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LAC Primary Care
Accepting new patients

Diabetes care in Bakersfield — handled at primary care.

Type 2 diabetes, type 1, and prediabetes are managed here as part of primary care at LAC — the same office, the same chart, and the same team that handles your blood pressure, your labs, and your yearly visit. No separate diabetes clinic. No program fee. Spanish at every visit, every day we're open. Most new patients are seen the same week.

Request an appointment Call (661) 735-1710

See what a first visit looks like

Diabetes hits Kern County harder than most of California.

Kern County's diabetes death rate is about twice California's — 51.8 deaths per 100,000 people against the state's 24.5, age-adjusted, in the California Department of Public Health's 2022–2024 figures.1,2 That number is not fixed, and diabetes is not a condition you have to wait out. It is one of the long-term conditions primary care is built to manage. What moves the number is ordinary, steady work: A1c checked on a schedule, medications reviewed instead of auto-refilled, blood pressure and kidneys watched, and a provider who remembers what you tried last year.

Here is the part worth understanding, because it changes what you do about it. Kern County does not have dramatically more diabetes than the rest of California. About one in eight adults here has been diagnosed, based on CDC PLACES estimates for 2023 — above the state, but not by a wide margin.3 The gap opens up after the diagnosis, in how the years that follow go. California's Department of Health Care Access and Information tracks a set of diabetes hospital stays that consistent outpatient care can often head off, and Kern's combined rate for those ran above the state rate in 2024.4

So the difference in Kern is mostly made in follow-up — in the ordinary visits, not the emergency ones. That is exactly what a primary care office is for.

Who should get tested, and when.

A diabetes diagnosis usually starts with a routine blood test, not with symptoms. That's the whole reason screening exists.

Who should be tested

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening adults 35 to 70 who carry extra weight.6 The American Diabetes Association adds other reasons to check earlier: a parent or sibling with diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, and a past pregnancy with gestational diabetes.7 ADA screening criteria also start earlier for Latino, Black, Native American, and Asian American adults.7 If that is you, ask at your next visit whether you are due. Nationally, more than one in four adults who have diabetes has not been diagnosed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.5 Most of them feel fine.

Which of those applies to you, and how often you should be checked, is a conversation at a visit — not something a web page can answer. Nothing here is medical advice. Bring it up and we'll sort out what you're actually due for.

Prediabetes is where this is easiest to change

More than two in five American adults have prediabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.5 Prediabetes means blood sugar that is higher than normal but not yet in the diabetes range — and it is the stage where attention changes the most.

We treat prediabetes as something to act on, not something to watch drift. That means a real plan, a repeat test on a set schedule so you can see whether it's moving, and a conversation about what's realistic to change. You do not need a diabetes diagnosis to be worth a visit here.

What the test actually involves

It's a blood draw. Blood is drawn here in the office at 5300 Lennox Avenue — no separate lab trip across town — and sent out for processing. The usual tests are A1c, the blood test that shows how your blood sugar has been running over the past several weeks, and a blood glucose level. Results come back to your healow patient portal, and we go over what they mean with you rather than leaving you to decode a lab report on your own. If the number is borderline, we'll tell you it's borderline and what we're going to do about it.

What ongoing diabetes care looks like here.

Diabetes care is not one appointment. It's a rhythm. Here's what that rhythm consists of at LAC.

  • Visits on a set schedule

    The next visit gets scheduled before you leave — every time. How far out depends on where your numbers are and whether we just changed something. If things are steady, we space them out and say so. If we adjusted a medication, we see you sooner. What we don't do is leave the follow-up to whether you remember to call.

  • Labs that change the plan

    A1c, kidney function, and cholesterol, on the schedule your situation calls for — not a standing panel run out of habit. We order labs when the result will actually change what we do. The draw happens in the office, results post to your healow portal, and we walk you through them at the visit or by phone.

  • Medications reviewed, not just refilled

    At every visit we go through what you are actually taking, not what the chart says you were prescribed two years ago. Cost is part of that conversation, out loud. A medication you can't afford isn't working, and we would rather hear it from you than see it in the next A1c. We prefer generics when they're available.

  • Monitoring that fits your life

    Bring your numbers in whatever form they come — the meter, the app, a photo of the screen, a note on your phone. We go through them with you and decide together how often checking is actually useful for you. We're not going to promise a specific device or brand before we've seen you, and what your plan covers is part of that same conversation.

  • Food, movement, and what's realistic

    This is a conversation, not a handout. Shift work, a job outdoors through a Bakersfield summer, cooking for a household with different needs — those are the constraints most people are actually working with, and a plan that ignores them doesn't survive the month. If weight is part of your plan, we work on it with you.

  • Referrals we actually manage

    Diabetes reaches into other specialties — eyes, kidneys, feet, heart. When you're due for one of those, we make the referral and follow up on what comes back. When you don't need one, we tell you that too. We also take referrals in: if a specialist or a hospital discharge sent you our way, the referral fax is (661) 888-4841.

Who you'll see

Most patients at LAC see Rocio Argueta, NP — she runs the panel, and she's the one who will know your history without opening the chart. Peyman Sarrafian, MD handles complex care. Whichever of them you see, it's the same small team every visit, working from the same record. In diabetes care, that continuity is what a single test result cannot give you: somebody has to remember what we tried last year and why it didn't stick.

If that's the kind of care you're looking for, request an appointment — it takes about a minute — or call (661) 735-1710.

Diabetes doesn't stay in one place.

Blood sugar is the headline, but it isn't the whole chart. These are the things we keep an eye on alongside it.

  • Blood pressure and heart risk
  • Kidney function
  • Eyes — annual dilated exam
  • Feet, skin, and slow-healing sores
  • Nerve symptoms — numbness, burning, tingling
  • Mood, sleep, and stress
  • Cholesterol
  • Vaccines you're due for

Several of these overlap with conditions we already manage in the same visit. High blood pressure and diabetes travel together often enough that they belong on one plan, not two — more on that on our blood pressure and heart health page.

When something needs a specialist — an eye exam, a kidney question, a wound that isn't healing — we make the referral and we manage the handoff, then follow up on what comes back. You shouldn't have to be your own case manager. And when you don't need a referral, we'll say so plainly instead of sending you across town to find out.

What your first visit actually looks like.

Whether you're new to LAC or you've been coming here for years, the first diabetes-focused visit runs the same way.

  1. Before you come

    Bring your insurance card, a photo ID, and every medication you take — the bottles are easier than a list, and vitamins and over-the-counter items count. If you check your blood sugar at home, bring the meter or the readings. If you have recent lab results from another office, bring those too, or tell the front desk who has them. New-patient paperwork is on our patient resources page if you'd rather fill it out at home.

  2. What we go through

    We start with where things actually stand: how long you've had the diagnosis, what you're taking, what's working, what you quietly stopped taking and why. We go through your history — blood pressure, kidneys, eyes, feet, family history — and what your days look like, because the plan has to fit them. No lecture. Plenty of people arrive expecting one.

  3. Labs

    If you need blood work, it's drawn in the office that day or scheduled at your convenience. We order what will change the plan and we tell you what each test is for. Results post to your healow patient portal, usually within a few days, and we contact you about anything that needs a decision rather than waiting for your next visit.

  4. You leave with a plan

    Before you walk out, you should know four things: what your numbers are, what we're changing, what we're watching, and how to reach us if something comes up in between. If we started or adjusted a medication, you'll know what it's for and what to expect. If we ordered a referral, you'll know who's calling whom.

  5. Follow-up that happens

    The next visit is on the calendar before you leave — not "call us in three months." If we changed something, we see you sooner to find out whether it worked. If you're steady, we space visits out and keep the annual checks on schedule. Medicare patients: Medicare's free Annual Wellness Visit is a good anchor for that yearly review.

Requesting a visit takes about a minute. Request an appointment and the front desk gets back to you within one business day, or call (661) 735-1710, Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM.

Insurance and cost.

Diabetes care at LAC is billed as primary care. There is no diabetes clinic fee, no membership, no concierge add-on, and no program you have to enroll in.

We accept Medicare Part B, Qualcare HMO, DHMN HMO, and most major commercial plans. We do not accept Medi-Cal or Kern Family Health Care. That's worth knowing before you spend a copay or take time off work.

If you don't see your plan listed, call (661) 735-1710 before you schedule. The front desk verifies your coverage first, and if we're out of network for you they'll tell you what your cost would be so you can decide with real numbers.

If you're on Medicare, Medicare's free Annual Wellness Visit is a good entry point — no copay, no deductible — and the diabetes conversation can start there and continue in a regular follow-up visit billed the normal way. We don't recommend or endorse any particular Medicare Advantage plan; what we can do is tell you whether we're in network for yours.

Already managing diabetes somewhere else?

Switching offices mid-treatment is the part people put off, usually because they're worried about running out of medication in the gap. Here's how it goes.

Call or request an appointment and tell us you're transferring care. Sign a records release — we'll send it, or you can bring the form from our patient resources page — and we request your chart from your current office. You don't have to chase it.

Come to the first visit with your medication bottles even if the records haven't arrived yet. That's usually enough to keep your prescriptions going without a lapse while the paperwork catches up. And if you already see a specialist you want to keep seeing, keep seeing them. We coordinate with the specialists you have; you don't have to start over to start here.

Questions we hear.

If yours isn't here, ask at the visit. There are no bad questions, and nothing on this page is medical advice for your situation.

Do I need an endocrinologist, or can primary care manage my diabetes?

Primary care manages most diabetes, and that's how it's designed to work. Regular visits, A1c on a schedule, medications adjusted, complications screened for — that's primary care's job, and it's the part that changes how the years go. We refer to an endocrinologist when there's a reason to: type 1 diabetes that needs specialized management, blood sugar that won't respond to what we can do here, insulin regimens that need a specialist's hand, or a pregnancy with diabetes. If you already see a specialist you like, keep them. We coordinate with them instead of duplicating them.

I was told I have prediabetes. Is that something you handle?

Yes, and it's one of the better reasons to come in. Prediabetes is the stage where attention makes the most difference. We confirm it with the right blood test, look at everything else that travels with it — blood pressure, cholesterol, weight if that's part of your picture — and build a plan you can actually follow. Then we recheck on a set schedule so you can see whether it's moving. You don't need a diabetes diagnosis to be worth an appointment.

How often will I need to come in?

It depends on where your numbers are and whether anything just changed. If we adjust a medication, we'll want to see you sooner to find out whether it worked. If you're steady, visits space out and we keep the annual checks — kidneys, eyes, feet, cholesterol — on schedule. The rule here is that the next appointment is booked before you leave the current one, so the interval is something we decide together rather than something that quietly stretches to two years.

What should I bring to my first visit, and do I need to fast for labs?

Bring your insurance card, a photo ID, and all your medications — bottles are better than a list, and include vitamins and anything over the counter. Bring your meter or your recent readings if you check at home, plus any lab results from another office. On fasting: the A1c does not require it. Some other tests do. The front desk will tell you when they confirm your appointment, so don't guess — and don't skip a dose of anything to prepare for a lab without asking us first.

I already take diabetes medication. Can you take over my prescriptions?

Yes. That's a routine part of taking over care. Bring the bottles to your first visit even if your records haven't arrived — that's usually enough to keep things going without a gap while we request your chart. We'll review the whole list rather than just re-signing it, because part of the visit is checking whether it's still the right list for you. If cost is the reason you've been skipping doses, say so. That's a solvable problem and a common one.

Does Medicare cover diabetes visits, and what will this cost me?

Diabetes visits are billed as ordinary primary care office visits and are covered under Medicare Part B like any other visit. Medicare's free Annual Wellness Visit is covered with no copay and no deductible, and it's a good place to start the yearly review. Prescription cost depends on your Part D plan's formulary. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, call the front desk before scheduling — we'll confirm whether we're in network for your specific plan. We don't recommend one plan over another.

Do you take Medi-Cal or Kern Family Health Care?

No. We do not accept Medi-Cal or Kern Family Health Care, and we'd rather you know that now than find out at check-in. We do accept Medicare Part B, Qualcare HMO, DHMN HMO, and most major commercial plans. If you're not sure what you have, call (661) 735-1710 and the front desk will check your coverage before you schedule anything.

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Where these numbers come from.

  1. California Department of Public Health, County Health Status Profiles 2026 — Table 7: Deaths Due to Diabetes. Kern County, 51.8 age-adjusted deaths per 100,000, 2022–2024.
  2. California Department of Public Health, County Health Status Profiles 2026 — Table 7, California statewide row. California, 24.5 age-adjusted deaths per 100,000, 2022–2024.
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health — County Data, 2025 release. About one in eight Kern County adults diagnosed with diabetes; model-based estimate, 2023 survey year.
  4. California Department of Health Care Access and Information, Rates of Preventable Hospitalizations for Selected Medical Conditions by County. Diabetes composite, 2024 discharge year; used qualitatively.
  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Diabetes Statistics Report (published January 2026). 27.6% of U.S. adults with diabetes are undiagnosed; 42.6% of U.S. adults have prediabetes. Both figures are national, 2023 data.
  6. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes: Screening. Grade B recommendation to screen adults aged 35 to 70 who have overweight or obesity; 2021.
  7. American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes. Screening criteria for asymptomatic adults, including risk factors and race and ethnicity, that begin earlier than the USPSTF age range; 2025 edition.

These figures describe populations, not people. What any of them means for you is a conversation at a visit.

Ready to get it on a schedule?

Request an appointment below — it takes about a minute — or call (661) 735-1710, Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM. We're at 5300 Lennox Avenue, Suite 105, Bakersfield. Most new patients are seen the same week.

Request an appointment

Request an appointment

Send a request and our front desk calls you back to schedule. We answer requests within one business day. New patients and current patients both use this form.

The form asks for three things: your name, your phone number, and the best time to call you. Our office is at 5300 Lennox Avenue, Suite 105 in Bakersfield.

  • Please do not include medical information in the form. Save it for the visit or the phone call.
  • If this is a medical emergency, call 911.

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