Having spent most of his career as a hospital administrator, Levi Stone is getting back to what he loves best — patient care.
Stone has worked in many administrative capacities at hospitals in Odessa. He recently formed The Stone Medical Group in the Conroe area and still works with Trinity Family Medicine with Jason Payne, Scott Stout and Dr. Clifford Jane.
“I’ve been a hospital administrator most of my days and got to the point where I was just ready to go back to patient care, so I went back to Texas Tech and got my nurse practitioner and I am now taking care of patients really all across the state of Texas,” Stone said in a telephone interview.
The Stone Medical Group provides Telehealth.
“We treat acute and chronic conditions like helping maintain and manage blood pressure. We follow up with diabetes and help coach and guide in terms of nutrition maintenance …,” Stone said.
With the telemedicine option, they treat acute and chronic diseases and illnesses. On the acute side, patients can take a home test for COVID or flu and if they get a positive result it keeps them from waiting around to be seen in an office.
“A lot of times you can’t be seen because urgent cares are full; primary care clinics are full. This gives that option just to be able to be seen in the convenience of their home, to take care of things like that on the acute care side,” Stone said.
To manage chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes and thyroid disorders, he can review patient labs.
“We’ll run labs at their location and we’ll have Telehealth conferences so I can see the patient. There are patients that have to be seen, and if we see that during the initial intake we’ll refer them to somebody that can see them, basically boots on the ground so we don’t miss anything,” Stone said.
Certain diseases, disorders and chronic health conditions we be taken care of via Telehealth.
The Stone Medical Group also provides hormone replacement therapy for men and women and the semaglutide weight loss option.
“We do that, but we kind of step it up a little bit by really helping with the nutrition and the coaching …,” Stone said.
They like to couple it with diet and lifestyle modification and “ensuring we’re getting on a pattern of being able to incorporate exercise programs. That’s kind of where the rubber meets the road,” Stone said.
With hormone replacement therapy, a thorough screening is conducted to make sure they are qualified candidates.
“There are certain conditions that prohibit you from being qualified for hormone replacement, but that’s where we would do our due diligence to make sure that we’ll safely administer that. …,” Stone said.
If you are a candidate, they will follow up with labs and symptom maintenance.
Along with Stone Medical Group, Stone works for a practice in the Conroe-Willis area, just north of Houston and south of Huntsville.
“It’s a very busy practice and I’ve (been) there since July of last year. That’s where my primary practice is working with Drs. Jeremy and Jason Laningham,” Stone said.
The telemedicine is something Stone is doing on his own to continue to keep up with the patients he saw before moving to the Houston area.
He continues to work with Trinity Family Medicine to see patients in West Texas area “and of course throughout Texas now we’ve kind of expanded that footprint.”
He has been enjoying patient care.
“When I first went to nursing school, this was my first, primary love … But my career paths took me in a different direction on the administrative side. I did that for a number of years, but always yearning to get back to the clinical aspect of it,” Stone said.
“Once I got my fill of being a hospital administrator, it’s like I’m going to do what I love. I went back to school. I’d already had most everything completed, I just had to complete those final items at Texas Tech and was able obtain my family nurse practitioner. It’s been great ever since. I love going to work. I have a renewed light and energy in my step and the wind in my sails,” he added.
Advanced practice nurses have prescriptive authority. They can diagnose and treat acute and chronic medical conditions. With prescriptive authority, they can order labs, diagnostic testing and medications.
“That way we can continue to manage the patients’ conditions based on their needs,” Stone said.
He added that in the area he’s in now, he sees about 25 patients a day. With The Stone Medical Group on the telemedicine side, it is just getting started.
“With Trinity, there are a few hundred patients that we see and with Stone Medical being added to that we’re continuing to grow that footprint especially in West Texas and then going into the Dallas fort worth area and then also into Houston,” Stone added.
Born in Andrews and raised in Odessa, Stone spent most of my life in the Midland-Odessa area. He moved to Houston in 2023 to be closer to family.
He still has connections in the area. His mother lives in Midland and his son attends Texas Tech University.
Stone said there’s no chance of him going back to healthcare administration.
“I got that T-shirt. I’ve done that; thankful for the experience. It’s definitely been good from a business model perspective … It’s nice to have those qualities and experiences under your belt, but what I do is now what I love and I wouldn’t go back to being a hospital administrator because what I do now is exactly where I need to be,” Stone said.
Stone earned his bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree in nursing with an emphasis on hospital administration and his family nurse practitioner certification from Texas Tech.
