Primary Care at Cardiac Care
Cardiac Care introduces four new Primary Care providers:
Karen Apodaca, MD, Chrystal Bermudez, FNP,
Linda Haggard, PA and Alicia Hollis, DO
Cottonwood, Arizona- In response to the severe shortage of primary health care in the Verde Valley (including Sedona, Camp Verde, Lake Montezuma and Village of Oak Creek), Cardiac Care is pleased to announce the addition of four new Primary Care providers in 2009. “Many people do not realize that we treat non-cardiology patients at Cardiac Care,” said Dr. Nitin Patel, Cardiologist and Medical Director of Cardiac Care, “this community has a need for quality primary care, and we are pleased to be able to expand and offer this service.”
Primary Care is now available on a same-day appointment basis for adolescents and adults, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5pm in both Cottonwood and Sedona (VOC location).
In Cottonwood, the Cardiac Care off ice is located at 450 South Willard, Suite 115.
Sedona patients will be seen at 6486 W. Hwy 179, Suite 107 in Sedona (VOC’s Castle Rock Plaza). New patients are now being accepted at both locations. To make an appointment, patients can call 928-634-3025 for both locations.
Karen Apodaca, MD, formerly of Verde Valley Urgent Care and Occupational Medicine, has been practicing medicine since 1982 after graduating from the University of Southern California School of Medicine. Her experiences range from serving as an emergency room physician to Public Health Service to Family Practitioner. At Cardiac Care, Apodaca will be serving the needs of adolescents (children age 12 years and older) and adults as a primary care provider. “I am pleased to be able to join the Cardiac Care staff,” said Apodaca, “I look forward to working with the residents of the Verde Valley.” Apodaca will be treating patients in the Cottonwood office.
Chrystal Bermudez, FNP, recently moved to the Verde Valley from Knoxville, Tennessee. Bermudez, FNP, will be providing Primary Care to adolescents and adults in the Cottonwood office as well. Bermudez also specializes in Diabetes care and treatment. Among other aspects of Diabetes management, she has provided education, support and training to patients using the Minimed insulin pump. Bermudez continues to serve Outpost Centers International as a volunteer in Kolkata, India, teaching the staff and orphans how to improve their health standards. Graduating from the Southern Adventist University in 2006 as a Family Nurse Practitioner, Bermudez is capable of treating all manner of primary care patients.
Located in Sedona (VOC), Linda Haggard, PA, has also joined the Cardiac Care staff. Haggard has served the Sedona community since 2006. In addition to providing primary care to adolescents and adults, she is well known locally for her work in women’s healthcare and bio-identical hormone therapies for both men and women. Haggard’s office is located at 6486 W. Hwy 179, Suite 107 in Sedona (VOC’s Castle Rock Plaza). To make an appointment, patients can call 928-634-3025.
Alicia Hollis, DO, will be joining Cardiac Care as an Internist in September, 2009, upon completion of her Internal Medicine residency in Roanok, Virginia. Dr. Hollis graduated from the Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo, California in 2006.
“The Cardiac Care staff is committed to providing the best healthcare in the Verde Valley,” said Patel, “our promise is to deliver services with compassion and respect.”
Cardiac Care, as a Primary Care and Cardiology office, offers patients same-day appointments for established patients, in-house diagnostic services such as ultrasound, CT Scan, MRI, X-rays, digital mammogram and Nuclear Cardiology services. Patients also enjoy secure internet access with the ability to access their medical records online (from anywhere in the world) with HealthVault, update personal and insurance information online, send blood sugar and blood pressure readings directly to the Cardiac Care office from home, receive test results by email and be able to make appointment and refill requests by email.
“With the recent closures of five primary care offices, there is a real crisis in the Verde Valley for primary care,” said Patel, “in order to meet this need we have added these four new staff members, and we hope to open a clinic in a Camp Verde location as well.”
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