Marin-Based Physician Network Announces New Appointments

Meritage Medical Network, the largest independent physician-run medical group in the North Bay, has announced the appointment of a new chief medical officer, chair of the Board of Directors and two new board members.

The new appointments include Dr. Mark Sockell as chief medical officer (CMO), Dr. Nelson Branco as chair of the Board of Directors, and Drs. Kristen Matsik and Elizabeth Etemad to the Board of Directors.

“I am delighted to announce all four of these appointments,” said Wojtek Nowak, Meritage CEO through a press release. “It gives me special pleasure to see Dr. Sockell assume the responsibilities of CMO. I look forward to working with him more closely than ever. We are grateful for Dr. Branco’s enhanced role and leadership on the Board, which will be strengthened by the participation of Drs. Matsik and Etemad. I am confident they will bring a distinctive, caring perspective to the board’s deliberations.”

Talking about his new appointment, Dr. Sockell said, “It is a great honor to be asked to serve as chief medical officer of Meritage Medical Network. It’s an enormous responsibility as well, of course, since more than half of all the residents of the three-county area we serve entrust their health to Meritage physicians. I will do everything in my power to facilitate and, wherever possible, further strengthen our delivery of high-quality care.”

Prior to taking on the CMO job, Dr. Sockell served Meritage as medical director of Medicare Advantage. His specialties are internal medicine and geriatrics. Before joining Meritage in 2014, he spent much of his career in medical education, including as director of medical education at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco, where he founded and ran the inpatient hospitalist program.

Dr. Branco has served on Meritage’s Board of Directors since 2007, serving as co-vice chair for the last six years. In addition Dr. Branco is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UCSF and has worked for Marin Community Clinic, the Pediatric After Hours Clinic and at Marin General Hospital as a Pediatric Hospitalist. In 2005, Dr. Branco joined Tamalpais Pediatrics and has been the managing partner since 2006.

Dr. Matsik, an OB/GYN who practices with the Prima Medical Group, specializes in high-risk obstetrics, laparoscopic surgery, hysteroscopy and endometrial ablation. She also serves as an assistant clinical professor at the UCSF. Marin Magazine has named her a Top Doctor four years straight, in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Dr. Etemad, a practitioner of family medicine, is also a member of the Prima Medical Group. Her areas of interest are women’s and children's health, sports medicine, and adolescent medicine. She is also skilled in osteopathic manual medicine.

Meritage comprises more than 700 primary care and specialist physicians, serving nearly half a million residents in Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties. To learn more about Meritage, you can visit www.MeritageMed.com.