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<\/a>\nDr. Lonnie Smith, Michelle Epperson,RN and Leonard Neuman,RN<\/p>\n
\u201cThese clinics are unprecedented health care resources for a rural community,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are enhancing the primary care aspect of the clinics, an option many residents now seem to overlook,\u201d Dr. Smith says. \u201cThe 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 \u2013 or maybe, never.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mission is to make our Rural Health Clinics the medical \u2018home\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Smith is assisted in his clinic oversight role by Leonard Neuman, R.N., and Michelle Epperson, R.N. \u201cI am blessed they were both here when I arrived,\u201d he says. The two have shared clinic supervision duties since March 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make rounds,\u201d Neuman explains, \u201cvisiting each clinic on a regular basis, checking in with staff and
\ntalking to folks in the waiting rooms. It\u2019s important that we interact with people and get to know what
\nthey are experiencing and what we can do to improve our services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neuman has been a Valley Springs resident for 26 years and previously commuted to Stockton to work at
\nSt. Joseph\u2019s Hospital and Stockton Cardiology. Epperson has been with Dignity Health for 17 years and
\nhas worked in multiple specialty areas. She practiced at UCD Medical Center prior to coming to Dignity
\nHealth. Her last role, prior to joining the MTMC team, was Director of Folsom Sierra Endoscopy in
\nFolsom. She currently lives in El Dorado.<\/p>\n
The two split responsibilities for the MTMC clinics and staff totaling over 30 people. Neuman supervises
\nthe operations in San Andreas and Valley Springs, along with the Cancer and Heart Centers on the
\nMTMC campus. Epperson oversees the clinics along the Highway 4 corridor Arnold, Angels Camp and
\nCopperopolis, as well as the Orthopedic Clinic in Angels Camp.<\/p>\n
Dr. Smith has been practicing medicine for over 28 years and came to MTMC from Tulare, where he
\nmost recently served in operations management, supervising over 220 medical staff and recruitment for a
\n120-bed medical complex. He was Medical Director for the Sleep Disorders Lab and Chief of Surgery
\nand Chief of Staff at Tulare Regional Medical Center, Board Chair of the Tulare Healthcare District and
\nPresident of the Tulare County Medical Society. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University
\nof California Los Angeles and is a Certified Physician Executive, with a Master of Medical Management
\nfrom the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.<\/p>\n
Dr. Smith is well-known for his community service in Tulare, including years as a high school football
\ncoach and Regional Commissioner of the American Youth Soccer Organization. He and his wife Nena, a
\nnurse, have moved to a new home in Copperopolis. They have four adult children.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy kids were little when we moved to Tulare 22 years ago,\u201d he explains. \u201cI was then working all the
\ntime at a Level One Trauma Center in San Bernardino and never was home. I wanted to spend more time
\nwith my family, so we moved to Tulare and I went into private practice.\u201d Dr. Smith is Board Certified in
\nOtolaryngology and Sleep Medicine.<\/p>\n
Dr. Smith says his move to Calaveras County was inspired by the people he met when he visited the area
\nfor the first time for his CMO interview. \u201cThe people are what attracted me,\u201d he notes. \u201cIt is a great team
\nand I\u2019m grateful to now be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
###<\/p>\n
About Mark Twain Medical Center
\nFounded in 1951, Mark Twain Medical Center is a 25-bed, Critical Access Hospital providing inpatient
\nacute care, outpatient services and emergency services. The Medical Center\u2019s Medical Staff represents a
\nbroad range of specialties that ensure access to high quality medical care in a rural community. In
\naddition to being a major provider of health services, Mark Twain Medical Center is also one of the
\narea\u2019s largest employers. More than 300 people are employed at the hospital and its five Family Medical
\nCenters. The Medical Center is a member of Dignity Health, the fifth largest not-for-profit healthcare
\nsystem in the nation. For more information, please visit our website at www.marktwainmedicalcenter.org.
\nMark Twain Medical Center is also on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
San Andreas, CA…February 13, 2017 \u2013 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\u2019s five Rural Health Clinics and three Specialty Care Centers. Clinic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9,21,20,4,1,8,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angels-camp","category-arnold","category-copperopolis","category-featured","category-life-style","category-news","category-san-andreas","category-valley-springs","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Dr.-Smith-Michelle-and-Leonard-Feb.-13-2017-001.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}