BEST OF JACKSON // MEDICAL
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Best of Jackson: Medical s we as Jacksonians endure this pandemic the best we can, wellness and health care is at the forefront of many of our minds. Here at the Jackson Free Press, we want to ease the process of finding medical professionals who can take care of your needs, however broad or specific. You voted foryour favorites in our Best of Jackson Medical ballot. Here are this year’s results.
Best Specialty Clinic: GI Associates & Endoscopy Center
Best Dentist; Best Pediatric Dentist: LaMonica Davis Taylor
(multiple locations, gi.md)
(Smiles on Broadway Dental Care for Kids, 5442 Watkins Drive, 601-665-4996, smilesonbroadwaydental.com)
Finalists: Batson Specialty Clinic (UMMC, 421 S. Stadium Drive, 601-984-5210, umc.edu) / Enhanced Wellness Living (115 W. Jackson St., Suite 1E, Ridgeland, 601-202-5978) / Mississippi Sports Medicine (multiple locations, mississippisportsmedicine.com) / Right Weigh Clinic (309 Airport Road S., Pearl; 105 Span Drive, Brandon, 888-656-7348, rightweighclinic.com) / TrustCare Heart Clinic (multiple locations, trustcarehealth.com) / MEA Primary Care Plus (5606 Old Canton Road, 601-957-3333; 1777 Ellis Ave., 601-371-0400, meamedicalclinics.com)
Best Dentist Finalists: April Watson-Stringfellow (Watson Family Dentistry, 2181 Henry Hill Drive, 601-9221171, watsonfamilydental.com) / Diedra Snell (Ridgewood Smiles Dentistry, 5800 Ridgewood Road, Suite 105, 601-398-2934, ridgewoodsmilesdenistry.com) / John Patterson (Patterson John DDS, 4793 McWillie Drive, 601-366-4891) / Kimberly Wade (3502 W. Northside Drive, 601362-5321) / Patrice Griffith (Mississippi Smiles Dental, 1189 E. County Line Road, Suite 1010, 601-308-2022, mississippismilesdentistry.com)
Best Physical Therapist: Jasmine Smith (Healing Hands Rehabilitation Services, 105 Lexington Drive, Suite H, 601-910-7300, hhrehab.com)
Best Urgent Care Clinic: MEA (multiple locations, meamedicalclinics.com) courtesy MEA
May 13 - 26, 2020 • jfp.ms
Jasmine Smith, co-founder of Healing Hands Rehabilitation Services, has known she wanted to be a physical therapist since she was 10 years old, after observing sessions her grandfather had to take after having a stroke, as well as later sessions she observed when her parents had to undergo PT. A Jacksonian by birth, Smith graduated from Callaway High School and earned her physical-therapy credentials through degrees obtained from Mississippi State University and UMMC. She worked in physical therapy for several years Jasmine Smith before a family member encouraged her to open her own private practice in Jackson in 2016 alongside Brittany Flaggs. “I have never wanted to leave Jackson, or Mississippi for that matter. I was born and raised here. Jackson’s been good to me. Mississippi has been good to me. I wanted to return the favor by staying and playing a part in helping Mississippi be all that it could be,” Smith says. “With the brain drain, where professionals are trained and then take their talents elsewhere, I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to contribute to my state, to my city, and stay here and try to do great things here.” She is married to Robert Smith III and has two children, Robert Smith IV and Rylee. —Nate Schumann
courtesy Jasmine Smith
Best Pediatric Dentist Finalists: Jerrick Rose (The Pediatric Dental Studio, 201 Riverwind E. Drive, Pearl, 601-965-9549) / Patrice Griffith (Mississippi Smiles Dental, 1189 E. County Line Road, Suite 1010, 601-3082022, mississippismilesdentistry.com) / Susan Fortenberry (Pediatric Dentistry, 5315 Highway 18 W., 601-922-0066) / Tiffany P. Green (Southern Smiles Pediatric Dentistry, 101 Luckney Station, Flowood, 601-992-8000)
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When your medical needs become narrowed, specialty clinics come to the rescue. GI Associates & Endoscopy Center provides medical assistance for a number of gastrointestinal conditions, including hepatitis, gastroparesis, lactose intolerance, pancreatitis, ulcerative colitis and many more. The clinic also offers procedures such as colonoscopies, capsule endoscopy, infusion therapy and more. Doctors James H. Johnston III, Billy W. Long and James Q. Sones founded GI Associates in 1981 and relocated to central Jackson in 1987. The clinic now serves the metro with locations in Flowood, Vicksburg and Madison. In addition to all its services, GI Associates also conducts research into the gastrointestinal field. Physicians from the clinic have directed clinical trials and have published a number of scholarly articles that are listed on the organization’s website, which also includes resources on diets, pediatrics and other subjects. —Nate Schumann
courtesy GI Associates & Endoscopy Center
courtesy LaMonica Davis Taylor
Dr. LaMonica Davis Taylor, owner of Smiles on Broadway Dental Care, is working to educate communities about health and to help children see dentistry in a different light. The dentist obtained her undergraduate degree from Spelman College and her doctorate from the UMMC School of Dentistry before completing her residency at Bronx Lebanon Hospital in New York. She founded Smiles on Broadway in 2014 and also sees school-based children in the Jackson area and provides preventive dental care for four school-based LaMonica Davis Taylor clinics in the Delta and for Jackson Head Starts. “I always knew I wanted to be a health-care provider. I had a traumatic experience as a child and was in an accident, and I ended up having to see a dentist multiple times. So, I definitely knew I wanted to take that route and also do something where I could still be involved in the community,” Taylor says. Taylor lives with her husband Anton and two children, Braxton, who is 4 years old, and Brookly, who is 10 months old. She is also involved in the medical ministry and teaches children’s church at her church, True Vine Baptist Church. ——Jenna Gibson
In 1979, a group of physicians founded the first MEA Medical Clinic in Pearl. The clinic offered extended hours, including Saturday, and allowed patients to visit without booking appointments beforehand. Today, MEA has grown and now boasts 16 clinics located in Brandon, Byram, Canton, Clinton, Flowood, Flora, Laurel, Madison, North and South Jackson, Pearl, Richland, Ridgeland, Vicksburg and Yazoo City. While MEA does not treat chronic pain syndromes, all clinics do offer a continuum of care for chronic conditions like hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and more. MEA notes on its website that its clinics do not represent or replace hospital emergency care, and for medical conditions outside of the organization’s scope of practice, MEA professionals refer patients to appropriate specialists. —Nate Schumann Finalists: Baptist Urgent and Primary Care Clinics (multiple locations, baptistmedicalclinic.org) / Fast Pace Urgent Care (multiple locations, fastpacehealth.com) / TrustCare Express Medical Clinics (multiple locations, trustcarehealth.com) / UMMC Quick Care (2500 N. State St., 601984-1000, umc.edu)
Finalists: Brittany Flaggs (Healing Hands Rehabilitation Services, 105 Lexington Drive, Suite H, Madison, 601-910-7300, hhrehab.com) / Charles Benford (Capitol Physical Therapy, 5888 Ridgewood Road, 601-978-1798, capitolpt.org) / Kathy McColumn (McColumn Physical Therapy, 5225 Highway 18 W., 601-487-8456, mccolumnpt.com) / Lisa Bryant (Christian Preparatory Nursery, 363 Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, 601-991-0057)
