October 2013


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


The Hampton Roads Messenger


Prominent Surgeon Leaves the Hampton Roads Area


SPECIAL TO HRM In late September, 2013, Anthony


F. Sibley, MD, a board certified urologist, closed his practice at 2204 Executive Drive, Hampton, VA 23666. Patients seen within the last two years were notified by mail. This public announcement attempts to reach a wider segment of his patients in the Hampton Roads Community. Dr. Sibley, who has been in Hampton since 1987, was affiliated with Hampton General and Newport News General Hospitals. He has been on staff at the Sentara Careplex Hospital since its inception and was one of, if not the last, African American surgeon at that institution. Dr. Sibley is known for his skill as a surgeon and his calm, caring “bedside manner”. It is widely reported that the time he takes with his patients is a rare commodity these days.


In parting, he once again


coordinated the Annual Men’s Health Screening Program, sponsored by the Virginia Peninsula Chapter of the 100 Black Men of America, Inc. and the Peninsula Institute for Community Health. It was the 21st collaboration of these two organizations. Sentara has been a co-sponsor for several years. The screening was held at the Stonybrook Shopping Center in Newport News, VA on September 21, 2013. The culminating event was a Farewell Party for Dr. Sibley given by his wife, Dr. Roslind McCoy Sibley, and the 100 Black Men organization at The Cove Tavern in the City Center at Oyster Point in Newport News.


certified


Dr. McCoy Sibley, a board radiologist,


recently


announced that her private practice will no longer include mammography after 23 years. One of her most memorable events came about when Dr. McCoy Sibley diagnosed breast cancer in her mother, who survived cancer-free for 17 years thereafter. She voluntarily relinquished her FDA accreditation, citing the prohibitive cost of conversion to the digital technology, which has now become state-of-the-art. Dr. McCoy Sibley notes that the American College of Radiology states that film screen mammography is equivalent to digital in the general population.


During the month of October,


Breast Cancer Awareness Month, women are reminded to have yearly mammograms and to perform monthly breast self-examinations. Dr. McCoy Sibley cautions women that even if the mammogram is negative, breast cancer could still be present. Women should also bear in mind that changes can occur in less than a year. Changes may not be immediately obvious, no matter what type of mammogram is performed.


The Drs. Sibley met during


their internship year at Howard University Hospital and were married after he finished his urology residency and she finished a fellowship in ultrasound and body CT. They have been planning their lives together ever since. “We did not think at this stage of the game we would be contemplating a commuter marriage.” But they did not plan for extended out of pocket elder care expenses for her aged mother with three of their four children being


Mrs. Johnetta Ewell and Dr. Tapp-Reid


100 Black Men members, Gus Owens and Ross Hines and their wives, June Owens and Clara Hines


9


Photos Courtesy of Drs. Anthony & Roslind Sibley


Drs. Anthony and Roslind Sibley with their daughter, Jasmine (center)


Drs. Sibley with Hampton University President William R. Harvey


James Holley, IV, DDS, of Portsmouth, Frederick Quarles, MD, Bruce Reid, MD, Roslind McCoy Sibley, MD, Anthony F. Sibley, MD, Robert Treherne, MD, Warren Hercules, MD, MBA, Rick Russ, Assistant City Manager of Hampton, Donna Tapp-Reid, DDS and William Doss, MD


Golden Bethune-Hill, Director of the Free Clinic of Newport News and Jennifer Miles-Thomas, MD


Col. Michele Hammond, Bonita Hunter and Cynthia Satterwhite, MD and friends.


Founding members of the Penin- sula Chapter of the 100 Black Men, Ross Hines, Anthony Sibley, and Lt. Col. William Hines (retired), the Chapter's founding president


Charlie Hill, former president of the 100 Black Men and Men's Health advocate, with his wife, Golden, and Dr. Miles-Thomas (center)


Odell McCants, MD, his wife Laura, Minnie Stiff, MD (Pediatrician), Bert Holmes, MD and his wife Naomi


in college, concurrently. "We are so grateful for the


opportunity to have touched so many lives, and we trust that most have been the better for it. It has been a difficult decision to leave our patients, and bittersweet for both of us.” The changes in the health care delivery system have led to physicians giving up solo private practices in increasing numbers over the past decade. Some of these changes are well known - more cumbersome paperwork, rising cost of malpractice insurance and other mandatory fees, increasing overhead including computerization and personnel, risk management, as well as the physical and mental toll on the individual, contrasted with decreasing reimbursements, a shrinking group of


Pam Southall Wright and Lisa Lawson Holley, MD


referring physicians, and the obligations of the physician such as treating an increasing number of uninsured and emergency room patients for free, while hospitals are reimbursed to some degree by government programs. With the sequestration and government shutdown, things are even worse. It goes without saying, if a situation is bad for everyone; it is accentuated for African American physicians, male and female, are no exception.


Despite the downside, we


should not discourage our young people from pursuing careers in the field of medicine. They just have to be more mindful of their ultimate goal. The more they know about the business side, the more secure they will be. It is not that easy to “hang up your shingle”


anymore, but there is a growing need for physicians. Where will the African American physician be 10, 20, or 30 years from now if we do not continue the struggle?


“We recognize how fortunate


we are to fulfill our life’s ambition to the extent that we have. We have tried to do our best to give quality service to our patients. It has been heart-warming to see the outpouring of expressions of gratitude and kindness shown to us by so many,” says Dr. McCoy Silbert. The office will remain open for radiographic and ultrasonographic examinations. Patients can therefore retrieve their records; however, your patience is appreciated. Please call: (757) 838-1100.


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