Dr. John Michael Mihalik, MD

As a Physician, I enjoy the great variety of people and medical problems I encounter daily. I've been trained to take care of people of all ages, from newborns to geriatric patients. Trained in Western Medicine, I strive to provide the best possible medical advice based on scientific evidence and apply it in the unique context of each person I am working with. One of the great things about practicing medicine at Kaiser Permanente is the availability of tremendous programs which help with smoking cessation, diabetic care, congestive heart failure, cholesterol and general health education. The preventative programs here are recognized as among the best in the world and are considered by many to be a model for healthcare for the world. I am happy to be able to offer my patients access to such a great system! However, prevention is not always successful. There are number of reasons why people sometimes come down with illness end of this illness is not enough to land you in the hospital, then to a specialist in hospital medicine called a "hospitalist" will be taken care of you. That's what I do. My role is to help make sure that you have the best possible care while in the hospital. That means getting safe care, the correct diagnosis and the correct treatment. That sounds simple but often is a complex process. If you are a medical patient, then I will likely be directing your care, ordering test, making a diagnosis, ordering the proper treatment and supervising its implementation. I will help coordinate to care between various other specialist who may be involved in your treatment. If you are a surgical patient, then a hospitalist like myself may be involved as a consultant to the surgeon to manage any medical problems you may have such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease or infection. I'm proud to be associated with my colleagues with whom I have great confidence in their experience, training and judgment. We have a common goal of making sure that you get the best possible care while in the hospital. We also will communicate with your primary doctor when you leave the hospital to make sure that that care continues as an outpatient. I'm also proud to work with an excellent team of respiratory, radiology and laboratory personnel and a superb nursing staff who helped to make sure that the care which is ordered actually is carried out appropriately. While in the hospital, you may receive for a powerful treatments and medications. These can treat serious illness and save lives. However, I continue to believe that exercise, diet and lifestyle choices are key to a healthy life and sometimes more important than any single medicine. Taking care of yourself involves more than simply giving medications. I believe patients need to take responsibility for their healthcare. I can give you advice but you need to implement your choices! My web site has links to provide information on a wide variety of health issue, tips, and advice to help you care for yourself and live a full and healthy life! A little about my background: I have been trained in philosophy, in particular biomedical ethics. I spent five years training to be a priest and was a Jesuit during that time. After realizing the priesthood was not for me, I continued to want to serve people and chose to enter medicine. I did my medical training in Seattle and came to Sonoma County in 1991 to become medical director of Alliance Medical Center. This rural health center serves an approximately 80% monolingual Spanish-speaking population of primarily farm workers and their families. I also worked at a rural clinic in Gualala before going into private practice in Cloverdale in 1994. I remained in Cloverdale with a hospital practice at Healdsburg General Hospital until coming to Kaiser Permanente in February 2003. I continue to work in the primary care clinic at Kaiser Permanente as well has worked in the hospital from February 2003 until late April 2006. At that time, a left primary care to concentrate on my role as a hospitalist and focus on giving