San Andreas, CA…Patient convenience and satisfaction are critical goals for Dr. Lonnie Smith, the new Chief Medical Officer at Mark Twain Medical Center. Dr. Smith joined the MTMC Leadership Team in November with responsibilities that include overseeing operations of the hospital’s five Rural Health Clinics and three Specialty Care Centers.

Dr. Lonnie Smith, Michelle Epperson,RN and Leonard Neuman,RN

Clinic administration is just one of Dr. Smith’s multiple roles as CMO. He is also the senior physician executive working with the administrative team and medical staff to recruit and retain doctors, contract for specialty services, oversee several departments including Physical Therapy, X-Ray, Laboratory – and more. The clinics began serving local communities over 20 years ago and have been a major focus in Dr. Smith’s first months at MTMC.

“These clinics are unprecedented health care resources for a rural community,” he explains. “We are fine tuning existing services and working to expand clinic options. We want our clinics to be the first thing residents think about when they need medical attention.”

“We are enhancing the primary care aspect of the clinics, an option many residents now seem to overlook,” Dr. Smith says. “The clinics are there to handle walk-in patients for sure, and we often find folks are much sicker than they realize because they have not seen a primary care physician for a long time – or maybe, never.”

“My mission is to make our Rural Health Clinics the medical ‘home’ for residents, where they regularly connect with a primary care physician for preventative care and to manage chronic diseases. The clinics can provide testing, and when needed, referral to a specialist. Our Cancer Center, Heart Center and Orthopedic Center provide state-of-the art specialty care close to home. That is essential since travel to the valley is inconvenient and stressful for anyone meeting the challenges of cancer, heart issues or orthopedic surgery.”

Dr. Smith is assisted in his clinic oversight role by Leonard Neuman, R.N., and Michelle Epperson, R.N. “I am blessed they were both here when I arrived,” he says. The two have shared clinic supervision duties since March 2016.

“We make rounds,” Neuman explains, “visiting each clinic on a regular basis, checking in with staff and talking to folks in the waiting rooms. It’s important that we interact with people and get to know what they are experiencing and what we can do to improve our services.”

Neuman has been a Valley Springs resident for 26 years and previously commuted to Stockton to work at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Stockton Cardiology. Epperson has been with Dignity Health for 17 years and has worked in multiple specialty areas. She practiced at UCD Medical Center prior to coming to Dignity Health. Her last role, prior to joining the MTMC team, was Director of Folsom Sierra Endoscopy in Folsom. She currently lives in El Dorado.

The two split responsibilities for the MTMC clinics and staff totaling over 30 people. Neuman supervises the operations in San Andreas and Valley Springs, along with the Cancer and Heart Centers on the MTMC campus. Epperson oversees the clinics along the Highway 4 corridor Arnold, Angels Camp and Copperopolis, as well as the Orthopedic Clinic in Angels Camp.

Dr. Smith has been practicing medicine for over 28 years and came to MTMC from Tulare, where he most recently served in operations management, supervising over 220 medical staff and recruitment for a 120-bed medical complex. He was Medical Director for the Sleep Disorders Lab and Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff at Tulare Regional Medical Center, Board Chair of the Tulare Healthcare District and President of the Tulare County Medical Society. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of California Los Angeles and is a Certified Physician Executive, with a Master of Medical Management from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Smith is well-known for his community service in Tulare, including years as a high school football coach and Regional Commissioner of the American Youth Soccer Organization. He and his wife Nena, a nurse, have moved to a new home in Copperopolis. They have four adult children.

“My kids were little when we moved to Tulare 22 years ago,” he explains. “I was then working all the time at a Level One Trauma Center in San Bernardino and never was home. I wanted to spend more time with my family, so we moved to Tulare and I went into private practice.” Dr. Smith is Board Certified in Otolaryngology and Sleep Medicine.

Dr. Smith says his move to Calaveras County was inspired by the people he met when he visited the area for the first time for his CMO interview. “The people are what attracted me,” he notes. “It is a great team and I’m grateful to now be part of it.”