Delete          A Great Bend Internists (GBI) physician has been devoting one week a month to his patients for several years but recently doubled his commitment to St. Rose Health Center. GBI is part of the St. Rose family.

          Jimmy Mbogori, M.D., is now seeing patients two weeks a month on the newly remodeled second floor at St. Rose. His home base is the University of Kansas Medical Center where he serves as a hospitalist.

          “When you are a hospitalist you care only for inpatients in the facility, in cooperation with their primary-care and other physicians,” Dr. Mbogori said. “When I am here I can develop individual relationships with outpatients who come to GBI.

          “I enjoy being able to contribute to St. Rose in particular and rural Kansas in general,” he added. “It is just more personable in smaller towns.”

          When he is not in Great Bend, patients can rely on other GBI providers, including James McReynolds, M.D., and Jeanne Habash and Ed Habash, both physician assistants.

          “I have complete confidence in my colleagues,” Dr. Mbogori said. “Patients can count on GBI and St. Rose to handle their health-care concerns.”

          Dr. Mbogori came to St. Rose after Dr. Richard Preston retired in 2011 and said he continues to be impressed with its local services.

          “Even though the Kansas City area offers many options for primary care, I have been quite impressed with what we can do at St. Rose,” the internist commented. “We have such a good variety of providers and services.

          “To be honest,” he continued, “my early impressions of rural Kansas did not prepare me for the quality and quantity of treatments we can provide at St. Rose. We serve at levels similar to those at larger facilities. Certainly, personnel-wise, you can’t beat the people here. They are professional and dedicated to their patients.”

          Dr. Mbogori also has high praise for St. Rose’s efforts to emphasize wellness and prevention of disease.

          “This is so important,” he said. “Medical services are not just for a crisis of some kind. We don’t have to wait for an illness to develop because of all the easily accessible immunizations and screenings for diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

          “Rather than playing catch-up, we can prevent problems from getting serious,” he added. “In too many cases, patients come in when they are not functioning. For example, someone doesn’t take smoking cessation seriously and then COPD is diagnosed.”

          Dr. Mbogori completed his medical degree at the University of Nairobi in Kenya, and his internal-medicine residency at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

          He is accepting new patients.

          St. Rose specializes in primary care, prevention and wellness. Services include St. Rose Family Medicine, Convenient Care Walk-in Clinic, Great Bend Internists, imaging, infusion clinic, WellnessWorks, one-day surgical procedures, Golden Belt Home Health & Hospice and a comprehensive Specialty Clinic. St. Rose is co-owned by Hays Medical Center and Centura Health.