memphis, TN 38119Phone: 901.365.3447 • Fax: 901.205.1021

www.gobarnett.comwww.barnettfg.com

We utilize education, experience and dedication to provide the most comprehensive prosthetic and orthotic care available. We’re fully trained to evaluate, fabricate and fit every type of artificial limb

and brace for the adult and pediatric population. In addition, we offer:

Does Your Patient Need a First Class Prosthetic and Orthotic Provider?

Serving the Orthotics and Prosthetics Community for over 11 years!

Call us today! 901.975.1776584 N Germantown Parkway, Suite 110 • Cordova, TN 38018

advancedpo.com

• Free consultations

• House calls available

• Fast turn arounds

• Best possible patient outcomes!

• Most items covered by insurance, including Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurances.

BY MADELINE PATTERSON

A new test and a new treatment re-

cently approved by the FDA will for the first time allow physicians to definitively diagnose and treat patients who may be suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) according to Gastro One gastroen-terologist Edward Cattau, MD.

“It’s going to signifi-cantly alter our approach to IBS,” Cattau said.

Named IBSchek, the test determines the exis-tence of two antibodies in the bloodstream. De-veloped out of a multi-center Cedars-Sinai clinical trial with Com-monwealth Medical Laboratories, it tests for anti-CdtB (cytolethal distending toxin B) and anti-vinculin, two antibodies pro-duced by the immune system that are trig-gered by food poisoning leading to IBS symptoms like diarrhea.

This is the first scientifically proven cause of IBS and a “complete paradigm shift” for patients, according to Cattau. Before the test, Cattau and other gas-troenterologists would test patients with IBS symptoms for other conditions, leaving them with an IBS diagnosis by exclusion.

“Now, patients come in with symp-toms and we can simply do the IBSchek, and if it’s positive we can treat them and avoid expensive and invasive tests like a colonoscopy,” Cattau said. “One study suggests we can save about $500 per pa-tient, not to mention rapidly obtain a di-agnosis.”

The results from IBSchek are ready within 24 hours of the blood test reaching Commonwealth Labs.

Once diagnosed, patients can be treated with the antibiotic Xifaxan (rifaxi-min).

Physicians at Cedars-Sinai Hospi-tal led by Mark Pimentel, MD, first saw a connection between bacteria and IBS when some of their patients with diar-rhea-dominant IBS symptoms responded positively to a treatment of antibiotics. The nearly 3,000 patient study compared blood test results of patients with inflam-matory bowel disease, celiac disease and those without GI disease. The anti-CdtB and anti-vinculin antibodies were found in test participants with IBS symptoms, with over 90 percent certainty.

Cattau likens the antibody secre-tion in response to certain types of food poisoning to autoimmune disease result-ing in damage to the small intestine. As the body tries to fight the infection, antibodies are made to neutralize the toxin called cytolethal distending toxin B (CdtB). The new test can measure anti-CdtB levels to determine if patients have the antibodies.

Through a process called molecular mimicry, the body also makes antibodies

to vinculin thinking it’s the toxin, dam-aging the nervous system of the small intestine and causing excess bacteria. This bacteria overgrowth results in the discomfort and diarrhea that patients ex-perience.

In May, the FDA approved antibiotic for the treatment of diarrhea-dominant IBS, Xifaxan.

Xifaxan treats the bacterial over-growth antibodies causing IBS diarrhea dominant symptoms. The antibiotic sup-presses the excess bacteria after one or two rounds of therapy. Cattau is seeing success with the new antibiotic treatment follow-ing an IBSchek test.

“Sixty to sixty-five percent of patients I’ve tested in Memphis have a positive test and almost all have responded to antibi-otic treatment,” he says.

There are three types of IBS – IBS-D (diarrhea predominant), IBS-C (constipa-tion predominant) and IBC-M (mixed di-arrhea and constipation). The majority of IBS patients have IBS-D, which can now be quickly diagnosed with IBSchek.

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine estimates the annual cost of IBS in the U.S. is around $30 bil-lion for direct medical treatment and indirect costs. It is estimated that 10-15 percent of the population has IBS but only the minority, around 15 percent are diag-nosed. Pimentel notes that patients with IBS “have been told at one time or an-other that the disease was psychological, all in their head. The fact that we can now

confirm the disease through their blood, not their head, is going to end a lot of the emotional suffering I have seen these pa-tients endure.”

Cattau states a significant number of his patients are referrals from primary care physicians who are unsure of the di-agnosis of IBS based on symptoms alone. Many patients visit several doctors without a clear diagnosis. With IBSchek, primary care physicians can easily test patients and prescribe Xifaxan if the test is positive, saving time and money for patients.

IBSchek is a game-changer for those suffering with IBS-D and some with IBS-M, but it will not help patients with IBS-C, who are estimated to make up 30 percent

of patients with IBS symptoms. Cattau is looking forward to contin-

ued research on the blood testing of IBS-D patients to see if those with negative IB-Schek results will respond to a motility drug versus an antibiotic treatment.

Additionally, more research is needed on the antibiotic treatment course for patients with recurrent symptoms after a round of medication. Cattau predicts “some patients might be better served by a low dose over the long term, versus re-current two weeks of therapy.”

That study should be out next year. With continued research, gastroenterolo-gists can customize therapy for IBS pa-tients for effective, long-term treatments.

Test, Treatment Alter Approach to IBS Patients Now Can Avoid Expensive, Invasive Exams, Says Cattau

Dr. Edward Cattau


PB > FEBRUARY 2016

901.381.4MOG (4664)memphisorthogroup.com

4515 Poplar Avenue Ste. 206Memphis, TN 38117

3980 New Covington Pike. 200Memphis, TN 38128

8040 Wolf River Blvd. Ste. 100Germantown, TN 38138

WALK-IN HOURSM – F | 9am – 4pm

All Locations

SATURDAY CLINIC HOURS9pm – 12pm

Germantown Location Only

ORTHOSTAT® Urgent Care901.261.STAT (7828)

WALK-IN HOURSMemphis: M – Th | 8am – 8pm

F | 8am – 5pm

Southaven: M – F | 8am – 5pm

MEMPHIS CLINIC6286 Briarcrest AvenueMemphis, TN 38120

SOUTHAVEN CLINIC7580 Clarington CoveSouthaven, MS 38671

901.259.1600orthomemphis.com

OFFICE HOURSM – F | 8:30am – 4:30pm

MEMPHIS CLINIC1244 Primacy ParkwayMemphis, TN 38119

BARTLETT CLINIC2996 Kate Bond Road Ste. 305Bartlett, TN 38133

901.767.8662tabororthopedics.com

MSK Group, P.C. is an integrated orthopaedic group of approximately 36 well-regarded

physicians dedicated to comprehensive orthopaedic care. With multiple locations, you

are sure to find a convenient location to take care of all your orthopaedic needs.

MSKGROUP.ORG

An Integrated Orthopaedic Group

either a lack of organization or a lack of leadership,” Thompson said. “It’s not so much that they have a lack in quality, but they lack efficiency — and that’s a big problem for a hospital.”

LifeLinc’s role is to restructure the problem practice, using some original practitioners, but also recruiting, as nec-essary. The process includes updating methodologies and technologies (e.g. electronic health records) to achieve a more cost-efficient operation, and creat-ing teams of MDs and CRNAs (certified registered nurse anesthetists) who work closely together.

“Doctors don’t work well with ad-ministrators, and I think that’s one of the keys to LifeLinc’s success. We are actu-ally clinicians,” he said. “When we talk with existing clinicians at the hospital, we can speak their same language. My expe-rience on the administrative side — after years of working that way in Methodist Hospital — helps us to maintain that con-nection between the hospital administra-tion and the practitioners, which a lot of places tend not to have.”

Thompson, a native Memphian, re-located to Oxford, Miss., in 2011, when he left the multi-facility Methodist system to concentrate on a single hospital (Bap-tist Memorial Hospital North Mississippi) and surgery center (Oxford Surgery Cen-ter), where he still practices.

In 2014, LifeLinc Pain Centers es-tablished flagship locations in Springfield, Tenn., and in Germantown, extending the interventional pain care already being provided by LifeLinc Anesthesia in hospi-tals, ambulatory centers and office-based practices.

Thompson, who joined LifeLinc in July 2015, notes that another center will open soon in middle Tennessee, followed by a fourth in Oxford, hopefully within the next year.

Thompson explained that LifeLinc Pain Centers see only patients referred by a neurosurgeon, neurologist, family practitioner or surgeon, who are unlikely to be prescription shoppers or medication seekers.

The CDC’s new guidelines for opi-oid prescribing were developed, in fact, to address prescription pain medicine abuse; they aim to reduce the enormous number of narcotic prescriptions.

“Ten years ago,” Thompson pointed out, “national medical organizations and the Joint Commission of Hospital Accred-itation were really pushing physicians to treat pain aggressively; they used to call pain ‘the fifth vital sign.’ That was their motto and their message, so physicians responded and treated pain more aggres-sively.

“Now we’re seeing the flip side, where they’re saying ‘There’s too much pain medicine out there; short-term nar-cotics are good for short-term acute pain, but should not be prescribed for non-can-cer chronic pain.’”

Pushing for ways to manage the chronic pain with very little or no nar-

cotics, the CDC is stressing alternative non-drug methods and multimodal ap-proaches that reduce narcotic use, inte-grating non-steroids and antidepressants along with various procedures like nerve blocks and implanted spinal cord stimula-tors.

“The Mid-South is very high in nar-cotic prescribing by physicians, compared to areas in the Midwest or other areas; we definitely have the most room for im-provement,” he said. “Nationally, Ten-nessee is in the highest category of states with the highest numbers of narcotic pre-scriptions per capita; Mississippi and Ar-kansas are in the second-highest category.

“If you look at the way the Mid-South generally practices, probably 90 percent of patients are managed on nar-cotics, and about 5 to 10 percent on pro-cedures. We’re trying to flip that model so that we can use procedures to alleviate the pain and decrease that percentage on narcotics.

“This is the new approach to pain,” Thompson said. “It’s not about treating the pain, but treating the patient and returning them to their full daily living function.”

(Back pain is cited as the No. 2 rea-son nationally that people visit the doctor — and the No. 1 cause of lost work hours in the country, impacting not only the suf-ferers but the economy.)

LifeLinc has added three hospitals in the last six months, and the future is “wide open,” Thompson said. “Cost effi-ciency and quality emphasis in anesthesia care is really the wave of the future.”

The greatest challenge is going in to change a practice and its patterns. “You find that change is not something that people in general embrace very well … (especially) an established practice that has done something one way for 20 years. But all of medicine is changing,” he points out. “You have to be a lifelong learner if you want to be a good practitioner. I’ll bet 90 percent of what I do today wasn’t being done 10 years ago.”

A graduate of the University of Ten-nessee Health Science Center’s College of Medicine, Thompson completed his resi-dency in anesthesiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He has undergraduate degrees from Southern Methodist University –in both biology and medieval history, a lifelong interest that led him to University College in Ox-ford, England, where he studied Roman Britain and Medieval Britain.

But it was the few summers he worked shadowing an orthopedic surgeon in Memphis — a family friend — that in-fluenced him to pursue a medical career.

“At the end of the day, it’s intellectu-ally challenging, and you feel like you’re doing something good to help other people — your whole day is not spent on making a profit.”

His leisure interests include golf, reading, studying, traveling and playing bass guitar — sometimes with his five children, who also play instruments.

Thompson Leads OpeningOf New Pain Centers, continued from page 1

m e m p h i s m e d i c a l n e w s . c o m FEBRUARY 2016 > 7

With ten locations across the Memphis area, Healthcare Realty is the go-to source for medical office space on Baptist Memorial Hospital campuses.

A variety of locations and levels of build-out provide move-in ready suites, time-share space and the ability to build to suit.

It’s your move.

Carma C. Jude, CPM901.747.0300



It’s your move.




It’s your move.




It’s your move.


With ten locations across the Memphis area, Healthcare Realty is the go-to

source for medical office space on Baptist Memorial Hospital campuses.

A variety of locations and levels of build-out provide move-in ready suites, time-

share space and the ability to build to suit.

It’s your move.

Carma C. Jude, CCIM901.747.0300

www.MedicalOfficeMemphis.com

BY BETH SIMKANIN

While the healthcare industry’s ex-

pansion and development continue to be a vital piece of the Memphis-area real es-tate picture, the focus has clearly shifted from the eastern portion of Shelby County to the areas in and near downtown Mem-phis.

During the next three years, Meth-odist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Regional One Health, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center will implement a number of long-term capital investment projects in an area that includes the medi-cal district, the Crosstown Concourse and a portion of downtown Memphis. The construction projects include a variety of other medical and wellness tenants.

“Most medical development right now is driven by large healthcare orga-nizations, and the focus is centered on downtown and the med-ical district,” said Kelly Truitt, vice president of CB Richard Ellis Mem-phis. “Downtown has been a desirable area for medical growth because it’s traditionally the cen-ter for medical activity. We are continuing to see that commit-ment with the implementation of many capital projects.”

According to Dave Rosenbaum, vice president of facilities management for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, the organization is renovating and expanding its facilities at its Methodist South Hospi-tal, Methodist University Hospital campus and Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Hos-pital.

Expanding and renovating the emer-gency department at Methodist South Hospital currently is underway. Rosen-baum said the emergency department will remain open during the construction phase, so the new addition is being built first before the existing space is renovated. The entire emergency department will be 22,720 square feet upon completion.

Additionally, Rosenbaum said Meth-odist will renovate 9,950 square feet of its intensive care unit at Methodist South.

“We are close to submitting the con-struction plans to the state for review and approval,” he said. “The entire renova-tion will take 12 to 14 months, and we ex-pect the entire project to be complete by the summer of next year.”

Methodist has started construction on a $280 million expansion to its Method-ist University Hospital on Union Avenue. The project consists of a 750-car parking deck, which will add 100 parking spaces to the campus, and a 430,000-square-foot tower and outpatient building. The tower will house 204 patient rooms, 20 new op-erating rooms and surgical suites and an imaging center.

A new outpatient services building, which will be connected to the tower,

will be used for oncology and transplant purposes. The entire project, including the renovation of several support services’ areas in the existing hospital, will be com-pleted by 2019, Rosenbaum said.

Two other projects in Method-ist’s pipeline are a $55 million and 40,000-square-foot expansion to Le Bon-heur Children’s Medical Hospital and 115,000-square-foot administration relo-cation to Crosstown Concourse. Accord-

ing to Rosenbaum, 20 hospital beds will be added to Le Bonheur in its cardiovas-cular intensive care unit, and the current outpatient surgical area will be moved to the first floor.

“Moving the surgical area is a matter of convenience for families, and it frees up the operating room on the second floor,” Rosenbaum said. “We will select a design team in the next 6o days, and the project is expected to be completed in the fall of

2018.”Additionally, he said, Methodist plans

to start construction on the sixth floor of Crosstown Concourse this month. Meth-odist will relocate various administrative offices to Crosstown when it opens in Feb-ruary next year.

Methodist’s expansion and renova-tion plans mirror a current trend in medi-cal development, which could lead to

Medical Construction Shifts Toward DowntownSeveral Healthcare Facilities Launch Major Expansion Projects

Kelly Truitt



• A physician sees every patient• We accept all insurance types including Medicare, Medicaid & Tricare• Preferred providers for all work comp carriers• 24 hour report turnaround• Patients are referred back after diagnostic testing• Our approach is friendly and with minimal discomfort

nerveandmuscle.com 800.224.1807

Ronald C.BINGHAM, M.D.

Board Certied in Physical Medicineand Rehabilitation

and Electrodiagnostic Medicine

Miles M.JOHNSON, M.D.

Board Certied in Physical Medicineand Rehabilitation

and Electrodiagnostic Medicine

Nerve & Muscle Testing Since 1989

Jackson, TN • Germantown, TNDyersburg, TN • Selmer, TN

Union City, TN • Paris, TNSouthaven, MS • Greenwood, MS

8 Locations

And thank you for allowing us to

serve your residential real estate needs!

David Tester351-3439

Jimmy Reed 461-1868

Rip Haney351-2190

901.682.1868 • marx-bensdorf.com

Thank you for the care you give our community!

Established 1868

future expansion and relocation, accord-ing to CB Richard Ellis’ Truitt.

“We are seeing some hospitals mod-ernize, update and expand their facilities,” he said. “There are in-fill areas around major campuses where primary care fa-cilities could emerge in the future. Larger capital investments on campuses may spin off smaller in-fill projects such as medical offices, laboratories and ancillary services, but it’s too soon to tell. The locations are convenient and easily accessible and are within close proximity to healthcare sys-tems.”

Additional expansion in the medi-cal district consists of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s In-terprofessional Simulation and Patient Safety Center. Students from six colleges will train in simulation settings in the new building to develop skills in team-based healthcare using high-tech man-nequins and actors who portray patients

with a variety of conditions. According to university officials, the $36.7 million proj-ect will be completed in the fall of 2017.

Also, the Memphis Medical Dis-trict Collaborative, which consists of several key officials from various medi-cal institutions in the medical district, is working on commercial and residential development in the area surrounding the Memphis Medical Center. In addition to redevelopment efforts in the area, the col-laborative’s focus is on maintaining and improving the public realm, increasing safety and security, programming and marketing of the district and community development.

St. Jude officials announced last year a $9 billion strategic development plan, which includes the St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, new in-patient units for the hospital, a new data center, outpatient facilities, a clinical office building, a new research building and new

housing for patients.According to news reports, Rick

Shadyac, president and CEO of ALSAC, says the strategic plan will in-crease the number of new cancer patients treated on the St. Jude campus by 20 per-cent when completed.

Crosstown Concourse, a $200 mil-lion, 1.1 million-square-foot, mixed-used development that will house numerous wellness tenants in North Memphis, is on schedule for commer-cial tenants to occupy the building in Febru-ary next year, says Todd Richardson, co-leader of Crosstown Concourse.

“Tenants are begin-ning to do their internal build out,” Richardson said. “The Church Health Center has started construction already, and other tenants are in late design stages.”

According to Ann Langston, senior director of strategic relationships and op-portunities for the Church Health Cen-ter, which will occupy 150,000 square feet of Crosstown, the Church Health Center plans to move into Crosstown in January.

“It will be a phased move because we don’t want to shut down operations such as our medical, dental and eye clinics,” she said.

Currently, these are the medical and wellness tenants scheduled to occupy Crosstown Concourse:

• Church Health Center• Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare• St. Jude/ALSAC• Southern College of Optometry• Crosstown Back Institute• Various clinics (including a derma-

tologist and dental office)Additionally, Langston said Cross-

town will change the landscape of North Memphis.

“It’s important for the Church Health Center to be very engaged in the neigh-borhood and surrounding areas of need,” Langston said. “We want to make a foot-print in North Memphis and meet with residents about their healthcare needs.”

The commercial growth is spear-heading a growing demand for residential properties near Crosstown, according to one local real estate expert.

“We are seeing a growing demand for homes in the area surrounding Cross-town, even for homes that are not in the best condition,” said Kay Aerts-Miller, a realtor at Kaizen Realty. “I’m already see-ing evidence of an increase in the value of homes. There are medical profession-als who work in the area and want to live there, and they are willing to pay more to be in the area and don’t mind updating the homes.”

Richardson says residents are seeing physical evidence of a plan that has been six years in the making.

“The Crosstown building is beauti-ful and trees are up on site,” he said. “We have noticed a positive impact on the resi-dential side, and now we hope to see more commercial impact in the area.”

Scott Vogel, executive director of the Regional One Health Center for Innova-tion, says there isn’t just physical building development occurring downtown, but also a development of ideas.

Regional One Health Center for Innovation is a gateway for medical en-trepreneurs who complete accelerator programs, such as the Zeroto510 program through the Memphis Bioworks Founda-tion, and want to test their products. Addi-tionally, Regional One Health employees and physicians can submit innovative ideas to reduce costs, improve efficiency, improve health outcomes and engage pa-tients.

“It’s an exciting time in the medical community in Memphis with the physi-cal expansion of St. Jude and Methodist,” Vogel said. “This type of innovation is good for both the medical community and entrepreneurial community in Memphis.”

Medical Construction Shifts Toward Downtown, continued from page 7

Todd Richardson


Jaffe Studio • 5366 Estate Offi ce Drive #3 • Memphis, TN 38109 • 901-682-7501 • www.haljaffe.com

You’ve spent thousands on your “image.”How about a Professional Portrait to go with it?

...OR you can have a professional portrait by Jaffe

for only $125 per person!

OFFICE EXPENSES:Fixtures & Furnishings: $30kInterior Designer: $250/hr.

Advertising: $36k/yr.Cleaning Crew: $5k

Staff Portraits: Take ‘em yourself! (It’s FREE!)

Professional Portrait

Made by a friend

2016 VOX AWARDS Now Accepting Entries

New Online Process!

Mid-South’s most prestigious awards honoring contributions in public relations, marketing,

communications and advertising

PRSA membership not required Winners recognized at 2016 VOX Awards October 20 at

Visible Music College in Memphis Also new - individual achievement awards

Deadline Dates: July 8 and July 22

https://prsamemphis.secure-platform.com


New Online Process!








New Online Process!







GrandRounds

Le Bonheur Selected as a ‘Best Children’s Hospital’

Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital has been named a Best Children’s Hospi-tal by U.S. News & World Report on its 2016-2017 list. It is the sixth consecutive year Le Bonheur has been included in the list.

Meri Armour, the hospital’s presi-dent and CEO, said Le Bonheur uses the survey as “a tool to continually ad-vance the level of our pediatric care. We are honored that Le Bonheur has been recognized seven of the nine categories in which we could apply.”

U.S. News introduced the Best Chil-dren’s Hospitals list in 2007 to help fami-lies of children with rare or life-threaten-ing illnesses find the best medical care available. These lists open the door to an array of detailed information about each hospital’s performance.

The U.S. News Best Children’s Hos-pitals rankings rely on clinical data and on an annual survey of pediatric special-ists.

Regional One Health Selects Schafer as Chief Nursing Officer

Lisa Cox Schafer, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, has joined Regional One Health as senior vice president and chief nurs-ing officer. Schafer will lead patient

care services throughout the system including in-patient, outpatient and emergency nursing, as well as pharmacy, respira-tory and dialysis services.

Schafer has worked in nursing management and leadership roles for more than 30 years in academic medical centers and com-munity hospitals. Most recently, Schafer served as the vice president and chief nursing and operation executive for a 500-bed, two campus hospital in Scripps Health System in San Diego, California. She has held nursing leadership roles at Roper St. Francis Healthcare and the Medical University of South Carolina.

Schafer earned a Bachelor of Sci-ence in Nursing at the University of North Carolina and a Master of Sci-ence in Nursing Administration at the Medical University of South Carolina. In 2011, Schafer was appointed to the South Carolina State Board of Nursing, where she served as vice president and secretary of the board. She is certified as a nurse executive by American Or-ganization of Nurse Executives (AONE) and the American Nurses Credential-ing Center (ANCC) and served on the Advanced Nurse Executive Certifica-tion Content Expert Panel from 2007 to 2014.

Schafer and her husband, Duane, an oral pathologist, hiked to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2012.

Epps to Head UTHSC’s New $36.7 Million Patient Safety Center

Chad Epps, MD has been selected as executive director of the Interpro-fessional Simulation and Patient Safety Center cur-rently under construction at the University of Ten-nessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).

Epps will combine his expertise as a physician and a teacher to improve education for future health care profes-sionals and the quality of care their pa-tients will receive. Epps trained in anes-thesiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and completed a fellowship in Human Patient Simulation at Mount Sinai Human Emulation Edu-cation and Evaluation Lab for Patient Safety and Professionalism. Most re-cently, Dr. Epps has served as the asso-ciate director for the Office of Interpro-fessional Simulation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Most recently, Dr. Epps has served as the associate director for the Office of Interprofessional Simulation at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham.He will be the first to lead academic

programs in the new $36.7 million build-ing, which is expected to be completed in January, 2017.

The building will allow students from all six colleges at UTHSC to train together in simulation settings to devel-op their skills in delivering team-based healthcare. Students will have the use of high-tech manikins and standardized patients (actors who portray patients with a variety of conditions).

Each floor of the three-story build-ing will be dedicated to a different as-pect of simulation training, he said. The first floor includes bed-skill stations that will allow students to focus on preclini-cal skills and assessments. There will also be a simulated home environment, where students can practice delivering in-home patient care.

The second floor will house a sim-ulated acute-care setting resembling a hospital environment with patient rooms and a variety of manikins that can simulate everything from surgery to labor and delivery.

The third floor will house the stan-dardized patient program. It will include 24 patient exam rooms, as well as a community pharmacy setting.

Lisa Cox Schafer

Dr. Chad Epps


UTHSC’s Hamre Receives $1.5 Million Genetics Grant

Kristin Hamre, PhD, assistant pro-fessor iand researcher in the Depart-ment of Anatomy and Neurobiology in the College of Medicine at University of Tennessee Health Science Center has received a grant to study the role of genetics in fetal alcohol syndrome.

She will receive ap-proximately $1.5 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health for her project titled “Maternal genotype, choline intervention, and epigenetics in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.”

The effects of this alcohol con-sumption by pregnant women on their babies vary greatly, with genetics – both

the genetics of the mother and of the child – playing a key role.

“The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of genetics. Animal models, and to a lesser extent, human studies have shown that genetics are likely to be impacting the severity of the deficits that we see from alcohol expo-sure,” Hamre said.

UTHSC Researchers Receive $1 Million Grant for Alzheimer’s Study

Researchers at the University of Ten-nessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) have received a $1 million grant to study a genetic therapy that possibly could re-verse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

Mike McDonald, PhD, an associate professor in the Departments of Neu-rology and Anatomy and Neurobiology,

and Francesca-Fang Liao, PhD, a profes-sor in the Department of Pharmacology, received the grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Insti-tutes of Health, to test the therapy in mice. The funds will be distributed over three years.

McDonald said the therapy involves a single injection of a viral vector in the leg muscle. The vector, or carrier, con-tains DNA to generate a mutant eryth-ropoietin. He said, erythropoietin, or Epo, is a naturally occurring protein that is known to be neuro-protective, mean-ing it can protect neurons from damage in conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, macular degener-ation and more. However, chronic use of Epo has the effect of raising hematocrit, the concentration of red blood cells, to unhealthy levels.

“But what we’re studying is a mu-tant Epo, with just one amino acid differ-ent,” McDonald said. “It does not raise the hematocrit, but continues to protect the neurons.” This modified Epo vec-tor -- rAAV.EpoR76E -- was created by Tonia Rex, PhD, a former UTHSC faculty member.”

UTHSC Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Receives $1.9 Million Grant

Wei Li, PhD, a researcher at the Uni-versity of Tennessee Health Science Cen-ter (UTHSC), has received a $1.91 million grant to study new ways to weaken cancer cells by targeting one of their components called survivin. The grant from the National Insti-tutes of Health will be dis-tributed over five years.

Li is a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Col-lege of Pharmacy. The project is titled, “Selective Targeting Survivin for Cancer Therapy.”

Central to Li’s work is apoptosis. This is the process by which most cells stop growing after they reach a certain point, and eventually die off. Without apoptosis, cells would grow too large and encroach on surrounding cells, which is what cancer cells do. Cancer cells “hijack the process,” Li said.

Li and his team –Muxiang Zhou at Emory University and Duane Miller, Ber-nd Meibohm, David Hamilton at UTHSC – hope to make a compound that could degrade survivin in cancer cells, making them more susceptible to anti-cancer therapies, and further determine the exact mechanisms of action for these compounds

GrandRounds

Dr. Kristin Hamre

The Imaging Center

www.wolfriverimaging.comMRI | CT | Ultrasound | Fluoroscopy | X-ray

Scheduling: 901-312-4033

From our team to yours!

Thanks for the Opportunity to Partner in Your Patient’s Health

We share your #1 priority: PATIENT CARE

Offering:• Quality Care

• Affordable Prices• Exceptional Care

and...we report to referring physicians in 24 hours or less!

Consider us an extension of your practice, a valuable resource for your team, and your best option for quality imaging.

Your Image, Made Better.

• Wide selection of inventory in brands, fabrics, styles, and sizes

• Personalized on-site service includes consultations, fittings, and delivery

• Value Adds - embroidery monogramming, and alterations services

Landau Group Programs

For more info please call our Outside Sales Department

901-523-9655

Dr. Wei Li

Mike McDonald and Francesca-Fang Liao


Memphis Medical News is published monthly by Medical News, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SouthComm Business Media, Inc. ©2016 Medical News Communica-tions. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Medical News will assume no responsibilities for unsolicited materials. All letters sent to Medical News will be considered Medical News property and therefore unconditionally assigned to Medical News for publication and copyright purposes.

memphismedicalnews.com

SOUTHCOMM BUSINESS MEDIA, INC.

Chief Executive Officer Chris Ferrell

Interim Chief Financial Officer Carla Simon

Chief Operating Officer Blair Johnson

Executive Vice President Mark Bartel

Vice President of Production Operations Curt Pordes

Vice President of Content/Communication Patrick Rains

Director of Human Resources Becky Turner

Creative Director Heather Pierce

PUBLISHED BY:SouthComm Business Media, Inc.

MANAGING PUBLISHERPamela Harris

[email protected]

LOCAL EDITORBob Phillips

[email protected]

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Susan Graham

[email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNERSKaty Barrett-Alley

Amy GomoljakAbbie Leali

Liz LoewensteinMelanie Mays

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSRon Cobb

James DowdLynne JeterJudy Otto

Madeline PattersonCindy SandersBeth Simkanin

[email protected]

——All editorial submissions and press

releases should be emailed to: [email protected]

——Subscription requests or address

changes should be mailed to:

Medical News, Inc.210 12th Ave S. • Suite 100

Nashville, TN 37203615.244.7989 • (FAX) 615.244.8578

or e-mailed to: [email protected]

Steve Coplon Attends Cancer Moon Shot Summit Meeting in Washington

Memphis oncology executive Steve Coplon, MHA, FACHE, FACMPE from Genome Explorations attended last month’s cancer Moon Shot Summit meeting at Howard University in Wash-ington, DC.

The goal of the summit was to fur-ther align the thought leaders in oncol-ogy to collaborate more effectively in achieving success in the war on cancer. Vice President Joe Biden, who lost his son to cancer last year, is leading the Cancer Moonshot effort.

The Cancer Moonshot Summit is aimed at creating action and fostering collaborations around the goals of the Cancer Moonshot. Last month’s event was the first time stakeholders repre-senting all types of cancers convened under one national charge.

Coplon has met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden to discuss cancer care issues when both served in the Senate. He helped nego-tiate multi-billion dollar cancer related packages with Congress, CMS, and the White House. He also was part of a team that testified before Congress.

Coplon has served as CEO of a large cancer center, the CEO of an oncology clinical research network, National Ex-ecutive Director of the advocacy group for the clinics that serve over 80 percent of the nation’s cancer patients. His com-pany delivers proton beam therapy for cancer patients.

Tennessee Medical Association Offering Comprehensive Seminar

The Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) will offer “Dollars and Sense: Un-derstanding State and Federal Health-care Payment Reform,” a one-day semi-nar on Tuesday, August 16, from 8:30 am to 3 pm in the Longinotti Auditorium at Saint Francis Hospital, 5959 Park Avenue.

Registration will be at 8 am. The cost will be $175 for TMA members or staff of members and $275 for non- members A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.

From MACRA and MIPS to the Ten-nessee Health Care Innovation Initiative and Episodes of Care, the healthcare industry is moving from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement. TMA’s Summer Roadshow is the comprehen-sive training needed to ensure being paid in the emerging pay-for-perfor-mance environment.

The TMA is accredited by the Ac-creditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physi-cians. TMA designates this live activity for a maximum of 5.5 AMA PRA Cat-egory 1 Credit. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activ-ity. For more information, or to register, visit www.tnmed.org/summerroadshow

GrandRounds

We’re the only clinic CARF certifi ed in the

MidSouth since 1995 in outpatient pain rehab.

maysandschnapp.com 901-747-004055 Humphreys Center Drive, Ste 200, Memphis, Tennessee

When your patient has a problem with pain, refer them to a specialist with the expertise to assist you. Your patient will see one of our physicians on every visit. We provide the most comprehensive services in the Mid-South including the most clinical experience treating pain, an on site ambulatory surgery center, and physical therapy department. Kit S. Mays, M.D. and Moacir Schnapp, M.D.: When the problem is pain,

we’re here to help.

Pioneers & Leaders In Pain Management for over 30 Years

Pioneers &Leaders in

Pain Managementfor over30 Years

Memphis Medical News July 2016

Documents

Transcript of Memphis Medical News July 2016