Physician Assistants Provide Primary Care at UPMC Hamot Medical Park - Mt. Jewett

With the opening of UPMC Hamot Medical Park - Mt. Jewett (at 18 W. Main Street), a service of Kane Community Hospital, now two physician assistants are providing primary care in addition to Linda Rettger, MD, family medicine and Mohammed Suddle, MD, internal medicine.

Eric Asp, PA-C has worked with Dr. Rettger at KCH’s community clinic in Mt. Jewett for four years. "The move to the new facility on Main Street," Eric noted "will offer the same high quality, caring staff who have served the community for three decades, while giving us room to add care and services."

Eric works fulltime at FCI McKean and one day a week at the Mt. Jewett Family Practice. His specialties are family medicine, men’s health, infectious diseases (like Hepatitis C and HIV).

He will also provide care for Walk-In Saturdays to begin at the new facility on May 12. Walk-In Saturdays offer care 9 a.m. to 12 noon for routine clinic visits and minor problems. This is a new service at the new Mt. Jewett facility. No appointment needed.

Eric is a nationally certified Physician Assistant (PA-C). A native of Kane, Eric has a B.S. in Biology from Penn State University. In 2002 he received his Master of Health Science from Lock Haven University in Physician Assistant studies with emphasis in Rural Primary Care.

Since 2003 Eric has worked for the Bureau of Prisons, FCI McKean in Bradford. Prior to that he worked for Prison Health Services for the State prison system at SCI Forest in Marienville. From 1995 until 2000 Eric was an EMT-B for Kane Ambulance/Emergycare.

Eric lives in Kane and enjoys hunting and spending time with family and friends.

Allison Wolfe, PA-C recently joined the KCH Clinics staff. She will see Dr. Rettger's patients at Summit Medical Park in Kane and share Walk-In Saturday Primary Care Clinic duties.

She is supporting several doctors in areas of primary care -- family and internal medicine, women's health -- as she builds her own practice.

Allison received both her B.S and Master of Physician Assistant Science (MPAS) degrees from Gannon University. She is a nationally certified Physician Assistant (PA-C).

Allison also lives in Kane. She enjoys reading, running/hiking and other outdoor activities, music, and spending time with family and friends.

Physician Assistants are health care professionals licensed to practice medicine under physician supervision. As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, PAs conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, and write prescriptions.

Within the physician-PA relationship, physician assistants exercise autonomy in medical decision-making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. A PA's practice may also include education, research, and administrative services.

PAs are trained in intensive education programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).

Because of the close working relationship PAs have with physicians, PAs are educated in the medical model designed to complement physician training. Upon graduation, physician assistants take a national certification examination developed by the National Commission on Certification of PAs in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners. To maintain their national certification, PAs must log 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years and sit for a re-certification every six years. Graduation from an accredited physician assistant program and passage of the national certifying exam are required for state licensure.

PA-C means that the person who holds the title has met the defined course of study and has undergone testing by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). The NCCPA is an independent organization, and the commissioners represent a number of different medical professions. It is not a part of the PA professional organization, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA).

Physician Assistants are found in all areas of medicine. At KCH Eric Asp and Allison Wolfe practice in the area of primary care that includes family and internal medicine.

UPMC Hamot Medical Park - Mt. Jewett opens to patients on Monday, April 30. The grand opening celebration is Thursday, May 10 from 5-7 p.m. KCH invites all the celebration.

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