Courtesy of Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce
Key Points
- Samara Primary Care Clinic opened its first brick-and-mortar location at 2513 E Semoran Boulevard in Apopka with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday.
- Founder Judith Gabriel established Samara Home Doctor Services in 2018 and expanded to a primary care clinic due to patient requests.
- The clinic emphasizes holistic wellness alongside standard care, inspired by Gabriel's personal recovery from spinal injury without surgery.
Samara Primary Care Clinic held its ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday on 2513 E Semoran Boulevard, marking Samara’s first brick-and-mortar location.
“My vision is to create this beautiful medical center where we have providers from different backgrounds, different specialties,” founder and physician Judith Gabriel said.
Dr. Judith Gabriel originally opened her health-care business as Samara Home Doctor Services in 2018, assisting patients across central Florida. After patients and their family members requested Gabriel to open a primary care center, she decided to open a clinic in her hometown of Apopka.
Samara offers a variety of standard primary care services, including screenings, physical exams and injections. To Gabriel, however, the clinic’s emphasis on holistic wellness sets Samara apart.
“I have patients — their blood sugar is 500 just because they are going through something,” Gabriel said. “So I can’t just put them on medication. I have to do counseling with them.”
Gabriel witnessed the importance of holistic medicine firsthand two years ago, when a fall left a few of her intervertebral disks bulging out.
“When I went to the hospital, they wanted to do surgery right away,” Gabriel said. “As a doctor, going into my spine — it is [a] very scary thought.”
Gabriel instead opted to visit a wellness center that offered hydrotherapy and IV treatments. After she completed her treatments, she found she no longer needed the surgery.
“In the primary care, we are monitoring the illness,” Gabriel said. “We don’t want it to go any further. In the wellness center, we don’t want you to have diabetes.”
Gabriel chose the name “Samara” from a group of seven to celebrate 10 names in a basket. When she saw it meant “God protects,” she knew she did not want to choose again.
“And then I was doubtful,” Gabriel said. “I did again. Guess what? Samara!”
Gabriel said her name choice reflects her dedication to treating each person as a “beautiful individual” instead of a “number.”
“I want you to be healthy, to remain healthy, so you can be there for your family members, so you can be there for your loved ones, and so you can be the greatest that you are created to be,” Gabriel said.