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St. Luke Medical Clinic getting two new physicians

Staff writer

Two new physicians are coming to St. Luke Hospital and clinic.

Family physician Randy Whitely

Family physician Randy Whitely, who operates a clinic in Peabody, will see patients at St. Luke Clinic Tuesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday and Friday, he will continue to see patients at Peabody. Nurse practitioner Karen Larsen will continue to see patients at Peabody on Monday.

Whitely is an already-familiar face at the hospital, where he has treated patients in the emergency room for two years.

“He has great bedside manner and great relationships with patients and staff,” St. Luke CEO Jeremy Ensey said. “Even though he has his practice, he’s very supportive of St. Luke.”

A colonel the Oklahoma Air National Guard, Whitley was deployed to Afghanistan during July.

He and Ensey had talked about St. Luke’s need for another physician in the clinic before Whitely’s deployment.

“He came back from Afghanistan in August and we talked about it more,” Ensey said.

That’s when they reached an agreement for Whitely to work at the clinic.

The transition does mean Whitely will spend fewer weekends in the emergency room.

Whitely has three married children and two grandchildren. His interests include carpentry, photography, and church. He is renovating a house in Marion.

Whitely is certified with the American Board of Family Medicine. He graduated from the University of Kansas medical school in 1993 and Wesley family practice residency in 1996.

The American Association for the History of Medicine awarded Whitely a 1991 William Osler Medal for an unpublished essay on the origins of American nursing homes.

Surgeon Todd Brown

General surgeon Todd Brown will see patients at St. Luke Clinic on Thursdays starting Oct. 18. He will devote a half-day to seeing patients in the office and a half-day performing surgical procedures.

Brown performs endoscopic procedures including colonoscopies and esophageal procedures, along with general surgeries.

He is now working more than 50 consecutive hours per week in Great Bend, but living in Newton.

“I’m tired of driving an hour and a half and not being home at night,” Brown said. “I would say my primary thing in Marion will be colonoscopies to detect colon cancer.”

Brown said he is talking with other small hospitals in the region to work out agreements with them as well.

Brown will fit well in the rural community because of his background.

“I’m just a farm boy who does surgeries,” Brown said. “I understand the small-town life, and I like it. I like fishing, hunting, taking care of cows, all that stuff.”

His work will expand availability of surgical services, which have become too much for surgeon Clayton Fetsch to handle in the one day per week he works in Marion.

“Being able to add another day means not having to have patients wait as long,” Ensey said.

Brown was born in Omaha and raised in Hutchinson.

A childhood love of the outdoors and summers on his grandfather’s farm near Lyons inspired his interest in biology. He majored in biology at Pittsburg State University. Brown’s interest in molecular genetics opened the door for a research fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. The laboratory is run by James Watson, who along with Francis Crick discovered DNA.

Brown graduated University of Kansas medical school in 1990, then spent five years in surgical residency training.

During his training, he developed a special interest in laparoscopic surgery and took additional training at Ethicon Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio.

During his residency, Brown was awarded the Olive Ann Beech award for excellence in surgery.

“That’s an award given annually,” Brown said. “The teaching staff, all the surgeons on the teaching panel, take a vote.”

He finished his training at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita in 1995.

Brown is a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

“I’m excited to be able to expand our services,” Ensey said.

Last modified Sept. 26, 2018

 

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