When the Doctor Becomes the Patient

September 06, 2017
When the Doctor Becomes the Patient

“ It was the kind of care I would hope for all my patients.” – CURTISS COMBS, MD

Family practice physician Curtiss Combs, MD, was three weeks into his recovery from surgery on his broken wrist when the pain started to worsen. Thinking it was just the pins being rejected and time for them to be removed, he tolerated it a couple more days. But when the pain became unbearable and he developed a high fever, he knew there was a problem.

Dr. Combs went to the ER at Temecula Valley Hospital, where tests indicated he had sepsis, a serious bacterial infection. “I was in awful pain, but narcotic pain medicines give me severe headaches,” says Dr. Combs. “My blood pressure was extremely high, so we had to manage that and the pain carefully.”

In the hospital for eight days, Dr. Combs says the infection could have taken his life, but he felt comfortable that the ER doctors, hospitalists and specialists were making smart medical decisions. “It was the nursing staff and many others that put those decisions to work and provided the excellent and personal care that brought me back to health,” he says.

Dr. Combs says he is glad he made the decision to go to Temecula Valley Hospital, and was very impressed by the care and service provided by everyone in the hospital. “I have worked in the ER and in trauma, and when you are a patient in a hospital, you are scared to some degree. But friendly people change everything,” he says. “It’s not just good medical care you receive when you go to Temecula Valley Hospital, but the great attitude everyone has and it shows in how they care for their patients.”

Learn more about emergency services at Temecula

To find a doctor, call our free physician referral line at 855-859-5203.

Native Son Comes Back to Temecula to Practice Medicine

Kyle Vincent, MD

Effective September 1, 2017, Kyle Vincent, MD, will be joining Temecula Valley Family Physicians. Dr. Vincent is an honors graduate of Temecula Valley High School’s Class of 2003. He graduated with honors and earned a BS in Biology in 2007 from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. In 2014, he earned his medical degree from Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC.

He served an extended rotation working with Temecula Valley Family Physicians, and is board-certified physician after completing a Family Medicine Residency through Morehouse School of Medicine in June 2017. It has always been a dream of his to come back as a physician, and he is excited for the opportunity to serve a community that is very special to him.