By Elizabeth Landry
When Jonathan Huang, DO, AGAF, FAASLD joined Auburn Community Hospital (ACH) in January of this year, his arrival helped meet a significant need in specialized patient care. A board-certified hepatologist and gastroenterologist who serves as Chief of Auburn Gastroenterology at ACH, Dr. Huang helps alleviate the significant shortage of hepatologists across Upstate New York, including the Central and Southern Tier regions outside the city of Rochester.
“I wanted to help address that need by partnering with local community providers and bringing specialized hepatology care directly to patients,” Dr. Huang said of his decision to practice medicine at ACH.
A Rochester native with more than 20 years of medical experience including highly specialized expertise in liver disease, Dr. Huang also practiced at the University of Rochester Medical Center for 15 years as a Transplant and General Hepatologist, where he was an Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Digestive and Liver Disease Center for Research. He felt drawn to ACH, which he describes as an “ideal fit”, because of a desire to have a meaningful impact on the surrounding area.
He and the hospital’s administration “shared a strong vision for growth and saw an opportunity to expand specialty services,” said Dr. Huang. “It was an environment where I felt I could both provide high-quality subspecialty care and help build something meaningful for the community.”
Improved Access to Care
A big reason Dr. Huang desired to practice medicine at ACH is the hospital’s central location, which makes it accessible to patients throughout the region. Since he joined the team, a top focus has been making the patient experience as streamlined and accessible as possible, from the initial referral through diagnostic testing and endoscopic procedures, as well as increasing access to gastroenterology and hepatology clinics. Direct-access colonoscopy is one example of how this growth in services has directly impacted patients at ACH.
“For appropriately selected, low-risk anesthesia patients, we can schedule the procedure directly without requiring an unnecessary pre- or post-procedure clinic visit,” Dr. Huang explained. “This can significantly reduce barriers to care and improve access to colonoscopy, while also allowing our clinic appointments to be available for patients who truly need a gastroenterology or hepatology consultation.”
The Auburn Gastroenterology & Hepatology practice at ACH is also offering exciting new technologies that represent an important expansion of the diagnostic capabilities available to patients in the surrounding community, Dr. Huang said. QuinTron Breath Testing and Mindray VCTE technologies are now available at ACH, designating the hospital as a destination for specialized diagnostic services. ACH is also the first location in New York State outside of New York City to offer Mindray VCTE.
“[These technologies] are at the forefront of their respective fields and provide valuable tools for the diagnosis and risk stratification of certain disease processes that previously required patients to travel outside the region,” stated Dr. Huang.
Building Trust and Relationships
Collaborating and building relationships with other local healthcare providers is a central priority for Dr. Huang alongside expanding direct access to patient care. Recognizing the complex nature of the healthcare system, Dr. Huang believes the best care is provided when physicians and healthcare providers work together to deliver comprehensive, coordinated care.
“We often talk about the importance of building trust in the doctor-patient relationship, but I believe it is equally important to build trust among local healthcare providers,” he said. “I’m committed to developing those relationships so that we can communicate effectively, streamline care, and give both patients and referring providers confidence that they are receiving the best possible care.”
Ultimately, Dr. Huang said, his goal is to make the healthcare system feel more connected and seamless for both patients and the providers caring for them. An important part of this collaborative approach is also developing and maintaining close working relationships with larger institutions, such as the University of Rochester Medical Center.
“By serving as a local access point and maintaining strong connections with these centers, we can help patients navigate more complex care when needed, including facilitating access to specialized services such as liver transplantation,” he explained.
Advancing into the Future
Surveying exciting developments on the horizon within both gastroenterology and hepatology, Dr. Huang said he envisions each field becoming increasingly personalized, preventative, and technology driven. Within hepatology, advancements are leading to earlier identification and treatment of chronic liver disease, primarily regarding metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), before patients develop advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. Additionally, Dr. Huang anticipates advancements in noninvasive biomarkers and imaging technologies will aid in identifying risk and guiding treatment while decreasing reliance on invasive testing.
In the field of gastroenterology, areas such as polyp detection, pathology interpretation, and clinical decision support are being bolstered by the development of artificial intelligence as an adjunct to clinical care. Dr. Huang emphasized the importance of remaining thoughtful about how providers utilize such technologies and preserving both clinical judgment and the physician-patient relationship.
“We’re seeing major advances in areas such as endoscopy, noninvasive assessment of liver disease, biologic therapies, and targeted treatments, and I expect those trends to continue,” Dr. Huang said. “Ultimately, I think the future of GI and hepatology will be about combining these advances with personalized, patient-centered care. Innovation in our field can translate directly into earlier diagnosis, better treatment, and ultimately better outcomes for patients.”
No matter which direction the fields of gastroenterology and hepatology progress into, however, Dr. Huang remain excited about the future of his practice at ACH. Most exciting to him, he said, is being part of a tight-knit community that grows together while delivering specialized care at the forefront of medicine.
“There is a real opportunity to expand access to advanced gastroenterology and hepatology services while maintaining the personable, community-focused culture that makes ACH special,” said Dr. Huang. “Being able to contribute to that growth while building lasting relationships with patients and local providers is what I find most rewarding.”
