MCKINNEY — Under a large outdoor tent on a fittingly warm and breezy Tuesday afternoon -- the kind of pristine day that tends to promote a facile forgetfulness of issues related to health problems -- Dr. M. Akram Khan, director of the Cardiac Center of Texas, spoke matter-of-factly to more than 100 doctors and dignitaries gathered for the christening of The Center for Preventive Medicine North Texas.

“My job is a plumber,” Khan said. “I go and fix you guys and that’s not a job I’m proud of.”

Khan’s message was clear to those in attendance: He’d rather prevent medical problems than fix them.

In-depth blood work, extensive health history questionnaires exploring lifestyle habits and family health history, heart CT scans, ultrasounds – these are some of the tools the center will employ to uncover hidden medical troubles before they become life-threatening ailments.

Khan said national policy makers understand preventive medicine is the responsible solution to rising health costs and curtailing disease. The majority of health care dollars are being spent on interventions associated with acute and chronic diseases, Khan said, many of which could have been ameliorated to the tune of less money, not to mention discomfort and threat of death to the patient, had they been uncovered earlier during through preventative measures.

Khan referenced Bill Clinton – known to indulge in a cheeseburger or three -- as the perfect example of a healthcare system that does not do enough to avert potentially catastrophic, presymptomatic disease. As president, Clinton underwent routine health examinations that failed to uncover underlying diseased heart vessels that ultimately precipitated Clinton’s hospitalization in 2004 for quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery.

Tommy Thompson, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001-2005), also spoke at Tuesday’s gala grand opening. Thompson agreed with Khan’s assessment of the nation’s healthcare infrastructure citing growing rates of obesity, diabetes, and the dissolution of physical education curricula in public schools as signs that people are not getting the prevention message.

The Center for Preventative Medicine North Texas is located in the McKinney Arts Center across from the Medical Center of McKinney. It’s one of a growing list of centers sprouting up across Texas and the rest of the United States.