Prominent Lodi physicians join Gould Medical Group

December 22, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sutter Gould Medical Foundation to assume office operations at additional Lodi location

LODI – Sutter Gould Medical Foundation (SGMF) announced that six prominent Lodi 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.

James K. Ahern, M.D., Robert Howen, M.D., Jane Maloney, M.D., Carol Nakashima, M.D., Leslie Sackschewsky, M.D., and Philip Dodd, M.D. will begin seeing patients as Gould Medical Group physicians beginning later this month. The providers were formerly members of Lodi OB/Gyn Medical Group. Nurse practitioner Michelle Smith, NP, will also join Gould.

They will continue to see patients in their current facilities at 999 S. Fairmont Avenue, in suites 200, 205 and 235 in Lodi.

“The affiliation of these established physicians with our organization broadens our existing medical group and expands the medical specialties available to San Joaquin County residents through Sutter Gould Medical Foundation,” said James Conforti, the Foundation’s chief executive officer. “We look forward to having them on board offering their clinical expertise and enhancing clinical integration at Sutter Gould.”

Office operations will be assumed by Sutter Gould Medical Foundation. SGMF provides administrative support, management services, and medical staff support for over 200 physicians in the Central Valley, freeing doctors to focus more time on patient care.

SGMF has additional Family Medicine and Internal Medicine physicians practicing in the same medical building at 999 S. Fairmont Avenue in Suite 130. They also operate three additional care centers with primary care physicians in Lodi: family medicine and pediatric physicians at 1300 W. Lodi Avenue, family medicine physicians at 1335 S. Fairmont Avenue, and family medicine physicians at 830 S. Ham Lane.

“We are pleased to join Gould Medical Group, with a 60-year history of providing multi-specialty medical care,” said Robert Howen, M.D. “And we look forward to working with Sutter Gould staff to continue to provide our patients with top-quality care.”

In recent years, SGMF has been upgrading their services and facilities throughout the Central Valley to provide Gould physicians with modern facilities. One example is the Stockton Medical Plaza, a 70,000 square-foot, three-story medical office building on the corner of Hammer Lane and Don Avenue. That facility houses Gould physicians in primary care, obstetrics/gynecology, and endocrinology. In addition, a state-of-the-art imaging center and clinical laboratory is included in the plaza. Construction is currently underway to include the addition of an outpatient surgery center and a second medical office building for more specialists.

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.

# # #