The doctor is in! This past Monday on June 29, 2015 Dr. Javid Yadegar and his partners hosted a grand opening event and ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the new location of Elite Medical Clinic at 721 Flushing Ave. in Brooklyn, New York.
Elite Medical Clinic has been serving the Bedford Stuyvesant / Williamsburg / Bushwick community for the past 25 years. Elite also partners and is affiliated with Brooklyn Hospital, Wyckoff Hospital, Methodist Hospital and Lennox Hill Hospital. The new clinic will be offering the following specialties: Diabetic center, Comprehensive Cardiology, Women’s health, Weight Management, Pain Management Rehab amongst many other specialties and all insurance will be accepted.
Dr. Yadegar, also known as “The Dancing Doctor” because of his penchant for dancing for his patients, has been in the community for nore than 25 years and his story is a picture of the American Dream; overcoming obstacles and triumphing over adversity. The doctor is a Persian Jew who came to the U.S. after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
He left his homeland and came empty handed and went to medical school. He graduated nine years later and founded Elite Medical Clinic. Dr. Yadegar started off in a 800 square-foot office at 21 St. James Place in Brooklyn and now has expanded to spaces of 2500 square feet. He had a vision to create a specialty clinic in the Bedstuy / Williamsburg / Bushwick community and his vision came true.
His vision has also empowered and drawn many to become part of what he is doing in the community. One such individual is Daniel Gurgov, director of operations at Elite. “He empowered me to move forward in building our other location on 856 Decalb Ave. in Brooklyn. At that location we have a Diabetic Center, Comprehensive Cardiology, Women’s Health, Weight Management, Pain Management Rehab and all insurance plans are accepted. This grand opening of Elite is an extension of all of those services in this community,” said Gurgov.
The Flushing community is a place where three major ethnic groups, Black, Latino and Hasidic meet at one point. Gurgov in explaining the significance of this location said, “Opening our services here, allows us to not only bring medical services of help to this underserved community, but it also brings help that is unexpected. We’re bringing services in this community that would ordinarily require its residents to travel 15 to 20 miles into the city to places like Mt. Sinai Hospital to receive such care. Our goal is to eventually expand and extend our services to the five boroughs, but for right now, we are targeting Brooklyn and will continue to grow here within the community.”
Dr. Yadegar has expressed his love and passion for the community in which his clinic resides and for which they serve. He said, “For me, I can retire anytime, but I love the patients and the community I serve. I love the interaction.” An example of this love for interacting with his patients in the community is found in the story that he tells about a patient he encountered. “The other day after finishing up with my patients, I see this elderly lady in the waiting room. Everyone else had left the office. I asked, ‘Why are you still here?’ She says, ‘My ride never showed up.’ I said to her, ‘I’m going to take you home.’ She also had five to six bags of groceries with her. I end up carrying all the bags of groceries for her and drove her home. When we get to her place, she asked me, ‘Can you help me take them upstairs?’ She’s 88 years old! I laugh and take them upstairs to her apartment.”
He continued, “This community is where my heart is and these types of relationships are very close and personal. There are patients that come here sad and alone. In the few moments I have with them, I want to make them happy and make them laugh and I won’t let them leave until I accomplish that. I’ve been called “The Dancing Doctor” because I like to dance for my patients and I’ve even been called “The Patch Adams of Brooklyn” after the Robin Williams movie. I live my American Dream every day. I thank God for the passion and health to continue. I don’t need to work. At my age, people begin to settle down, but as long as I’m alive, I will continue. My passion is to help the community and country that helped me to be here.”
