SOLEDAD — Two new medical personnel have been hired at Soledad Community Health Care District (SCHCD).
Amy Underwood has joined as a physician at Soledad Medical Clinic and Lori Stevens has joined as the mammography technician in the new Women’s Health Center.
“We’re fortunate to have Amy Underwood as a new physician at Soledad Medical Clinic,” said Ida Chan, CEO of SCHCD. “She’s a well-rounded individual that can support not only primary care that’s needed at the clinic, but also provides diabetes care and education as well as gastroenterology.”
Underwood has an extensive medical background, including experience in gastroenterology, which makes her able to provide treatment options for Celiac disease, gall bladder disease and chronic pancreatic disease. Her experience allows her to perform diagnostics, do laboratory work and direct treatment plans.
“She’s able to recognize those and, if needed, refer those to a gastroenterologist,” Chan said. “She definitely has a vast knowledge in that specialty where if she does need to refer, she recognizes those needs.”
Underwood will mainly serve as a physician’s assistant in primary health care at the clinic. In time, her experience with diabetes education and dietary specialization may prove to be helpful in the community.
Stevens has past experience as a mammography director and has also served as a traveling mammography specialist, traveling throughout the United States.
“She will be operating our new mammography machine that we recently brought into the Women’s Center, which opened in mid-December of last year,” Chan said. “We’re really excited to have her on board with her vast amount of knowledge and talent. She will be able to help us really run a solid and exceptional mammography program here at the Women’s Health Center in Soledad.”
The Soledad medical facility has been busy in recent weeks providing vaccines in large clinics. One recent partnership with Walgreens saw a vaccination of nearly 500 agricultural, educational and childcare workers in a single day.
“Coming in the near future we will be vaccinating once a week,” Chan said. “Our goal is to vaccinate anywhere from 300 to 500 as vaccine becomes available at the Soledad High School gym.”
People will be able to go online to schedule their appointments with SCHCD, with the partnership between them and the high school making for regular clinic setups in the gymnasium.
“That will become our permanent home away from home, where we will have a spot to vaccinate on a weekly basis,” Chan said.
Chan noted the gym allows the ability to scale up as needed, so if the number goes from hundreds to nearly a thousand doses per day, they will be able to meet that need.
“Hopefully, as more vaccine becomes available, we will be able to vaccinate even larger numbers in our community,” Chan said.
In addition, two members of the SCHCD foundation board have recently left. Pat Stephens has retired from the foundation after 43 years of service, and Jack Franscioni has also retired from the board after 26 years.
“These individuals both remain engaged with our health care district, but now as community members,” Chan said. “I want to thank them both for their commitment and service.”
