With the shortage of doctors throughout the country, attracting physicians to rural hospitals has always been a challenge. Recently, though, the CEO at Southeast Arizona Medical Center has brought a few new doctors here, which helps round out the type of health providers available to this area.

“Doctors generally like the urban areas,” said Mike Carter, CEO at SEAMC. “So were very fortunate that we could bring these doctors here.”

The hospital was happy to announce that Dr. Dominguez has permanently moved to the Douglas area, where he will be practicing general surgery several times a week. Other areas of surgery also include thyroid, parathyroid, pulmonary, esophageal, gastrointestinal as well as minimally invasive procedures such as laparoscopic fundoplication, laporoscopic hernia repair and video assisted thoratic surgery.

Dr. Marie Hatam has also joined the staff at Community Healthcare of Douglas. She is the medical director for the clinic. Hatam practices general medicine and is a board certified orthopedic surgeon.

Dr. Ken Stephen is board certified in family practice. He is a physician for CHD. Stephen is also an accomplished magician and incorporates his magic tricks and balloon animals into virtually every visit with children.

Katie Gonzales, a family nurse practitioner, has also joined CDH as the clinic manager. Gonzales received her Master of Science degree in Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner as well as a Bachelor of Science degree of Nursing from the University of Phoenix.

Dr. Christopher Spooner is board certified in internal medicine and is the only doctor in Cochise County who is certified in infectious diseases. He has written a variety of articles of medical concerns.

Continuing the healthcare

All though these doctors are not new to SEAMC, they nevertheless have been providing excellent health care to the Douglas community.

Martha Torres, Physician’s Assistant, speaks fluent Spanish and has a wide range of skills. She has a strong interest in the care of athletes, athletic training and sports injuries.

Dr. Wu is a well-established physician in the Douglas community. Wu is certified in Family Practice. He joined SEAMC in June of 2007.

Dr. Fawad Tanvir returns to SEAMC. He is certified in Internal Medicine and was most recently a hospitalist in Cottonwood, Ariz.

Visiting Doctors

Rounding out the slate of health providers at the hospital are a variety of physicians that bring a variety of skills. These doctors come to Douglas on a month to bi-monthly basis.

Dr. Molls provides cardiac testing at the Specialty Clinic twice a month. Molls is board certified in cardiovascular disease, nuclear cardiology and Internal Medicine.

Dr. Sarah Otero-Quintero is board certified in fore foot and rear foot surgery. Otero-Quintero visits the Specialty Clinic twice a week and performs surgery once a month.

Dr. Hodges is an ophthalmologist and has done refractive surgery for over 10 years. He visits the clinic twice a month. He served as a flight surgeon before deciding on a career in ophthalmology.

Dr. Calonje is an ophthalmologist. He started his postgraduate studies at Tulane University and completed a surgical internship followed by a research year at the same university. He visits the clinic twice a month.

Dr. Gopal is a board certified medical oncologist/ hematologist. He completed a postgraduate residency in Internal Medicine at the State University in Brooklyn, New York and his postgraduate residency in oncology/hematology at the University of Texas at Galveston. He visits the clinic once a month.

Dr. Ubair Ahmed is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine.  He earned his degree from Dow Medical College, which is affiliated with Karachi University in 1998. He visits the clinic twice a month.