Dunlap Family Physicians, Inc.

DFP In the News

By RACHEL JACKSON
Staff Writer
The Daily Record

When they say “family,” Dunlap Family Physicians mean it.

“ The ‘family’ in Dunlap Family truly means family. We take care of the entire family,” said Larry D. Sander, M.D. and practice founder. Patients include several three-generation families, he said.

The practice’s four family physicians, all certified by American Board of Family Physicians, and two nurse practitioners serve the full age range, from infants to adults, through its Orrville office and satellite locations in Dalton and Apple Creek.
“ I think we try to treat our patients like we would want our mother to be treated,” Sander said.

To that end, the practice offers extended hours, including walk-in hours, and a range of on-site services.

Walk-in visits for established patients are accepted from 7-8:30 a.m. at all locations. The Orrville office is open Monday-Thursday 7 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Satellite offices have separate hours.

Marilyn Mahoney, practice manager, said when she tells patients what the hours are, “They go, ‘Wow, do you ever close?’”

“ In flu season, we’ll see 30 patients on a morning” during walk-in hours, Mahoney said.

Young families in particular appreciate being able to have their children seen to before the start of the work day, giving parents time to make any needed arrangements for work or school, she said.

“ I think that’s one of the best things we offer,” Mahoney said.
Outside of office hours, someone from the practice is on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“ You don’t have to talk to somebody you don’t know. One of these guys takes calls for our practice patients on Saturday afternoons and Sunday,” Mahoney said.

In addition to the hours, the practice offers centralized services. Lab work, echocardiograms, carotid dopplers, pulmonary function tests and bone-density tests all are done in-house.

“ We try to offer the full line of service that you would expect from family physicians,” Sander said.

The Orrville office also shares a campus with Dunlap Community Hospital, which makes it easier for patients to visit consultants, Mahoney said.
The practice dates to the ’70s; in 1977, Sander joined Robert Reiheld, who had been practicing since 1974.

“ I came here to join ‘young Dr. Reiheld because it was a very friendly town and I felt I could do real family practice here,” Sander said.

Over the years, the practice has moved and expanded its physical location as well as added staff — from three employees to 33, with a number of those employees holding around three decades of service.

As he looks to the future of the practice, Sanders looks specifically at information technology, particularly in regard to proposed changes under health care reform.

“ We’ve had electronic health records since ’98 but they’re going to be able to be intertwined, so it makes it easier for us to know what the consultants are doing and for them to know what’s been done so things don’t have to be repeated,” Sander said.

Under the existing system, he said, “you can go to an ATM machine in France and withdraw money from your account and know how much is in your bank account, but you can’t go to a consultant in Akron and have them get the details of what’s going on with that patient.”

A major goal of the practice is to have one chart that follows the patient through every consultant visit and every hospital visit, Mahoney said.

“ This practice is actively working with the hospital and our electronic medical record company to start working on that,” Mahoney said. “We’re sort of in the forefront working on that technology and very excited about it.”

In addition to Sander, physicians include Robert Hutson, Andrew Naumoff and Steven Murray. Nurse practitioners are Lynne Hamrick and Richard Tompkins.
Dunlap Family Practice can be reached at 330-684-2015.

Reporter Rachel Jackson can be reached at 330-287-1632 or e-mail rjackson@the-daily-record.com.