Fowler, California
Primary Contacts: Dr. Alex Sherriffs and Dr. Joan Rubinstein
A model medical and marriage partnership, this small rural practice recently affiliated as a rural health clinic of Selma Community Hospital. Devoted to their patients and their community, Drs. Sherriffs and Rubinstein have made their practice work by learning how to integrate their professional and personal lives and talking issues through together as a family. With a staff of one other physician and nine additional employees, Fowler Community Health Center now has an expanded ability to care for uninsured and underinsured patients through its affiliation with the local hospital, whose administrators largely share their values.
San Diego, California
Primary Contact: Dr. Tony Brown
As a new member of the staff of the UCSD Family Medicine Clinic in the Hillcrest area of San Diego, Dr. Brown draws upon his extensive experience in international settings. His diverse practice includes work as a hospitalist, providing care for HIV patients at the Owen Clinic, mentoring residents, and working at the outpatient family medicine clinic. Dr. Brown explains that family medicine is the one place where physicians can combine their interests in medicine, obstetrics and pediatrics in a way that no other specialty can offer. His patients value being able to see him both in the outpatient and inpatient setting.
Arcata, California
Primary Contact: Dr. Timothy Nicely
United Indian Health Services (UIHS) is a tribally-owned and governed organization that provides care to 15,000 Native Americans in northern California. Potawot Health Village, its new facility, consists of restored wetlands, buildings that incorporate traditional tribal design, a wellness garden and other cultural touch points. A member of the US Public Health Service, Dr. Timothy Nicely has served UIHS for the past 18 years, and strongly believes that the integration of American Indian culture into a modern health facility is part of his promise to his clients. Along with seven additional physicians, Dr. Nicely provides the full scope of family medicine to his patients, including Cesarean section deliveries.
Salinas, California
Primary Contact: Dr. Sumana Reddy
Along with her five physician colleagues, Dr. Sumana Reddy operates a thriving practice in a semi-rural area of central California. As a young physician, Dr. Reddy fulfills the roles of mother of two, wife of a businessman who travels extensively, and a leader in organized medicine-while functioning as the operations heart of her practice. With a new clinic recently opened, the five-year-old practice has expanded without losing sight of its most important value-devotion to patient care. As a young mother, Dr. Reddy advises, "You absolutely can deliver high quality family medicine and still have a rewarding and satisfying family life."
Santa Monica, California
Contact: Dr. Jodie Escobedo
Dr. Jodie Escobedo and three full-time physician colleagues are dedicated to practicing pediatric, adult and geriatric medicine in the urban area of Santa Monica. The four-year-old practice prides itself on combining the traditional bedside skills of the family physician with cutting edge information technology, including a fully functioning, completely electronic office. Poised for the future, this practice offers e-mail with patients, a website that can be used by patients for scheduling or by doctors for sending notices, an electronic health record, electronic ordering of prescriptions, labs and tests, and streaming patient education videos.
San Francisco, California
Primary Contact: Dr. Albert Yu
As the training site for 36 UCSF medical students annually, Dr. Yu and his 11 physician colleagues have a community-based academic faculty practice. The diverse faculty fulfills multiple roles-clinical, administration, education, research and community service. UCSF Lakeshore uses a team-based approach, an electronic health record, intra-office electronic communication, on-site advice nursing, and a university-wide centralized call center. Lakeshore is also the site of a variety of clinical research projects and a community-based primary care project to improve the health of adolescents living in the southwest corner of San Francisco.
Riverside, California
Primary Contact: Dr. Francis Chu
With 48 family medicine specialists in the diverse urban/suburban setting of Riverside, Dr. Chu and his colleagues offer sophisticated services to their Kaiser patients. There are systematic quality improvement efforts via HEDIS measures, case management reports for each physician and extensive patient education and support programs. Physicians are looking forward to the Kaiser electronic health record this year. With patients from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and as a leader with the Kaiser Asian Pacific American Network, Dr. Chu knows "it takes an extra effort to be sensitive to cross-cultural issues."
Merced, California
Primary Contact: Dr. David Araujo
Merced is home to the private practice of Merced Faculty Associates and the Family Medicine Residency Program of Mercy Medical Center Merced. The largest group practice in town, Merced Faculty Associates takes pride in the numerous outpatient and inpatient services it offers to the community. With 14 family physicians and eight physicians from other specialties, this multi-specialty practice trains 21 residents annually. Dr. Araujo, the residency program director, understands that teaching and mentoring residents is an integral part of this close-knit group, which practices the full spectrum of family medicine, including high risk obstetrics, Cesarean sections and other procedures.
About the Author/Consultant
Henrichs & Associates is a consulting firm specializing in medical and health organizations and issues. Kathleen R. Henrichs, PhD founded the firm after an 18-year career at the American Medical Association, where she was a Senior Vice President. In addition to authoring books on medical issues, Dr. Henrichs partners with associations to achieve high levels of excellence through strategic planning, organizational development, interim executive management, and board development. As past Executive Director of the American Medical Association Foundation, Dr. Henrichs also advises on non-profit strategies and governance issues. She can be reached at 847-869-2562 or krhenrichs@msn.com.
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