Prominent Stockton physicians join
Gould Medical Group
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Craig Baize, Marketing, 521-6097 ext. 4023.
STOCKTON – July 31, 2009 – Sutter Gould Medical Foundation (SGMF) announced today that seven prominent Stockton physicians have joined Gould Medical Group, one of the area’s largest medical groups and a long-time leader in providing quality health care services in the Central Valley.
D. Scott Bethune, M.D., Craig Bottke, M.D., Jerry Crooks, M.D., Kevin Forsythe, M.D., Victor Macko, M.D., Kevin Mikaelian, M.D. and Ronald Robinson, M.D. will begin seeing patients as Gould Medical Group physicians beginning in August. The providers were formerly members of
Stockton Orthopedic Medical Group.
They will continue to see patients in their current facilities at 1901 N. California Street in Stockton until Sutter Gould opens its second medical office building, currently under construction at the Stockton Medical Plaza on Hammer Lane and Don Avenue. Construction is on schedule and the building is slated to open in December.
“These orthopedists are very well known in the Stockton community, and we are excited to have them join our Group,” said Bruce Tigner, chief operations officer for Sutter Gould’s San Joaquin County service area. “They add to our group of specialists, and provide a broader spectrum of services that we can offer to residents in this part of the valley.”
In addition to the orthopedists, SGMF has hired their support staff of over 20 employees.
Office operations will be assumed by Sutter Gould Medical Foundation. SGMF provides administrative support, management services, and medical staff support for over 230 physicians in the Central Valley, freeing doctors to focus more time on patient care.
“We are very excited about joining such a fine organization in Sutter Gould Medical Foundation,” said Dr. Kevin Mikaelian, “and we look forward to a long-lasting relationship in serving our community.”
SGMF, growing in Stockton, Lodi and Tracy, is also adding physicians in other specialties. Recently, Dr. Ajitpal Sethi (Hospitalist) and Dr. Juan Sarti (Anesthesiologist) joined the group in Stockton. This month, Dmitri Gelfand, M.D. (Vascular Surgery), James Ngo, M.D. and Tatyana Sarkisova, M.D. (Family Medicine) began in Stockton, while Priya Kandaswamy, M.D. (Family Medicine) started in Lodi, and Nejat Jalisi, M.D. (Family Medicine) and Olga Thorne, M.D. (OB/Gyn) began in Tracy.
Others are scheduled to join later this year in Urology, Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. “We look forward to offering greater choices for our SJ County patients with the services all located at the Stockton Medical Plaza,” said Tigner. “We believe our patients in the Stockton area benefit from the convenient one-stop location.”
With all of these additions, SGMF now has physician services in 14 specialties in San Joaquin County and an expanded menu of services. In May of this year, SGMF opened the Stockton Surgery Center, a 12,000 square foot facility that provides space for specialists in orthopedics, gynecology, pain management, urology, and general and vascular surgery. Features include three operating rooms, two procedure rooms, a 6-bed pre-op area and a 14-bed post-op recovery area. There is a private check-in area and a waiting area with wireless internet service and a flat-screen television for patients and their families.
Sutter Gould Medical Foundation is a leader in outpatient medical care in the Central Valley. The health care organization uses technology including electronic health records, which provide Gould physicians’ immediate access to a patient’s medical history and immediate review of results from diagnostic tests. Sutter Gould also uses PACS, a filmless picture archiving and communications system that allows Gould radiologists to share digital images and diagnoses electronically between locations.
SGMF operates care centers throughout San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties, and is an affiliate of Sutter Health, one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit networks of community health care providers, provides health care services to the residents of more than 100 Northern California communities. Sutter Health supports 26 locally operated acute care hospitals, as well as physician training programs, medical research facilities, home health, hospice and occupational health services.
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