Jackie F. Hayden experienced more than her fair share of scrapes, bruises and broken bones as a former world champion lady bull rider and bareback bronc buster. In 1950, the former Jackie Flowers broke her back when she was violently thrown from a bucking horse at the World Championship All-Girl Rodeo in Tulsa, Okla. After a year in a back brace, she returned to competition and regained her world title.
But the anguish this normally healthy, fit and tough senior cowgirl suffered two years ago was, as Hayden described it, "a little worse" than breaking her back. The 80-year-old grandmother recalled it started as a headache that seemed to emanate from her watering, itching left eye. The pain escalated to an excruciating level that made it impossible to eat or sleep.
Her primary care physician, Dr. Susan Lee of WellMed at Boerne, correctly diagnosed it as shingles of the eye, an agonizing infection of the nerve linked to childhood exposure to chicken pox. But the absence of an obvious rash, the life-threatening severity of her symptoms, and the possibility Hayden could lose vision in her affected eye prompted Lee to hospitalize Hayden in San Antonio. She coordinated with a team of specialists, including a neurologist and radiologist, to ensure nothing else was the cause of her patient's suffering.
"I know Dr. Lee saved my life that day," said Hayden, whose hospital stay included being fed intravenously and administration of pain medication until her symptoms subsided. "She came to the hospital to check on me and make sure I was being treated well. She's something special."
Lee is much more than your average country doctor. She is one of the original shareholders in WellMed Medical Management, a 20-year-old privately owned health care company founded by CEO Dr. George M. Rapier III. Today, WellMed is one of the fastest-growing enterprises in the nation, with more than 1,300 employees to date.
For the past two decades, Lee has educated and trained medical students and residents as a clinical assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She has served as a medical director at WellMed, developing and implementing new disease management programs, recruiting and interviewing new physicians and physician assistants, and serving as a key adviser on company policy and procedure.
In 2005, Lee became chief medical officer for WellMed-affiliate Physicians Health Choice (PHC), an HMO insurance provider offering Medicare Advantage Plans. She started and developed physician networks for PHC in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Florida. Her exhaustive duties included oversight for credentialing, benefits, delegation and more.
Travel over the course of three years took its toll, and Lee asked to return to seeing patients. She was rewarded with a clinic close to her Fair Oaks Ranch home, WellMed at Boerne, one of 24 WellMed clinics in Texas. She also retains a lead role within WellMed as chief medical development officer, working to identify expansion opportunities for the provider delivery network in the San Antonio area. Other responsibilities include coordinating, developing and implementing appropriate training criteria for all providers.
Lee supervised last year's clinic relocation from North Main to a larger space at 124 E. Bandera Road. She has worked to enhance the contracted network of specialists in the Boerne area to better serve patients, and successfully lobbied for the addition of a second physician provider at the clinic.
In just two years in Boerne, Lee has emerged as an involved community leader. She was recently elected to serve as treasurer of the Kendall County Medical Society, and is on the board of the Rainbow Senior Center.
"We did not have a doctor on the board in the past, especially one treating geriatric patients, so she brings a valuable perspective and new contacts," said Ellen Damstra, executive director of the Rainbow Senior Center. "She's helped get the medical community to support us, and that's making a big difference."
WellMed recently made a $20,000 donation to the Rainbow Senior Center, which is moving into a new 28,000 square-foot facility in March to better serve Kendall County seniors.
Lee is well regarded in the medical community.
"I have great respect for her knowledge and ability and empathy for patients," said Dr. Charles Rabinowitz, a pioneering cardiologist in the San Antonio and Boerne communities who has known Lee for nearly a quarter century. "When she calls and says, 'I think you need to see this patient,' then I know the patient needs to be seen. That's not always the case with some family practice doctors who just want to pass along a patient's problem.
"I really enjoy working with her, and I wish I worked with her more. I wish every organization had more doctors like her."
Lee is certified by the American Academy of Family Physicians. She is a member of the American College of Physician Executives, the world's premier organization for lifelong growth and support of physician leaders. In 2009, she was recognized by the Boerne Star newspaper as a top physician in their "Best of the Best" awards based on a poll of readers.
