On the afternoon of July 9, Adventist Health introduced John R. Garcia, MD to the community with a meet and greet at the Coffee Mill cafe. Garcia, a board-certified surgeon, will be working out of the Adventist Health Rural Clinic located at 105 East E Street in Tehachapi. Garcia said that he is scheduled to be at the clinic every other week and doing scheduled surgeries at the hospital on alternating weeks. He will also be on-call at the hospital for emergency surgeries. As a general surgeon he will be providing evaluation and surgeries such as appendectomies, hernias, hemorrhoids and gallbladder issues.

Garcia has been a Bakersfield resident for 17 years. He was born in Loma Linda, California and received his medical degree from Loma Linda University. He completed his surgical residency at New York Medical College in New Rochelle where he was chief resident. He finished his postdoctoral training with a fellowship in laparoendoscopic surgery at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut.

Dr. Garcia said that most people don't realize that surgeries at Adventist Health Tehachapi Hospital are now covered by most insurance plans which eliminates the need to go the Bakersfield. Surgical patients can stay closer to home and have their surgery in our state-of-the-art hospital.

Tamara Tiewater manages the clinic on E Street and Dr. Garcia said that she "runs his life" in Tehachapi. They were joined at the Coffee Mill by Danielle Breadmont who is the Kern County Physician Liaison for Adventist Health.