The following is a press release issued by Adventist Health Ukiah Valley:
Adventist Health Ukiah Valley is excited to welcome another physician joining their care team, improving access to care in the community. Dr. Emily Bender, a family medicine physician with obstetrics training recently joined their Family Residency Clinic located at 260 Hospital Drive, Suite 103 in Ukiah. Dr. Bender will also support physician residents as a faculty as part of the Family Medicine Residency Program.
Growing up in rural Alabama, Dr. Bender knows all too well the challenges rural areas face when it comes to access to care. That’s why she specifically chose Ukiah Valley, for the opportunity to fill that gap and serve where she’s most needed. Which is why she was also inspired to practice full-spectrum family practice, with obstetrics and gynecology. “I felt drive to do some of job that allowed me to help people wherever they were at in their lives,” she explains. Spending two months in rural Alabama with a Family Medicine with OB physician solidified that desire even more. “She was the first FMOB physician I worked with, and it opened my eyes to what’s possible for me. I’m passionate about women’s health but I also love being able to see children and adults. I saw her caring for patients from when they were pregnant, then she got to take care of their kids, she took care of their parents, and grandparents. It was truly like a whole family care.”
She says, in essence, it was bringing back the concept of the “town doctor” from older times. “She was very much the town doctor, and it was wonderful to see the relationships that she could make not just with the individual patient but with the entire family unit and really, the whole community.”
Keeping this in mind, she was looking to serve in an underserved area where she can use her training as a family medicine physician with obstetrics and gynecology training. It was by chance that she found out from a friend about an opportunity in Ukiah. That friend just happened to have spent their medical rotation at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley. “She told me about this ‘cute little town in Northern California with an amazing community feel’. That was it, I was sold!”
It checked all her boxes, a place to practice full-spectrum family medicine, in a rural community, much like her hometown and provided the opportunity to build relationships and really get to know her patients and their families.
Dr. Bender is also excited to come to the community to combine her love of caring for patients and teaching. She will be serving as part of our faculty for the Family Medicine Residency Program, training the next generation of physicians to care for our community. “I loved my residency program. I trained in North Colorado, and I came to value and understand how important training is and knowing that this type of family medicine training is not very common but very much needed especially in rural areas such as Mendocino County.”
Dr. Bender earned her medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. She completed her family medicine residency in Fort Collins, Colorado, and earned her Maternal-Child Health fellowship from University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
With her full-spectrum family medicine training, Dr. Bender loves the different patients she gets to care for and build lasting relationships. “I also enjoy the variety of patients you see and conditions you treat. In a given day I can deliver a baby, treat an ear infection, manage diabetes, and much more.”
A board-certified family medicine with obstetrics physician, Dr. Bender says she see it as a privilege to care for her patients. “Being a physician is a very special insight into people’s lives. And that’s really unique and profound. The ability to be with someone in either what is a very happy time such as childbirth or during the more challenging times, that’s a very special and profound thing.”
She’s looking forward to settling into her new community and forming relationships and serving as a resource for those who need. With her training and special interest in women’s health, pediatrics and substance use in pregnancy, she hopes to fill a need and serve as a resource for families in the best way possible. “The other aspect that attracted me here was the hospital’s substance use treatment program. It was amazing and heartening to see a rural community with such a great resource. We’re lucky to have that here and I’m excited to support this program.”
In her free time, Dr. Bender loves being outdoors, running, riding her bike, or hiking. She’s looking forward to exploring everything that Mendocino County has to offer.
Dr. Bender is now welcoming patients for prenatal care, well-child visits, annual physicians, chronic disease management and more. To make an appointment, call 707-463-7495.
Welcome! Your skills are very much needed in this neck of the woods.
Welcome, Dr. Bender!
So happy to have you here!