Chico Hyperbaric Center - Key Players and Staff

Key Players and Staff

Dr. William Fife, Ph.D.
Mitch Hoggard, Pharmacist
Kurt Johnson, M.D.
Donald Shirachi, Ph.D
Alan & Karen
And Finally...

The Chico Hyperbaric Center offers personalized patient care by skilled health care professionals. At the Chico Hyperbaric Center our staff's primary concern is the safety and comfort of our patients. This attitude was aptly described by patient Steve Miller, who characterized our staff this way in a post-treatment letter, "...they are a fine professional group and contribute in large measure to the recovery of their patients. Kudos for a job well done." We thank Steve for these comments.

William Fife, Ph.D.

William Fife, Ph.D.

The care and concern that our staff exhibits for our patients stems from the manner in which the Chico Hyperbaric Center was formed in the first place. In 1997 Dr. William Fife came out of retirement to conduct a year-long study at Texas A & M University into the benefits of treating Lyme disease with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. A number of Chico, CA, Lyme patients traveled to Texas to take part in the study. Five of those patients showed such dramatic improvement after receiving HBO therapy that a group of Chico residents banded together in an effort to build a HBO clinic closer to home. The Chico Hyperbaric Center is a result of that effort. (See an outline of Dr. Fife's study at Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Lyme Disease.)

Dr. Fife's dedication in helping others through the use of HBO therapy is not limited to just the fact that he came out of retirement to ensure completion of the Texas study. Dr. Fife is a pioneer of Hyperbaric Medicine in the United States. He has worked with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and NASA. He has held academic and leadership positions in the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, the Armed Forces, private industry, research and university foundations, and numerous boards and councils. Dr. Fife is now retired after holding the positions of Professor of Hyperbaric Medicine and the Director of the Hyperbaric Laboratory at Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas.

We are thankful that Dr. Fife also donated his time and expertise in helping to set up the Chico Hyperbaric Center. Dr. Fife has continued his ongoing involvement with the Chico Hyperbaric Center by sitting as an unpaid member on our Medical Advisory Board.

Mitch Hoggard, Pharmacist

Mitch Hoggard, Pharmacist

Mitch Hoggard spearheaded the effort to bring HBO therapy to Chico. He is the Founder and President of the Chico Hyperbaric Center. Mitch and his wife, Merry, are both pharmacists and both played key roles in assembling the diverse components that went into the formation of the Chico Hyperbaric Center. Mitch Hoggard is renowned in the health care field as the founder of Option Care, Inc., a business that provides infusion therapies and related health care services in the home and at non-hospital locations. Mitch Hoggard founded Option Care in Chico in 1978. Five years later, he franchised Option Care nationally. Although Mitch is no longer associated with the company, under his direction Option Care grew to almost 200 independent offices providing compassionate high-tech health care throughout the United States. The same professional and compassionate attitude toward the safety and comfort of patients that Mitch was able to convey nationally through Option Care remains the guiding principle that motivates us here at the Chico Hyperbaric Center.

Prior to founding Option Care, Mitch Hoggard had a diverse background in the health care industry. For example, Mitch was Director of Pharmacy Services at a northern California hospital. He was also head of Pharmacy Services for a long-term care facility where Mitch developed and implemented a patient medical review program and pharmaceutical services. In addition to working with large health care facilities, Mitch taught pharmacology at the college level, and he and his wife, Merry, owned and operated a community pharmacy. It is obvious that Mitch Hoggard's personal commitment to compassionate health care is profound. The same commitment to compassionate health care that was expressed throughout Mitch Hoggard's diverse career continues to manifest in the day-to-day operation of the Chico Hyperbaric Center.

Kurt Johnson, M.D.
Dr. Kurt Johnson serves as Medical Director for Chico Hyperbaric Center and also is a member of its Medical Advisory Board. Johnson has been in private family medical practice in Chico since 1987 at the Mangrove Medical Group. He is also affiliated with the Enloe Hospital in Chico.

Johnson was born not far from Chico in Marysville, CA. He graduated from the Loma Linda University in California in 1984. He took his Internship and Residency in Illinois prior to being Board certified in 1987. Kurt Johnson is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Donald Shirachi, Ph.D.
Dr. Donald Y. Shirachi, Professor Emeritus of Physiology and Pharmacology, has been associated with Chico Hyperbaric Center since its inception. Currently serving as Director of Research and Pharmacology Consultant, Dr. Shirachi is an esteemed member of the Chico Hyperbaric team. His extensive background in scientific research, as author of numerous published studies, and as a university professor in both the US and abroad, bring the highest qualifications and ethics to our continued efforts to research every aspect of HBO and its usesthose currently recognized and those applications not yet approved, but showing promise for future use.

Alan & Karen

Alan Flanigan

It is significant that the Chico Hyperbaric Center was established with the assistance and under the direction of Dr. William Fife, who resumed his retirement after completing the Texas study. Dr. Fife's retirement allowed the Chico Hyperbaric Center to hire two key staff members from Texas A & M: Alan Flanigan and Karen Gossett. Alan Flanigan was Director of Operations at the Texas A & M facility, and Karen Gossett was the senior Certified Hyperbaric Technician. They worked under the direction of Dr. Fife both during the Lyme study and during general treatment at Texas A & M's Hyperbaric Treatment Center.

Karen Gossett

Once in Chico, Alan Flanigan, under the direction of Dr. Fife, guided the technical and operational startup of the Chico Hyperbaric Center in his role as Senior Operations Manager. Karen was the Senior Hyperbaric Technician. After five months of operation, Alan relocated to the East Coast where he enrolled in the Medical College of Virginia to further his dream of becoming a physician. Although his career path has moved away from Chico, Alan continues to act as technical consultant to the Chico Hyperbaric Center, and he sits on our Medical Review Committee. When Alan left for medical school, Karen Gossett accepted the position of Senior Operations Manager.

And Finally...
At the Chico Hyperbaric Center no patient undergoes treatment without a health care professional in attendance during treatment. Our health care professionals include Certified Hyperbaric Technicians (CHT), paramedics, nurses, and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT). Also, our staff is experienced; they have safely administered over 12,000 HBO therapy treatments.

This article is Copyright © 1999 by the Chico Hyperbaric Center (HBOToday.com). Permission is given to reproduce it, in its entirety, and including this notice.

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