The Art of Healing
Dr. Stephen Soloway and his team at Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates help patients suffering from a wide range of ailments find relief through innovative and compassionate care.
When he first met Stephen Soloway, M.D., almost a decade ago, Sean Weiss already had more than 20 years of experience in health care as an advisor for physicians and hospital systems across the country. Still, even with his extensive background in the field, he had never come across anyone quite like Dr. Soloway.
Weiss is a partner and the vice president of strategic litigation support at DoctorsManagement LLC, a national consulting firm. He was hired as the chief compliance officer for Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates, the practice that Dr. Soloway founded in 1993, and quickly realized that one of the most respected rheumatologists in the United States is also one of its most compassionate.
“I got the opportunity to shadow him and observe how he treats patients and connects with them,” Weiss recalls. “I knew right away there was something special about him, and over the last eight years he’s become one of my closest if not one of my very best friends. Not only is he an incredible, brilliant doctor, but he’s one of the most caring and loving people I’ve ever been around.”
More and more people are getting to see that side of Dr. Soloway—a four-time board-certified physician in rheumatology and internal medicine—as his practice continues to grow. In addition to its original location in Vineland, Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates also has an office in Sicklerville and will soon open freestanding, ambulatory infusion centers in Woodstown, Cape May Courthouse and Linwood.
Operating in some of New Jersey’s poorest counties, such as Cumberland, Salem and Atlantic, is intentional, as Dr. Soloway believes that all people deserve excellent care for ailments like arthritis, osteoporosis, gout, lupus and more.
“His primary concern has always been to reach these patients who have been left behind,” Weiss says. “We have to make sure they don’t have to go to Pennsylvania or Delaware or Washington, D.C.—the highest-quality care is available to them right here in South Jersey.”
The flourishing practice includes three other doctors: renowned, Harvard-trained rheumatologist Mahboob Rahman, M.D.; Matthew Arkebauer, D.O.; and Dr. Soloway’s daughter, Alyxandra Soloway, M.D. Many of the medications they proscribe are biologics best delivered right into the patient’s bloodstream through infusion therapy.
Dr. Soloway was the first rheumatologist in the state to offer infusion in a private practice medical setting, and his practice is the only one in South Jersey with accreditation from the HRSA (Health Care Accreditation Council). At the flagship Vineland location, the state-of-the-art infusion center has 32 individual chairs and private suites for patients who are getting extended, hours-long treatment.
“We try to make them as comfortable as possible,” Weiss says. “Our registered nurses all came from the emergency department, the intensive care unit, the cardiac care unit or they worked in infusion prior to coming here, and most have 10 to 15 years of experience. We’re also hiring three to four new nurse practitioners so that we have the highest level of supervision at our infusion centers.”
Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates treats patients of all ages, including young athletes who may be experiencing joint pain as the result of overuse injuries. The practice also gets referrals from neurologists for migraines, from dermatologists for psoriasis, from gastroenterologists for Crohn’s disease and from ophthalmologists for thyroid eye disease.
Many patients have reached their 30s or 40s and accepted certain aches as the effects of aging, but they don’t have to live with that pain, and in fact can improve their quality of life significantly.
“This is one of the smallest subspecialties, so there are a lot of patients who don’t even know what rheumatologic medicine is,” Weiss says. “Mainstream medicine sees a joint problem and says, ‘Let’s get the patient to an orthopedic surgeon.’ There are so many brilliant orthopedic surgeons, but a surgeon’s role most times is to cut, and it’s appropriate when all conservative care for a chronic condition has been exhausted. Rheumatologists try to avoid that surgical intervention through conservative care.
“It’s pretty incredible to watch patients who have sought out primary care doctors, internists or infectious disease specialists and don’t know what else to do. Then they find Dr. Soloway and we get them on the road to recovery. They come here in tears because they can’t eat, they can’t sleep and they can’t walk. Then, over a short period of time, they get a life-changing experience of healing.”
Dr. Soloway and his team are excited for as many patients as possible to share in that feeling of relief.
“Our mission is to provide the highest quality of care in the most comfortable and caring environment by one of the nation’s most respected subspecialists,” Weiss says. “We’re going to continue to serve these medically underserved areas, because that’s our calling: to care for people and let them know they have options beyond what they’ve been told. Patients don’t have to have surgery out of gate and they don’t have to suffer. There are options that are available to them, and they’re right around the corner if you’re here in South Jersey.”
Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates
Multiple locations in South Jersey
(856) 794-9090
