New Blood

The UHS Blood Disorders Center recently welcomed Shilpa Sambidi, MD, physician at UHS Medical Oncology, as a new provider. Dr. Sambidi joins a multidisciplinary team including a dentist, nurses, physical therapists, social workers, pharmacists and phlebotomists (professionals trained to draw blood) to provide care for patients with blood disorders such as hemophilia and von Willebrand’s disease.

“Dr. Sambidi has been a very positive addition to our team,” says Sarah Clark, MS RN, nurse manager. “She brings a strong knowledge of blood disorders and a caring nature. We hope this collaboration with Dr. Sambidi will bring patients a very good experience and lead to better outcomes.”

In addition to offering three clinics each year where patients can be evaluated by a multidisciplinary team of experts, the UHS Blood Disorders Center collaborates with both UHS Emergency Departments to maintain protocols that allow for faster care in an emergency situation. The UHS Infusion Center is also able to provide infusions for patients by appointment.

“Our goal is to provide evidence-based, state-of-the-art care for patients in our community, so they do not have to travel to tertiary care centers,” says Dr. Sambidi. “Integrating these services under a single umbrella in a single location streamlines and focuses care delivery for individual patients effectively and efficiently.”

Anyone who is diagnosed with a bleeding disorder or suspected to have a bleeding disorder due to family history should seek treatment at the blood disorder center.

“Research shows that patients who are followed at a specialized blood disorder center have less mortality and less hospitalizations due to bleeding complications,” says Dr. Sambidi. “I hope to bring awareness to the community, as well as to primary care doctors who diagnose these patients, the importance of referring these patients to the blood disorder center.”