Practicing two by two: Taking togetherness to the extreme

A practice in Ohio creates a family atmosphere with three husband-and-wife physician couples.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. Nov. 10, 2003.

Chris Brown, MD, keeps a photo of his wife on his desk. Not unusual for a loving husband -- until you consider that his wife, Vicki Brown, MD, sits behind him in the same cramped office.

Their desks nestled against opposite walls, the Browns share the room when they dictate notes on their computers in the steady and deliberate way that assures maximum accuracy. They find refuge here during lunch, brown-bagging leftovers from meals cooked by Dr. Chris Brown on his off day or by Dr. Vicki Brown on hers.

Each spouse has a set of exam rooms near the other at Family Health Partners, a clinic in Willard, a small, rural community in northern Ohio about 80 miles southwest of Cleveland. At a work station outside the exam rooms, the Browns often stand side by side, managing progress reports and prescriptions on laptops on a counter below cabinets covered with cheery photos of their 3-year-old daughter, Ally. The Browns, both 37, love the arrangement; practicing this closely was what they envisioned when they entered medicine. And they've found a practice that wholeheartedly endorses the concept.

In fact, the Browns aren't the only married physician couple practicing at Family Health Partners. There are three. The other couples are Eric and Amy Prack, both MDs, and Ed and Aggie Zgleszewski, both MDs.

That's right, six doctors, three betrothed couples, one medical practice.

No wonder they call it Family Health Partners.

The three physician couples, their staff and patients say the unique composition makes this family practice more a family than a medical office.