'Dedicated' Doc Will Still Make House Calls

Whether it is battling fires or battling a cold, James Lampariello is in the business of helping people.

Lampariello, a lifelong Wayne resident, practices medicine at Alps Family Physicians and he is a staff member at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center. He has also been a volunteer firefighter with Company No. 4 for 21 years.

“I always wanted to be both a doctor and a firefighter,” Lampariello said. “When it comes down to it, you’re doing both jobs to help somebody, although the job of being a firefighter is a much more physical one and you have to clam other people down when they are under stress. It’s very easy to blend the two.”

Lampariello goes about his vocational work by a very simple credo.

“I treat people the way I would want to be treated,” Lampariello said. “I listen to the patient. I try to find out who they are, not just what their problem is. You’re not treating the problem, you’re treating the patient.”

Lampariello living and growing up in Wayne seemingly gives him an advantage in treating his patients. It also makes Lampariello enjoy his job more.

“Being able to take care of people you grew up with, that’s so great,” Lampariello said. “Knowing families for generations and being able to take care of people’s grandparents it is incredible.”

It is in those relationships that make Lampariello able to help others more effectively than if he didn’t know his clients.

And, like doctors from only a few generations ago, Lampariello still makes house calls when necessary.

As a firefighter, he also makes another kind of house call when the need arises.

“I try not to intervene on the medical side of it when I’m at a scene,” Lampariello said. “The Wayne First Aid Squad already does a great job of that.”

For his efforts Lampariello, was named the 2012 New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians’ Family Physician of the Year by the St. Joseph's Healthcare System. Lampariello is a member of the staff at .

"[He] is a wonderful example of [a] dedicated and passionate physician," said Daniel Kline, site administrator of St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital. 

“Growing up, doctors had established relationships with people and their families,” Lampariello said. “Getting to know people over the long term, it allows you to better care for a patient. To know what’s going on in their lives that might affect their health, that makes a huge difference when treating somebody.”

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.