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ST. LOUIS -- Joseph Peter Homan, MD, a board-certified occupational/environmental medicine specialist, has joined the staff of St. Anthony's Medical Center.
Dr. Homan currently works at both St. Anthony's Lemay and Arnold urgent care centers, where his primary responsibility is serving patients with work-related injuries or illnesses.
Occupational medicine deals with work-related injuries, toxicology testing, pre-placement physicals and documentation of pre-existing conditions, Dr. Homan said. "The most common complaints involve injuries to the hand, wrist, shoulder, neck, back or knee and chemical exposures," he said. "I examine the patients, determine if their conditions are work-related, prescribe treatments and determine what tasks they can continue to perform in the workplace."
Dr. Homan said he very rarely finds it necessary to totally remove the employee from the workplace. "There is usually some type of work the employee can perform," he said. "If modified duty is necessary for the injured employee, restrictions will be placed. It is the employer who is responsible for determining if work is available; our goal is to keep the employee productive and safe."
Dr. Homan said his specialty is somewhat rare. According to the American Board of Preventive Medicine, there are fewer than 3,400 board-certified occupational physicians in the country. It was a specialty that appealed to him because he was interested in environmental issues and wanted to serve those in the workforce. "I see it as an interface between the work environment and medicine," he said.
Dr. Homan earned his medical degree from the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He completed an internship in internal medicine at Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center, and completed his residency in environmental and occupational medicine at St. Louis University. He previously served as medical director of the Concentra Medical Center in Fenton, MO.
"With Dr. Homan on staff, it enables us to provide better care to our patients and better service to local companies," said Karin Hahn, manager of St. Anthony's Lemay Urgent Care. "We were handling workers' comp cases at our urgent care centers before, but we felt we could better serve the community by having a physician on staff with these specialized skills."
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