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Plastic & Hand Surgery Associates PLLC built the Riverchase Medical Suites facility in Flowood in 2002 and shares the building with complementary practices like the Face and Body Center spa.

As television shows like "Extreme Makeover" and "The Swan" bring plastic surgery from the world of the rich and famous into the arena of ordinary people, one Jackson area practice is offering star treatment to patients right here in Mississippi.

The medical and support staff at Plastic & Hand Surgery Associates, PLLC in Flowood have built one of the largest practices of its kind in the southeast, housed in a four year old facility that marries convenience with privacy and pampering for patients.

The group welcomed its single largest number of initial new patients in 2004 — more than 7,500 — and numbers have remained relatively steady since then. The group's growth follows trends that have made plastic surgery more accepted and accessible for the mainstream, said William Wood, executive director of the practice.

"With the presence of the Internet, the average patient is a whole lot more educated about what they want and their expectations, often bringing photographs and a list of questions at the time of their initial consultation," Wood said. "Increasingly, a larger number of women of color and male patients have expressed and shown interest in cosmetic surgery."

Today, the Plastic & Hand Surgery Associates practice includes founding members Drs. Michael E. Jabaley, Somprasong Songcharoen and Phillip K. Blevins as well as Drs. Shelby K. Brantley Jr., Eric E. Wegener, Dev A. ManiSundaram, Kenneth R. Barraza, Stephen F. Davidson, Michael G. Kanosky and Adrian Smith.

Orthopaedic hand surgeon Dr. Aubrey B. Lucas joined the practice in 2002, around the same time the group changed its name from simply Plastic Surgery Associates to Plastic & Hand Surgery Associates to reflect Lucas's specialty as well as the fact that other surgeons in the group had obtained certificates of added qualification in hand surgery.

That was also the year the group moved from the St. Dominic Jackson Memorial Hospital to Riverchase Medical Suites, a facility it built to house its offices as well as the Plastic Surgical Center of Mississippi.

"The center's size and staff provide discreet care for patients who prefer this type of intimate surgery performed in a private outpatient setting," Wood said.

The 73,000 square foot facility houses the group practice on its entire second floor, with the Plastic Surgical Center situated on its east end.

On the first floor, the Face & Body Center includes licensed aestheticians and massage therapists working under the close supervision and tutelage of the physician members of Plastic & Hand Surgery Associates. The spa service was added for the convenience of patients who are having skin care treatments and laser treatment for veins or rosacea or for those interested in hair removal.

Also sharing the facility each day are on-site therapists from the St. Dominic — Jackson Memorial Hospital Hand Management Center who work in the recovery of hand surgery patients. Along with the River Oaks Hospital outpatient physical therapy program, a variety of other physician offices including a rheumatologist, a cosmetic dentist and prosthetics and hospital services occupy the remainder of the building.

The facility has proved a welcome alternative to large medical office towers, where parking can be a struggle for patients.

"Here, front door parking is the norm, not the exception," Wood said. "Not only is this convenient for our patients, but it is also nice for the office staff, allowing them to go out for lunch and not spend a tremendous amount of their time trying to get back and forth to their vehicle."

The facility was also designed to allow the physicians to go back and forth between the office and operating theater, taking care of patients' needs, doing follow-up visits and making better use of their time.

The facility's situation has also allowed the group to provide the majority of on-call coverage at various major hospitals in the greater Jackson area. Its close proximity to River Oaks Hospital also makes immediate transfers possible in case emergency situations arise.

The Plastic Surgical Center itself includes five surgical suites, overnight accommodations for as many as seven patients, and a staff dedicated solely to the treatment and care of plastic and reconstructive surgery patients.

As the practice has grown, the breast surgery component has remained the single largest part of the practice, with breast augmentation, mastopexy or uplifting and reduction accounting for 28 percent of procedures in the past year. Lyposuction is also a large portion of the group's aesthetic practice.

Hand surgeries include carpal tunnel releases, excision of ganglions and the treatment of traumatic injuries. Common in-office procedures also include the injection of Botox®, fillers such as Restylane® and Radiesse™ and the use of chemical peels as an antiaging measure.



January 2007

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