Commonwealth Health Corporation (CHC), parent company of The Medical Center, opened Medical Center Primary Care on September 1 to expand the availability of primary care physicians in Southcentral Kentucky. Medical Center Primary Care is located at 1901 Scottsville Road, across from Edmonton State Bank at light #5.
“An extreme shortage of physicians who specialize in internal medicine and family practice is affecting access to primary care services for patients in Southcentral Kentucky,” said Connie Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Health Corporation. Recent studies indicate that Bowling Green and surrounding communities have a combined need for up to 30 additional primary care physicians. “Primary care physicians play a vital role in the healthcare delivery system. They provide continuing care throughout a patient’s adult life, including diagnosis and treatment of acute illness, management of chronic conditions, preventive care such as screenings and immunizations, and coordination of care with specialists.”
The first physician to join Medical Center Primary Care is Mabel Alvarez, M.D. Dr. Alvarez completed her medical degree from Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. She completed residency programs at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida and Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Most recently she was in private practice in New York, New York.
Rima Desai, M.D. will begin October 15. She earned her medical degree at Smt. N.H.L. Municipal Medical College in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. She completed post graduate training in Internal Medicine at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York. She relocates to Bowling Green from Bellevue, Kentucky where she practiced at Healthpoint Family Care.
A third physician, Maya Khoukaz, M.D., will join the practice in January 2016. Dr. Khoukaz earned her medical degree from American University of Beirut in Lebanon. She completed residency training at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. She presently works at Veterans Affairs in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Medical Center Primary Care sees adult patients. Hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 270-901-0629.
