Billie Atwood, ARNP, received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, and her Masters of Nursing, Family Practice from Brigham Young University in Utah. Her clinical experience includes working for a number of specialty clinics, including orthopedics, neurology, family practice and urgent care. Prior to joining the Rheumatology Clinic, Ms. Atwood managed Valley Medical Center's nationally recognized Joint Center and served as a staff nurse responsible for the care of surgical patients emerging from anesthesia.

Dr. Matthew Bremmer is originally from Oregon. After attending Oregon State University for undergraduate degree, he attended medical school at the University of Maryland. After graduating in 2008 he completed a year of Internal Medicine training at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. He returned to Baltimore for training in Dermatology at the University of Maryland. After completing his training he worked in private practice in rural Pennsylvania, prior to joining Valley.

Dr. Bremmer is Board Certified in Dermatology, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. His interests are in medical and surgical dermatology, and he enjoys seeing adult and pediatric patients.

Dr. Bremmer and his wife live in Maple Valley. In his spare time he enjoys camping, hiking, boating, and triathlon.

Undergraduate: Oregon State University
Medical School: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Residency: University of Maryland School of Medicine

Education
Ohio State University - BS Nursing, 1981
University of Illinois-Chicago - MS Nurse-Midwifery, 1986

Midwifery positions: North Central Bronx Hospital, Bronx, New York; Bay Area Midwifery Service, San Francisco, CA. Prior to coming to Valley Medical Center, Laura was a member of the Highline Midwifery Service for 13 years.

Laura made nurse-midwifery her career goal very early in life and, after 25 years of attending women in labor and caring for them before, during and after their pregnancies, she still says she's very happy with her decision. She remains awed by the power of birth and motherhood, and feels privileged to provide healthcare and education to women throughout their childbearing years.

Laura lives in Burien with her husband, two teenage sons and two cats. She enjoys reading, gardening, walking early in the morning with her friends, and exploring the beach at low tide.

Surafel Gezahegne, MD, is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine. He believes a strong patient-physician relationship is vital to patient care. He strives to provide the highest standard of care to his patients.

Dr. Gezahegne takes care of patients with lung diseases including asthma, COPD, sarcoidosis, pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung disease and lung cancer. He performs bronchoscopy including endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) to diagnose and stage cancer. Dr. Gezahegne also works in the intensive care unit (ICU) taking care of critically-ill patients.

Dr. Gezahegne was born and raised in Ethiopia. He moved to Washington State in 2001. He received his bachelor’s degree in microbiology and his medical degree from the University of Washington. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, California and his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. In his spare time, Dr. Gezahegne enjoys playing soccer and racket ball as well as hiking and biking.

HOURS: 8 AM – 4:30 PM
Covington: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Renton: Wednesdays

Scott Lee, MD, enjoys taking care of adult and pediatric patients with a wide variety of ENT conditions. He is particularly interested in the airway, which includes sinonasal, oropharyngeal, and laryngeal disorders, plus thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Dr. Lee has also been the principal investigator in numerous research protocols, including the evaluation of tools for minimally-invasive sinus surgery, novel surgical approaches to the airway, and preoperative assessment of the airway.

Dr. Lee graduated magna cum laude from the University of Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. He then earned his medical degree from the University of Colorado in Denver. Next, he completed a surgery internship followed by an otolaryngology residency at Albany Medical College, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Dr. Lee then practiced in North Dakota and served as an Assistant Professor of Surgery with the University of North Dakota. After that, he practiced in California with privileges at Stanford, prior to joining Valley Medical Center.

Dr. Lee enjoys traveling and playing outdoors with his wife, young child, and small dog.

*Dr. Lee was voted as a Top Doctor by Seattle Met Magazine in 2019.

Mariena Mears, ARNP, cares for women throughout their lifespan and participate with them through the life events for their optimal health. She graduated from University of Cincinnati.

Other Interests

Mariena and her husband have been married for 35 years. In her spare time she loves spending time with two adult children and extended family members.

Niharika Rath MD is an allergist/immunologist who sees adults and children with conditions including seasonal allergies, asthma, food allergy, and immunodeficiency. She is a board-certified pediatrician and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. She believes good communication between the patient and healthcare team is key to providing the best medical care and support.

Dr. Rath is originally from St. Louis, Missouri, and attended medical school at University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine before returning to St. Louis for pediatrics residency through St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Washington University. She completed her allergy and immunology fellowship at Children’s Mercy Hospital/Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Rath’s interests outside of work include traveling, cooking, baking, and exploring the beautiful greater Seattle area.

Watch Dr. Rath’s DocTalk video, “Food Allergies: Fact or Fiction”

Amritpal Sandhu, MD, is board-certified in Rheumatology, and treats patients with inflammatory arthritis and systemic lupus erythematous (SLE), and he also has a special interest in osteoporosis.

Dr. Sandhu completed his medical school training at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana,India and did his internal medicine residency at St. Joseph hospital, Chicago. His fellowship in Geriatrics was completed at University of Illinois, Chicago. He completed his Rheumatology fellowship at University of Mississippi and stayed on as assistant professor for four years prior to moving to Washington. He is a Fellow of American college of Rheumatology.

Patient Philosophy: “Treatment of inflammatory arthritis has changed significantly in last 15-20 years. My goal is early diagnosis of the type of arthritis and initiation of treatment to prevent further damage to the joints. I believe in empowering my patients with the latest knowledge and research about different disease states which helps in medical decision making and keeping them functional to enjoy life to the fullest.”

Personal Interests: I enjoy gardening, music, watching Seahawks games, and spending time with my family.

Remy Van Sanford, MD, has special interests in high risk obstetrics, adolescent gynecology, and minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. Dr. Van Sanford was born and raised in Boston, MA. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Emory University in 2011 with a BS in neuroscience and behavioral biology. She was inducted to the Phi Eta Sigma and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies her freshman and junior years respectively. While at Emory, she was a four-year member of the women’s rowing team. Dr. Van Sanford went on to obtain her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine, where she graduated in 2015. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at University of Cincinnati where she did research in obstetric ultrasound and resident training in minimally-invasive laparoscopy.

In her spare time, Dr. Van Sanford enjoys rowing, running, traveling, and spending time with her friends, family, and dog Sawyer.

Board certified in cardiovascular disease, Ting-Wei Yang, MD, is skilled in invasive cardiology. Dr. Yang’s strong interest in preventive cardiology fuels his desire to partner with patients to help them achieve a path to healthy lifestyle. After 20+ years of proud active duty service in the Navy, Dr. Yang joined Valley Medical Center in 2018.

Outside work, Dr. Yang enjoys Washington’s great outdoors and on weekends is frequently seen jogging trails with his dog. He takes great joy in showing his family the world and embodies the spirit of “Yang can cook” in his pursuit of culinary excellence. While Dr. Yang is a trained classical pianist, he finds teaching his kids the piano much more painful than his own early musical education.

Education, Training & Experience

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Dr. Yang proudly claims New Jersey as his adopted home. He studied chemical engineering at Columbia University in New York City. Commissioned as a Naval officer after college, Dr. Yang attended medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He continued his training at the naval medical centers in Bethesda and Okinawa, Japan. He served his Internal Medicine residency at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia and his Cardiology Fellowship at Walter Reed National Capital Military Medical Center. As a cardiologist, Dr. Yang practiced three years in Naval Hospital Jacksonville where he was recognized for exemplary patient satisfaction throughout the Navy’s cardiology community. In 2012, Dr. Yang relocated to Naval Hospital Bremerton, where he spearheaded the integration of cardiology services with Madigan Army Medical Center.