Primary Care

Primary care providers serve as your medical home, giving you a place to call whenever you need health care. With dual board certification in family practice and OB/GYN, Melhem Dandan, MD, FACOG, FAAFP, and Eric Hettler, PA-C, MPAS, serve as primary care providers at the Harlandale Clinic in San Antonio, Texas. They diagnose and treat the full range of health problems in people of all ages. They provide attentive care and prompt service by extending labs and ECGs in their office when indicated for the convenience and time-saving for their patients. To schedule an in-person or telehealth visit, call the office or use the online booking feature today!

What is primary care?

Primary care refers to the physicians and qualified providers you call when you need health care. Whether you’re sick, have a minor injury, want a routine physical, or need long-term management for a chronic condition, your primary care provider serves as your first point of contact.

What services might I receive through primary care?

Harlandale Clinic offers comprehensive care through in-person and telehealth appointments. They also provide urgent care and walk-in services for people needing prompt medical attention. 

Their services include (but aren’t limited to):

• Sick visits
• Well-child visits
• Physical exams
• School physicals
• Sports medicine
• Preventive health care
• Women’s health care
• Men’s health care
• Geriatric care
• Vaccinations
• Medication management
• Weight loss management
• Chronic disease management
• Minor in-office procedures

You can also depend on your primary care provider to recommend a trusted, highly qualified specialist when needed.

What services might I receive through primary care?

The team at Harlandale Clinic makes it as easy and convenient as possible to get the health care you need. They run an on-site lab where they can draw blood and run tests while you’re in the office for your appointment.

You can also get an electrocardiogram (EKG) on-site. EKGs reveal the electrical signals traveling through your heart, making them essential for diagnosing the cause of chest pain, shortness of breath, and other symptoms of heart problems. Competitive athletes may also need EKGs as part of their sports physical.

What chronic diseases do primary care specialists manage?

Many chronic diseases can be prevented with lifestyle changes. After a disease develops, it can’t be cured with the treatments currently available. Instead of a cure, chronic diseases need lifelong management to prevent them from progressively worsening.

The team at Harlandale Clinic often helps patients manage chronic diseases such as:

• Arthritis
• Asthma
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Heart disease
• Chronic kidney disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

The goal of chronic disease management depends on the condition. If you have diabetes, the goal is to keep your blood sugar within the normal range. For heart disease, you need to maintain normal blood pressure and cholesterol.

To reach your individualized goal, your primary care provider creates a customized plan that may include a healthy diet, regular exercise, weight loss, and medications.

If you need a primary care provider, call Harlandale Clinic or book an appointment online today.