Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
FHCC Cuts Ribbon on new GI clinic
Lovell FHCC's new GI clinic post anesthesia care holding area
Army Veteran Roberto Aponte felt it was the least he could do to help cut the ribbon on the renovated gastroenterology (GI) clinic at Lovell Federal Health Care Center May 29.
The day of the ceremony, the former Army Ranger and helicopter pilot was happy to be done with his last chemotherapy treatment. His previous cancer surgery and radiation treatments at Lovell FHCC were successful. Life was good.
“I’ve received extremely good care here over the past year; they treat me very well,” said Aponte, now an aviation inspector. “I’m glad they are getting a new facility. It serves an important purpose … there are a lot of sick Veterans, and they need this new advanced equipment and these services.”
Aponte and dozens of other Lovell FHCC employees, volunteers and patients attended the event in the main hall of the clinic to celebrate the much-needed new space.
“This is the culmination of the vision of Lovell FHCC to provide the highest quality health care to all our patients,” said Master of Ceremonies Jim Miller, associate chief nurse, Lovell FHCC department of medicine. “It demonstrates the commitment by this organization to provide a high-quality environment to deliver care to our Veteran, active duty and military dependents.”
The new clinic consolidates GI services in one place on the third floor of Building 133 on the main hospital campus in North Chicago. It combined the existing GI clinic and endoscopy, doubling the square-footage with three state-of-the-art procedure rooms and a six-bed holding/post-anesthesia care unit. New services include advanced endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with integrated 3-D imaging, and a dedicated hepatitis clinic that will provide more patients advanced therapies.
From left: Dr. Feller, Chief of Gastroenterology; April Shaw, Nursing Manager; Captain Robert Buckley, Deputy Director and Commanding Officer; Dr. Rohit Arora, Chief of Medicine; Mr. Roberto Aponte, patient; Dr. Bruce Douglas, patient; Jim Miller, Associate Chief Nurse of Medicine and Dr. Stevens, Chief of Specialty Care.
“What is more patient-centric than this,” asked Dr. Axel Feller, chief of GI services at Lovell FHCC, during his remarks. “The patient can come in and get all of his or her services in one place. They won’t have to be sent out for services, and our colleagues from cardiology and pulmonology will also do their procedures here, and our nurses and technicians will help them.”
Patients previously had to be referred to outside medical providers for EUS and procedures such as video capsule endoscopies, which are now available at Lovell FHCC, Feller said. “We really provide many services here.”
The idea for a Department of Defense and VA GI clinic was first proposed in 2005, when Lovell FHCC was known as the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Navy operated a separate hospital at Naval Station Great Lakes. When the two agencies integrated Great Lakes-area medical facilities in 2010 and created Lovell FHCC, the ball finally started rolling on the project, Feller said.
During his welcoming remarks, Lovell FHCC Deputy Director and Commanding Officer Navy Capt. Robert Buckley said, “There are thousands of patients who are going to benefit from this. Congratulations to you all. This is the kind of thing we all work for, and it will benefit staff, too, because of the improved patient flow and improved safety.”
James Wheeler, Endoscopy Technician does a routine check of equipment.
Dr. Bruce Douglas, also a patient of the clinic and WWI and Korean Veteran, helped cut the ribbon with Aponte and clinic staff and leadership. “I’m happy to be here,” said Douglas, a university professor and volunteer at the FHCC. “This falls right in with my work helping Veterans age well and live better lives.”
For more general information about the GI clinic, call 224-610-2030. To contact gastroenterology, call 224-610-5955; to contact endoscopy, call 224-610-2055. Clinic hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
