By KEVIN J. DONALDSON
Crossville Life Features Editor
COOKEVILLE-A passionate drive to provide the best patient care possible has made a Cookeville Regional Medical Center physician the only doctor in the Upper Cumberland area to have a relatively new accreditation.
Dr. Bert Geer, a Sparta native, is the only physician in the multi-county area to be accredited in urogynecology, a subspecialty of urology and gynecology.
The subspecialty accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is just over a year old, but Dr. Geer’s interest in the field goes back much further.
Dr. Geer started his work in the obstetrics and gynecology field in 1997, and said his interest in what has become a new subspecialty began early on in his practice.
“I’ve always been interested in it, and along the way that interest turned into a passion,” Dr. Geer said. “My practice was always weighted heavily in that direction.” When the ACGME recognized the accreditation, “we sent in all the paperwork, and I met the requirements,” he said.
A higher level of care
“This accreditation allows us to provide a higher level of care for our patients,” Dr. Geer said. “The main things we’re able to offer here are experience and expertise. This accreditation shows our devotion and passion for what we do. We want women to know they don’t have to drive to big cities to get top-flight care.
“Physicians who are doing these procedures and treatments are doing them more regularly,” Dr. Geer said, “and if you do these things regularly, you’re simply going to be better at it.”
He says the most important thing he wants patients to know is “there are options on treatments for so many things they don’t want to talk about. Many times, they think their problems are just a part of aging, or that there’s nothing that can be done. We want to help them thru the options.”
As far back as 20 years, many medical professionals felt the need for the urogynecology subspecialty, but it took roughly a decade and a half for accreditation to become a reality.
Vanderbilt has a fellowship program in the field, and there are several accredited physicians in the Nashville area, and less than a handful in Knoxville. There are fewer than 30 certified physicians in the field across Tennessee, and Dr. Geer is the only one in the Upper Cumberland.
“Our number one goal at Cookeville Regional is high-quality patient care, and we have a great team here at Cookeville Regional who work hard to ensure that we provide excellent care for our patients,” Cookeville Regional CEO Paul Korth said. “Dr. Geer’s accreditation in this new subspecialty is an example of his desire to provide the best care possible. We congratulate him on this accreditation, and are proud to have him as a long-time member of our staff.”
Making patients more comfortable
Dr. Geer was a member of OB-GYN Associates in Cookeville from 1997-2011, when he decided to start his own practice, Cookeville Gynecology.
“As a general rule, the obstetrics and gynecology field is a rush-rush business, as are many fields of medical care,” he said. “When we started our practice, one of our goals was to slow the process down a bit and make patients more comfortable. We want to provide excellent care in a compassionate way.”
Dr. Geer is a Tennessee Tech graduate, and attended medical school at the University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga. He is board-certified and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He also worked at Cookeville Regional while in college.
Among the services and procedures provided by Cookeville Gynecology are pelvic reconstructive surgery, urinary incontinence evaluation and treatment, premenstrual syndrome management, uterine endometrial ablation, hysterectomy, myomectomy, uterine fibroid embolization, infertility evaluation and treatment, menopause management, and a variety of other surgeries, including using the da Vinci robotic system.
While in private practice, Dr. Geer maintained clinical faculty status with the University of Tennessee, College of Medicine and has played an active role in teaching resident physicians. He is also currently involved in teaching other surgeons pelvic support surgery and minimally invasive hysterectomy techniques. He serves as a preceptor in the operating room and teaches new surgical techniques to physicians in anatomy labs. He is a guest speaker and lecturer on various topics.
A leader in robotic surgery
Dr. Geer has achieved a Masters level certification in robotic surgery, and was the first surgeon in the Upper Cumberland to perform total laparoscopic hysterectomy. He was the first gynecologic surgeon in the area to be trained to use the da Vinci robot. He has performed over 900 pelvic support and incontinence procedures.
“Dr. Geer is one of our leaders in the da Vinci robotics program here,” Korth said.
“I’ve had the opportunity to train with some of the best in the field in robotic surgery, and they kind of pulled me into their circle,” Dr. Geer said. “Now, I feel the obligation to remain up-to-date and experienced in what I do, because I’m helping train other physicians.”
Dr. Geer has performed over 130 hysterectomies in 2014, and 98 percent of them have been robotic. “Robotic surgery has changed the way we do things so much, and has made it so much easier on the patient in terms of recovery time. The simple fact is, if you don’t have to make a big incision, you shouldn’t make one,” he said.
“It would be easier to not have the robotic training and just do surgeries the way they were done for decades, but doing the easy thing is not always the right thing,” Dr. Geer said. “A colleague of mine who I respect very much told me several years ago, ‘if you don’t get trained and start robotic surgery, you’ll be behind.’ He was one of the best at what he does in the country, and he said it made him a much better surgeon.”
Dr. Geer’s staff includes nurse practitioner Tara Masters and women’s health nurse practitioner Sara Crawford. “We offer a full range of gynecology services from your initial exam through menopause and beyond,” Masters said. “Our goal is to offer patient-centered medical care based on mutual trust and communication,” Crawford added.
“We’re very fortunate to have a great staff who helps us provide top-flight care, right here at home in the Upper Cumberland,” Dr. Geer said. “We really enjoy what we’re doing. We enjoy good outcomes, making people better and helping improve their lives. It’s a gratifying thing, and the reason we do what we do.”
•
For more information on services provided by Dr. Geer and Cookeville Regional Medical Center, you can call (931) 528-9047 or visit www.drbertgeergyn.com, or contact CRMC at (931) 528-2541 or visit www.crmchealth.org.
