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Meet Your Neighbor: Meet The Neighbor – Dr. Andy Eisen
By Callie Thomas
“Always do right. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” – Mark Twain
After playing devoted pediatrician Dr. Doug Ross on the TV series ER, actor George Clooney once declared that having kids was not in the cards for him. Southern Nevada is lucky to have the real deal in 89123 native resident Dr. Andy Eisen. While the doctor shares the popular character’s “go to any lengths” passion for healing kids and is deeply committed to the health and welfare of all children in our community, he’s also the father of teenage sons Jonathan and AJ with his wife Diane, who also happens to be in the medical field as a Physical Therapist.
While family is of foremost importance, Dr. Eisen is an integral force in keeping kids healthy as a pediatrician and the Associate Dean for Clinical Education at Touro University Nevada, which is Nevada’s largest medical school. He also serves as the Medical Director for Touro’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, which is Southern Nevada’s only multidisciplinary center for the evaluation and treatment of children with a wide range of developmental conditions. As if that weren’t enough, Dr. Eisen also serves as Medical Director for The Helping Kids Clinic, a non-profit organization that provides medical services including checkups and immunizations to kids with no other health care resources. You might also find him working as a collaborating physician for The Bower School-based Health Clinic at Basic High School. Busy doesn’t begin to describe his daily routine, which varies from day to day, but not being of service to those in need is unfathomable to Dr. Eisen. He took a rare break to talk about his work with kids, why he’s so passionate about giving back and about the life of a doctor in the real world.
It has been estimated that 16% of Nevada’s children have no health insurance. How does The Helping Kids Clinic assist them?
“The clinic provides free health care to children who don’t have adequate health care resources. We provide routine medical care and immunizations as well as sports and camp physicals. We’re working to keep them healthy and active and can treat minor illnesses without these kids having to show up in the emergency departments.”
Similar services are offered at The Bower School-based Health Clinic at Basic High School?
“Yes, the center provides well child checks, sports physicals, minor illness care and health counseling right on the grounds of Basic High campus.”
What attracted you to these organizations?
“I got involved because they provide direct, real benefits to families in need. The focus is on keeping kids and teens healthy so they can learn, play and grow, which ultimately decreases health care costs for the entire community by decreasing demand on costly urgent and emergency care.”
It must be rewarding to see the effects of your services in the community.
“We’ve been told that without our services children would have had to suffer through illness or wait until they became so sick that there was no alternative than to go to the emergency department.”
In the little free time you have, how do you unplug?
“I don’t really unplug. I just take breaks when I can find them. I spend time at home with my family or catch a movie, but one thing I like about what I do is that my schedule is never the same. I do the work when it needs to be done.”
If you weren’t a pediatrician, what other career would you choose?
“I did consider other things in addition to being a doctor, but not as an alternative; an astronaut (I have poor eyesight, so that didn’t happen) or a rock star (minor issue – a complete lack of musical talent or skill), but after several years of trying to teach myself to play, I have managed to become an accomplished guitar owner.”
