In little more than a decade, the doctors, nurses and medical assistants who power Sutter Health’s cardiology center have outgrown their space next to Sutter’s hospital north of Santa Rosa.
A biohazard sign is affixed to the door just outside cardiology center manager Mallorie Mercado’s office, which is also the medication room — a medical waste bin is located near the door.
Keri Ashworth, the cardiology center supervisor, doesn’t have a fixed office and floats around the department with her computer and backpack.
“I’m wherever there’s an empty space,” she said, adding that as demand for cardiology services and staff have grown “we’ve had to get very creative.”
To alleviate the team’s growing pains, Sutter Health has embarked on a $16.4 million renovation that will transform a nearby 13,318-square-foot building into a new, larger state-of-the-art cardiology hub.
The new center will double the number of patient exam rooms to 20 and feature advanced, on-site imaging capabilities, including a cardiac CT scanner, four echocardiogram rooms and two stress treadmill rooms. Currently, some of those services are located at different sites in the county.
Sutter says the project is part of a broader, multi-year investment across Northern California aimed at expanding specialty services and outpatient capacity. That expansion includes a $10 million project that to expand orthopedics and podiatry in the building at 34 Mark West Springs Road that houses Sutter’s existing cardiology center.
Interventional cardiologist Dr. Supreeya Swarup said the much-needed expansion will benefit physicians, staff and patients. It will increase access to cardiology testing and also speed up appointments.
“It’s just going to open all that arena up for our patients too, so we’re very excited,” Swarup said.
The expanded center will occupy the medical building at 18 E Fulton Road, formerly the site of DaVita Santa Rosa Springs Dialysis. The building, acquired by Sutter, has been gutted and construction is expected to begin potentially this month, after final permitting is completed.
Sutter said the expansion is scheduled to be finished in December, with the first patients anticipated later that month.
Cardiologitst Dr. Supreeya Swarup conducts a check up on Jan Waters of Hopland Monday, March 9, 2026 in one of the 10 exam rooms in the current cardiology center. The new center will double the number of exam rooms to 20. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Sutter Health cardiology supervisor Mallorie Mercado found space for her desk in a room shared with stored biohazard material in the cardiology center at the Mark West office building Monday, March 9, 2026 in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
With limited room at the Sutter Health current cardiology center in the Mark West office building in Santa Rosa, medical assistant Paola Cruz works at her desk in a former dressing room Monday, March 9, 2026. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
The future lobby of the Sutter Health new $16.4 million state-of-the-art cardiology center Monday, March 9, 2026 in the former Davita Lab just east of their Mark West offices in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Sutter Health is investing $16.4 million in a state-of-the-art cardiology center Monday, March 9, 2026 in the former Davita Lab just east of their Mark West offices in Santa Rosa. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Sutter Health cardiology supervisor Keri Ashworth walks past EKG machines stored in the hallways in the Mark West office building Monday, March 9, 2026 in Santa Rosa. Ashworth, who has no office, uses any unused work station she can find. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
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Cardiologitst Dr. Supreeya Swarup conducts a check up on Jan Waters of Hopland Monday, March 9, 2026 in one of the 10 exam rooms in the current cardiology center. The new center will double the number of exam rooms to 20. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
Mercado, the cardiology center manager, said that with 20 exam rooms, the medical staff will be able to see more patients — meeting growing demand for heart care as more of the largest generation of Americans, baby boomers, move into their post-retirement years and need such care.
“We’ve run out of (space) for our providers to be able to see patients effectively,” she said. “That also includes the ancillary testing, like stress echo and echo, and our nurse visits and EKG visits and other ancillary services that we offer patients.”
Patients with pacemakers or other implantable devices needing to come in “device checks” will be able to do so in a much more timely manner, she said.
“If the patients have any issues with their device, then they can get in much sooner to be seen by the team,” she said. “It’s really going to open up access for our community, which is awesome. We’re very excited.”
Dr. Emily Conway, a cardiologist and chief medical officer of the Sutter Medical Group of the Redwoods, said the expansion goes hand-in-hand with Sutter’s efforts to recruit more physicians to the area. Sutter’s cardiology center currently has 11 cardiologists, of which nine are physicians and two are advanced practitioners.
That includes three new cardiologists hired last year, Conway said. Another cardiologist is expected to start in the fall, and her team is starting to recruit an additional four, bringing the total over the next year to 16 providers, she added.
One of the biggest benefits of the new facility will be the ability to offer all of Sutter’s cardiology services, including new imaging equipment, in one location. Currently, Sutter’s local cardiac CT scanner is located in Rohnert Park.
The East Fulton Road facility will get its own cardiac CT scanner and the one in Rohnert Park will stay where it is.
“Right now you could be kind of shunting to all those different locations and there’s significant wait,” she said. “When we open this space up and we and a third echo machine, we add the CT scanner here, you can get it done in just one location.”
Conway said the new facility will help reduce the amount of time new patients are currently waiting for their first appointments, which can be up to 33 days.
“We’re hoping that will completely be alleviated,” she said, adding that goal will be bringing wait time to under 14 days.
Strong share of female doctors, focus on women’s health
One of the things that stands out about Sutter’s local cardiology services are the number of female cardiologists. Of the 11 current cardiologists, seven are women, said Conway.
“Despite comprising 50.8% of the U.S. population, women remain underrepresented in the field of cardiology, comprising only 15.5% of practicing cardiologists,” Conway said in an email.
Dr. Nisha Soneji, who specializes in cardio obstetrics, said one of the reasons she joined the local Sutter cardiology team, straight out of a fellowship from the University of Texas, was because of its “strong female presence.”
“I knew I wanted to start a women’s cardiovascular health program wherever I end up,” said Soneji, who interviewed at more than 10 programs across the country before deciding on Sutter Medical Group of the Redwoods.
Dr. Michael Maggnoti, president of the Sutter medical group, said new cardiology center is part of Sutter’s broader local plans to expand services throughout the region.
“The next big project will be in Petaluma, we have a small care center there with some primary care…on North McDowell Boulevard, ” said Maggnoti.
Plans include building out a “whole multi-specialty unit” there with imaging and urgent care, he said.
“The long term plan is basically to have almost everything in Novato and Petaluma that we have up here (in Santa Rosa),” Maggnoti said. “I mean all the (specialties) — cardiology, Gi, ENT, endocrine, neurology, basically all the main specialties,” he said.
You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.