Each year, clinical staff employees of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, Montgomery Memorial Hospital and Richmond Memorial Hospital select their Physicians of the Year. In 2005, those honors went to:

• Steven Karan, M.D., of Moore Regional
• Touber Vang, M.D., of Montgomery Memorial
• Cecile Robes, D.O., Leslie Salloum, M.D., and John Stevenson, M.D., all of Richmond Memorial Hospital

Steven Karan, M.D.
Moore Regional Hospital
By Brenda Bouser

Steven Karan, M.D., grew up in the heart of Pennsylvania steel country. In that tightly knit, working-class world, a doctor was special—healer, friend, confidante—and one of the town’s most respected citizens.

"The physician was everything," Dr. Karan recalls.

The military gave this son of a Johnstown, Pa., steelworker the opportunity to go into medicine. After concentrating on chemistry at West Point, he entered medical school at Philadelphia’s Temple University on an Army scholarship. He completed both his internship and residency at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and spent 12 years on active military duty while wearing a variety of hats—practicing physician, teacher and researcher.

Since 1997, Dr. Karan has been an anesthesiologist affiliated with FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, where this year he was named Physician of the Year by the hospital’s clinical staff.

“Dr. Karan is a special person for members of our staff in six different patient care areas to collaborate to submit a nomination for him,” says Cheryl Batchelor, executive director of Clinical Operations at Moore Regional. “That type of collaboration tells me Dr. Karan is truly deserving of this award.”

The award was an unexpected but special honor for Dr. Karan, who—according to the nurses who nominated and voted for him—not only talks the talk but walks the walk of the teamwork-oriented, compassionate caregiver of the Physician of the Year criteria.

“No matter the situation, whether it be Labor and Delivery, OR, Pain Clinic or minor/major surgery, Dr. Karan has nothing but his patients’ and their families’ best interests at heart,” registered nurse Penny Faircloth said in her letter of nomination. “He is both sympathetic and professional. He is always respectful of his patients’ privacy and concerns.”

As for his attitude toward teamwork, Faircloth said, “Dr. Karan is a big supporter of team efforts and morale. When staff members feel appreciated, they are more likely to go the extra mile for their patients, physicians and institution. Feeling valued is a far better motivator than money.”

Dr. Karan attributes much of his professional teamwork philosophy to his older sister, a nurse. “I give her a lot of credit for the way I practice, the way to treat people,” he says. “During an emergency, if the physician projects tension and stress, the team also becomes stressed and performance declines. However, if the physician proceeds with a calm attitude, the team responds positively and with confidence.”

The military also contributed to Dr. Karan’s strong sense of teamwork. After his residency, he was assigned to the Armed Forces Medical School in Bethesda, Md., where he was the physician in charge of medical student anesthesiology training. He later became involved in research, concentrating on malignant hyperthermia, a genetic disease of skeletal muscle that usually presents itself only while a patient is under general anesthesia. There is currently no simple general-population screening test to identify susceptible individuals.

“Usually, general anesthesia relaxes the patient’s muscles,” Dr. Karan says. “When patients susceptible to malignant hyperthermia receive general anesthetics, their muscles get turned on and produce so much acid and heat that the heart and lungs fail. The result is fatal if the condition is not identified and treated quickly.”

Dr. Karan and his team were able to alert physicians to subtle changes in a patient’s condition so that life-saving medications could be administered to stop an episode before it became critical. He also worked with a Malignant Hyperthermia Hotline to help anesthesiologists
across the country manage active malignant hyperthermia cases, and he coordinated and conducted malignant hyperthermia testing for the Armed Forces.

Dr. Karan spent seven years in research while also practicing clinically at Walter Reed. His path to Pinehurst began there with his association with several other former Army physicians who are now anesthesiologists at Moore Regional.

“I was trained by Dr. (Bert) Place,” Dr. Karan says, “and I helped train Drs. (Brian) Thwaites and (Paul) Kuzma.”

During his Army stint, Dr. Karan also worked with Robert Oldroyd, M.D. Since that time, Drs. Karan, Place, Thwaites, Oldroyd and Kuzma have been joined by Dr. Oldroyd’s brother, Matthew Oldroyd, M.D., as partners in Pinehurst Anesthesia Associates. The Moore Regional-based practice provides inpatient and outpatient anesthesiology and pain clinic services at the hospital.

Dr. Karan grew up thinking of a doctor as a family physician but learned that the world of medicine offers many choices. “The concept you have of a doctor is so different when you finally get into medical school and find there are so many options,” he says.

After growing up in a close-knit family, Dr. Karan wanted the same atmosphere for his own children. He says anesthesia allows him a career in medicine as well as good family time.

“Anesthesia is a much better fit to schedule time with the family and still have a full-time, intense career,” Dr. Karan says. He and his wife, Lori, have two children: 14-year-old Ashlyn, a sophomore at Pinecrest High School; and 11-year-old Scott, a student at The O’Neal School.

Dr. Karan also appreciates the response he gets from his patients, both in the operating room and in the Pain Clinic. “Most people are very happy to see you, because they know you are going to get them through a hard time without pain,” he says.

That, he says, often leads to a “transformation” in the patient—the woman in labor, the senior citizen with an arthritic back, the child facing an appendectomy—who is no longer afraid or in pain.

“Having such a profound effect on people is very gratifying,” he says.

Touber Vang, M.D
FirstHealth Montgomery Memorial Hospital
By Brenda Bouser

Family ties mean a lot to Touber Vang, M.D., so much so that he practices family medicine in Montgomery County, now the home for his large extended family.

According to the staff of FirstHealth Montgomery Memorial Hospital, Dr. Vang brings many of the qualities of a devoted family man to his profession. Some of those qualities are among the reasons why he was named the hospital’s 2005 Physician of the Year.

“I was very honored,” Dr. Vang says of the award, “especially since it was voted on by the staff. That gives it even more meaning.”

“Qualities such as compassion, teamwork and the ability to be an educator to patients, families and staff members are often hard to put your finger on, but staff members succeeded in describing these qualities when making their nominations this year,” says Sue Grady, Montgomery Memorial’s director of nursing.

According to staff nominations, Dr. Vang:

• Always sees that the patient comes first
• Always takes time to talk to family members
• Is a good listener with a calm, understanding approach
• Always takes the time to explain tests and how treatment is determined
• Is open to staff suggestions and concerns
• Is always enjoyable to work with and is very respectful to co-workers
• Loves to pass on knowledge, encourages questions and loves to teach

Dr. Vang has been a member of the hospital’s medical staff for almost three years. He recently left FirstHealth Montgomery Memorial Hospital Family & Internal Medicine to open a private practice in Montgomery County.

Living the American dream
By his own definition, Dr. Vang “lives the American dream.” Born in Laos, he spent his early childhood in a Thai refugee camp. In 1976, when he was just 5 years old, his parents sent him and two brothers to the United States with an uncle. It’s where he grew up and the place he knows best.

“I’m probably as American as anybody else,” Dr. Vang says.

The immediate Vang family, which eventually grew to include eight boys and a girl, was reunited in Lansing, Mich., in 1983, while other family members settled in Wisconsin. In 1989, some of them moved again, this time to North Carolina in an attempt to find manufacturing jobs and live closer together. They are now part of Montgomery County’s Hmong community, Laotians who began relocating to the United States during the Vietnam era.

For a long time, it’s been one of Dr. Vang’s goals to work with the Hmongs in Montgomery County, but the group is close-knit and “traditionally a little skeptical” of Western medicine, he says. He plans to keep plugging away with the periodic educational opportunities that allow him to speak to the community, however, and he hopes to have more success in time.

“We are making some inroads,” he says, “ but it’s going to take some time.”

Since Dr. Vang was halfway through his senior year of high school in Lansing, Mich., when his family moved to North Carolina, he stayed in Michigan with an older brother and finished school.

After graduating, he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor as a biology major, already set on a career in medicine. “It was something I grew up wanting to do,” he says. “If I hadn’t become a doctor, I would have been totally lost, because I didn’t have any backup plans.”

By the time Dr. Vang finished college, his family had bought a Montgomery County poultry business. He took a year off before entering medical school to spend time with his parents, helping out with the family enterprise and teaching algebra for a semester at Montgomery Community College.

A family doctor
Dr. Vang earned his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1999 and then began a three-year residency in family medicine at Detroit’s St. John’s Hospital and Medical Center.

He had always been drawn to family practice. As a child, he had accompanied his parents, who spoke little English, to medical appointments and interpreted for them, so he developed an appreciation
for family medicine early on.

“I like the GP (general practitioner) approach,” he says. “I thought that would be my best opportunity to help people.”

He got his first opportunity to help people at the FirstHealth Family Care Center-Star, where he worked with Dave Buckland, P.A.-C. After a year, he moved to the FirstHealth practice in Troy, his professional home until July when he and Janet Leone-Britt, P.A.-C, opened their private practice one floor above their former offices in the hospital-adjacent Medical Arts Building.

Dr. Vang enjoys the long-term relationships that he develops with patients in a family practice. Because he sees children as well as adults, he is able to follow many of his young patients as they grow up.

“I like to think of myself as a specialist of the family,” he says. “It gives you a chance to interact more and be a true family doctor. That’s what I want to continue to do.”

Despite their big-city upbringing, Dr. Vang and his wife now consider themselves true Montgomery County residents. They live in Troy and enjoy more than anything their family’s large get-togethers, something they expect to add to in December with the birth of their first child.

“Most of the time when we get together,” Dr. Vang says of his family, “it has to be outdoors or a large area where we all fit.”

Cecile Robes, D.O., Leslie Salloum, M.D., John Stevenson, M.D.
FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital
By Dick Broom

A family physician, a general surgeon and a radiologist who chairs the FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees have been selected by the hospital’s clinical staff as Physicians of the Year.

Cecile Robes, D.O., of FirstHealth Family Care Center-Richmond Family Medicine, was named Medical Physician of the Year. Leslie Salloum, M.D., a general surgeon, was chosen as Surgical Physician of the Year. Radiologist John Stevenson, M.D., who is the current chairman of the hospital’s board, was honored as Administrative Physician of the Year.

“Richmond Memorial Hospital is fortunate to have an exceptional medical staff, and these three fine physicians are consistently regarded as among the leaders of that team,” says John Jackson, Richmond Memorial Hospital’s vice president of Operations.

All members of the hospital’s clinical staff were eligible to nominate physicians for the three awards and then to vote on the nominees. According to the criteria for the medical and surgical physician awards, nominees should:

• Demonstrate compassionate patient and family care
• Recognize all health care disciplines as partners in care
• Help educate and develop patient care providers
• Recognize and support team efforts within the patient care setting

Dr. Robes “goes above and beyond caring for patient’s needs” and “works well with all health care disciplines,” according to two members of the hospital family who nominated her for the Medical Physician of the Year Award.

“She takes the time to talk with patients and their families, and she is always willing to teach the nursing staff,” says Cindy McDonald, chief nursing officer and chief operating officer at Richmond Memorial. “She doesn’t hesitate to ask nurses for their opinions.”

Dr. Robes joined Richmond Family Medicine in June 2003. Previously, she practiced in South Bend, Ind., where she served as director of the family medicine residency program at St. Joseph Community Hospital. She wanted to be closer to her mother, who lives in Southport, and chose to come to Rockingham because, she says, “I liked the location, the town and the people.”

Dr. Robes has nothing but praise for the Richmond Memorial staff, especially the nurses.

“They are top-notch,” she says. “They really are devoted to their patients. I value their knowledge and expertise. If they think something isn’t quite right, they will bug me about it, and I appreciate that.”

Dr. Salloum, recipient of the Surgical Physician of the Year Award, joined Richmond Memorial’s medical staff in January 2004. He previously practiced in Trenton, N.J., where he also taught surgical residents at St. Francis Medical Center.

Last year, Dr. Salloum was recognized by an independent research company as one of the top surgeons in the United States.

“He always involves the whole health care team in patient care planning,” McDonald says. “He is compassionate, he spends time discussing care with patients and their families, and he really listens.”

Among the comments written by those who nominated Dr. Salloum for the award were these:

• “He treats the staff with respect and makes everyone feel part of the team.”
• “He enjoys teaching and is good at educating the staff.”
• “He provides exceptional care at the bedside and in the operating room.”
• “Patients and families love his bedside manner.”

Dr. Salloum says his approach to patient care is simple: “I try to treat people the way I would like to be treated.”

Like Dr. Robes, Dr. Salloum credits the hospital staff for providing outstanding care. “They are a great group of people,” he says, “always helpful and always willing to please.”

Dr. Stevenson was chosen for the Administrative Physician of the Year Award because of his leadership in promoting the interests of Richmond Memorial and its patients, physicians and staff. He has been a radiologist at the hospital since 1972 and served as chief of staff for the past two years. In addition to chairing the hospital’s Board of Trustees, he is a member of the FirstHealth Board of Directors and its Executive Committee. He also chairs the board’s Strategic Planning Committee.

“Dr. Stevenson has always been very supportive of Richmond Memorial, and he represents the hospital and its physicians extremely well,” McDonald says.

In addition to taking good care of individual patients, Dr. Stevenson says he feels a responsibility to participate in decisions involving the operation of the hospital and the provision of health care services for the community.

“There are some great people from the community on the hospital board, but it’s also important to have physician input and perspective on various issues,” he says. “That’s why I’ve been so involved, and I enjoy it.”

Dr. Stevenson says that part of his reason for serving on the FirstHealth Board of Directors is to promote the interests of Richmond Memorial Hospital.

“When you go into a new community (as FirstHealth did when it purchased Richmond Memorial), you need to have input from that community in order to understand it and address its needs,” he says. “I think it’s good that Richmond Memorial has a major voice in FirstHealth decisions.”

Dr. Stevenson was instrumental in creating the hospital’s Women’s Imaging Center, which opened last year with some of the latest diagnostic
technology. The center brought together all of the hospital’s diagnostic imaging services that are used exclusively or primarily for women—mammography, ultrasound and bone density testing for osteoporosis.