When Dr. Frederick Facey opened his storefront medical practice in Glendale 87 years ago, there was no penicillin to fight infection, he had no ability to see a baby inside an expectant mother’s womb, nor any machines designed to detect abnormalities in breast tissue. What he did have was a relationship with his patients.

If Dr. Facey dreamed that all of those medical advancements he lacked would eventually be brought to three Southern California valleys, what he probably could not foresee was that relationship would still stand out as the best weapon for fighting disease.

And nowhere is it more evident than at Facey Medical Group’s Canyon Country office, says Dr. Daniel Lewis, an internal medicine specialist and former regional director for Facey. “Canyon Country has been a model for patient satisfaction scores,” he says. “The patients tend to like their Canyon Country doctors better than at other facilities.”

To get that kind of feedback about patient care, Facey administers patient satisfaction surveys. Last year, 60 of each physician’s patients completed telephone surveys, where they reviewed aspects of their primary medical doctor’s care.

It is the personal, one-on-one aspect of medicine that invites positive feedback. “The interaction with the elderly females – they treat me like I’m their son – the outpouring of gifts for my kids,” Dr. Lewis shares, as examples.

One of his patients brings Dr. Lewis handfuls of stuffed toys that she gets from mastering the coin-operated “claw machines” found in restaurants. Another patient, despite being an avid Green Bay Packers fan, often brings in Internet clippings about the Washington Redskins, Dr. Lewis’ favorite team.

The internist’s face lights up when he describes these personal relationships – like his oldest patient, who is 106 years old…and the couple in their 90s who told him they have been married for over 70 years.



“I’ve said this at the Board level, and to anyone who would listen, the Canyon Country population is the best in all of Facey,” explains Dr. Lewis. “They listen to their doctors. They ask great questions. They’re intelligent.”

Canyon Country, Facey’s third largest site, has 13 doctors – one is an ophthalmologist and two are gerontologists. The practice also has two nurse practitioners and two educators – a dietician and a diabetic education specialist. Individual sessions and classes are offered at the Canyon Country site covering such topics as anti-coagulation, weight loss and diabetes.

“It works from the physicians down,” says Leslie Holland, director of patient care at Facey Canyon Country. “There’s a wonderful camaraderie here…it’s a team effort. They really want the staff to be educated, to be a part of the process.”

Doctors are schooled in technology when changes and equipment updates occur. “Now everything’s digital, so the doctors have results quicker, in radiology, for instance,” Holland says.

In fact, a recent priority for Facey has been to decrease the wait times for patients with x-ray and mammogram results pending.

With a presence in Canyon Country for over 25 years, Facey Medical Group has come a long way. There are new doctors and expanded hours, but efforts toward greater patient satisfaction seem to come back to Dr. Facey’s original modus operandi…relationship.