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McCready Foundation Building a Healthy Community One Person at a Time
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Physicians
Introduction
Staff Physicians
Mike Atkins, MD
Becky Ilgen, PA-C
Jon R. Beacher, MD
Visiting Physicians

Atkins dispenses advice to Delmarva TV viewers

Viewers of WBOC-TV and its affiliate, FOX-21, had a chance in mid-November to ask McCready’s own Dr. Mike Atkins questions about strategies to cope with the upcoming flu season.

Dr. Mike AtkinsAtkins volunteered to represent McCready after the Salisbury TV station put out word it was looking for local health-care professionals to dispense advice during its early evening broadcasts on Nov. 12.

Since he works closely with older patients as a McCready Outpatient Center physician, Atkins fielded calls funneled to him from senior citizens.

But when anchorman Don Elkins interviewed Atkins with a question from a viewer with asthmatic children about inoculating them with an H1N1 vaccine, the father of six was ready with an answer.

He recommended children with that breathing condition receive an injection rather than a mild form of the live virus administered through a nasal mist.

During three half-hour news broadcasts, Atkins appeared on camera three times. His appearance provided McCready with richly deserved credit as a reliable front-line health-care provider on the Lower Shore.

TV stations are measured each November on how popular they are with viewers, so providing answers on a topical issue like H1N1 flu was a way for WBOC to interact with a potentially large audience. Atkins participation in the experts' panel also happened to fall in the middle of an historic Nor'easter, which the TV station devoted a great deal of resources covering as a news event. 

Atkins was not difficult to pick out; he sported a distinctive cranberry-red dress shirt. The morning-after buzz around McCready was Atkins “did us proud.”

Atkins, who grew up in Crisfield, took his Andy Warhol moment in stride – even after being teased he might be a good candidate for a guest-starring role on Grey’s Anatomy.