Wednesday, April 30, 2008

McKinney welcomes new Center for Preventive Medicine

By Brett Ryder of McKinneyNews.net

Angie Bado

Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, speaks at the grand opening celebration of The Center for Preventive Medicine North Texas.

MCKINNEY — Under a large outdoor tent on a fittingly warm and breezy Tuesday afternoon -- the kind of pristine day that tends to promote a facile forgetfulness of issues related to health problems -- Dr. M. Akram Khan, director of the Cardiac Center of Texas, spoke matter-of-factly to more than 100 doctors and dignitaries gathered for the christening of The Center for Preventive Medicine North Texas.

“My job is a plumber,” Khan said. “I go and fix you guys and that’s not a job I’m proud of.”

Khan’s message was clear to those in attendance: He’d rather prevent medical problems than fix them.

In-depth blood work, extensive health history questionnaires exploring lifestyle habits and family health history, heart CT scans, ultrasounds – these are some of the tools the center will employ to uncover hidden medical troubles before they become life-threatening ailments.

Khan said national policy makers understand preventive medicine is the responsible solution to rising health costs and curtailing disease. The majority of health care dollars are being spent on interventions associated with acute and chronic diseases, Khan said, many of which could have been ameliorated to the tune of less money, not to mention discomfort and threat of death to the patient, had they been uncovered earlier during through preventative measures.

Khan referenced Bill Clinton – known to indulge in a cheeseburger or three -- as the perfect example of a healthcare system that does not do enough to avert potentially catastrophic, presymptomatic disease. As president, Clinton underwent routine health examinations that failed to uncover underlying diseased heart vessels that ultimately precipitated Clinton’s hospitalization in 2004 for quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery.

Tommy Thompson, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001-2005), also spoke at Tuesday’s gala grand opening. Thompson agreed with Khan’s assessment of the nation’s healthcare infrastructure citing growing rates of obesity, diabetes, and the dissolution of physical education curricula in public schools as signs that people are not getting the prevention message.

The Center for Preventative Medicine North Texas is located in the McKinney Arts Center across from the Medical Center of McKinney. It’s one of a growing list of centers sprouting up across Texas and the rest of the United States.

Pegasus News content partner - McKinneyNews.net

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Comments

bobdon000 Anonymous

I don't get Dr. Kahn's reference to Bill Clinton.

If President Clinton, with access to the absolutley best medicical care (and presumably testing) could fall under the "preventative medicine" radar, how does he expect slubs like us to get proper "preventative" screening?

Or was it that Clinton knew the cheeserburgers weren't helpful, but did it anyway?

I suspect most Americans know that smoking, little exercicse, too much alchohol, and the wrong food choices are bad. They just choose do ignore and hope for a better outcome later.

There isn't enough personal responsibility built into our current medical/insurance system. The people who make healthy choices in their lifestyles are paying the bill for many who don't.

That aside, I am all in favor of preventative medicine. However, it needs to be coupled with individual responsibilities.

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