Family Health
MAHEC Family Medicine provides comprehensive, full-spectrum care for all ages, newborn to adults, including Geriatrics. We focus on delivering high quality and thoughtful medical care to patients through a comprehensive approach using evidence-based medicine and decision-making. We strive for a team-based approach and put the patient first. Our comprehensive approach provides care for short and long term (chronic) illnesses, acute issues, and age based preventive care.
Our office is pleased to offer patients a convenient and secure way to virtually check in for upcoming visits.
Depending on whether you join from a computer or a mobile device, you may need to download the FollowMyHealth app.
Monday-Friday: 8am-5pm (in-person and telehealth)
Tuesdays: 5pm-7pm (telehealth only)
24/7 Call Answering Service
Sandra Clark, MD, MPH
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Graham Custar, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Nicole Evans, DO
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Blake Fagan, MDClinical Director of Substance Use Disorders at MAHEC
Professor of Family Medicine, UNC Chapel Hill
Diplomate of the American Board of Preventative Medicine, Board-Certified in Addiction Medicine
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Blake Fagan, MD, is family physician at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville and a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves as the Clinical Director of Substance Use Disorder Initiatives, and trains healthcare providers and medical residency programs across the state in medication-assisted treatment, safe pain management, and safe opioid prescribing practices. He has also been vetted by the Opioid Response Network as a subject-matter expert in the diagnosis and treatment of stimulant use disorders. Dr. Fagan completed his undergraduate education at the University of Missouri–Columbia, medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and his family medicine residency at MAHEC in Asheville. In 2019, Dr. Fagan served as the clinical consultant for the opioid crisis at the CDC Foundation in North Carolina. As of February 2021, Dr. Fagan is a Diplomate of the American Board of Preventive Medicine, Board-Certified in Addiction Medicine.
Carriedelle Fusco, MSN, FNP-BCNurse Practitioner
Co-director, MAHEC Office-Based Opioid Treatment Services
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Carriedelle Wilson Fusco, MSN, FNP-BC, holds a master’s degree in nursing from Vanderbilt University and is board certified as a family nurse practitioner. Carriedelle joined the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency program in Asheville in 2012 and works with an interdisciplinary team to care for patients with chronic pain on chronic opioid therapy and patients struggling with opioid addiction and other substance use disorders. She also teaches medical, nursing, and pharmacy students; medical residents; other learners; and community providers in the management of chronic pain and substance use disorders. Carriedelle is the co-medical director for office-based opioid treatment services at MAHEC Family Health Centers.
Josh Gettinger, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Melissa Hicks, MDFaculty Physician
Transitional Year Residency Program Director
35 years experience in Primary Care and OB
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Areas of special interest include the full scope of family medical care, including caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth, along with the family.
Steve Hulkower, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Areas of special interest include sports medicine, care of adolescents and children, prevention and health promotion.
Sylvia Kauffman, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Lisa LaVallee, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Areas of special interest include women and children’s health, OB, dermatology and osteoporosis.
William McLean, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Jessica McSurdy, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Kerriann Minott, MDFaculty Physician
Community Faculty
Special Interests: Patient education, empowerment, women's health
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Born in Bronx, NY, to Jamaican immigrants, I have traveled all along the East Coast becoming the woman I am today. I completed my undergraduate studies at Kean University in New Jersey receiving a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology with dreams of becoming a doctor. I traveled farther south to the beautiful island of Cuba where I was fortunate to study medicine, learn a second language (Spanish), and grow as a person. Now that is efficiency. I completed my residency at MAHEC Hendersonville Rural Family Medicine and I am continuing my journey as Community Faculty at MAHEC Asheville Family Medicine. My understanding of being on the other side of the doctor’s table—whether for personal or familial reasons—fuels my passion to continue to provide compassionate care to my patients. My interest includes patient education and empowerment, prenatal care, and women’s health. When I am not doing medicine, I love to sing, dance, and be nerdy with video games, board games, anime, and documentaries about astronomy. Life has humbled me to realize that we are always learning, growing, and changing. I am excited to see where the wind takes me next.
Rathika Nimalendran, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Rebecca Putnam, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Hey y'all! I'm from Austin, Texas and went to the University of Colorado where I fell in love with full-spectrum family medicine. I was considering doing a fellowship after I graduated residency, but couldn't decide whether to do hospice/palliative, addiction medicine, or obstetrics. I came to MAHEC because I felt like the scope of care I would experience here would not close any doors for me.
When I was a third year resident here at MAHEC I worked with our local Medicaid payor to develop a pilot clinic focused on primary care consults for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I was so lucky to get hired on as faculty and have the opportunity to expand these needed services. Since the start of COVID I have also been serving as the medical director of our Acute Care Clinic, which was the first clinic in WNC to have resources to regularly test and treat COVID-19.
I really feel like I get to live my professional dream here at MAHEC, where my colleagues are just as focused as I am on meeting our community's changing needs. When I was an intern we were not regularly prescribing medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, gender-affirming hormone therapy, or curing hepatitis C, but these are now regular parts of my day-to-day patient care. I also appreciate the opportunity to teach, both residents, UNC medical students, and pre-professional students. I am also on faculty for our Transitional Year residency that started in 2021.
My favorite part of being a family doctor is getting to stick with my patients through all of life's transitions. In addition to IDD care, my special interests include pediatric care, women's health including prenatal care, procedures, addiction medicine, genetic disorders, and working with patients to develop goals of care.
In my free time I enjoy hiking, maintaining my garden, cooking, and most of all spending time with my Asheville-local husband and adorable son.
Amy Russell, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Matt Simpson, MD, MPH
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Genevieve Verrastro, MD, FAAP
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Genevieve Verrastro, MD, is a Family Medicine Physician and an Addiction Medicine Specialist. She completed her residency at MAHEC and worked at several Community Health Centers in Western North Carolina as a primary care physician. In 2020 she returned to MAHEC for the inaugural Addiction Medicine Fellowship and continues there as a faculty physician in the Addiction Medicine program. Her areas of interest include perinatal substance use disorders, care of people with HIV, and the LGBTQ community.
Outside of work, her interests include biking, whitewater kayaking, gardening, and restoring her Craftsman bungalow.
Jan Westphal, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Suzie Willis, APRN, MSN, FNP
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
