June 2021: Amy Traxler joins Oaklawn

During June 2021, MysteryVisits Communications provided this press release on behalf of Oaklawn ... 

~ Nurse practitioner Amy Traxler joins Oaklawn's After Hours Express – Marshall ~ 

MARSHALL, Michigan – The kindness a medical professional who also was a family friend had a profound effect on Amy Traxler as she grew up in her hometown of Camden.

As a result, today she credits her friend for having inspired her own work as a nurse and family nurse practitioner, a career she continues as a new member of the staff of the Oaklawn Medical Group's After Hours Express – Marshall.  

Traxler will be seeing patients at the service's office at 1174 W Michigan Ave. Appointments aren't necessary because of the nature of the service. Further information is available by calling (269) 789-4390. 

Traxler was a senior at Camden Frontier High School with a strong interest in becoming a teacher in the special-education field. That changed, however, because of her experience with a close friend of her family.

“I've known her my whole life, and she worked in one of the practices where I had been a patient as a teen-ager,” Traxler said. “She helped treat me. She was very kind and I loved her approach as a nurse.” 

Traxler said she was grateful that she made the switch from education to medicine. 

“It was the best course to take,” she said. “I'm so glad that I did.” 

Traxler received an associate nursing degree from Battle Creek-based Kellogg Community College in 1998, first serving with the Community Health Center of Branch County. She later worked as a staff nurse for medical organizations in Hillsdale and Sturgis. 

From 2007 until recently, Traxler has worked as a surgical-pediatric staff nurse, registered nurse case manager and family nurse practitioner, chiefly for medical organizations in the Coldwater area. 

In 2013, Traxler earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Goshen College in Indiana, and went on to obtain a master of science degree through the college's family nursing practitioner program in 2016. 

Traxler is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and holds additional credentials in basic and advanced cardiac life support and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Traxler, who has resided in Coldwater since 2020, has three adult children – a son, Wesley, 26, and two daughters, Hope, 22, and Cassie, 21. She also has two grandchildren.

Her hobbies include caring for her Great Dane puppy, Ellie, as well as flower and vegetable gardening, baking, walking, kayaking and travel.

“My goal is to go to all 50 states,” she said, adding that a favorite travel location is Alaska, where her brother lives.

“It's absolutely beautiful and peaceful there,” she said.

In considering her new assignment, Traxler said she has been drawn to Oaklawn's level of medical professionalism. 

“I like the community hospital setting in a small town,” she said. “I've been very impressed with everyone with whom I've come into contact. I'm greatly looking forward to this opportunity to transition to something new.” 

June 2021: Hiren Patel joins Oaklawn

During June 2021, MysteryVisits Communications provided this press release on behalf of Oaklawn ... 

Relatives' plight inspired 'Hiren' Patel to pursue career as rheumatologist

MARSHALL, Michigan – As Hirenkumar “Hiren” Patel was growing up and attending school in India, he had no idea that he would become the first in his family to become a physician.

A family medical challenge led the young man to consider and pursue a career as a rheumatologist – a practice he now has continued for nearly two decades, most recently as one of the newest members of the Oaklawn medical team.

As of early July, Patel will be based in Suite 1E in the Marshall Primary Care Office in the Wright Medical Building, 215 E. Mansion St. Appointments are to be made through referrals from primary-care or other physicians.

Like many others who find themselves propelled into medical careers, Patel's story began with his observation early in life of an affliction affecting the lives of others.

Patel was a student at D.N. High School in Anand – a town in the western state of Gujarat in India – during the time that two of his cousins were struck with severe rheumatic disease.

“I watched them suffer because they had severe joint pain in their hands and knees,” he said. “At the time, there was no rheumatologist in our area. There was nothing in the entire state that offered the kind of medical help they needed.”

Patel was about 15 years old at the time. The experience compelled him to learn more about the area of medicine that might have helped his cousins, he said.

“I wanted to learn why this condition happened and to go to medical school to learn all the new advances,” he said.

In so doing, he received unquestioning encouragement from his family.

“In India, doctors are highly respected,” Patel said. “In a lower- to middle-class family in India, a good education is the most important thing to help people move forward. Because my parents always emphasized education from the beginning, I always had a lot of support.”

While in India from 1999 to 2002, Patel served as a volunteer in a World Health Organization polio-immunization program, a government-operated school health program and in earthquake relief operations.

Meanwhile, Patel pursued medical studies at Gujarat University's B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, receiving a bachelor of medicine/bachelor of surgery degree in 2003.

After moving to the United States and becoming a U.S. citizen, Patel pursued his residency in internal medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital in the state of New York, completing the program in 2008.

Patel went on to become chief resident in primary care at Northport (Virginia) Medical Center, then undertook a fellowship in rheumatology at the Stony Brook hospital and worked as a rheumatology physician at a Florida-based arthritis and osteoporosis treatment center.

Patel comes to Oaklawn after having served as a rheumatology physician for the Parkview Physicians Group in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he now resides.

Patel has been certified in rheumatology by the American Board of Internal Medicine since 2008. He is a member of the American College of Rheumatology and is licensed to practice medicine in Michigan, Indiana, Florida and New York. In addition to English, he speaks Gujarati – the dialect of his native state – as well as Hindi.

In his spare time, Patel enjoys listening to music – especially of the “Bollywood” variety – and cooking spicy food. In sports, he prefers watching American football as well as cricket.

He and Nikita Patel, his wife of 18 years, have two daughters – 14-year-old Niya and 9-year-old Risha. He said that, once their children have completed their school year, the family will consider moving to the Marshall area.

“I have passed through Marshall and stopped there many times while traveling to visit family members in Michigan,” he said. “It's convenient, and Marshall has the sort of rural setting that I enjoy.”

In fact, Oaklawn's broad service area – ranging from Calhoun County into neighboring countries – helped Patel in his decision to join its medical team.

“It's a large-draw area that serves a lot of patients, as I've done in Fort Wayne,” he said. “That's what I like.”