Central Illinois patients with difficult to control high blood pressure may benefit from a new hypertension clinic at SIU Medicine, 751 N. Rutledge, Springfield.

Patients who must take multiple medications, find it difficult to control their high blood pressure or are concerned they may have a secondary cause for their hypertension are urged to contact the new clinic, which will take appointments on Wednesday and Thursdays. The clinic will provide comprehensive hypertension services, including 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring studies, non-invasive measures of heart and vascular function, non-invasive measures of body composition and the ability to screen for uncommon forms of hypertension.

“Our goal is to assist our patients in achieving lower blood pressure with the fewest possible number of medications, manage resistant hypertension and identify diet and exercise programs that may help better control high blood pressure and maximize our patients’ health,” said John M. Flack, MD, MPH, director of the newly formed hypertension clinic and professor and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. “Whether patients are referred to us by a specialist or their primary care physician, or they simply decide on their own that they need additional help controlling their blood pressure, we are dedicated to providing our patients with the best options for treatment – in partnership with their current physician team.”

Flack is an American Society of Hypertension (ASH)-certified clinical hypertension specialist and serves as the vice president of the ASH Hypertension Specialist Board. Among his many honors, he has been repeatedly named a “Top Doctor” by the Who’s Who Global Directory and Academic Physician of the Year by Oklahoma University School of Medicine. In 2009, Detroit News named him Michiganian of the Year.

Nearly one in three U.S. adults (29 percent) has high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only about half of people with high blood pressure have it under control. Hypertension is a treatable cause of shortened lifespan, stroke, heart and kidney failure, and heart attack.

To make an appointment at the hypertension clinic, call 217-545-8000.