Pictured is Adebukola O. Abiola, Preston Healthcare medical director, in front of his newest office in Jamestown. The new office is located at 15 Fluvanna Ave. Abiola now specializes in behavioral medicine, functional medicine and travel medicine. P-J photo by Jordan W. Patterson

The name Preston is known to Adebukola O. Abiola as his father’s nickname, but to many potential Jamestown residents it may be just what they’ve been waiting for.

Abiola created Preston Healthcare in 2006 as a side practice and in 2012 he began full-time as the medical director. Now in February, his practice has expanded to Jamestown with hopes to help fight addiction, among other present issues.

Abiola was notified by patients who had been frequently traveling to Preston Medicine’s home office in Amherst that addiction was rampant in Chautauqua County. Abiola thought his practice could potentially reduce the problem in the area.

The new office is located at 15 Fluvanna Ave. The building is comprised of a waiting room, a reception area, a handicapped-accessible bathroom, two examine rooms, an administrative office and a laboratory room.

Abiola now specializes in behavioral medicine, functional medicine and travel medicine. Abiola said 85 to 90 percent of his patients visit his office for addiction and mental health reasons. The other 10 to 15 percent of his time is used to address functional and travel medicine.

“Behavioral medicine is an aspect of medicine that encompasses a lot things,” Abiola said. “It encompasses psychiatry on mental health, addiction, treatment for all forms of addiction, medication assisted treatment and psychotherapy.”

Abiola also believes his practice must remain “up-to-date” and ready to change.

“You have to be up-to-date, you have to study, you have to improve yourself. It comes with the territory,” he said of his relevancy in the medical field.

He is a diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine and the American Board of Family Medicine. He earned his medical degree from the College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin located in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Additionally, he is certified in Traveler’s Health by the International Society of Travel Medicine. Preston Healthcare’s website, prestonianhealth.com, features a biography of Abiola that lists his many certifications and accomplishments. Abiola also holds a certificate in opioid dependence treatment from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

Currently, Abiola is also undergoing a fellowship in psychiatry from the University of California.

“Things change and things change very fast in medicine,” he said of his continued education.

Prior to Preston Medicine, Abiola was working in Hamburg when first noticed a potential problem with over prescribing opioids in Western New York. In the three months he worked in Hamburg, he said he prescribed more pain reliever drugs than he did in a year when he worked in New York City.

From testimonies from patients, Abiola recently began visiting Chautauqua County to speak with local residents to discuss the drug problem. Eventually, Abiola decided his practice could potentially do some good in the area.

“All of our patients from (the region) come for treatment of addiction,” Abiola said of the patients traveling from Chautauqua County to Amherst.

For addiction of all kinds, Abiola typically uses medical assisted treatment and psychotherapy to help end an individual’s desire to use. Medical assisted treatment utilizes drugs like buprenorphine and methadone to help wean addicted people off of their drug of choice. Other medicines are used for different disorders.

Abiola believes that many individuals with an addiction problem typically have predisposed conditions that led them to drugs initially. Treating the pre-existing condition first helps end the addiction, he said.

“Once you treat those (predisposed) conditions, in most cases they get better,” he said.

Although Abiola is in Jamestown now and lived in the country since 1994, he is originally from Nigeria, Africa. He is one of 11 brothers and sisters, all from Nigeria. He came to the country in the early 1990s to practice medicine.

Abiola’s father, Samuel A. Abiola, nicknamed Preston, preached education – a lot. His father’s focus on education grew beyond just Abiola. Preston created a elementary school in Nigeria with only the equivalency of a high school education, Abiola said.

He believes his own success and the many successes of his 10 other brothers and sisters can be attributed to his father’s emphasis on education. All of Abiola’s siblings are college educated. Only behind God, Abiola said his father is his biggest influence. That influence is the reason Abiola’s current practice is named in memory of his father’s nickname, Preston.

Abiola learned the name Preston derives from the words “priest” and “town,” or “a place where priests live.” His interpretation of the name Preston means “the presence of God.”

Abiola has served many medical practices over his career, but he hopes his most recent venture can have a powerful impact on the county. Those who have been waiting for a medical practice like Preston Healthcare can call 564-3600 for help.