Anees Afroze, MD, joins Ozarks Healthcare Pulmonology

Ozarks Healthcare is pleased to welcome Anees Afroze, MD, to its Pulmonology team. Afroze brings nearly two decades of training and experience in pulmonary and critical care medicine, with a special passion for serving rural communities.

Afroze completed her medical education at Deccan College of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad, India, followed by an internal medicine residency at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Tulsa. She then pursued fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. She also served as an associate attending physician at The Rockefeller University Hospital. Board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and critical care medicine, Afroze has practiced at CoxHealth in Springfield since 2012 while also serving as an assistant professor at the University of Missouri.

Her expertise includes advanced interventional bronchoscopy, lung cancer diagnostics, intensive care management, and treatment of a wide range of pulmonary conditions, including asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease, and pulmonary hypertension. She has also served as principal investigator in clinical trials and as a leader on multiple committees focused on sepsis prevention, infection control, and clinical quality improvement.

Afroze says her passion for pulmonology grew from her time in intensive care units.

“I discovered that pulmonary medicine is both a science and an art,” she said. “It is incredibly gratifying to see patients improve after diagnosis and treatment, particularly in cases such as lung cancer screening and care.”

She was drawn to Ozarks Healthcare by its commitment to innovation and expanding access to specialty care for rural communities.

“There is such a need for pulmonary specialists in underserved areas,” Afroze said. “Ozarks Healthcare is bold in its efforts to bridge that gap, and I am honored to be part of that mission.”

Outside of her professional life, Afroze is a mother of two teenagers and enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, hiking, biking, and enjoying the lakes and rivers of the Ozarks.

“Dr. Afroze brings outstanding expertise in both pulmonology and critical care, and her commitment to rural health perfectly aligns with our mission at Ozarks Healthcare,” Jacob Petrus, Vice President of Physician Services and Operations, said. “Her arrival strengthens our ability to provide advanced care for patients with complex pulmonary conditions, right here, close to home.”

Afroze is now seeing patients at Ozarks Healthcare Pulmonology. For more information about Ozarks Healthcare and its pulmonary and critical care services, visit www.ozarkshealthcare.com.

Ozarks Healthcare is a not-for-profit health system that serves more than 160,000 residents across south-central Missouri and northern Arkansas. With its main campus residing in West Plains, Missouri, the health system offers a full spectrum of healthcare for all ages through its 114-bed hospital, behavioral health, therapies, pharmacies, rehabilitation, and home care services, along with specialty and family medicine clinics. Ozarks Healthcare has rural locations across an eight-county service area and is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations.

Anees Afroze, MD, Ozarks Healthcare Pulmonology