Rural areas often face challenges with access to specialized services like gastroenterology. This can lead to significantly higher rates of severe outcomes, complications, hospitalizations, and mortality.
“I noticed that this is an underserved area and people have to travel far to receive the services we provide. I grew up on a farm, and I can relate to the patients here who struggle to get care,” says Dr. Toseef Javaid, Interventional Gastroenterologist at Arnot Health, a member of Centralus Health.
Maybe you have symptoms related to your digestive system that your general physician hasn’t been able to diagnose or treat effectively. There are many benefits to seeing a specialist with extra training in the type of condition that’s affecting you.
“If patients understand their disease, they’re more likely to follow up and take care of it. Without their involvement, we can’t fix it.”
People may be referred to a gastroenterologist for persistent or severe digestive issues like chronic heartburn, severe abdominal pain, or changes in bowel habits, as well as for screenings like colonoscopies, especially with family history of gastrointestinal cancers or diseases. These specialists diagnose and treat problems in the esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, and gallbladder.
“We treat a variety of conditions. I personally specialize in pancreaticobiliary disease (involving the pancreas, bile ducts or gallbladder) and bile duct and pancreatic cancer. There are many general gastrointestinal diseases we can address here,” says Dr. Javaid.
If a primary care provider suspects you have an issue with your digestive system, you’ll be referred to a gastroenterologist like Dr. Javaid. In addition to traditional endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures, Dr. Javaid offers expertise in endoscopic mucosal resection, which is the removal of abnormal growths, precancerous lesions, or early cancers from the lining of the digestive tract; endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, which facilitates diagnosis and treatment of problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas, often for blockages from gallstones or tumors; and endoscopic ultrasound, a procedure that uses a special endoscope with an ultrasound probe to create detailed images of the digestive tract lining and nearby organs.
“If patients need to be treated with medicine, they get prescribed it in clinic. If they need some kind of intervention, we discuss the procedure with them and then schedule it later.”
Arnot Health’s gastroenterology office is located at 571 St. Joseph’s Boulevard, Elmira. Referrals are recommended. The office number is (607) 734-7121.
Cayuga Health’s gastroenterology office is located at 1020 Craft Road, Ithaca, (607) 339-0788, and 220 Steuben Street, Montour Falls, (607) 535-7121. Referrals are recommended.
