Annadel Medical Group on fast track to expand in Sonoma County

Sept. 12--Dr. Gregory Rosa, a well-respected west county family medicine physician, recently moved his office across the breezeway at his Sebastopol office building.

That's a very small distance for a big move. Rosa, who was formerly with Prima Medical Group and on the medical staff of the recently shuttered Palm Drive Hospital, is joining Annadel Medical Group, one of the county's fastest-growing physicians groups.

The 12-foot move from Suite H to Suite B allows Rosa to continue serving his west county patients.

"As a way of keeping my practice in Sebastopol, I talked to Annadel and they agreed to take us on and keep us open," said Rosa.

For Annadel, which is affiliated with St. Joseph Health in Sonoma County, the move is part of an expansion that has put the 6-year-old medical group -- with 97 doctors -- at offices in five Sonoma County cities, including Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Healdsburg. Rosa's Sebastopol office officially opened this week on Monday, and Annadel recently opened an office with two board-certified family medicine physicians in Windsor.

Annadel formed in 2008 from the well-known Santa Rosa-based Primary Care Associates, in partnership with St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare medical practice foundation. Back then, the group started with eight Santa Rosa physicians; five of them pediatricians and three full-time pediatric hospitalists.

Since then, the group has grown rapidly, recruiting and hiring doctors and forming mergers with long-standing private practices.

Earlier this year, Annadel merged with a major portion of the venerable Redwood Regional Medical Group, adding 19 physicians, mostly oncologists. At that time, Annadel added satellite sites in Ukiah and Lakeport.

Next month, Annadel is expected to bring to Santa Rosa two neurosurgeons from Spokane, Wash.

The growth of Annadel reflects a larger trend in Sonoma County and across the country toward health care integration and consolidation, where doctors who once ran their own traditional practices are choosing, in essence, to become employees of larger medical groups. These groups partner with nonprofit foundation affiliates of larger health care systems, such as Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health, which on their own cannot legally hire physicians.

"We can alleviate a lot of the headaches, if you will, that oftentimes accompany management of a medical practice," said Bob Just, regional chief operating officer of St. Joseph Heritage Health, the nonprofit foundation that's part of the St. Joseph Health system.

Under the partnership, Annadel is the exclusive provider group for professional medical services for the foundation, while the foundation provides management services for doctors' practices as well as handling the medical groups' insurance contracts.

"Both the Sebastopol and Windsor family medical practice reflect our intention to expand primary care access for the local community," Just said.

Doctors and hospitals were a big part of Rosa's childhood. The physician, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, had polio when he was a young boy. In high school, a close family friend who was studying medicine left a lasting impression.

Rosa studied philosophy at Santa Clara University, and later medicine at St. Louis University. He did his residency at Community Hospital in Santa Rosa.

In 1976, after residency, Rosa helped transform an old fire station into the Occidental Health Center as part of his participation in the first class of the National Service Corps. After 13 years at the Occidental clinic, he began a private practice in west Santa Rosa.

But he moved next door to Palm Drive Hospital in 2011, taking advantage of more affordable rents. The hospital took over Rosa's practice in 2009, creating the Palm Drive Medical Center with two other physicians. Rosa joined Prima Medical Group early last year.

Rosa said his participation with Annadel connects him with a growing network of specialists that can compete with Kaiser.

Annadel's primary care office in Windsor, which opened Aug. 22, is staffed by Drs. Brenda Manfredi and Jenny Sullivan. Manfredi, a family physician and mother of two students, is an Annadel physician who used to work in Santa Rosa. She recently enrolled her kids into Windsor schools.

"Windsor is a wonderful family town and it's now my own family's new home," Manfredi said. "It's great to be able to care for patients and families in the community where we live."

Sullivan studied and practiced medicine in Copenhagen, Denmark, before returning to the United States to complete her family residency at UCSF Fresno University Medical Center.

Both the Windsor and Sebastopol medical offices will accept walk-in appointments from 3 to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Normal office hours will be 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"The fact that we're open for walk-ins from 3 to 7 p.m. every weekday is really convenient for the community," Manfredi said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @renofish.

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