Truman Medical Center accentuates personalized care

Truman Medical Center accentuates personalized care - A man standing in front of a window posing for the camera - Truman Medical Center Hospital Hill Emergency Room

Dr. Mackey makes some changes

Dr. Timothy Mackey has taken ownership of the Truman Medical Center and is redefining family practice. Dr. Mackey’s attitude is, “We treat people like people and consider that a privilege.” He said he is doing away with the sterile, medical office with new paint, furnishings and artwork, and also the angst between staff and patient. He said he has gathered a dedicated, welcoming staff that enjoy their work, and as a team, they want patients to feel at home and secure without the anxiety involved with healthcare.

The medical center treats every situation related to primary care, just like a regular doctor’s office. Unlike a regular GP, the center doesn’t offer time-certain appointments. The center will treat acute episodic illnesses and minor injuries but is not a certified urgent care facility. Like a primary care provider, they will follow treatment and provide preventive health including: minor emergency procedures, X-rays, ultrasounds, drug screens, laboratory, well woman exams, lacerations, biopsies and physicals.

There are two nurse practitioners who are certified in family medicine — Stephanie Gallagher, ARNP, who has worked at the center for more than three years, and Sandra Sun, ARNP, who is a recent graduate of FKCC and hailed as “a wonderful addition to the practice.”

“Everyone here just cares, it’s home here,” said Sun. Sun, a Keys resident for over a decade, with a Master of Science worked as a clinical researcher before getting her nursing degree. (But she is also an artist and received an Anne McGEE grant in 2013 to make and show her pottery). “Dr. Mackey is a fantastic teacher, we all learn so much and have a good time.”

Dr. Mackey came from Cincinnati and was seeking a little sunshine but got so much more. Having served in the US Army, Mackey has travelled the world and has worked in hospitals throughout Ohio and St. Petersburg, Florida. He found Key West offers the cross-cultural variety of a big city and said he welcomes the variety to his practice. Amongst the staff, six languages are spoken: English, Spanish, German, Cambodian, Polish and Mandarin.

“In fact, I feel blessed to be able to do what I do, and for my practice to be increasingly involved in a wide variety of ways to serve our community. That, is what I love most about living in Key West,” said Dr. Mackey.

Truman Medical Center is located at 540 Truman Avenue, Key West. It has expanded its weekend hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to noon. For more details, visit www.trumanmedical.org.

“I think it’s the diversity of our community that I love most about living here. For example, on an average work day, I we will see patients from Denmark or Australia, as well as our seasonal residents and a combination of freshwater Conchs and multi-generational Conchs.”  —     Dr. Timothy Mackey

Hays Blinckmann is an oil painter, author of the novel “In The Salt,” lover of all things German including husband, children and Bundesliga. She spends her free time developing a font for sarcasm, testing foreign wines and failing miserably at home cooking.