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Board hears that new gastroenterologist will keep specialty care in Sonoma amid primary-care gaps
Summary
Chief of staff Dr. Amara reported the hospital has 143 total medical staff (41 active), noted a persistent primary-care shortage in the Valley, and welcomed a new gastroenterologist expected to reduce patient transfers for GI care.
Dr. Amara presented a chief-of-staff report that included current medical-staff counts and local access challenges. "Total medical staff, a 143 members, active medical staff, 41 members, new medical staff, 14, newly retired, 7," he said, and added that the hospital had filled "a very important gap with our gastroenterologist" who is now clinically active.
Amara said the primary-care shortage remains a structural problem: patients look to Napa, Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Marin when they can't find local primary care. He described the staffing picture as "hard to interpret" because groups come and go, and said the GI addition will likely reduce the need for longstanding GI patients to travel for care. The board asked follow-up questions about retention and recruitment strategies; Amara and other staff said they will return with concrete strategies when available.
