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Midwestern values drive Sun Cities business owner

Neumann thrives on adventurous rides

Posted 12/6/20

Sarah Neumann is driven by her strong Midwestern values — family, religion, community, work long, work hard, do it right.

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Business

Midwestern values drive Sun Cities business owner

Neumann thrives on adventurous rides

Posted

Sarah Neumann is driven by her strong Midwestern values — family, religion, community, work long, work hard, do it right.

That has carried her to a decade of success after founding Ahwatukee Skin & Laser and Sun City Dermatology. But Ms. Neumann also has an adventurous side, which might surprise those who know her as a no-nonsense, get-it-done personality. She lived in Belize for a year as an exchange student. Then there’s the other thing.

“I ride a motorcycle,” Ms. Neumann said. “It’s an Indian Scout.”

She likes that people might think she has a work-life balance. But she is the first to admit her practices are her children. She works a significant amount of hours by choice. In her limited spare time, she has a home in Strawberry that she likes to frequent, to get into the tall pines and ride her motorcycle.

This is about where the surprises end.

“I walk my dogs. I like to hike and I like to cook and bake, so I frequently cook and bake for the staff,” said Ms. Neumann, 46.

That sense of community at Sun City Dermatology, 13843 W. Meeker Blvd., Sun City West and Ahwatukee and Skin & Laser, 4425 E. Agave Road, Phoenix is the essence of who she is — tight with those around her, proud creator of that community, prouder still of the reputation and trust that her practices have gained. ASL, founded in 2010, has been a multiple award winner in area polls and Ms. Neumann hopes to bring the same sense of community to Sun City West and surrounding areas. She has been a practicing physician assistant for more than 20 years.

“I got interested in dermatology, one, because I had very bad acne as a young adult and I had never heard about what a dermatologist was,” Ms. Neumann said. “I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. I got to college, I met my first dermatologist and it was life altering for me. I took myself from someone who wasn’t real comfortable looking in the mirror to skin that I was proud to show off. So that was my first experience with, hey, this dermatology thing is pretty cool.”

She also worked and was an exchange student in Belize in Central America in my undergraduate years.

“I saw a lot of infectious disease. I saw a lot of parasitic infections. And then my love for dermatology just exploded,” she explained. “It was pretty clear at that point that the skin, hair and nails was where my passion lie, and that’s where I focused when I came back to the states. I went to PA school and decided that dermatology was for me.”

Her Belize experience solidified her basic beliefs.

“Being from a small Midwestern town, it was eye-opening to me,” she said. “It was Third World. I was a minority race. It was difficult living, but you learned what was most important to you, whether that be family, religion, community or otherwise.”

Indeed, she has returned to Belize several times to visit the family that had hosted her during her college exchange year and to attend weddings of people she got to know.

She founded Sun City Dermatology because she believed it was an underserved market with an aging population and a high incidence in skin cancer.

She’d arrived in Phoenix nearly 20 years ago, working initially at a large-group practice before deciding to launch her own.

“I wanted a more personalized approach to patient care,” she said. “I wanted a higher quality standard. And quite frankly, I wanted to do it my way, which was heartfelt and relationship driven. I wanted to take care of people regardless of ability to pay.”

Sun City Dermatology, founded in 2018, employs Mohs surgeons who provide state-of-the-art care for skin-cancer patients and also has dermatologic surgeons. Ms. Neumann splits her time between both practices and see patients at the Sun City West location on Wednesdays.

From the start, Ms. Neumann believed it was imperative for to be a full-service cosmetic, medical and surgical dermatology practice because they create relationships with people. It is that quality care with a personal touch that sustained Ms. Neumann and the staff at both locations even through the current COVID-19 pandemic. People donated masks and brought in food, because the clinic never closed.

“We wanted to maintain our ability to treat our cancer patients, and we had a massive outpouring of support,” Ms. Neumann said. “So we love Sun City West and Ahwatukee. We wanted to maintain our locally owned small businesses through the pandemic.”

Call 623-377-7546 or visit suncitydermaz.com.

Editor’s Note: Mr. Shappell is a retired Valley journalist and freelance writer.