Living Well March 26, 2008

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

By Teresa Griswold

If you build it, they will come
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-In a region where a new hotel or bank seems to be sprouting on every corner, it is refreshing to see a medical clinic take center stage in Wilson, Wyo., reflective of a community that focuses on health and personal connectivity.

Two local health care providers teamed up with a biochemist to realize a long-held dream. Sally Luke, a family nurse practitioner, Dr. Mike Menolascino, board-certified in internal medicine, and Nick Lydon, a cancer research biochemist, worked together to open the Wilson Medical Clinic.

Luke and Menolascino are dedicated to providing high quality healthcare in their community and began seeing patients in the new facility last December. An extensive line-up of physicians have since joined them, allowing the clinic to offer outpatient services in a state-of-the-art setting that include general/family practice, internal medicine, sports medicine, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology.

Joining with Luke and Menolascino is Dr. Roger Brecheen, who founded Jackson Hole OB/GYN, and Dr. David Shlim, a highly esteemed travel medicine specialist. Dr. Naomi Sklar is the first sports medicine specialist in the valley, and Dr. Christian Guier is an internationally recognized orthopedic surgeon.

These physicians have built flourishing practices in the valley over a long period of time, as many as 20 years for some, according to Menolascino. “All are totally committed to this valley,” he said.

A tour of the new clinic, located in the heart of Wilson, reveals the personalities of the health care providers and their connectedness to the community. Menolascino’s new office overlooks the Wilson Elementary School three of his school-aged boys attend, while Brecheen’s office provides him with a view of his home at the end of the street.
The Wilson clinic is convenient for patients and allows Menolascino to have more balance in his practice and personal life. He lives within biking distance from the clinic. “I get home for dinner on most nights,” he said. “In the past it was a big occasion when I made it home for dinner; now it’s big occasion if I don’t.”

With women’s health as one of Luke’s specialties, she is on the cusp of treating three generations of women and their kids. “The infants are now in college,” she said. “I’ve known them since they were born, have seen them through puberty, and can now bring them to next level as adults who will eventually have their own babies.”
Luke also specializes in cardiology. “I love doing cardiac risk reductions and managing bad cholesterol problems,” she said.

Today, we have the research, data, drugs and knowledge to help people more than ever. “We’re very blessed to have the tools in our chest in this day and age to provide meaningful, optimistic outcomes for people, even those with a heavy burden of risk for heart disease,” she said.

Luke and Menolascino held the dream of building their clinic for nearly 10 years, looking to find the right place and time to build. The concreteness of the building and the long journey took shape when Luke’s partner left semi-retirement from the field of biochemistry, where he pioneered a significant cancer drug, in order to focus on the construction project and county rezone for the last two years.

The community is invited to celebrate the new clinic and mingle with the providers from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight. Luke said the open house is a way of thanking their patients for their patience, and a celebration for their neighbors. “We have a lot of exciting things to offer and we want people to know what we are about,” she said.

Photo by Andrew Wyatt
Nick Lydon, Dr. Sally Luke, and Dr. Mike Menolascino are among the group opening the new Wilson Medical Center.

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Living Well March 26, 2008 | Planet JH News Article: Living Well

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