Healthcare Office on Providence’s East Side Closes With Little Explanation

Healthcare Office on Providence’s East Side Closes With Little Explanation

Over the past few weeks, Providence-based Anasa Personalized Medicine has closed. 

It is unclear what sparked the closure or when it will reopen.

Chrysanthi Kazantzis, ND, MS — who goes by the name Dr. Kaz is the owner and founder of Anasa.

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The practice once included five medical professionals as well as support staff. The mysterious closure has left hundreds or thousands of patients looking for information, and in some cases, looking for their healthcare records. Anasa claims it has served more than 6,000 patients in the past five years.

Her bio states, "Dr. Kaz is a licensed Naturopathic Physician, Clinical Nutritionist, Reiki Master and Craniosacral Therapy Level 1 practitioner. She completed her education at the University of Bridgeport where she received a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and a Master's degree in Nutrition.

 

On May 11, the practice posted to social media:

 “Dr. Kaz is out of the office May 11 - May 17.”

 

Since then, a number of other social media posts have been added.

On May 20, the messages became more dire:

“Due to an emergency situation, our office is currently closed until further notice.  If you have urgent healthcare needs, please contact your PCP or another qualified healthcare provider during this time.”

 

 

Four Physicians and Three Admin Staff “No Longer with Anasa"

Then it became clear that the practice was unraveling.

On June 2, Anasa posted:

Office Update

To Our Cherished Patients,

Due to unforeseen circumstances, all upcoming appointments at Anasa Personalized Medicine will need to be temporarily rescheduled during the month of June.

Currently, all four of our physicians and all 3 admin staff are no longer with Anasa. We sincerely apologize for the disruption this has caused and understand the frustration and uncertainty many patients may be experiencing.

To help ensure continuity of care during this transition, Sarah, is actively supporting the practice and working closely with Dr. Kaz. Sarah has also been interviewing naturopathic physicians and administrative professionals to help restore services and strengthen patient support as quickly as possible.

 

After being notified by patients who raised concerns about the state of the Anasa practice, GoLocal reached out to the Rhode Island Department of Health about the practice.

 

“We do not comment on complaints. As you know, we do post all disciplinary actions for healthcare professionals,” said Joseph Wendelken, spokesperson for the RIDOH.

 

On Wednesday, GoLocal emailed Dr. Kaz. On Thursday, a public relations firm responded to the email to Dr. Kaz.

 

“Dr. Kaz forwarded me your inquiry. I'm handling communications for Anasa Personalized Medicine — please feel free to direct any questions my way and I'll make sure you get what you need. I also want you to know that Dr. Kaz will be making a statement shortly, and we'll make sure it gets to you.

Best,

Courtney Paige

Bright Paige Consulting

 

GoLocal forwarded the following questions to Paige.

Here are our questions -- not looking for a blanket statement like the others that have been posted:

1) Does Dr. Katz believe she is in material compliance with the RIDOH regulations regarding management of her office during this period?

2) The other members of her office have left; we are speaking with some of them. Does Dr. Katz wish to give a comment?

3) Some patients say there are delays in getting records. Why?

 

 

Later on Thursday, Paige responded with the following response:

To your questions:

1) Patient care remains our top priority. Anasa is operating in a limited capacity at this time, but current patient requests are actively being processed, and we are in direct ongoing contact with patients who have reached out to Anasa. There will be further updates on Anasa coming soon.

2) Anasa has been a trusted provider of personalized, integrative medicine to patients across the region, and Dr. Kaz remains proud of the practice she has built over the past five years. Dr. Kaz values her staff and colleagues and appreciates their contributions to Anasa and their care and devotion to its patients. She respects their individual decisions, and she remains fully focused on and committed to her patients. 

3) Patient records belong to patients. Anasa is actively processing all requests.