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
Susan Alexander, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Susan Alexander, MD, is a family physician at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville. She is board-certified in Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. She is a clinical assistant professor with the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Dr. Alexander practices full-scope family medicine at the MAHEC Family Health Center at Enka/Candler. She provides primary care for newborns, children, and adults, and she provides pregnancy care. Dr. Alexander also provides inpatient care at Mission Hospital, including some obstetrics and deliveries. She also offers a wide array of in-office procedures. Additionally, Dr. Alexander provides office-based opioid medication-assisted treatment services. She speaks Spanish, and interpreter services are available as needed.
Dr. Alexander completed her undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, medical school at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and her family medicine residency at MAHEC in Asheville.
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
Medical School: University of Colorado School of Medicine
Residency Program: Mountain Area Health Education Center (Chief Resident)
Board Certification: American Board of Family Medicine
Dr. Graham Custar is a primary care physician who sees patients of all ages. His interests include comprehensive primary care, substance use disorders, weight management, integrative medicine, value-based care, and health technology. He promotes team-based, patient-centered care to build fulfilling, long-term relationships to optimize patient experience and health outcomes. He is passionate about advocating for his patients, and he sees his role as promoting and supporting their health needs in ways that best fit their values and preferences.
Nicole Evans, DO
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
E. 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
Medical School: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Residency Program: MAHEC Family Medicine
Board Certification: Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine
Dr. Fagan is the Clinical Director of Substance Use Disorder Initiatives, a family physician at MAHEC in Asheville, NC, and a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has 26 years of experience as a physician, 23 years of experience teaching medical residents and residents, and 11 years of experience treating opioid use disorder and chronic and acute pain in the primary care setting. He enjoys seeing children, adolescents, adults, and pregnant and parenting patients. He performs a variety of procedures including circumcisions, IUD placement and removal, contraceptive implant, endometrial biopsy, cryotherapy, incision and drainage of abscesses, and steroid injections of joints.
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
Kontia Grant, MSN, FNP-BC
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
Medical School: Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA
Residency Program: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, Philadelphia, PA
Board Certification: Family Medicine
Dr. Stephen Hulkower is a board-certified Family Physician with decades of experience providing full-spectrum primary care to the WNC community, including acute and chronic care in hospital and office settings, office procedures, and Sports Medicine. His work in rural and underserved settings—such as Native American reservations in Arizona and North Carolina, and in Honduras and Haiti—highlights his commitment to improving access to healthcare for all. The majority of his career has featured his role as a teacher and mentor in the MAHEC Family Medicine Residency Program, training the next generations of physicians for WNC.
Sylvia Kauffman, MD, MSPH
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Medical School: University of Virginia
Residency Program: MAHEC Family Medicine
Board Certification: Family Medicine
Dr. Sylvia Kauffman enjoys caring for patients of all ages and providing them with the information they need to make decisions about their own health. She particularly enjoys prenatal and obstetrical care, women’s health, chronic disease management, and caring for Spanish-speaking patients. She believes strongly in physical activity, nutrition, and other lifestyle strategies to prevent and manage illness.
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.
Allison Lukacic, DO, MPH
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Boone Marois, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
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
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.
LeAnne M. Roberts, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Nurse Practitioner Program: Purdue Global
Board Certification: American Association of Nurse Practitioners
LeAnne Roberts is a family nurse practitioner who believes in focusing on the whole person when caring for her patients. She is passionate about understanding the needs and preferences of each individual and tailoring patient-centered care to meet those needs. Building relationships in healthcare is important to LeAnne. Her experience includes managing and setting goals to improve chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, depression, anxiety, ADHD, and obesity to name a few. LeAnne's special interests include working closely with families from visit to visit to achieve their health goals emphasizing wellness, managing chronic diseases, and providing care and support through illness.
Stephanie Rosener, MD, IBCLC, FAAFP
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Stephanie Rosener, MD, IBCLC, FAAFP, joined MAHEC in April 2024 as Chair of Family Medicine. Prior to that appointment, Dr. Rosener served as Program Director for The United Family Medicine Residency Program, a community-based residency program of Allina Health in St. Paul, MN, which emphasized reducing barriers to care and eliminating disparities for under-resourced populations.
Dr. Rosener began her career as a registered nurse, after receiving a dual degree of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Penn State University. She shared her nursing skills at the University of Pittsburgh’s HIV Treatment Clinical Trials Unit, Presbyterian University, and Magee-Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The Pennsylvania native continued her education, obtaining her medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, followed by residency at United Family Medicine Residency in St. Paul. She completed the National Institute for Program Director Development fellowship while serving as Associate Program Director for the Middlesex Health Family Medicine Residency Program in Middletown, CT.
In addition to her current role, Dr. Rosener has held academic appointments at the University of Minnesota Medical School, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, Yale School of Medicine, and Boston University School of Medicine.
She is a published author and researcher with a focus on maternal child health, reduction in birth disparities, quality improvement, and innovation in graduate medical education. Dr. Rosener is also a classically trained vocalist and musician (piano, flute, sax, guitar), watercolor artist, outdoors enthusiast, and global traveler.
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
