Mike Noble
Fletcher Allen Public Relations
(802) 847-2886

BURLINGTON VT - Fletcher Allen Health Care has announced that its cardiology service, University Cardiology Associates, is providing clinical services at Adirondack Medical Center (AMC) in Saranac Lake, NY, through a recently completed agreement.

Fletcher Allen cardiologists Matthew Watkins, M.D., and Mark Capeless, M. D., are seeing patients twice a month at AMC, with plans to increase the frequency of these clinics in the future.  Dr. Capeless is the director of the Cardiology Fellowship Program and specializes in cardiac electrophysiology, the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders.  Dr. Watkins is the director of the Interventional Cardiology Service at Fletcher Allen and specializes in both interventional cardiology and conditions that restrict blood flow to the heart.  Both physicians are board certified in cardiology and are members of the University of Vermont College of Medicine faculty, where they hold the title of professor of Medicine.

Other members of Fletcher Allen's cardiac care team are also providing services to patients in Saranac Lake through this program.

AMC has hired a physician's assistant to increase the institution's stress testing capacity and to do additional cardiac testing procedures to support this program in the Saranac Lake community.  Strategic planning data at AMC indicated that the patient population in its primary service area required additional cardiologists to support the current cardiologist practicing at AMC, Tony Waickman, M.D.  Drs. Capeless and Watkins will work closely with Dr. Waickman to provide cardiac care as part of this joint initiative.

A committee of AMC's Medical Staff reviewed many options and ultimately invited Fletcher Allen to partner with AMC in providing expanded cardiology services to the Tri-Lakes area.

This new cardiology clinic at AMC is part of Fletcher Allen's overall outreach program to help provide specialized clinical services to communities in Vermont and northern New York.