OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE
The Health First Occupational Medicine Center recently moved from its former location at Melbourne’s Diagnostic Center to new space located within Holmes Regional Medical Center. Above, celebrating the opening is Wilhelmina Walters, RN; Sarah Williams; Dr. William Morgan; Dr. Stephen MacDonald; Dr. Michael MacDonald; Joyce Barone and Karen Montalvo.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The MacDonald brothers not only look alike, but they think alike when it comes to their careers. Drs. Stephen and Michael MacDonald both chose occupational medicine as their specialty, a fortunate choice for Brevard County workers who benefit from the twin’s expertise in the field.
The Drs. MacDonald were instrumental in the development of Health First Occupational Medicine Center, a convenient venue for employees of companies big and small.
“We grew up here,” said Dr. Michael MacDonald. “We were doing our residency in occupational medicine at Harvard and we came back during a Thanksgiving break.”
The MacDonalds used their vacation very wisely, visiting Holmes Regional Medical Center and suggesting to former president Foley that they were the guys who could deliver a new healthcare service to the area.
“Every hospital wants an occupational medicine center, but less than 10 percent have one,” said MacDonald. “Holmes is the only hospital in Brevard with an occupational medicine center.”
The reason for the scant number of occupational medicine centers lies in the number of physicians trained to run them.
“There’s definitely a need, but there is only 80 to 100 occupational residents graduating any given year,” said MacDonald.
“There’s zero training in medical school for this field.”
Click on the above image for Central Florida News 13's story about physicians, and twin brothers, Drs. Michael and Stephen MacDonald.
Associated with the facility since its inception in 1995, the two doctors continue to provide employee-oriented health care services.
Both brothers are residency-trained and board certified in occupational medicine. Mike MacDonald succeeded brother Stephen as president of the Florida chapter of the Association of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
They graduated from Florida State and Nova Southeastern University in Miami, then headed for an internship in the Navy before arriving at Harvard for their residency training.
“We were flight surgeons in the Navy and we wanted to be part of the civilian equivalent,” said MacDonald.
Drs. McDonald continue to treat pilots, but this time around, the fly boys they help are commercial or private pilots who are due for their required physicals.
The physician brothers, together with physician assistant George McCullough, depend on a staff of 11 other healthcare professionals to help them provide an array of occupational services that, in addition to FAA-mandated flight physicals, include pdirect screenings, ergonomic evaluations, general physical examinations and chemical exposure treatment.
Patients are typically referred by the companies that employ them. Current or past clients include the Brevard County School District, the Cities of Palm Bay and Melbourne and even Health First itself.
Firefighters, policemen, teachers, bus drivers and hazardous materials handlers are just a few of the occupations that make up the 25,000 patients that are managed by the Center.
Occupational Medicine Center recently moved from its former location at Melbourne’s Diagnostic Center to new space located within Holmes Regional Medical Center.
“It helped us double in size,” said office manager Karen Montalvo.
The Center is now housed at the site of Holmes’ former emergency room treatment area. A ribbon cutting ceremony in May celebrated the official opening.
The Health First Occupational Medicine Center is located at 1350 S. Hickory St., Suite 102, Melbourne. For more information, call 434-8878.
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