North Texas grows more popular by the day. With the influx of new residents and robust development, it can be challenging to hold onto the tight-knit sense of community that attracted so many of us here in the first place.
Despite the rapid-fire change, Urology Partners of North Texas (UPNT) is still keenly focused on nurturing their community. After all, two of its Irving-based urologists, Keith Waguespack, MD, and Keith Bloom, MD, are Houston and New York transplants who chose to make this area their home 19 and 11 years ago, respectively. Their devotion hasn’t gone unnoticed. Generations of families entrust their practice to help them cope with BPH, incontinence, kidney stones, as well as prostate, kidney and bladder cancer.
The recent opening of the expanded UPNT Irving clinic allows Dr. Waguespack and Dr. Bloom — along with colleagues Kara Choate, MD, Zachary Compton, MD, and physician assistants Ly Chu and Marcela Torres Gutierrez — to provide men and women with the vital care they need in a spacious new facility.
Centrally nestled along I-635 at 7701 Las Colinas Ridge, the Irving clinic is a cornerstone in a seven-clinic network across North Texas. UPNT’s growing practice is the culmination of an ambitious dream that’s been on a fast-moving train. Just over four years ago, 19 doctors decided to disentangle themselves from corporate medicine. While the prospect of breaking away was daunting, they knew what they were in for. They’d done it before.
The Seeds of Patient First
All through the early and mid-2000s, a group of North Texas physicians set about building an enviable model of care. At its core was a rare healthcare organization — rare because the physicians owned it. They served in its top leadership positions, sat on its board, established policies, and made management decisions. They did it all according to one guiding precept: Always do what is best for the patient. Their singular focus fueled a can-do culture that delivered on their promise of patient-centered care.
Under their physician-led model, they pioneered one of the nation’s leading robotic surgery programs. They created centers of excellence to treat urologic cancers, kidney stones, pelvic prolapse, incontinence, men’s health issues and more.
“We decided to build on that success again rather than simply answer to corporate algorithms,” Compton explains.
“There certainly were risks involved, but forming our own practice has allowed us to stay true to our mantra of patient first, organization second, doctor third,” Bloom adds.
Building a Better Healthcare Experience
As Goethe once encouraged, “Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.” When UPNT opened its new practice in April 2019, it fielded a flood of non-stop calls — a testament to the high regard patients have for this group of care providers. Today, the practice counts more than 40 providers among its ranks. For its Irving physicians and physician assistants, patient-centric care is deeply personal.
Dr. Waguespack remembers when his grandfather and father were both diagnosed with prostate cancer. “Back in those days, PSA testing had just become mainstream,” he remembers. Home from college for the summer, he cared for his dad after his open radical prostatectomy. The experience put Waguespack on the path to becoming a urologist and robotic surgeon who specializes in prostate and other urologic cancers.
Although Waguespack has seen remarkable outcomes for men whose cancer is detected early, his grandfather and dad are never far from his mind. “My grandfather ultimately died of the disease, while my dad was cured by surgery. In my own family, I have seen the worst- and best-case outcomes,” he says.
Dr. Waguespack channels that first-person experience in a way few surgeons can. “What I really like most is developing relationships with my patients. While I may help them technically with my surgical expertise, I also help them navigate their entire treatment experience from a human perspective.”
His surgical acumen is complemented by Dr. Compton’s expertise with drug therapy for advanced stage prostate cancer.
“There’s been explosive growth in treatment options that can significantly prolong the life of these men,” Compton explains. “Now, prostate cancer can be something you die with rather than from. Instead of referring men to an oncologist, we can manage their advanced prostate cancer in our clinic with drug therapies that are very effective and tolerated quite well.”
Quality Care for Better Quality of Life
One of Compton’s other passions is kidney stone disease — a core strength at UPNT. “Texas is part of the ‘Stone Belt.’ A lot of people here suffer with painful kidney stones,” he says. “To be able to quickly improve symptoms when someone is in dire need of relief is what makes treating stone disease so rewarding.”
One of Dr. Bloom’s patients, Trisha P., knows first-hand how excruciating a stone can be. She had a monster kidney stone that caused her all kinds of trouble — including a life-threatening infection. She’s grateful the “stone whisperer” got her back on the path to good health with minimally invasive shock wave lithotripsy. “Dr. Bloom, the surgical team, and his office staff were so amazing,” Trisha raves.
Part of UPNT’s amazing surgical team now includes Kara Choate, MD, who brings an exciting new dimension to the Irving team and UPNT. Dr. Choate specializes in percutaneous removal of complex kidney stones — an outpatient procedure that removes painful stones through a tiny incision in the back and sends patients home the same day.
To the delight of the other Irving docs and the clinic’s female patients, Choate is also highly skilled in advanced techniques to treat overactive bladder and urinary incontinence. “She brings something to our clinic we didn’t have before — a female urologist’s perspective on the management of a sensitive health issue for many women,” Waguespack notes.
“A lot of women think incontinence is a normal part of aging,” Choate reveals. “I’ve had patients who are afraid to leave the house because they worry they won’t be close enough to a bathroom. Many don’t know about all the treatments that are available. For me, the art of making these women feel comfortable, cared for and safe enough to talk about this very personal health issue is what makes urology special. By building trust, I get to help them understand there are some easy outpatient options that could dramatically improve their quality of life.”
The Rewards of Good Medicine
You only have to spend a few minutes perusing comments on the UPNT Facebook page to understand why their approach has fostered such deep patient loyalty.
“I recently had to undergo surgery,” wrote one TURP patient. “I was hesitant at first but decided to trust Dr. Bloom’s extensive knowledge and flawless reputation. The results exceeded my wildest expectations. Only a few days after surgery, I already feel like I did when I was 20.”
“I was misdiagnosed by another urologist, but Dr. Waguespack was very thorough and discovered my kidney cancer in time to save one kidney,” a woman shared. “He’s so diligent, a complete physician.”
“Dr. Compton is very professional and so nice. I had kidney stones, and he explained all my options very clearly. He even did my shockwave lithotripsy procedure the same day. Thanks to him I recovered well, and my kidneys are pain free.”
A New Level of Care
The new Irving clinic is designed to reinforce all that goodwill.
“Our new clinic is a big upgrade,” Bloom admits. “We do a significant amount of in-office procedures, and it will make all of those procedures more efficient while providing a better environment for our patients.”
Choate agrees. “The new clinic is much more inviting and comfortable. It lets us cover all the major aspects of urology and leverage our advanced expertise without a factory-type feel.”
Along with upgraded digs, UPNT Irving is bolstered by its two physician assistants who are invaluable in streamlining patients’ follow-up visits — Chu and Torres Gutierrez. “Our patients are happy when they don’t have to wait as long to see the doctor. Enhancing our PA staff so we can be more responsive to our patients has been a focus for us,” Waguespack adds.
Of course, camaraderie is always front and center.
“We work together very well,” Compton says. “We all have different strengths, and that allows us to coordinate patient care plans knowing we have more than just our individual knowledge and experience to draw upon. We put our heads together — here in the Irving office and with our colleagues across our entire practice. Doing so helps ensure our patients get the best care.”
“We’ve always been collaborative,” Waguespack says. “We started UPNT with a group of people who knew and trusted each other. We’ve built a practice from scratch so we can care for the people of our community in the best possible way. That will never change.”
Learn more about UPNT at upnt.com.
