ALAMOSA — San Luis Valley Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Greg McAuliffe has announced the appointment of Dr. David Geiger as Medical Director of Surgical Services effective September 1.  Dr. Geiger came to San Luis Valley Health as a general surgeon in 2006 and is joined by Carla Crist, M.D. and Julian Maendel, M.D. as full time general surgeons.

Dr. Geiger says of his appointment, “I’m excited to announce that we have two new general surgeons who will be joining us on a full time basis. Carla Christ, MD began at SLV Health on August 1. Julian Maendel, MD will start on September 1. This will bring our staffing level up to what the general surgery department needs to serve all of our patients.

"As part of this new era in surgery, I will have the time to devote to some administrative tasks. I look forward to providing physician leadership for the trauma program and the surgery department. I will take a more active role in peer review and in the day to day management of the operating room.

"I hope that I can keep all of SLV’s surgical services moving forward by expanding services and continually improving quality.”

As Medical Director of Surgical Services Dr. Geiger will oversee all of the surgical services (including general surgery, gynecological surgery, orthopedic surgery, Ear, nose & Throat surgery, podiatric surgery, Eye surgery, and Urological surgery) provided at San Luis Valley Health ensuring that patients receive safe and state of the art care along with excellent customer service.

In addition to day-to-day supervision, Dr. Geiger will be involved with the strategic planning for the future of surgical serves offered at SLVH. Additionally Dr. Geiger heads the Level III Trauma Program at SLVH.

Captions: Dr. David Geiger

Dr. David Geiger, center, is pictured with surgical staff in early 2017.

Photos courtesy of SLV Health