Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010 12:00 am
It could take weeks, maybe even months, to have a Pueblo dermatologist look at a suspicious spot, mole or growth on your skin.
You can telephone Skin Care Now and get in to see family practice physician Dr. Jamie Pollock the day you call or the next day — guaranteed.
"We are here to give quality service, to study basic skin conditions the same day or the next day," said Pollock, co-owner of the center at 415 N. Grand.
"We screen for atypical skin issues, then decide on treatment." Pueblo cardiologist Dr. Jim Sbarbaro also is a co-owner.
Pollock explained that if a skin growth appears suspicious, he will biopsy it and send the sample to the lab.
"If it comes back malignant, there are several options," he said. "We could refer the patient to a dermatologist or perhaps a plastic surgeon, for example."
Pollock emphasized that he was educated as a family practice physician and that he in no way intends to supplant local dermatologists in treating skin conditions.
"We're not trying to compete with someone with more training," Pollock said. "This is the first stopping point, a staging area for specialists.
"If you wake up with acne, or if you have a spot that you'd like someone to look at right away, this is the place to come."
Why not just have your family doctor do that?
"First, there aren't many family practice physicians. Secondly, not all are willing to do the procedures."
"They refer the patient to a dermatologist, and that may mean the patient has to wait weeks, usually months to see the doctor," he said. "This is a problem typical in many specialties, not just dermatology. There is a great shortage of specialists in Pueblo and nationwide.
"We help not to delay the diagnosis. You haven't waited three months to see if you have a problem."
About half of the patients who have visited the center so far have been Medicare or Medicaid patients. Sometimes, Pollock explained, such patients lack a family physician that they can see.
Pollock, who has been in Pueblo since 2004 and completed his residency at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center, said he also intends to "do some family practice, to an extent. That's important, too, to look at the entire patient, to study their conditions, the medicines they're on.
"A patient can have a benign spot, but it might be a herald of a malignancy inside."
"But the focus of the practice is on skin care that is available — now. We will answer the phone within three rings. We will see the patient that day or the next day. Plus, I'm on call."
The new center — which markets itself as offering "treatment and diagnosis NOW for acne, rashes, moles, eczema, psoriasis, wart treatments, rosacea and suspicious skin spots — employs six staffers in addition to Pollock. It has eight examination rooms and plenty of parking in back.
The building is owned by Pueblo businessmen and community leaders Dan DeRose and Mike Roumph. Pollock and Sbarbaro lease the building, and also have a management contract with a company comprised of DeRose, Roumph, Sbarbaro and Rich Lane, also of Pueblo.
Lane explained that the management company provides accounting, advertising and marketing services.
"If this meets a need, and we believe it will, then we might consider offering similar services in other locations," Lane said.
The center's phone number is 924-8448. There will be an open house at the center from 5-7 p.m. Aug. 12.
