Celebrating Dr. Mugharbil's 20 years of service

Former patients arrived early before the anniversary party began on a Friday afternoon. The doctor was still seeing patients, but these visitors wanted to be first in line to thank the man who saved a loved one's life.

"He would not be here if it wasn't for Dr. Mugharbil," a former patient's wife said as she pointed to her husband. "Dr. Mugharbil is the reason my husband is alive and well today."

Comments like these flowed through the crowded room during the festive afternoon of August 24 as Urologist Ziyad Mugharbil, MD and his wife Biba greeted patients, friends, hospital staff, board members and fellow physicians from 2:00 - 4:00 in his officewaiting room.

Dr. Mugharbil smiled humbly and somewhat sheepishly as patients rendered praise and sincere thanks for his friendship as well as his 20 years of medical service to the community. Operating room staff and nurses laughed and reminisced with Dr. Mugharbil about the early days and the team efforts to findresources for patient care.

Earlier in the week, Dr. Mugharbil talked about the difficultstart of his practice at Murphy Medical Center on August 11, 1987.

"I had to borrow money from the hospital to start my practice," he recalled, smiling. "My officehad no furniture, so I borrowed a table and some chairs from the hospital cafeteria. I hired one employee to help me."

At that time, the operating room only had two employees. Times were tough and the hospital was struggling to serve the community while financially in the red In addition to his urology surgeries, Dr. Mugharbil assisted now retired Dr. Shiva Rao, who was the hospital's general surgeon.

"I assisted in delivering babies and caesarian sections. We all pulled together and did what we could to serve the needs of the community."

Within three months, Dr. Mugharbil's expertise as a surgeon was noted in the North Carolina tri-county area as well as north Georgia and eastern Tennessee areas. Patients began to flowinto his officefor assistance. The borrowed cafeteria tables and chairs were returned. Dr. Mugharbil's practice was thriving.

Since that time, Dr. Mugharbil has provided a significantservice that helped the hospital gain financial strength over the years. Murphy Medical Center is now the largest employer in the Tri-County area.

"Most of that growth and stability is the result of excellent leadership from CEO Mike Stevenson and the Murphy Medical Center Board of Directors," emphasizes Dr. Mugharbil.

Dr. Mugharbil has performed thousands of surgical procedures in his officeas well as scheduled and emergency surgeries in Murphy Medical Center's operating room. He brought back to the area innovative bladder repairs, surgical relief for male incontinence, and cancer surgery for the kidney and prostate.

Lithotripsy, a technique that uses shock waves to break up stones that form in the kidney, bladder, and ureters, is a common treatment that Dr. Mugharbil brought to the area. Other procedures include radical prostatectomy, penile implants, ultrasound techniques for prostate problems, female incontinence and bladder prolapse.

"I helped many patients with cancer get treated here locally in the past 20 years," Dr. Mugharbil stated. "My patients are important to me and I care deeply for them. I will always do whatever I can to safely allow my patients to be treated

locally instead of having to travel long distances."

The respect Dr. Mugharbil has for his patients goes beyond his officeand into the friendly and professional atmosphere of the hospital.

"I enjoy working here at Murphy Medical Center. I feel like it is a healthy atmosphere and it is a pleasure to live in this beautiful area and work at this hospital."

Dr. Mugharbil's family is his pride and joy. He and Biba have four active sons. They have a mini-farm in Clay County where they enjoy raising sheep, gardening, and cutting hay. They donate the wool from the sheep to Martha Owen, who uses some of the wool for knitting classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School. The family also enjoys lake activities together.

As the anniversary celebration winds down, a patient lingers in the hallway by Dr. Mugharbil's office.She tells few visitors standing with her a story.

"I took my husband all the way to Emory Hospital in Atlanta to see an urologist," she explains. "The doctor asked us where we were from. When we told him Murphy, North Carolina, he asked us why in the world we drove all the way to Atlanta to see an urologist when Murphy had Dr. Mugharbil - one of the best urologists you could findanywhere."

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