Ads for health care businesses always say their physicians really care and are committed to the patient.
Mountain Family Health in Jeremy Ranch has patients saying it.
Vicki Whiting’s son had intestinal pains. His symptoms so confounded specialists that she was told again and again that he was likely bulimic. When she and her son protested that diagnosis, specialists again and again referred them to mental health specialists.
She knew her son’s pain was real, but didn’t knowing how to react to the overwhelming expertise telling her otherwise.
Her family doctors, Brian Rush and Julie Dolan at Mountain Family Health backed her up.
“They’d meet us at the clinic after hours when we couldn’t get to the emergency room. That’s extraordinary,” Whiting said. “Mountain Family Health kept persisting and telling other professionals there was a real problem.
Whiting said that because of their persistence and support, she finally got an accurate diagnosis to her son’s problem.
“He had a lifesaving surgery in August and I don’t know if he’d be alive now otherwise,” she said.
After every visit with a specialist, Rush and Dolan followed up asking if their diagnosis made sense. If not, they advised her on what to do next, she said.
“It set up in my mind what doctors can be, and should be,” she said.
Rush and Dolan have been practicing in Summit County for a little over a decade. They both finished residencies at the University of Utah and have enjoyed serving people in this area.
Both are athletic (they run marathons) and enjoy helping patients overcome sports injuries. Like many other health care providers in the Park City area, they said they like working with people who are conscious about health and want to work with their doctors on illness and injury prevention.
“We like to treat cholesterol, not heart attacks,” Rush said.
Dolan said she thinks people gravitate to them because they can relate to patients’ health and fitness goals.
“We relate to their love of biking, kayaking or whatever they do,” she said.
Rush brags that he has patients who have moved to Cedar City and still make the drive up to see him. People like to see a doctor who knows them and their family, he said.
Giving everyone the kind of treatment they gave to the Whitings is their mission, he said.
“I’m on call 24-7. My cell number is on the evening answering machine. We try to return telephone calls the same day,” he said.
They’ve also extended the office’s Friday evening hours and are open Saturday mornings.
Mountain Family Medicine has been in its new Jeremy Ranch office about two months. The facility has X-ray equipment, examining rooms and any supplies needed to handle “anything that walks in the door,” he said.
When someone comes in with a laceration from a mountain bike accident, Rush said he also takes their blood pressure and inquires about their overall health.
A good family doctor shouldn’t just treat symptoms, he explained, but should do everything possible to understand a patient’s condition and be proactive in aiding their pursuit of a healthy life.
Mountain Family Health
Dr. Julie Dolan and Dr. Brian Rush
2720 Homestead Road Suite 100
940-9400