Around Oakley: Oakley loses only doctor

Oakley no longer has a doctor in town. Last month, the only doctor's office in town closed.
When Dr. Laavanya Raju came to Oakley several years ago, she was the first to open a doctor's office in far longer than anyone could remember. It was a long struggle, and quite an accomplishment, on the part of the Oakley Chamber of Commerce and the Sutter Delta Memorial Foundation.
A lot of credit for bringing Raju to Oakley goes to John Slatten. At the time, Slatten was sitting on the foundation board, and after hearing the goal of finding a doctor through the chamber, he offered his help.
A new doctor, Raju was assisted by Sutter Delta in opening her office. Unfortunately, for personal reasons, Raju closed her office in the Oakley Town Centre shopping plaza last month, leaving Oakley once again without its own doctor. Raju moved to Southern California with her husband.
Unfortunately for Oakley residents, there are no immediate plans to bring another doctor to Oakley, according to Alfred Scott, a Sutter Regional Medical Foundation director.
"That is not to say that there will not be opportunities in the future," Scott said.
He said, however, that the group prefers to have three doctors to an office.
It was hard enough to get one doctor in Oakley. Is it feasible to bring another doctor to town?
One of the things Raju had going for her is that she's a woman. As politically incorrect as it maybe to say, there aren't many women who work out of the Sutter regional medical offices, according to Scott.
Scott said the group was lucky that around the time Raju left, another female doctor came to the area. Dr. Fatima Memon joined the group in January and is already very busy. She is presently working out of the Antioch facility on Lone Tree Way in the Blue Rock Center.
Many of Raju's patients were transferred to Dr. Derek Johnson at Sutter's Brentwood facility, Scott said. Although it may not seem that far away, having to leave Oakley for medical appointments could be a problem for someone who does not have transportation, especially when ill. Even someone with a common head cold may not want to travel all the way to Antioch or Brentwood for a doctor's visit, even if they have transportation.
"It has to be very rare for a city of almost 35,000 not to have even one doctor," Oakley City Manager Brian Montgomery said.
A working group has been discussing a clinic for the uninsured, and Sutter has been involved.
"My hope is that the medical office stays, and a new doctor comes in," Montgomery said. "I know the working group coordinators are trying to get another meeting together soon."
While the clinic would serve the uninsured, patients with insurance would still need to have a doctor in Oakley.
Bringing a new doctor to Oakley needs to once again rise to the top of the city's list of priorities.