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.
Monday-Friday: 8am-5pm (in-person and telehealth)
Monday-Thursday: 5-6pm (telehealth only)
Saturday: 8am-12 noon
24/7 Call Answering Service
Masks: All patients and visitors are asked to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status, while in the office. Please bring a mask with you.
Visitors: Two (2) visitors per patient will be permitted to enter in support of their loved one. In a continued effort to keep our patients and staff safe due to ongoing COVID-19 community spread:
Virtual support continues to be welcomed at all MAHEC locations. If you would prefer to call your support person from the exam room so they can participate in your visit, we encourage you to do so.
A telemedicine visit is conducted using a computer or smartphone so you and your provider can see and hear each other. If you're not familiar with telemedicine, don't worry. This is new for all of us, and we're learning together! Many of our patients appreciate the convenience of telemedicine.
When it's time for your appointment, we will email and/or text you a link to click to start your appointment.
Sandra Clark, MD, MPH
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, MDFaculty Physician
Department Chair
Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UNC School of Medicine
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Blake Fagan, MD, is a family physician at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville, chief education officer at UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC, and a faculty member of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Fagan directs the office-based opioid treatment services provided at MAHEC’s family health centers and trains healthcare providers and medical residency programs across the state in medication-assisted treatment, safe pain management, and safe opioid prescribing practices. 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.
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
Kyle Knowlson, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Robyn Latessa, MD
MAHEC Family Health Center at Biltmore
123 Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 257-4730
Robyn Latessa, MD, is an innovative educator and leader, recognized internationally for her expertise in the longitudinal integrated clerkships (LIC) model of medical education that prioritizes continuity of care and relationships. As director and assistant dean of the UNC School of Medicine Asheville campus since 2012, Dr. Latessa has been a catalyst for growth, expanding the program from four students per year in 2009 to 35 students by 2021. Many of the graduates of the UNC School of Medicine Asheville branch campus have remained in our MAHEC residency programs and are practicing here in Western North Carolina. Dr. Latessa has been a family physician in Asheville since joining MAHEC in 1999 and is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill. She enjoys mixed-methods educational research and has published several manuscripts, many specific to LIC medical education. Dr. Latessa is passionate about collaboration, mentorship, and transparent leadership in service to MAHEC’s mission for training healthcare professionals for Western North Carolina.
Outside of work, Dr. Latessa enjoys connecting with her daughters who are in college in Vermont, spending time with her partner and with her parents who recently moved to Asheville, cooking, hiking, and reading.
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 further south to the beautiful island of Cuba where I was fortunate to study medicine, learn a second language (Spanish), meet my amazing husband 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
Shuchin Shukla, MD, MPH
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
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
Click below to download our new patient packet. It contains forms you will need to print out, complete, and bring with you to your first visit.
Click below to download our new patient packet. It contains forms you will need to print out, complete, and bring with you to your first visit.
Click below to read our privacy policy, patient bill of rights, and patient centered medical home brochure.
Click below to download our medical records release forms. Use page 1 to have your records SENT to another facility; use page 2 to request that MAHEC receive your records from another office. Note that a fee will be charged if you are requesting the records for yourself. There is no charge for sending records to another facility.
You will sign these forms electronically at the beginning of your telemedicine visit. If you would like a copy for your records, please click below.
