Paul Szmal: And FLX Morning continues, it's 8.39, and I am joined by Kim Alacua from UR Medicine, Finger Lakes Health, for our regular segment. Good morning, Kim. How are you this morning?
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Good, how are you?
Paul Szmal: Doing well, doing well. What's going on today?
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Well, right now I'd like to put on my Executive Director of the Finger Lakes Health Foundation hat and just announce that on June 12th, next Thursday, as part of our employee campaign, we are going to have food trucks at Geneva General Hospital, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital, and Huntington Living Center from 1130 to 130 to support the employee campaign. We also want to invite the community to come out to visit the food trucks and to help support our campaign this year to support x-ray machine at Geneva General Hospital, as well as new pumps and stretchers for the emergency department at Soldiers and Sailors.
Paul Szmal: You had me at food truck. We're very excited. Do we know specifically which ones are coming?
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: I don't have the list of those yet. I know that Mary Sue is still firming up some final details, but we will have that information and we will be sharing it out on social.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, come down. If it's food trucks, it's going to be good, no matter what. What would you like to introduce our guests for today?
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Yes, I'm very excited to announce today we have Greg Fix with us. Greg is a physician assistant who has been caring for the community for over 14 years, and he joined Finger Lakes Health at the beginning of April. Welcome, Greg.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Yes, thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, happy to have you here this morning. I always like to open up these interviews by asking a little bit about background, so how did you get started in the medical profession? What drew you to it?
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Yes, so right out of high school, I was very interested in helping and going into the medical field, so I decided physician assistant right out of school. I went to Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. I got my master's of physician assistant there, and then I returned to the local community, and I've been working in Geneva ever since.
Paul Szmal: As Kim mentioned, you joined up with UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health in the month of April.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Yes, I was very interested in basically a change of opportunity, and they are a wonderful organization, and I was very interested in joining and becoming a part of the team and the family.
Paul Szmal: One of the things we want to talk about today is the importance of having a primary care provider. I was thinking about this earlier today. A primary care provider, to me, very similar to being the gateway to opportunity.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Exactly, and that's a great way to put it. We are basically the central hub where we will help with the continuity of care, allowing patients to basically remain up-to-date with their screenings, lab work, colonoscopy, mammogram, as well as we are essential with referrals. Getting them in to see specialists, as well as learning about them, their families, and their social situation to better manage them in the long run.
Paul Szmal: Yes, and it's always good to have one person that you can go to, and then, as you said, it's kind of like the hub, and everything just kind of hives and spokes off of that.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Exactly, and that's really where it's important to have a trusted medical advisor. Obviously, everyone can go on Google, and go on the internet, and just type in different things, but actually having someone that is well-known to them, their family, and actually knows them as a person, not just a bunch of paperwork or labs on the computer.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with Greg Fix. He's a physician assistant, and you're working at the brand new Finger Lakes Primary Care Center in Geneva now.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Yes, it's right on the third floor of the Medical Arts Building. It's a wonderful, wonderful office that has just opened. We actually just had some beautiful artwork put up the other day, and we've been getting nothing but compliments for the decorations of the office, as well as all the staff has been excellent.
Paul Szmal: Do you have ambitions to go beyond where you are right now in terms of being a physician's assistant, or do you want to move up?
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: I'm very happy being a physician assistant. Going on 14-plus years of that, I would not really consider at this point going back to school. It may have been earlier in life something I would have considered doing, but at this point, I am very happy being a physician assistant and working.
Paul Szmal: Can you kind of give us a definition of what a physician's assistant does?
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: A physician assistant works alongside physicians, if that be an MD or DO, and they can be found in any setting in the healthcare system. Many of my friends from college are specializing in different surgical aspects. Myself, I just primarily do internal medicine, which is caring for 18 and above, but there is vast opportunities for anyone who's interested in becoming a physician assistant in the healthcare system.
Paul Szmal: How much education did you go through?
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: It would be a four-year bachelor's and then a two-year master's program. Most programs now are basically lumped together in kind of an accelerated format right out of school. Others, you would achieve a bachelor's and then go on for two additional years. It's a little bit less than what you would consider the average medical school time. It's what, usually about eight years?
Paul Szmal: Correct, correct, and that's where we can get out into the workforce quicker, but then that's why we do work alongside physicians very closely.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: How many physicians do you work with now?
Paul Szmal: Primarily at this time, it will be two, but there will be anticipation of more physicians as well as other advanced practice providers, which is including nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: You mentioned DO earlier, and that's actually an abbreviation that I'm not familiar with.
Paul Szmal: Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. So, LECOM is a very big program out of Erie, as well as, I believe, Elmira, that they are putting a lot of DOs into the marketplace.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Ah, okay, okay. And tell me a little bit more about this brand-new facility that has just opened up here on the third floor of the Medical Arts Building.
Paul Szmal: Yes, so it's an excellent facility. We have four exam rooms, as well as the majority of the staff I've worked with for quite a while at this point. We are up-to-date with computer technology using eRecords, which is where the Finger Lakes Health Program will be going over the next year, which is the system that many organizations use throughout the United States.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: And I've got to think that, you know, the technology that you learned in school has changed dramatically, even to the point where you were getting out of school.
Paul Szmal: Correct. Oddly enough, even a couple of the practices I was with during my training were still paper and pen. So, I kind of have seen the evolution quickly over the last 10 years, that everything is now computer-based and everyone basically uses the same system. And most individuals are really adapt to it. And with the future being the AI technology, that's often going to be built into a lot of our visits and everything along those lines.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: And I also want to mention, Greg just talked about eRecords. So, Finger Lakes Health Primary Care, which is the practice that Greg practices at, and we also have Keuka Healthcare in Penny End, those are our two new early adoption practices where we have implemented eRecord, where patients can now see their results through MyChart. And we know that MyChart is a patient portal that patients are very anxious to have. And as Greg mentioned, we'll be transitioning by the end of 2026 to eRecord and MyChart for all of our practices. And so, this is just a benefit of these two new practices. We also offer same-day appointments at the new practices and telemedicine.
Paul Szmal: And I've got to think, Greg, that it's a pretty cool thing to be walking into a brand spanking new facility that's got all the bells and whistles, shall we say, that you're looking for.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: It is. And it's excellent that everything was able to be set up so quickly, really over the last six months or so, and everything has come together splendidly.
Paul Szmal: So, the phone number if you want to schedule an appointment with Greg is 315-787-5445. And it's on the third floor of the Medical Office Building, Finger Lakes Health Primary Care. As Greg mentioned, he sees patients 18 years and older.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Fantastic. Well, I appreciate you both being here.
Paul Szmal: Thank you so much.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Yeah. I look forward to being able to maybe check out the new dig, so to speak.
Paul Szmal: Come down to the food trucks.
Kim Ilaqua, Greg Fix: Yeah, definitely. I'll definitely do that. Although, if I eat too much, I may wind up having to pay a visit up to the third floor there on the Medical Arts Building. You never know.
Paul Szmal: It's 848 on FLX Morning.
