Published: October 08, 2007 01:16 pm      

LOCKPORT: Family opening a medical spa downtown

They’re a doctor and a nurse, husband and wife and, now, business partners.

Lockport physician Dr. Richard Junke and Suzanne Junke, a registered nurse with a lengthy career at Lockport Memorial Hospital, are opening Rejuvenere Medical Spa next month at Ulrich City Centre.

The spa, in the works for over a year, is a family business anchored in reputation and roots.

“People trust Rich. I think we’ll do well just because of that,” Suzanne Junke said.

Dr. Junke has practiced family medicine for 16 years. Suzanne is equally familiar in local health care, having worked at LMH for more than 25 years in the emergency room and the surgical recovery room.

The Junkes both lived and worked in Lockport all their lives and say they’re excited to be new-business pioneers in the “new” downtown, especially since two of their four daughters will be joining them.

Suzanne will be the business administrator, daughter Maureen will be the receptionist and daughter Erin may take her first nursing job at Rejuvenere after she receives her degree.

“The family is coming together to work on this. It’s fun,” Richard Junke said.

Rejuvenere Medical Spa will specialize in skin rejuvenation services that Junke has been offering for several years in his High Street office, including: Botox Cosmetic and dermal filler injections; treatment of acne and precancerous skin conditions; and laser hair removal. Williamsville-based plastic surgeon Dr. Bruce Cusenz will work from the spa once a week.

Typical day spa features such as facials, massage therapy and skin care products will be offered, but the greater emphasis is on medical needs, Junke said.

Light/laser treatments and injected substances like Botox and Juvederm are considered safer, less invasive alternatives to plastic surgery, but they still require medical supervision — and that’s where he comes in. Junke plans to work a couple days a week at the spa while maintaining his practice unchanged.

“I love medicine too much to give it up,” he said. “I love my patients too much.”

It is, in fact, his patients who inspired Junke to open the medical spa, he said.

Junke has long had a clinical interest in skin health. When he was a doctor-in-training and the time came to pick a specialty, he thought about becoming a plastic surgeon, but he didn’t want to ask his growing family to bear seven years of required residency. For them, he chose family medicine, which had a shorter residency, instead.

Along the way, Junke found he could still help people solve common skin problems — acne, sun damage, effects of aging, etc. — just by being their regular doctor.

Medical treatment of acne, for instance, has patients “finding their faces look better than they have in years,” Junke said. Pre-cancerous skin conditions — brown spots, red spots or raised veins — can be eliminated with intense pulse light (IPL) therapy that also is cosmetically pleasing because it doesn’t leave scars.

With IPL, he said, “We’re getting amazing results, better than I’ve seen in 16 years of practice.”

The number of referrals he’s made to out-of-town specialists got him thinking about a need for services at home, Junke said. He admits he hasn’t done any market studies to gauge Rejuvenere’s chances for success; he’s just going on general observations about a growing industry and trusting his concept will work.

“I think my patients asking me (for referrals) is some evidence of demand. They know what I’m doing and they’re very excited to know they can stay in Lockport. They’re comfortable knowing me,” he said.

Rejuvenere appears to be entering the market intent on serving a clientele bigger than Junke’s Lockport base alone, though. Junke recently acquired a Lumenis IPL and Laser machine, which he calls the “Cadillac” of its type and says is the only one in operation in Western New York.

“It kind of separates me from the rest of the market,” Junke said. “It allows me to provide my patients the best treatments that I can.”

Junke has received some training from Dr. Mark Youssef of Santa Monica, Calif., a nationally renowned cosmetic surgeon. Youssef may be coming here in mid-October to provide advanced training to a multi-state group of cosmetic specialists, Junke said.

“It’s kind of like Dr. 90210 right here in Lockport,” he joked. “It’s neat.”

Rejuvenere is set to open Nov. 6 at 80 Main St., Suite 1 (next door to YWCA Fitness Center). A grand opening celebration is planned for Nov. 10. For more information or an appointment, call 433-0086.

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.