|
Phone: (276) 383-4428
Dr. Vito Cruz was born on January 6, 1971 in Manila, Republic of the Philippines. She attended Manila Central University, where she received a B.S. degree in Medical Technology in 1990. She earned an M.D. in 1994 at the University of the City of Manila School of Medicine. In 1995, Dr. Vito Cruz completed a one-year internship at the Hospital of Manila. That same year, she passed the Philippines Medical Board Exam and the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and applied to enter a Family Practice residency program at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. While awaiting acceptance, Dr. Vito Cruz taught Midwifery at the Dr. Gloria D. Lacson College in the Philippines. She began training at Eastern Virginia's Ghent Family Practice Residency Program in 1996 and completed the program in 1999, serving as Chief Resident during her last year. The Virginia Community Health Network linked Dr. Vito Cruz with Stone Mountain Health Services. While waiting for placement, she saw occupational medicine patients at Taylor Made Diagnostics in Norfolk. She began practicing at the St. Charles Community Health Clinic in April 2000.
Dr. Vito Cruz sees an average of 20-25 patients a day at the Clinic. Dr. Van Zee sees about 20 patients a day and the nurse practitioner another 15 patients per day. Dr. Vito Cruz estimates that 50% of her patients are adults, 20% are adolescents, 15 % are children, 10% are infants and 5% are geriatric adults. She estimates that 60% of her patients are covered by Medicaid or Medicare; that 20% are privately insured; and that 20% are uninsured. The St. Charles Clinic has access to the Internet along with a computerized management information system that can track the number and diagnoses of patients seen by residents. In addition, Dr. Vito Cruz enjoys direct access to the University of Virginia Health System through the telemedicine program at Lee Regional Medical Center. The hospital is a member of the Southwest Virginia Alliance for Telemedicine, a partnership between the University of Virginia and selected health care sites in Southwest Virginia. Through this system, local physicians can consult in real-time with specialists at UVa. Telemedicine also creates local access to educational programs such as grand rounds, case conferences and lectures. Dr. Vito Cruz has Medicine, ICU/CCU, Pediatric and Newborn privileges at Lee Regional Medical Center. She admits an average of 2-3 patients per week and rounds on patients 2-3 days a week. She shares call with other physicians on staff at Lee County Community, being on duty one night and one weekend out of every seven. Dr. Vito Cruz also does emergency medicine at Wellmont Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap and Buchanan General Hospital in Grundy. For a truly rural training experience, residents should choose the St. Charles Clinic. Dr. Vito Cruz treats people with a wide variety of pathologies and she has grown to know and love the patients and their families. Dr. Vito Cruz has a special interest in women's health and preventive medicine. Stone Mountain Health Services is very active in community medicine and Dr. Vito Cruz participates in community health fairs and health education activities. Dr. Vito Cruz is currently an assistant professor with East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. She and her husband, a businessman, own a farm. They enjoy hiking, fishing and many other outdoor activities available in the area. Residents who rotate with Dr. Vito Cruz may choose to stay in area motels - Convenient Inn, Jonesville Motor Lodge, or Comfort Inn - or with local citizens who offer room and board. GMEC can attempt to locate a furnished house or apartment for residents, but we can offer no guarantees because short-term rentals are extremely difficult to secure in rural areas.
St. Charles is a tiny incorporated town of 0.13 square miles with a population of less than 250 people. The town proper is surrounded by communities that take their names from coal companies that once flourished in the region - Monarch, Kemmerer Gem, Benedict, Darby, and Bonnie Blue. The greater St. Charles area has a population of between 3,500 and 5,000 people. About 6 miles South of St. Charles is the Town of Pennington Gap, home to 1,922 people. The town lies at the base of Stone Mountain in a gap carved by the north fork of the Powell River. U.S. Highways 421 and 58A intersect in Pennington, offering two-lane access to the town from all directions. There are several small shopping centers in town with discount stores, groceries, restaurants, cinema screens, and specialty boutiques. For fine dining, live theater, and serious shopping, most people drive to Kingsport, Tennessee, about 40 minutes to the southwest. Lake Keokee, Jefferson National Forest, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, and Natural Tunnel State Park are within 30 minutes of the St. Charles/Pennington area, offering hiking, biking, swimming, camping, hunting, fishing, and similar outdoor recreations. Lee County's landscape is a study in contrasts. The broad and beautiful valley of the Powell River crosses the mid-section of the county and includes fields as flat as the plains. To the north is all-but-impassable Stone Mountain and to the south is the spectacular Powell Mountain range. Forests in the northeast mask a landscape marred by coal mining, but the pastured lands to the east and west are unrivaled when it comes to natural beauty. Manufacturing, transfer payments (retirement pensions, disability income, and welfare benefits), tobacco and stock farming, coal production, retail trade, and personal services are major components of the economy in Lee County. In 1995, the county's largest employers included the public school system, Lee Regional Medical Center, DeRoyal Industries (surgical appliances and supplies), Christiansburg Garment Company, and the Virginia Department of Transportation. See GMEC's city/county profiles for more information about Lee County and Southwest Virginia. |
Marissa
Vito Cruz, M.D.
The
St. Charles Clinic operates from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday - Friday
with extended hours on Thursday evenings. Dr. Vito Cruz sees patients
in the office from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
and Friday. Every other Thursday, she sees patients from 12:00 noon
until 8:00 p.m. She is off every Tuesday, but the clinic is still open
to see patients. The clinic has a waived medical laboratory and simple
x-ray equipment. Dr. Vito Cruz has exclusive use of three exam rooms.
Typical procedures done in the office include skin biopsy, joint injection,
toenail removal, incision & drainage, laceration repair, cryotherapy,
pap smear,and lesion destruction.
Lee
Regional Medical Center is an 80-bed acute care facility in Pennington
Gap, Virginia. The hospital offers a standard range of services: emergency,
inpatient and outpatient care, intensive care, surgery and anesthesia,
obstetrics, radiology, imaging, laboratory, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation,
nutrition, physical therapy, pharmacy, and home health. Specialties
represented on the hospital staff include: Emergency medicine, Family
Practice, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics
& Gynecology, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine,
Podiatry, Psychiatry, and Radiology.