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Board of Directors


Gary Deutsch, MD – Santa Paula, Oxnard

Dr. Deutsch is Co-Founder of Identity Medical Group and Identity MSO. Co-Founder and current President of Valley Care Physicians IPA, Inc., and sits on the Board of Directors of Santa Clara Valley Home Support/Hospice. Board Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, he is a Member of the American College of Physicians and the California Medical Society (1980 to present.) Dr. Deutsch is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCLA, Medical Center (Ventura County since 1980), has published in the Journal of Virology and is recognized as a Life Member in Who’s Who in America.


Charles L. Murphy, MD – Ventura

Dr. Charles Murphy is a board-certified Family Medicine physician who received his medical degree from the University of California Davis. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at Ventura County Medical Center. He began practice in 2005, joining the physicians at Brent Street Family Practice in 2008. In 2013, the practice became part of Identity Medical Group.


David Mescher, MD – Oxnard, Camarillo

Dr. Mescher is Founder of Hospitalist Team of SeaView IPA and has served as its President and Medical Director. He also Co-founded Premier Diagnostics Sleep Lab and has held the positions of Chief of Staff, Pleasant Valley Hospital, Medical Director ICU, St John’s Regional Medical Center and is currently Chair-person Clinical Integration, Ventura Chapter of Southern California Integrated Care Network. Dr. Mescher has been Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine.


Maria Dickey, DO – Camarillo

Dr. Maria Dickey enjoyed a midwestern upbringing in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her undergraduate degree was completed at University of Pittsburgh where she majored in Microbiology and minored in Music. She decided to obtain her doctorate at an osteopathic medical school because she felt a holistic approach to her patients was most consistent with her own beliefs. She feels strongly about treating the person as much as the disease.

Dr. Dickey served her country as a Navy Medical Officer. She trained with Navy pilots and flew both helicopters and turboprop aircraft then served her time as the Division Officer of Point Mugu Naval Air Base. During her tour as a flight surgeon, she observed that she most enjoyed the personal relationships she developed with her patients as a primary care physician. This inspired her to go back to residency to obtain her board certification in Family Medicine. She joined Identity Medical Group in 2015. Her goal is to deliver world class medicine to her community while maintaining a personal touch and a small practice feel.


Michael Tushla, MD – Santa Paula

Dr. Tushla is an active Member of the Valley Care Physicians IPA Board of Directors. He has been Medical Staff President and on the Board of Trustees of Santa Paula Memorial Hospital and is currently a Member of Ventura County Medical Association, California Medical Association, American Medical Association and American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Tushla is a Diplomate, American Board of Family Practice.


Sonya Araiza, RN, MBA - CEO

Sonya Araiza is the Co-Founder of Identity Medical Group and Identity MSO. Chief Executive Officer of Valley Care Physicians IPA, Inc., (since 2002) and Identity MSO. She has been instrumental in the successes of Identity Medical Group start up, Care Coordination delivery system, EMR implementation, Meaningful Use, and HCC. She has served as Vice President of Managed Care Operations, Ventura Medical Management, and as Director of Operations, SeaView IPA Oxnard, CA. She is qualified in management of daily operations, cost effective care, and policy, procedures and standards compliance in coordination with managed care organizations.


Michael Swartout, MD

Dr. Michael Swartout was born in Santa Barbara and raised in Southern California. He obtained a BA degree from Stanford University in 1967 (Phi Beta Kappa) and an MD degree from Washington University (Alpha Omega Alpha) in St Louis, Missouri. Following the example of his father, a general internist, and his uncle, an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Swartout chose medicine as his career and focused on primary care.

His internship and Internal Medicine Residency were done at the University of California, San Francisco, where he served one additional year as Chief Resident. His military service was in the United States Public Health Service, National Health Service Corps: he was stationed at Plymouth, North Carolina. It was in Plymouth that he learned to appreciate the charm and virtues of small town life.

After receiving board certification in Internal Medicine in 1976, he sought out a small town in Southern California (to be near family) and began private practice in Santa Paula in 1977. In his 35 years as a general internist, it has been his privilege and pleasure to serve the residents of Santa Paula and Fillmore, often treating several generations of the same family. He was Medical Director at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital from 1979 to 1997 and also Director of the Respiratory Care Department from 1978 to 2003. He served as Medical Director at Twin Pines Convalescent Hospital from 1998 to 2011 and at Fillmore Convalescent Hospital (and Greenfield Care Center) from 2007 to 2014. He is a founding member and was the first President of ValleyCare Physicians IPA Medical Associates, Inc. (ValleyCare). He has been Medical Director of that IPA since 1996. He is also a founding member and former Medical Director for Identity Medical Group and Identity Medical Services Organization.


Cynthia Caffrey, MD - Santa Paula

Dr. Cynthia Caffrey is a board-certified general internist. She graduated cum laude from University of California Santa Barbara in 1990 and received her MD degree with honors from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1995. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at UCLA-San Fernando Valley Program in Los Angeles in 1998. After a year as Chief Resident, she completed a two-year fellowship in Women’s Health and Health Service Research.

Dr. Caffrey worked as a staff physician at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California from 2001 to 2011. In 2011 she left Kaiser to join Dr. Michael Swartout and Dr. Bora Kim in private practice in hopes of maintaining more autonomy in her practice. In 2013 the three physicians became part of Identity Medical Group. Dr. Caffrey enjoys building long-term relationships with her patients, is a firm believer in preventative care, and has a special interest in women’s health issues.


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