March 12, 2009

Turlock, This month marks the one-year anniversary since long-time Turlock family practice physician Tom Johnson, MD, closed his private practice of 15 years to focus on recovering from cancer. After enduring a full regimen of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, Dr. Johnson is back at work.

 

He is now a staff physician at Emanuel Physician Center, located at 2121 Colorado Avenue, Suite C. The Center provides primary health care services and accepts most insurance plans.

 

“I’m happy to be working again and pleased that I feel well enough and have the energy to do it,” he says. “I’ve missed it. But this year has been a good time to reflect.” 

 

Dr. Johnson says joining the staff at the Physician Center appealed to him because it lets him focus on patient care and not have to worry about the business aspects of a solo practice. He also appreciates that the Physician Center has a mission to outreach to underserved communities. “That’s something I’ve been interested in for some time. How can we best serve these groups?”

 

Dr. Johnson was born in Salinas but grew up in different parts of the world which he recalls as “a good experience. It helped me to have a different perspective on a lot of cultures, including our own.” His father was in public health and the family moved to Ethiopia when he was a toddler.  He also lived in the Philippines and Malaysia. They returned to California when he was in high school and Dr. Johnson received his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley. He earned a medical degree from UC Irvine in 1983 and did his residency at the Ventura County Medical Center from 1983-86.

 

Dr. Johnson is bilingual in Spanish and English and used that skill as a family practice physician in a Colorado clinic for migrant farm workers before moving to Aberdeen, SD, where he was in private practice and then worked in an ER. He came to Turlock in 1990 so that he and his wife, Judy, and three children could be closer to family and opened his practice in 1993.

 

He was a clinical instructor at the UC Davis Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant program from 2000-2006 and was chair of the Ethics Committee at Emanuel Medical Center for 10 years.

 

Dr. Johnson is philosophical about his ordeal of the past year. “The treatments were difficult,” he says. “I also was shifted into the patient’s role and it was not always easy to be on the other side but I think it was a good experience for me. I became aware of things that I really wasn’t aware of before, such as how the staff interacts with patients. It helped me appreciate what it’s like for patients.”

 

In addition to celebrating his return to practice, Dr. Johnson has another important event to look forward to this month. His daughter is expecting his first grandchild.

 

Appointments with Dr. Johnson can be made by calling the Emanuel Physician Center at (209) 664-5175.