R photography “I used to have to arrange
or beg somebody for a ride
and then pick me up,” Miley
says. “You can’t tell them
how long it’s going to be
because you never know
how long you’re going to
be there.”
But Miley, who had been
seeing doctors at Wilmington
Health on Medical Center
Drive, recently heard the
provider had just opened a
new internal medicine office
at Mayfaire Town Center
closer to her home. There
she was soon connected with
Dr. Sandra Brannin.
“I actually cried a little
bit after that, I was so
happy,” Miley says during
a November visit to the
Mayfaire office, later adding,
“It really does make a
big difference to know that
you have somebody who
knows you and all you
have to do is call.”
Miley, whose medical
appointments can range from
monthly to weekly, now rides
her bike to the office.
“Everything is more accessible
to me,” Miley says.
“And it makes me feel I can
take my medicines ... more
seriously because I know
there is a friendly ear.”
Miley was frank but
somewhat lighthearted during
the interview, saying while
her life had been turned
60
WBM january 2013
upside down she was still
better off than most stroke
victims. Her recent visit was
to check her blood pressure
and other information.
“I’m really trying to learn
about myself now,” Miley says.
“I never was doing that before.”
Wilmington Health has
about 20 locations as far
south as Oak Island and as
far north as Jacksonville,
CEO Jeff James says.
“We are interested in moving
primary care closer to
where the patients are,” says
James, who adds that expanding
into communities is a
trend that’s been going on for
years in the industry, not just
in Wilmington.
“Rather than fewer large
centers for primary care, we
are moving toward more
smaller centers,” James says.
Brannin and Dr. George
Sylvestri work at Wilmington
Health’s Mayfaire location,
which opened on Parker Farm
Drive last fall. It is a temporary
office until construction
on a new one across the street
is completed this spring.
Dermatology Associates,
which has a Wilmington
office at Tradd Court and a
satellite office in Whiteville,
also plans a move to Mayfaire
Dr. Sandra Brannin treats Missy Miley at Wilmington Health at Mayfaire Town Center. this year. The new Mayfaire
by allison potter
outine medical care is important to Missy Miley, who has suffered three strokes in recent years
and has scar tissue from brain surgery to treat an aneurism. But going to a doctor’s office was
challenging for Miley, 54, who stopped driving after having a seizure.