Staff
As a small rural heath center, we are able to provide our patients with personal, friendly, and professional care, and typical of rural health facilities our primary medical providers bring to the Center a variety of medical degrees including Family Physician, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Physician Assistant. Supporting the providers are other qualified medical and administrative personnel.
Jeffrey Viar, DO
Dr. Viar joined our staff in August 2009 as Medical Director and Supervising Physician. He received his medical degree from the University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas, City, MO and completed a three-year residency program in Family Medicine at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. Following his residency Dr. Viar joined the Foothills Medical Associates in Columbus, NC where he continues to practice in addition to seeing patients and supervising the other medical providers at the Saluda Medical Center.
Linda Barton, FNP
Linda rejoined our staff in the spring of 2009, having provided medical care at the Center in the past. As a Family Nurse Practitioner, Linda is one of our mid-level providers, a medical designation given FNPs and Physician Assistants. She received her RN degree in 1996, her FNP degree from Western Carolina University in 2002, and has been practicing in the area for many years. Linda is fully qualified to deliver primary health care services, which include diagnosis, treatment, and medication prescriptions.
Kim Clark, LPN
Kim was a nurse at the Center from 2003 to 2007, left to work in private practice, then rejoined our staff in the Fall of 2009. Kim has been a nurse for twenty-seven years, twenty of them in pediatrics. Her responsibilities include escorting patients to examination rooms, discussing their presenting medical concerns, preparing them for the providers, briefing the providers, and following through with the providers’ instructions.
Lorraine Whitson, CMA
Lorraine joined the staff in June 2009 and as a Certified Medical Assistant performs duties similar to our nurse, i.e. providing assistance to our providers, preparing patients for the providers, noting patients’ presenting concerns, etc. She also works at the front desk, greeting patients, scheduling, and assisting our administrator in the daily operations of the Center.
Amy Copeland, Administrator
Amy, our administrator, has been with the Center for over six years. She oversees and manages the day-to-day operation of the Center and reports directly to the Board of Trustees. Amy’s LPN degree plus her twenty-four years of nursing experience equips her to fill in from time to time as the nurse for our providers. She also represents the Center at various medical organizations and coalitions in the community and the state and works closely with the North Carolina Office of Rural Health.
Amy Mills, CNA
Amy is the “face” of the Center – usually the first person patients see when they walk in the door and the one whose voice they hear when then dial our number. While her official job title is Receptionist, Amy’s duties include scheduling appointments, working with uninsured patients in determining their co-pays, entering data, and preparing fees, plus assisting in every aspect of the Center’s administrative operation.
June Taylor
Perhaps most familiar to residents as the former director of the WIC (Woman, Infant, and Children) program and organist at the nearby Methodist Church, June became our part-time internal accountant in 2007. Her responsibilities include preparing the payroll each month, paying bills, monitoring the budget, and compiling financial reports.
Pat Sandahl
With the title Patient Advocate, Pat is the administrator of the Prescription Assistance Program (PAP) which provides prescriptive drugs at almost not cost to eligible patients. A nurse and long time resident of Saluda, Pat has been with the Center since 2004. In addition to her “in-house” duties Pat makes frequent visits to community functions to present her program.