Sandhills Regional Medical Center in Hamlet, N.C., has announced the addition of nephrologist Yaw Boateng, M.D., to its medical staff, and the opening of Sandhills Nephrology in a familiar location.
The new practice will share office space with Marlboro Gastroenterology, located at 913 Oakwood Ave, Bennettsville.
Boateng is double board certified in nephrology and internal medicine. He attended medical school at the University of Science and Technology in Ghana, West Africa, and performed his residency at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center/New York Medical College in Bronx, N.Y.
He practiced formerly in Arizona and Pittsburgh, and is looking forward to life in a smaller community.
“Pittsburgh was too cold. Arizona was too hot. The Carolinas is a happy medium,” Boateng said.
At heart, Boateng said he is a small-town person and is looking forward to working in a rural health care setting.
“There are different challenges in rural health care,” he said. “You have to be broader in your approach and your contact with the patient is actually more.”
The goal of Sandhills Nephrology is to offer specialized services locally to prevent patients from having to travel far. Boateng also will offer resources for teaching people how to prevent kidney disease.
“When your kidneys fail, there is really no cure,” Boateng said. “So prevention is the key.” If a person is not getting their kidney function tested, they might not know they have kidney disease. “You can lose 50 to 60 percent of your kidney function and not know it.”
If a physician is a kidney disease specialist, he/she is also a specialist in hypertension, he said. That’s because the two major causes of chronic kidney disease are high blood pressure and diabetes. Sandhills Nephrology will provide prevention and education of these conditions through lifestyle changes.
Among Boateng’s other specialties are pre-dialysis and dialysis patients (both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis); acute renal failure (acute kidney injury); consultative and ICU nephrology; electrolyte disturbances; kidney stones; and hematuria and proteinuria.
The husband and father of three is also a children’s book author and has written several scientific publications.
“We are excited to have Dr. Boateng join our medical staff and are sure he will make a difference in this area,” said Mike McNair, chief executive officer of Sandhills Regional Medical Center. “He defines excellence in the treatment of kidney disease.”
The Bennettsville office is now accepting new patients. Call 843-479-2283 to schedule an appointment today. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closing one hour at noon for lunch.
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