CityView Magazine

46 June 2021 BY KIM HAST Y PHOTOGRAPHY BY CINDY BURNHAM At Cape Fear Valley, they have a good night's sleep down to a science Amita Shetty, M.D., and Sam Fleishman, M.D., will go the extra mile for their patients. Literally. HEALTH A s a primary care physician in Lumberton, she noticed that she had many patients with sleep disorders that were affecting their quality of life. e nearest sleep clinic was in Fayetteville. Instead of referring her patients, she decided to give up her free time and make the drive herself, travelling from Lumberton to Fayetteville to shadow Sam Fleishman, M.D., at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and learn more about sleep medicine. "I was not looking to get into sleep medicine," she said. "I came here because there were no sleep specialists around, and I wanted to take something back to my patients." Few had more impressive credentials than Dr. Fleishman. A Fayetteville native, Fleishman is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology/sleep medicine. He developed Cape Fear Valley's sleep medicine program, taking over as director in 1995 and growing the program to its current status as accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and e Joint Commission. Fleishman, who is now Cape Fear Valley's Chief Medical Officer, has long understood the importance of sleep and how it affects quality of life and health. He is a past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, as well as serving as the organization's health policy chairman, chair of its accreditation committee and on its board of trustees. His influence had an impact on Dr. Shetty. She's now the medical director for Cape Fear Valley Health's Sleep Center and has been board- certified in sleep medicine since 2007. "I still remember my first patient," she said. "Every month, we were putting her in the hospital. We'd treat her, we'd fix her, she'd go home, and she'd come back the next month. We diagnosed her with sleep apnea and put her on a CPAP device and that was that. "She breathed so well that she didn't go to the hospital for years aer that," she said. "So when you see that dramatic change in someone it really impresses you. Treat the sleep apnea and the congestive heart failure improves dramatically." Cape Fear Valley's Sleep Center treats a variety of sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, periodic limb movement disorder and restless legs syndrome. A sleep study sometimes can improve mood disorders, as well. Once a patient is referred to the center, evaluated and scheduled, he or she arrives at the sleep lab in the early evening to have electrodes and other diagnostic aids attached.

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