{"id":37591,"date":"2022-10-29T02:07:42","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T08:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/doctor-offers-outpatient-infusion-therapy-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:38:18","slug":"doctor-offers-outpatient-infusion-therapy-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/doctor-offers-outpatient-infusion-therapy-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor offers outpatient infusion therapy in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Physician
Physician assistant Sara Burcham checks on a patient after starting an IV Wednesday at Durango Infusion Center, 270 E. Eighth Ave. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ophthalmologist Moss Fenberg takes patient care seriously, managing details of intravenous medicine down to the last drop.<\/p>\n

So, when given the opportunity, he opened an outpatient medical infusion center. And on Sept. 22, Durango Infusion Center opened its doors to patients at 270 E. Eighth Ave., Suite N-101.<\/p>\n

Medical infusion therapy involves administering medications intravenously rather than orally. Fenberg said often patients an IV method if they cannot take medicine orally or if an oral medication is less effective.<\/p>\n

Although people typically think of medical infusion as a form of chemotherapy, the Durango Infusion Center focuses on biologic medical infusion to deal with disorders such as Crohn\u2019s disease, multiple sclerosis or arthritis.<\/p>\n

The Eighth Avenue office has four separate infusion bays and two private infusion bays. Each bay has a cushioned chair with an IV drip. The private bays offer a space where patients can have their own space and enough space for patients who bring children, friends or family with them.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Sara Burcham administers an intravenous medication Wednesday at Durango Infusion Center, 270 E. Eighth Ave. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango Infusion Center is the only outpatient medical infusion center in La Plata County. Before it opened, most people had to go to Mercy Hospital to receive medical infusion treatment. Infusions at an inpatient facility can be overcrowded and more expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re a hospital, you\u2019re allowed to charge insurances double the price,\u201d Fenberg said.<\/p>\n

He said this is often the case because hospitals have an obligation to care for everyone regardless of whether they have insurance or pay their bills, causing hospitals to charge more for care to cover the amount lost on patients who don\u2019t pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like surgery in a hospital versus surgery at an outpatient surgical center. It\u2019s exactly the same concept. It\u2019s going to cost you less and across the whole system less (for outpatient care),\u201d Fenberg said.<\/p>\n

As an outpatient center, Durango Infusion Center contracts with insurance companies and can moderate prices at a reasonable rate.<\/p>\n

Fenberg said this is partially a result of an unsaturated market for outpatient infusion centers in the area.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Sara Burcham prepares an IV for a patient Wednesday at Durango Infusion Center, 270 E. Eighth Ave. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For some disorders such as thyroiditis, medical infusion is the only effective treatment, according to Fenberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times, other drugs actually get broken down by your digestive system, or they get broken down by antibodies within your central venous tissue, and there\u2019s no way to get it to the site directly,\u201d Fenberg said.<\/p>\n

Some patients conduct medical infusion therapy at home, but he advocates for clinics because of the risk of medical reactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to do this necessarily at home because there can be infusion-related reactions like anaphylaxis or allergic reactions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Infusion length varies based on how quickly the body absorbs the drug and how much the patient needs. Fenberg said some treatments last an hour; others, six to eight hours.<\/p>\n

\"Sara
Sara Burcham in the office space at Durango Infusion Center, 270 E. Eighth Ave. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At the office, a physician assistant constantly monitors patients and checks on their well-being.<\/p>\n

Sara Burcham is a physician assistant and infusion specialist at Durango Infusion Center. She has worked as a physician assistant for 13 years in family practice and urgent care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re small. So that\u2019s always more patient-friendly,\u201d Burcham said.<\/p>\n

She added that a one-to-one interaction with patients builds trust and confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery visit they come and get to see Sara. It\u2019s a relationship. It\u2019s not some nurse that\u2019s just passing through,\u201d Fenberg said.<\/p>\n

tbrown@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patients can receive personalized treatment in the comfort of their own space<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,950,28,475,1938],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-37591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-colorado","tag-medicine"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83707,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37591\/revisions\/83707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37591"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=37591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}