About Us
The Digestive Health Center, located in West Akron, is a state-of-the-art endoscopic facility specializing in gastroenterology. We believe in compassionate medicine, where patients feel reassured and unrushed. Our experienced, board-certified physicians have dedicated themselves to caring for their neighbors in Summit County and surrounding communities. Patients are frequently seen for colorectal cancer screening and problems involving the digestive tract.
Focus on the Patient
We know exactly how many patients we will serve each day and can, therefore, staff appropriately to ensure very personal care. Our priority at Digestive Health Center is you and your procedure. Your complete comfort during the procedure is ensured with the use of Propofol anesthesia by the county’s most endoscopy-experienced nurse anesthetists.
We see patients who need colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies, or endoscopies only. In fact, if a patient is ill, we usually will reschedule the procedure for a later date. Therefore, there is a much lower opportunity for someone else’s illness to become yours.
Reduced Cost
Since we do not have the overhead of a facility that offers a range of procedures including those for the very seriously ill and emergency procedures, Digestive Health Center is able to perform your procedure at the same high level of care and specialized attention but at a lower cost, an especially nice advantage if you have a high copay and deductible.
Quality Data
We are the only endoscopy center in Summit County to have published our quality data on our website for several years. We also work with the ACG (American College of Gastroenterology) and the ASGE to ensure that our data is benchmarked with national data.
Our data includes:
- Pre-procedure assessment for procedural risk – if your health does not permit your procedure
- to be done safely at DHC, we guide you to one of the area hospitals.
- Adequacy of Bowel Preparation – to help us rule out growths in your colon, we ensure the bowel prep is adequate with patient education and clear instructions, prior to the procedure.
- Cecal Intubation Rate. – 99 percent (national benchmark is 90 percent)
- Adenoma Detection Rate. – 40 percent (national benchmark is 20 percent)
- Adverse Event Tracking – we take every adverse event or complication seriously, review them individually, and ensure that any lessons learned are immediately applied to future procedures.
- Patient Satisfaction – 100 percent (per HealthStream Research, a national surveyor)
Explore our site to get a feel for our facility, procedures and physicians — plus the latest news and information on colon cancer screening and digestive healthcare. If you’re due for a colonoscopy, don’t put it off any longer. Give one of our physicians a call today.
Key Staff
Our top notch staff is exclusively focused on patient care. Our registered nurses have several years of endoscopy experience and are required to have an additional qualification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). Licensed practical nurses, medical assistants, and support staff round out our team of highly dedicated and skilled health care professionals.
Missy Nixon
BSN, Center Director
Missy Nixon has worked for DHC the past seven years and as our Center Administrator since 2018. She is earned her BSN at Kent State University. Prior to joining DHC, she worked in the ICU and ER. In her spare time, Missy enjoys running.