Compassionate Healthcare since 1978
Gila Valley Clinic is a family-owned and operated clinic in Safford, AZ. Since 1978, we’ve been providing high-quality obstetrician and family healthcare to patients from all over the community. Patients deserve to feel like part of a family, and we work hard to ensure they do. Our doctors are experts in their fields, teaching other doctors while keeping us current on the latest medical trends. We treat the whole family—babies, adults, pregnant women, and the elderly—and have received awards from numerous insurance companies for being one of the best practices in town!
About Us
Gila Valley Clinic has provided high-quality medical care to patients in the Safford area since 1978. Our clinic consistently focuses on meeting the medical needs of our community and has grown to five Board Certified Family Medicine Physicians, two Board Certified Pediatricians, three Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioners, a Certified Physician Assistant, and one Licensed Professional Counselor.
Our Team of Leading Experts
Our Family Medicine physicians have been trained to care for patients of all age groups in the clinic and hospital settings. For example, many of our providers have cared for several generations within a family—from delivering and caring for newborns and children to caring for parents and grandparents. Our Family Medicine physicians have over 60 years of combined experience providing obstetrical care, including cesarean sections and managing high-risk patients in partnership with TMC Obstetrics, the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialists in Tucson.
Our Pediatricians specialize in children’s physical, mental, and social health from birth to young adulthood. They provide preventative care for healthy children and those who are acutely or chronically ill. They are also involved with the prevention, early detection, and management of other problems that affect our patients, such as behavioral difficulties, developmental disorders, and functional problems.
Our family medicine and pediatric nurse practitioners work alongside our physicians, allowing for more appointments in a day to accommodate our patient’s needs. They work closely with our physicians to ensure you receive quality care. They also staff our extended hours and answering service allowing you to speak to a provider from our clinic even when the office is closed. One of our nurse practitioners just completed certification as Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
Gila Valley Clinic also has a Licensed Professional Counselor who provides counseling services to patients of all ages and walks of life to help with depression, anxiety, loss, anger, and relationship issues.
All our physicians have admitting privileges at Mount Graham Regional Medical Center and admit our clinic patients to the hospital. This promotes continuity of care, allowing you to see a familiar face who knows your medical history.
Gila Valley Clinic will be your medical home for your family’s journey through pregnancy, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, helping everyone to be healthy and well.
Meet Our Providers
Medical Doctors
Janelle Lee, MD
Residency: Swedish Cherry Hill Rural Family Medicine, Seattle and Port Angeles, WA
Medical School: University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson
Dr. Lee was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and completed her undergraduate education in mechanical engineering at the University of Washington. She completed a master’s in engineering from UCLA while working in the aerospace industry in Southern California. She eventually turned her focus to medicine, developing a passion for rural and global health as well as integrative therapies while studying at the University of Arizona. In her residency, she honed her skills in acute hospital and primary care, obstetrics, reproductive health, addiction medicine, and full-spectrum rural family medicine. She believes in meeting patients and their families where they are and collaborating with them to reach their health goals throughout their life stages. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and traveling. Dr. Lee is board certified in Family Medicine.
Susan Jones, MD
Residency Training: Santa Monica Family Family Practice Residency Program, UCLA
Medical School: University of Arizona
Languages: English and Spanish
Special areas of expertise: Geriatrics-Hospice and Palliative care, Obstetrical care, and Women’s Care.
Dr. Susan Jones has worked at Gila Valley Clinic since 1984 and was the AzAFP Family Medicine Physician of the Year for 2014. She is Board Certified in both Family Medicine and Hospice & Palliative Care. She is the medical director at the Nursing home, Haven of Safford, as well as for the local Hospice. She enjoys practicing the full spectrum of family medicine, from delivering babies to caring for the elderly.
She is married to Tom Hamm. She enjoys traveling and loves spending time with her grandchildren.
Catherine Harmon Romero M.D.
Residency: North Colorado Family Medicine
Medical School: the University of Arizona
Languages: English and Spanish
Special areas of expertise: Pregnancy and Childbirth, Preventive Care, Diabetes
Dr. Cathy Romero was raised in Willcox and wanted to return to southern Arizona after completing residency. She loves caring for people of all ages and especially enjoys the continuity of knowing several generations of the same family, having managed for residents of southern Arizona since 2000. She treasures the opportunity to care for patients in the hospital when they are ill, deliver babies, care for newborns, and then, complete the full spectrum of family medicine by treating people in the outpatient setting. She and her husband, E.J., a high school principal, have three grown children and they enjoy outdoor time and traveling. Dr. Romero feels fortunate to be a part of the best primary care clinic in southern Arizona and works hard to ensure that the Gila Valley Clinic is up-to-date on the latest recommendations and that there are good policies in place to help provide excellent quality care to patients.
Gail Guerrero-Tucker MD-MPH
Residency Training: UC Davis Mercy Medical Center Merced California
Medical School: University of Arizona
Languages: English and Spanish
Special areas of expertise: Women’s health, obstetrical care, geriatrics, and preventative medicine.
Dr. Guerrero was born in Nogales, Arizona, and grew up in Tucson. Dr. Guerrero chose to return to rural Arizona so she could practice Family Medicine the old-fashioned way. She went back to school after a career in banking, so she was not the typical medical student. Dr. Guerrero feels preventative healthcare is as important as treating diseases and welcomes a collaborative model of personal health. She has always been interested in people and public health issues, leading her to pursue her master’s in public health.
She also enjoys global health issues and has been on several medical missions to Nigeria, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. She hopes to expand her horizons by traveling to other parts of the world.
Dr. Guerrero is married with three children and five grandchildren and hopes to continue delivering babies and seeing patients in the hospital until she retires.
She has been president of the Arizona Association of Family Physicians and serves on the National Board of AAFP.
Richard Keith, MD
Residency: Phoenix Children’s Hospital Pediatric Residency Program
Medical School: Creighton University School of Medicine
Special areas of expertise: Pediatrics – infancy through adolescence, and ADHD management
Dr. Keith was born and raised in the Gila Valley and was thrilled to have the opportunity to return home after completing his pediatric training. He considers it a great privilege to treat children and families in the Gila Valley. Dr Keith prefers a practical approach to pediatrics, embracing no perfect children and no perfect parents. He is excited to work with families and children to encourage each one of us to do our best.
He and his wife Jenny are very active in the community and especially enjoy working with the children of the community. He enjoys singing, biking, barbecuing, running, working in the yard, and spending time with his wife and four children. It is easy to locate him by listening to the constant whistling.
Paul Cluff, MD
Residency: Phoenix Children’s Hospital Pediatric Residency Program
Medical School: University of Nebraska College of Medicine
Special areas of expertise: Pediatrics
Dr. Cluff was raised in Thatcher, Arizona. He is the son of Ron and Patsy Cluff. He served a mission for his church in the Dominican Republic.
He attended Eastern Arizona College and graduated from the University of Arizona.
He is married to Erika Cluff and they have four children; two boys and twin girls. Before joining the Gila Valley Clinic, he practiced pediatrics in the Phoenix Valley for 14 years. He enjoys golfing, woodworking, traveling and spending time with his family.
Elisa Troyer, MD
Residency: North Colorado Family Medicine
Medical School: Eastern Virginia Medical School
Special areas of expertise: High-Risk Obstetrics
Dr. Troyer was born in Guatemala and grew up in Virginia. She attended Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA for her undergraduate education, then went to Eastern Virginia Medical School for her medical training and a masters of public health. Dr. Troyer completed her residency at North Colorado Family Medicine in Greeley, CO. During this time, she worked at North Colorado Medical Center, one of the referral hospitals for higher-risk obstetrics in northeast Colorado, helping to care for women.
Dr. Troyer’s specialty is Family Medicine with Obstetrics. She has experience in high risk obstetrics, both Cesarean and vaginal deliveries, tubal ligations, and Nexplanon and IUD insertion and removal. She also loves working with patients of all ages, especially those with complicated medical histories, including diabetes, kidney disease, and heart failure. She is so excited to join the Gila Valley Clinic.
Drumstick the Puffer Fish
Drumstick is a porcupine puffer fish that has lived in the Gila Valley for almost 2 years now and has been working at the Gila Valley Clinic since relocating. He works in patient relations and is quick with a smile and a wave. He is unfortunately quite carnivorous and has dispatched several of his tank mates over the years. Thankfully he is not likely to eat anything much bigger than his mouth, so patients and staff have remained completely safe. We have noticed that he has an unusual fear of dogs of any size most likely due to his recognition that they too are carnivores and bigger than he is. As long as his tank is climate controlled and he is fed a steady diet of large frozen shrimp (sufficiently thawed), he remains in his happy place and will be anxious to greet you when you stop in.
Nurse Practitioners & Physician Assistants
Shelley Vaughn, DNP, FNP-BC
Family Nurse Practitioner
Education: Doctoral of Nursing Practice, Northern Arizona University
Master of Science, Family Nurse Practitioner, Northern Arizona University
Special areas of expertise: Women’s Health
Shelley is a proud United States Air Force Veteran. She has been a nurse practitioner since 2011 and with Gila Valley Clinic since 2014.
Shelley was born and raised in Clifton, Arizona. She feels that it is a privilege to provide healthcare within her hometown community.
She is married to Jeff Vaughn. They have two sons, Anthony who graduated from Arizona State University and William who is a helicopter pilot.
Tajma Palma, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC
Family Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Education: Master of Science, Family Nurse Practitioner, Northern Arizona University. Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
Special areas of expertise: Chronic Disease Management and Prevention, Mental Health Illnesses
Tajma Palma is a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner proudly serving Arizona’s Gila Valley.
Prior to joining Gila Valley Clinic in 2016 Tajma worked as a registered nurse for Mt Graham Regional Medical Center and Northern Cochise Community Hospital. Tajma has extensive experience treating acute and chronic conditions, and mental health illnesses for patients of all ages. Tajma is passionate about patient centered care and shared decision making with her patients. She prides herself in taking the extra time to listen and educate her patients.
It is in the giving that we truly receive! “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shake together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38
Tajma enjoys her free time spent with her husband and 3 children.
Garrett Hunter, Physician’s Assistant
Education: Northern Arizona University
Special areas of expertise: Pediatric Care
Garrett is a native to Arizona and excited to call the Gila Valley home.
Before entering PA School, He worked as a Physical Therapy Technician where he found his passion for helping people. He learned that creating a relationship with the patient based on respect, and creating a comfortable environment are important. Garrett strives to provide a safe space of open communication where provider and patient work together to achieve the desired outcomes.
Garrett is married to his wife Meghan and they have a young son. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, traveling, playing board games, and spending time with family and friends.
Todd Schwallier, FNP-C
Education: Master of Science, Family Nurse Practitioner, Simmons University: Boston MA
Special areas of expertise: Sports Medicine, Pediatric Care, and Men’s Health
Todd worked as a registered nurse for Mount Graham Regional Medical Center, Intermountain Medical Center, and Banner Baywood prior to joining Gila Valley Clinic in 2017. He grew up in the Gila Valley and is excited to return to raise his family and serve his community.
Todd believes that building relationships of trust through open communication is essential in promoting a safe and comfortable environment. This facilitates open discussion about medical concerns, health education, and helps improve health by allowing patients to make informed choices about their health.
Counselors
Vicky Schwallier, Mental Health Counselor
Education: Master of Science, General Mental Health, Walden University and Trauma certification, Grand Canyon University
Special areas of expertise: Trauma and Crisis Counseling
Vicky is a Licensed Associate Counselor and works under the direct supervision of Carlton Perk, LCSW and Jared Wilhelm, LPC. Prior to joining Gila Valley Clinic in 2018, Vicky worked as a crisis clinician for Community Partners. Vicky worked with other agencies to stabilize individuals who were experiencing different types of crisis situations.
Life is full of challenges. Vicky is a firm believer in the benefits of unbiased support during difficult periods in one’s life. Vicky has worked with people of all ages and walks of life to help address depression, anxiety, loss, anger, and relationship issues. Vicky enjoys helping others to improve their current situation by offering a warm, safe and reliable therapeutic environment.
Tailoring therapy specific to the client is important to Vicky. For example, some clients seek therapy for a safe place to vent, cry or simply sit. Other clients seek therapy for specific coping skills to help reduce debilitating anxiety. Vicky’s goal is to accommodate the client as best she can.
For more information about our healthcare services please contact us at 928-428-1377 today!
Phone: 928-428-1377
Fax: 928-428-6903
Email: [email protected]
Hours
Monday - Friday 8 A.M. to 6 P.M.
Saturday 9 A.M. to 12 P.M. (acute care only)
Closed Sundays