Patient Care / Clinical Services

The full-time faculty in "University GI" as a group provide comprehensive in- and outpatient services at two major University-affiliated (core) hospitals:

• The Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) is a 570-bed community, and secondary and tertiary referral hospital.
• The Buffalo Veterans Administration Medical Center (VA) is a 400-bed acute care hospital.

Faculty members of University GI are board certified in the subspecialty of gastroenterology and all are on staff at both core hospitals. They operate a unified call schedule, such that one attending is on-call for both hospitals at night and the weekend. The attending on call can always be contacted through the switchboard at any of the hospitals.

University GI at each core hospital provides the full range of cognitive, and diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic services for diseases within the subspecialty of gastroenterology, including those of the liver, biliary tract and pancreas. In addition, the faculty sees patients and performs some procedures at the Mosher Medical Center and Kaleida Health System.

Areas of special expertise of University GI physicians include:

• investigation and management of patients with liver disease, including hepatitis C and other viral hepatitides (Dr. Mahl);
• ERCP with stone removal, drainage and stenting, etc. and other advanced therapeutic endoscopic skills (Drs. Burkard and Mehboob);
• endoscopic ultrasound (Drs. Burkard and Mehboob);
• investigation of GI motility disturbances (Drs. Burkard and Mehboob);
• management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, Drs. Novak and Sitrin);
• care of patients with malabsorption and nutritional disorders, and management of nutrition support (Dr. Sitrin);
• gastroesophageal reflux disease and Barrett’s esophagus (Dr. Rani).