By Jan Landon
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Austin Welsh, M.D., will bring a passion for medicine and a belief in teamwork to his position as the primary care physician at the Tallgrass Creek medical center.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to practice in the Erickson model,” he says. “It’s a model that’s been tried and proven successful.”

Expert care
Dr. Welsh is board certified in family practice and geriatric medicine. By joining the Erickson Health team at Tallgrass Creek, he leaves his roles as medical director of Springdale Health and Rehabilitation Center and as geriatrician at Northwest Senior Health’s Schmieding Center, both in Springdale, Ark. He will also move from his home in Springdale (in northwest Arkansas) to Overland Park, Kans.

Welsh earned his doctorate in medicine at Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, and completed a residency in family medicine at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, Mo. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

The Tallgrass Creek medical center, where he will practice, will open in October

“The medical center is going to be an integral part of the amenities at Tallgrass Creek,” he says. “It is going to be there for the residents— what they’ve come to expect in an Erickson community.”

Home is where the inspiration is
Growing up in Memphis, Tenn., Welsh was inspired to become a geriatrician when a great aunt lived with his family.

“I was able to watch my parents care for her, and that was a wonderful example to me,” he says.

A mentor whom he worked with during a medical fellowship at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu also inspired him.

“I was very much impressed with the scope of the practice,” Welsh says. “That is where I first learned that a doctor can still do house calls. I learned there is a joy in doing long-term care as well.”