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Phone: (276) 889-3700 Hughes Melton, M.D. is a board certified family physician who practices in partnership with Brian Easton, M.D., Rob Bishop, M.D., and Ann Townsend, M.D. at C-Health in Lebanon, Virginia. Dr. Melton was born in 1967 in Miami, Florida. He is married to Sarah Melton and they have a two daughters. The family resides in Lebanon and attends the United Methodist Church, where Dr. Melton sings in the choir. The Meltons enjoy antiquing and renovating their historic home in Lebanon: they are faithful readers of "This Old House." Dr. Melton played football throughout college and he supports the local football squad as team physician. He also enjoys hiking and hunting deer, duck, turkey, and other game that abounds in the hills and hollows of the Virginia mountains. Dr. Melton graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine with an MD degree in 1993. In 1996, he completed three years of training in Family Medicine at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville. From September 1996 to July 1998, Dr. Melton was an Attending Physician in the Department of Primary Care at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. From July 1998 through June 2000, he was Brigade Surgeon for the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Dr. Melton is the co-founder of C-Health. The practice opened in July 2000. Dr. Melton is a certified provider of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO). He is certified as an instructor in ALSO and Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS). Dr. Melton is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Medicine.
There are eight exam rooms and one treatment room in the clinic, along with a waived medical laboratory with microscopy. Specimens for non-waived tests are collected on the premises and sent to reference labs for processing. Patients who need x-rays go to Russell County Medical Center, a hospital just across the street from the practice. The doctors solicit pharmaceutical manufacturers for donated medicines on behalf of indigent patients. Procedures done on the premises include the removal of skin lesions, toenail removal, joint and soft tissue injections, colposcopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, LEEP, vasectomy, and simple fractures. Procedures done in the hospital include central lines, thoracentesis, paracentesis, spinal taps, circumcisions, and stress testing. C-Health is a completely computerized practice, with electronic medical records, several Internet connections, and automated patient accounts. Since opening in 2000, C-Health has grown rapidly. They have a satellite clinic in Honaker.
Dr. Melton visits patients at home as warranted by their health status and allowed by his schedule. He also sees patients at Maple Grove Health Care Center, a 60-bed nursing home, in Lebanon. Among Dr. Melton's professional interests are sports medicine, teaching, minor surgery, and medical practice management. He is particularly interested in business management and the computerization of medicine. According to Dr. Melton, residents who train at C-Health will encounter a modern, cutting edge family practice that demonstrates how the highest standards of primary care can be maintained in the most remote of areas. "Yes," he says, "You can start a new private primary practice and survive without HMOs and hospital support." Residents who train at C-Health can be lodged in a furnished house leased by GMEC and located in Lebanon. Russell County Medical Center is a 78-bed acute care hospital across the street from C-Health. Hospital services include emergency care, inpatient and outpatient care, intensive care, labor and delivery, surgery and anesthesia, radiology, imaging, laboratory, nutrition, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, physical therapy, pharmacy, and home health. Specialties represented on the medical staff include: Anesthesiology, Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Occupational Medicine, Oncology, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pulmonology, Radiology, and Surgery. Russell County once boasted the largest cattle ranches east of the Mississippi, and the high mountain pastures of the Clinch River Valley are a legacy of those bygone days. Pastures surrounding the Town of Lebanon fade into forests in the northern and western parts of the county, which stretch across the coal-bearing hills of the Cumberland Plateau. The population of Russell County is about 28,500. The population of Lebanon, which is the seat of government for the county, is 3,399. Three highways - U.S. 19, Rte. 82, and Rte. 71 - converge in Lebanon, offering easy access to larger communities in the region. The town is situated less than 30 minutes from Interstate 81. Retail sales, manufacturing, transfer income (retirement pensions, disability income, and welfare benefits), personal services, coal mining, tobacco agriculture and stock farming are major elements of the Russell County economy. In 1995, the largest employers in the county were the Lear Corporation (automotive stampings), the public schools, Clinchfield Coal Company, Russell County Medical Center, Lebanon Apparel, Teleflex Automotive Division, American Electric Power, and Pittston Coal Management. Local residents are served by a number of restaurants, groceries, banks, churches, discount stores, and specialty shops. For fine dining, live theater, and serious shopping, most residents drive to historic Abingdon, about 30 minutes to the south. Outdoor enthusiasts can hike, bike, camp, picnic, fish, hunt, boat, and ride horses in a number of recreation areas within easy distance - Guest River Gorge, Falls of the Little Stony, Hanging Rock Trail, the Devil's Bathtub, the Clinch River, and the Virginia Creeper Trail. For more information about the community, please see our profile of Russell County. |
Samuel Hughes Melton, M.D.
C-Health
operates from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday with evening
and weekend hours. Each physician sees between 20 and 25 patients a
day. Approximately 15% of patient visits
are with children, about 35% with adults under the age of 65, and about
50% with geriatric adults. An estimated 50% of C-Health patients are
covered by Medicare or Medicaid. Another 40% are covered by commercial
carriers and about 10% are uninsured.
Dr.
Melton maintains medicine, pediatric, obstetric, and ICU admitting privileges
at Russell County Medical Center in Lebanon where he also served as
chief of staff (2002-2004). C-Health physicians round on 4-10 patients
a day in the hospital.