When a woman discovers a lump in her breast, it is often accompanied by a lump in her throat and a knot in the pit of her stomach. The thought of going from one facility to another and seeing multiple health care providers for diagnostic testing, procedures and test results can be overwhelming. Because the staff of Peninsula Surgical Group in Salisbury understands how psychologically traumatizing the thought of breast cancer can be, they offer the patient total breast care from the initial diagnosis to the completion of surgical care and can arrange for everything else that’s needed for the patient.

“We’re the only physicians in the area capable of providing total patient surgical care from start to finish,” said Dr. John Bartkovich, one of the surgeons and senior partner of the group. “To the patient, that means she can stay with the same doctor through the completion of surgical care,” he explained. It means continuity of care — a single medical history, with no medical record passing — and efficiency — one person handles all the reports and determines the next steps in the treatment plan.

“We couldn’t do this without the ancillary services provided by the other arms of Peninsula Health Group — Chesapeake Surgery Center and Salisbury Diagnostic and Breast Center — and their staff,” said Dr. John Reilly.

Dr. David L. Sechler added, “It is so important to us personally to provide this to the community.” He recalled two patients he’d seen recently who had a mammogram at one facility and a biopsy scheduled at another facility. The results were forwarded to their primary care physicians who gave them the results. “At Peninsula Surgical Group, all the information comes from the same source,” Sechler said.

“There is no part of standard breast diagnostic care we cannot provide,” Bartkovich asserted. Last year the group invested in digital mammography in order to provide the best imaging available for interpretation. Biopsies can be performed by needle, by needle guided by sonography, by stereotatic (X-ray guided) needle biopsy or by excisional surgery under general anesthesia.

And if surgery, from lumpectomy to total mastectomy, is needed, patients can be confident they are in good hands. “We are the most experienced in breast care on the Delmarva Peninsula,” Bartkovich said confidently. “We all four (including himself, Dr. David Sechler, Dr. Nicholas Dudas and Dr. John Reilly) are board-certified general surgeons who specialize in breast care.” The four physicians have over 70 years of experience.

“There is no reason a patient needs to go to one facility for a mammogram, another one for her image-guided biopsy, a third to find out the results of that biopsy, and, a fourth to determine her plan of care,” stated Dr. Nicholas Dudas.

Two staff members serve as cancer care coordinators, dedicated to answering patients’ calls on a special phone line. “Their experience is such that they can immediately answer 99 percent of the questions,” Bartkovich said. Often a patient does not understand the information presented and will have numerous questions related to her care, he explained. “If there’s an issue, administrative or clinical, the coordinator can provide an answer as quickly as possible, so that the patient’s concerns are relieved and the necessary care is provided as quickly as possible and as easily as possible.” At least one of the cancer care coordinators is in the office every day and immediately available to assist and support patients.

“We understand breast cancer can be such a devastating diagnosis, and every woman on the Eastern Shore knows someone who has had breast cancer,” Bartkovich said. “There’s nothing in terms of breast cancer care surgically that cannot be done in this community as well as it can in any major city.”

Sechler added, “And we have great working relationships with medical oncologists and radiation oncologists for post-surgery treatment.”

The four surgeons at Peninsula Surgical Group are continuing the tradition of providing the best possible patient care to the Eastern Shore which was begun by Drs. H. Gray Reeves and John M. Bloxom in the early 1960s, later joined by Dr. Philip Insley Jr.

They’ve got the experience, technology, people and compassion to provide the best quality care with less emotional trauma.

 

To learn more about Peninsula Surgical Group, located in the

H. Gray Reeves Professional Building at 145 E. Carroll St., call 410-548-2600.