Got A Headache? WRMC Can Help

As continues in its quest to recruit world-class medical professionals to Walton County, the hospital announced the addition of neurologist Dr. Juan Lacayo to its active medical staff. Lacayo opened Alcovy Neurology next to the current hospital last week, but has plans to move to the new campus when it’s ready.

With a specialty in neurology, Lacayo said chronic headaches sufferers are a big part of his patient base. He also focuses on sleep disorders, something he said the lifestyle in America helps foster.

“Although I grew up here, I was born in Nicaragua and that is more of a siesta-type, slower pace of life where they take more time to relax,” Lacayo said. “Also with food being such a big part of life here, there is an increased risk for sleep apnea and snoring.”

Lacayo said he chose to move to Walton County because, although he has practiced in large cities, he prefers the small town doctor-patient relationship that exists in a closer community.

“I want to be able to see my patients in the streets,” Lacayo said. “I don’t want just a strict doctor relationship. I want to also be able to be friends with the people in the community, but be able to give them the service when they need a doctor.”

Lacayo said he is happy to be able to contribute to the new hospital WCRMC is currently building.

“Since it’s the only hospital in Walton County it’s important that we make it a good offering,” he said.

Lacayo said he chose a career in medicine as a child after seeing how a doctor could help improve people’s health and benefit the community.

“I became a neurologist because the brain allows us to move, see, feel and think,” Lacayo said. “Although injuries to the brain are often permanent, the brain is amazing in its ability to heal and to reorganize - that fascinates me.”

Lacayo relocated to Walton County from Anchorage, Alaska where he served as a U.S. Air Force neurologist at Elmendorf Air Force Base Hospital.

“Anchorage has 200,000 people, but it still has a kind of small-town feel,” Lacayo said.

Although he has moved in from the colder Alaska weather, heat is not something new to Lacayo, having spent time in Georgia and in Florida. He said he is, in a sense, moving back home since his mother and two sisters also live in Georgia now. Lacayo and his wife, Abby - who was his “elementary school sweetheart” - have two little girls and live in Monroe.

“Just 13 minutes door-to-door to the hospital,” Lacayo said, adding his one daughter is 21 months old and the other just a week old.

Lacayo said he is still in the process of moving in and is mainly treating in-patients at the hospital at the moment, but he hopes to also be able to build up his private practice.

Lacayo is board certified in neurology and is board eligible in sleep medicine in October. His training includes: undergraduate at Georgia Southern University, medical school and internship at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, and a residency of neurology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.   

In his practice, Lacayo will offer Neurology Services that include:

• Evaluation and Management of All Neurological Disorders
• Outpatient Neurology Consultation
• Inpatient Neurology Consultation
• Evaluation and Management of Sleep-Related Neurological and Breathing Disorders
• EEG interpretation
• Nerve Conduction Testing and Electromyography
• Botox injections (for chronic migraines) and Trigger Point Injections
• Web-based Patient Access for Self-Scheduling of appointments and for receiving some test results

Lacayo is also fluent in Spanish.

“Dr. Lacayo is a wonderful addition to the Medical Staff here at Walton Regional Medical Center,” said JT Barnhart, Walton Regional Medical Center CEO.   

Alcovy Neurology accepts most insurance plans and began accepting new patients Aug. 1.  Call 678-635-8682 for an appointment or visit www.alcovyneurology.com.