I was born and raised in the small mining town of Globe, Arizona.  My father was a prospector and my mother was a grade school teacher.

​

I graduated from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in 1991 and I am Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Hospital Medicine. For a few years I had my own private practice in Springerville, Arizona, before becoming a hospitalist physician in 1997.  I moved to San Francisco in 2000 and worked at St. Luke’s Hospital in several leadership roles including Chair of the Department of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer.  I represented the St. Luke’s medical staff in the hospital’s affiliation with Sutter Health and the subsequent merger with California Pacific Medical Center.   

​

I  was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) in recognition of my contributions to developing hospitalist medicine in California where I helped start six hospitalist programs (St. Luke’s in San Francisco, St. Francis in San Francisco, Salinas Valley, Lodi Memorial, Presbyterian in Los Angeles and a pediatric hospitalist program also at St. Luke’s). 

​

I moved to the Mendocino Coast in 2017.  I have been working as a hospitalist at our hospital in Ft. Bragg since then and played a role in achieving community support for the affiliation with Adventist Health.  I currently serve as the Medical Director of the Hospital, an administrative role, as well as the Chief of the Medical Staff, which is a position elected by the physicians in the hospital.

​

On a more personal note, I live with my husband, Sam, who is an illustrator of children’s books.  He graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco with a degree in fashion design specializing in creating children’s clothes. 

 

We share our home with two African grey parrots Koko and Kiki, our dogs Charlie and Oliver, and our cat Sammy.  I enjoy raising bees, gardening and working leather to make belts, purses and wallets.