How does a modest, 6-room dermatology practice grow into a 14-going-on15-location force for healthy skin across Northeast Ohio? It wasn’t easy, but the team efforts of everyone here at Apex Skin made this labor of love happen to create a modern, innovative dermatology practice that can serve more people more quickly and more effectively, providing personalized care, respect, and healthy skin everyone deserves. Apex Skin has always provided same-day dermatology appointments to make sure we can catch and treat things like skin cancer quickly to save lives.
Take a look at how Apex Skin’s modern dermatology story started, where it’s going, and how our patients inspire everything we do.
From our central advanced dermatology mission statement: “We transform lives through healthy skin” everything else has developed. “Apex Skin is a comprehensive medical practice, specializing in medical, surgical, and aesthetic dermatology,” says Dr. Garcia. “Basically, we provide a one-stop shop for all your skin care needs. We have board-certified dermatologists who are transforming lives every day by identifying skin cancers, getting patients relief from chronic skin conditions, clearing acne, treating rashes, and much more. We also have state-of-the-art aesthetics to help our patients look and feel their best.”
As he was starting his journey as a dermatologist in Northeast Ohio, Dr. Garcia explained why he decided the area needed such a practice:
Canale, our regional operations manager, remembers Apex Skin’s early days and how even then, Dr. Garcia’s passion for centering the patient’s needs first shaped everything that has followed:
“When I began my journey at Apex 14 years ago on Valentine’s Day, I vividly remember entering as a student in need of six weeks of clinical hours to complete my Medical Assistant program. Dr. Garcia, our founder and president, was the sole dermatology provider, specializing in General Dermatology, Mohs Surgery, and Aesthetics. It was an enriching experience to assist in all three areas. I will always recall his explanation of why he chose the name ‘Apex’—defined as the “top or highest part of something,” which represented his aspiration for Apex to achieve excellence in patient care.”
From that small, 6-room practice, Dr. Garcia’s vision to bring the best dermatology care to patients when and where they need it, Apex Skin has expanded to 14 (soon to be 15) locations to make it easier for patients to get to a same-day dermatology appointment to address their skin health concerns as efficiently as possible.
A big part of Dr. Garcia’s passion for service to the community by expanding access to high-quality dermatology services is that he is a veteran. Service is part of his DNA, and he has always been coming up with ways to give back. He created the Purple Heart Project to offer free scar revisions to veterans injured on active duty, and Apex Skin offers free skin cancer screenings to the NEO community in honor of Melanoma Monday, which is coming up in May.
Dr. McKeen expands on Apex Skin’s patient-centered mission by explaining the concept of “360-degree” patient care: “Each provider at Apex treats their patients as unique individuals,” she says. “We work with our patients to understand their goals and help them achieve them. With our dynamic team of dermatologists, dermatologic advanced practice providers, Mohs Surgeons, dermatopathologists, aesthetics providers, and our clinical research arm, we can offer our patients a complete 360-degree approach to their care.”
That 360-degree approach to skin health allows for more effective treatments that prioritize accessibility, inclusivity, and prevention. Some examples of our advanced, innovative dermatology options for patients now include:
In earlier years, treatments for common, but troubling conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis were often simplistic, providing the bare minimum of relief, and focusing on topical ointments and basic hygiene practices.
Today, Apex provides patients with real answers to their skin conditions, including a broader range of targeted treatments, non-invasive cosmetic procedures like laser therapy and phototherapy, and also an internal clinical research team responsible for actually finding and trying new, more effective treatments that can give more lasting, targeted relief to patients with all kinds of skin conditions.’
“The Apex Clinical Research Center is an exciting development for patients,” says Dr. McKeen. “This enables them to be considered for access to new therapeutic options when existing therapies are not working or insurance costs have limited the patients’ availability to medication.”
The Apex team has always focused on building a strong foundation starting with in-house Mohs surgery and clinical research because we wanted to become a trusted institutional resource for our patients. Of course, in the earlier years, it was hard to be as speedy in providing these services as we wanted to be, so our growth has focused heavily on being able to provide service now to patients.
So, today, as the company has grown, we’ve been able to provide prompt, increased support and expertise in diagnosing and treating skin conditions. That means patients don’t have to wait for weeks to get an appointment or a diagnosis. They don’t have to wait days for treatment to begin. We can get people in for same-day dermatology appointments where we can diagnose and begin treatment that day.
We also place a strong emphasis on patient-centered care, individualized treatment plans, attentive communication, and patient education. This is the “rock star treatment” Dr. Garcia has always baked into the practice.
If we can help patients avoid skin conditions or complications, we absolutely believe this is the way to go. We place significant emphasis on preventative care, especially with conditions like skin cancer. Public awareness campaigns about sun protection, early skin cancer detection, and routine skin checks have become integral parts of Apex Skin’s mission to support the community. We also host an annual free SPOT Check screening for patients in 15 cities across Northeast Ohio to expand that reach to help more people prevent skin cancer, or catch it early, when it’s easier to treat so we can save lives.
Apex Skin also now offers its own line of clean skincare products that we, as dermatologists, have vetted and tested, so our patients can confidently use them to improve and enhance the health of their largest organ.
Apex Skin believes that this seamless blend between medical dermatology and cosmetic dermatology best serves our patients’ needs to have healthy skin that helps them feel confident, inside and out. Aesthetic services like Botox, chemical peels, and dermal fillers are now commonplace, and many of our dermatologists are trained in both medical and cosmetic treatments. This shift reflects a growing interest in improving not just the health of the skin but the appearance as well. This recognition that skin health is both medical and aesthetic aligns with our 360-degree approach to skincare. Apex Skin can meet all of your skincare needs at a location closest to you.
Today, we have a greater understanding of how skin conditions manifest and respond to treatment differently across various ethnicities and skin types. Apex Skin’s advancements in clinical research have enabled more personalized treatments tailored to the unique needs of individuals with diverse skin tones and backgrounds.
We also have bilingual care with Spanish-speaking dermatology providers who can offer patients top-notch dermatology services in their preferred language, helping them feel welcome, comfortable, and well-educated about their skin health and treatment options in easy-to-reach clinics all around the area.
“Everybody deserves access to excellent dermatology care,” says Dr. Garcia. “It’s our privilege to offer our expertise to communities that need us.”
As Apex Skin has grown its footprint across Northeastern Ohio, we’ve made a point of making it as easy as possible for patients to get access to easy scheduling and same-day dermatology appointments.
“It’s very important for us to allow our patients easy access to our team’s expert care, which includes same-day appointments and short wait times,” says Dr. McKeen. “Our providers are passionate about excellence in patient care and are committed to being available to our community. We have implemented changes in our offices that enable our clinical team to spend more direct time with the patient and facilitate clinic flow at the same time.”
Canale agrees that same-day dermatology appointments have always been important at Apex Skin:
Dr. McKeen says one of the reasons Apex Skin has been able to expand dermatology throughout Northeast Ohio with uniformly high standards is the expectation of rigorous training for all of our providers. “We’ve also implemented our own training program, where we teach advanced practice providers how to practice dermatology with skill, compassion, and excellence,” she says. “So we have more new providers, expertly trained, who join our practice.”
Educating our patients and the surrounding community has always been an important priority for the Apex Skin team. In addition to expanding our services and locations over the years, we’ve made a point of going out into the community, hosting events, participating in community gatherings, and other ways of getting the word out about preventing skin conditions and keeping healthy skin. Our Melanoma Monday program and SPOT Check screenings are just a couple of examples.
“In our offices, we discuss what to look for in your skin and appropriate steps to prevent future damage,” explains Dr. McKeen. “We are very active in the community with educational programs on various topics at locations such as nursing homes, community centers, and high schools. We also provide many free skin cancer screenings and SPOT Checks across the community throughout the year. One of our most popular screening events is Melanoma Monday which takes place in May at all of our locations, where patients can get suspicious spots evaluated at no cost.”
Apex Skin’s ability to meet patients where they are is a team effort borne of a sense of service, excellence in patient care, and providing the complete suite of skin health and well-being services, including:
Apex selects top-notch, well-trained dermatology professionals from across the medical and cosmetic dermatology spectrum and provides them with additional, ongoing training that empowers them to provide excellent patient care every day.
Of course, Apex Skin, our dermatology providers, and our patients have had to grapple with challenges in the past few years, not the least of which was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Strategizing how to continue providing essential dermatology care throughout that experience is something Dr. Garcia often reflects back on now.
“As an essential healthcare service, we stayed open throughout, but everything was impacted,” he says. “We had to pivot on some of our growth strategies and focus on the basics of providing excellent dermatology care. We did that as a group and then were able to continue with growth after that.”
Expanding from one location to 15 locations throughout Northeast Ohio has been a real journey for us for our team, and our patients.
As regional operations manager, Ashlee Canale has seen it all from the beginning, from our first patients to multiple generations in the same family coming in for care.
All of that growth has been down to caring deeply about our patients and their families and helping them reach their skin health goals. This commitment to patient care has earned Apex Skin many prestigious awards, including:
But the best prize, as Dr. Garcia says, is families and generations of patients trusting us with their dermatology care: “We truly care about each patient and will be there for you on any skin journey. One of my favorite things to see is whole families of all generations at Apex. Earning that trust means a lot to me. I like to say that at Apex, our patients are patients for life!”
“I know we will continue to grow, and I look forward to positively impacting many more patients in our area,” says Dr. Garcia. “We will continue curing skin cancers, working toward new treatments in clinical research, helping people lose weight and get healthier with our new GLP offering, and so much more.”
If you have any skincare concerns, want to look your best, check a suspicious spot, erase wrinkles, or just learn more about having healthier skin in general, schedule a same-day dermatology appointment with the Apex Skin team closest to you today. We look forward to walking with you on your skin health journey!
Dr. Garcia-Zuazaga graduated from Marquette University with a degree of Biomedical Engineering. In college he earned a prestigious National Science Foundation scholarship and served as President of the Latin American Student Association. From Milwaukee, he moved to Ames, Iowa, where he completed his Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. It was his work with artificial heart valves that led him to consider a career in medicine.
Dr. McKeen is originally from South Bend, Indiana. She completed her undergraduate years at Ball State University, and as a chemistry/pre-medicine double major, won awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Performance in Chemistry.
Dr. McKeen attended medical school at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she was one of two students in her graduating class to receive the Academic Achievement Award.
