There’s a new internal medical practice in town for adults who need a doctor for wellness care and the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes: Community Internal Medicine of Athens.

CIMA provides care for people with new and chronic medical problems, from simple illnesses such as colds and the flu to complex health issues such as multiple condition management. Examples include arthritis, breathing problems, cancer screenings, coronary artery disease, diabetes, headache, high blood pressure, prostate problems, smoking cessation, osteoporosis, adult vaccinations and routine wellness care.

The clinic’s physicians are able to provide physical exams, conduct EKGs and other diagnostic testing, prescribe medications, order advanced tests, and refer patients to specialists when needed.

CIMA is located in the Resource Medical Park at 1500 Oglethorpe Ave., Suite 200D, Athens, just off the Athens Perimeter. The office is fully accessible by elevator. ADA compliant front-door parking is available, and the office park is served by Athens public transit.

Physicians are now accepting appointments from any adult age 18 and over who is seeking primary care services; please call 706.389.3875 to schedule an appointment. CIMA accepts most major forms of insurance, as well as Medicare and Medicaid. Reduced rates and charity care are available through St. Mary’s Health Care System for qualifying patients.

The clinic is a joint effort by St. Mary’s and the Georgia Regents University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership to improve access to primary care in Northeast Georgia. Care is provided by GRU/UGA Partnership faculty physicians and Internal Medicine residents.

CIMA’s resident physicians are new doctors working in the Internal Medicine Residency Program at St. Mary’s and the Medical Partnership. At the clinic, they will serve as primary care providers for their personal panel of patients. They will be supervised by experienced faculty physicians who are board-certified in Internal Medicine and who are among the teaching faculty at the Medical Partnership.

“This clinic is a vital part of our ongoing initiative to alleviate the shortage of physicians in Georgia,” said Michelle Nuss, M.D., a supervising physician and Partnership faculty member. “It gives people in our community access to the care they need while also giving our residents the opportunity to provide high quality, compassionate care in a community setting.”

Resident physicians staffing the clinic have a Doctor of Medicine degree and are licensed by the state of Georgia. Each resident is in the final phase of their formal medical education, with training lasting three to seven years, depending on the medical specialty they are pursuing. With each year in the program, residents earn increasing levels of responsibility.

Supervising physicians from the GRU/UGA Medical Partnership are Drs. Gerald Crites, Seth Jelinek, Miguel Jurado, Michelle Nuss, W. Scott Richardson and Pete Yunyongying. Resident physicians from the Internal Medicine Residency Program are Drs. Brian Brewer, Heather Brody, Narayana Gowda, Andrew Ke, Soma Mandal, Tenzing Phathok, Akhil Reddy, Sonia Suda, Kyle Walker and Addison Zhang.

CIMA is open Monday-Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed for lunch from 12-1) and on Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.cimathens.com.