Having Healthy Choices
Numerous health-care facilities make sure residents are well cared for

Dr. Richard Cape moved his ophthalmology practice from Memphis because he recognized Dyersburg’s potential.

When Dr. Richard Cape arrived in Dyersburg in 1993, he admittedly “didn’t know a soul” in town. The board-certified ophthalmologist had made the move from Memphis with his wife, Stephanie, because he recognized a need for an eye specialist in the small community.

“I became busy fairly quickly,” says Cape, who went on to open Cape Regional Eye Center, offering patients everything from comprehensive eye exams to cataract and retina surgery. Recently, Cape received approval to build a full-service surgery center that will provide residents of northwest Tennessee with the type of eye care usually found only in large metropolitan areas.

Cape himself is an anterior segment surgeon, specializing in the treatment of glaucoma and diabetic eye disease. He also performs “no-shot, no-stitch” cataract surgery.

Cape’s business partner, Andreea Partal, is a refractive and cornea surgery specialist. The eye center also calls on the services of a retina specialist, a pediatric ophthalmologist and a plastic and orbital specialist.

“We have introduced something to Dyersburg that is pretty big-time,” Stephanie Cape says. “We’re talking top-of-the-line eye surgeons, which is quite amazing in a town our size. For Dyersburg to have something so specialized is a huge coup.”

Dyer County residents are fortunate to have more health-care options than most rural areas. Laser Therapy Associates of West Tennessee, LLL offers low-level laser therapy used to painlessly treat a number of injuries, wounds and neurological conditions. Meanwhile, Dyersburg Surgical Group, with which Laser Therapy Associates is affiliated, saves people from making long drives to Jackson or Memphis by offering cosmetic and laparoscopic surgery as well as a complete laser spa.

Dr. Jeffrey Swetnam, a vascular surgeon, relocated his Dyersburg Surgical Group into new offices in 2005. The facility includes his private practice as well as the adjacent medical spa, where patients can undergo laser-hair removal, Botox, vein therapy, chemical peels and a host of other skin treatments.

“We have a lot of things going on here,” says Swetnam, who is also managing partner of the Riverside Surgery Center in Dyersburg. “We are providing the same services people can get in a big city but at a reduced cost.”

The focal point of health care in the region is the 125-bed Dyersburg Regional Medical Center, the largest hospital in northwest Tennessee. DRMC is marking its 50th year at its Tickle Street address in 2006 with its largest expansion in more than a decade.

By this summer, the hospital plans to open a new, $4.9 million emergency room. The 8,000-square-foot addition at the front of the hospital will feature three dedicated trauma/cardiac rooms, five “fast track” care rooms and separate rooms for pediatrics, OB/GYN, orthopedics and psychiatric observation.

Administrator Coleman Foss says the hospital’s previous emergency room at the rear of the hospital had become too crowded and obsolete. The emergency room served about 19,000 patients in 2005.

“We’ve always had a clogged ER in terms of patient flow,” Foss says. “This new facility doubles our size and efficiency. Our goal is to get everyone in and out of the emergency room within two hours whenever possible.”

The hospital and its 460 employees also provide services in cardiology, radiology, urology, medical and surgical acute care, outpatient surgery and many other areas.

“Our niche has been as a community, service-oriented hospital in the heart of Dyersburg,” Foss says. “We feel like we have a social and moral responsibility to provide the most comprehensive health care facility in northwest Tennessee.”

Story by Edward Navarro
Photo by Greg Emens