When the office of Dr. M. Javed Akhtar closed in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had no idea that it would not reopen.
The ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT), who has been practicing in Bradford Regional Medical Center’s Medical Arts Building at 195 Pleasant St., said the office initially shut down on a temporary basis. Akhtar just recently learned that he will not be able to continue to practice at BRMC due to financial losses the hospital experienced during the shutdown.
“I never had a proper chance to say good-bye,” he said.
Before moving closer to his two grown children, Akhtar had a message for the community: Thank you for “making us feel comfortable and at home, making us feel like part of the community.”
Akhtar moved to Bradford in January 1982, and it was here that both his son and daughter were born and raised.
“I will always consider Bradford as home. So will my children,” he said.
Bradford, Akhtar said, is a very good place to raise children, and he is “blessed” that his children grew up learning small-town values.
“No matter where you go, you take the community sense with you,” he said.
While not a financially well-off city, Bradfordians have big hearts and take care of underprivileged people in a way residents of other cities don’t, he explained.
“I think Bradford is undersold in many ways as a community,” Akhtar said, explaining that it is the people in a place that “really make a community great.”
Residents of Bradford are “loving, compassionate, generous, very respectful,” he said.
During his time here, Akhtar made a point to give back.
Other than the medical care he provided, he has been active in the community through membership in the Bradford Rotary Club and service at the Friendship Table. The Rotary Club actively supports organizations such as CARE for Children, Futures Rehabilitation Center and Evergreen Elm. An annual Rotarian golf tournament started several years ago by Akhtar raises money for the community.
Both of his children live in northern Virginia, so Akhtar and his wife are moving there to be near them — and any future grandchildren. His daughter is a pediatrician who is on the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University and his son works for the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon.
He plans to join a Rotary Club in the area where he is moving.
Akhtar said his patients are now being referred to an ENT in Olean, N.Y., who is affiliated with Olean General Hospital.
He believes the plan is to have Dr. Paul Tinsley come to Bradford one or two days beginning in a few weeks, as soon as his Pennsylvania credentials are in order. Tinsley’s office will be located at 195 Pleasant St.
Akhtar noted that BRMC is “gradually opening” after many services were stopped due to the threat of COVID-19, with elective surgeries starting and primary care/family doctors seeing more patients.
“We just hope and pray that the hospital makes it through this tough time,” he said, adding that most rural hospitals are experiencing the same financial hardships right now.
While Akhtar does not plan to work in a new practice in Virginia, he will offer his services for short-term periods, such as to help doctors who are on vacation. He said if BRMC called him and wanted him to fill in for Tinsley during a vacation, he is “always happy to come back here.”
