Residents of Moore County, especially those in the Pinehurst-Taylortown-Pinewild vicinity, can look forward to another FirstHealth health care option with the fall opening of a new FirstHealth Family Medicine and Convenient Care office in Pinehurst.
FirstHealth Family Medicine-Pinehurst will begin seeing patients in an office in the Pinehurst Harris Teeter Shopping Center on Oct. 30, while the Pinehurst FirstHealth Convenient Care office will open in adjacent space later this fall. Details on Convenient Care timing and staffing will be announced soon.
The provider at FirstHealth Family Medicine-Pinehurst will be Ann Marie Richards, M.D., who looks forward to caring for entire families, from the youngest child to grandparents.
Ann Marie Richards
“We aim to be a family’s first stop in getting health care,” she says. “We can treat common illnesses and minor injuries, but we also work with patients to help manage their overall health by getting to know them and their medical history to help them manage their diabetes, high blood pressure and other medical conditions.”
A native North Carolinian who grew up in Cary, Dr. Richards received a bachelor’s degree in finance from East Carolina University magna cum laude with honors. After earning her medical degree from the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina, she completed her family medicine residency training at Duke/Southern Regional AHEC in Fayetteville.
Dr. Richards decided at a young age that she wanted to be a doctor and gained exposure to the medical field while working in a clinic in her hometown when she was in high school.
“The two doctors I worked for were phenomenal physicians who really took the time to get to know their patients on a more personal level,” she says. “They knew the patient’s family, the names of their children and pets, how they lived, what was important to them, and what their values were. The passion and dedication that these doctors demonstrated in caring for their patients and families inspired me to do the same and was what drove me to pursue family medicine.”
Dr. Richards, who is married and has two young children, has a special interest in women’s health and the role food and nutrition play in health.
“I believe that the foods we eat and how we care for our bodies can influence our health and diseases just as much as the medications we take,” she says.
FirstHealth Family Medicine-Pinehurst will be located at 150 Ivey Lane, Pinehurst, in the Harris Teeter Shopping Center. To make an appointment with Ann Marie Richards, M.D., call (910) 215-5210.
