It’s no fun to be sick or become injured. But when an unexpected health event happens, it’s nice to know you have your primary care doctor to turn to. 

But what happens when you become ill or get injured while you’re miles away from home and the care you trust? For North Texans Karen and Jim Stewart, receiving crucial medical care from afar is possible with their concierge medicine internist Luke Ouyang, M.D., of Texas Health Executive Direct and medical director of Executive Health for Texas Health Physicians Group.

As a concierge medicine provider, Ouyang offers the benefit of personalized healthcare with 24/7 availability — whether a patient is in town or not. It’s a benefit the Stewarts are thankful to have.

“Dr. Ouyang has been our internist since 2019,” Jim says. “When we heard he was transitioning to concierge service in 2024, our reaction was: ‘We are going with him.’ He and his staff know us as PEOPLE, not just as patients. They care about who we are, what we do in life, our plans and dreams for the future. They are as committed as we are to making those dreams come true, particularly our love for travel.”

It was during a recent visit to their second home outside of the DFW area that the Stewarts really learned the value of their concierge services and physician. Both husband and wife fell within four days of each other and injured their ankles. Jim’s injury required the most immediate attention.

Personalized Primary Care Across the Miles

At the community clinic near the Stewarts’ residence, Jim was put on medication to relieve his pain and inflammation. Unfortunately, the medication caused internal bleeding and Jim experienced an alarmingly low blood count that left his body struggling to get enough oxygen. This was particularly dangerous because the staff was unaware of the 78-year old’s pre-existing heart condition of asymptomatic coronary artery calcification, which was being managed by Ouyang and a cardiologist.

“As part of the concierge service, the patient’s wife, Karen, was able to reach me right away on my cell phone — even after hours,” Ouyang explains. “At the community clinic, Jim was found to be severely anemic with likely a GI bleed. The couple was very nervous about what to do next and about the limitations of what this community clinic could offer. 

While on the phone with the wife, I was able to help them gather some important medical information, including specific lab results, and to help them relay specific questions to the providers there. I advised the medical personnel that due to the husband’s chronic medical condition and the dangerously low blood count, he would need blood transfusions as soon as possible followed by an upper endoscopy to find the source of the bleeding.”

Although Ouyang’s recommendations were taken to heart, the services Jim needed were found to be beyond the scope of the clinic’s capabilities. He had to be airlifted to a larger hospital in another town, where he was diagnosed with a bleeding stomach ulcer and ultimately received the care he needed. 

“Dr. Ouyang’s help, advice, and comfort to me during Jim’s hospitalization — on what I should tell the doctors about his extenuating medical condition as well as what procedures those doctors should be doing — not only enabled the doctors to provide the correct treatment but also reassured me when and how it would be safe to transport Jim back to North Texas so both of us could get the on-going, specialized medical treatment we needed,” Karen notes.

Healing in North Texas

When the Stewarts returned to the Dallas area, they quickly met with Ouyang to discuss Jim’s status and Karen’s ankle, which had yet to be evaluated or treated. 

“Dr. Ouyang called a podiatrist, who is a close friend of his, and asked her to see me that day, which she did,” Karen recalls. “That doctor told us my ankle was already growing back together in a way that would cause me to have problems walking for the rest of my life if not immediately addressed. I had surgery within 36 hours and my ankle is now healing correctly.”  

“Dr. Ouyang and our concierge service with him, having his personal cell phone number and his willingness to talk with us at any time of night or day, is invaluable to us and our well-being,” the 77-year-old adds. 

Karen is now recovering nicely from her injury and has graduated from physical therapy. However, the couple learned that Jim’s ankle was badly fractured when he fell and hasn’t healed properly. He recently underwent several surgeries locally to receive an artificial ankle.  

“This elderly couple was very thankful to our clinic for helping them through their difficult period,” Ouyang says. “Although I was not able to physically be there across the miles to help them, they were very grateful for the guidance we were able to offer through multiple phone calls each day. Having the ability to reach me directly — their PCP that knows them well — during their crisis offered them tremendous reassurance. It also eased their anxiety knowing that once they were back in the DFW area, we would be able to promptly see them in our clinic and expedite the care that they needed.”

Learn more about the benefits of concierge primary care from Texas Health.