Nephrologist opens Sherwood Optima Kidney Care

SHERWOOD, Ore. — A new nephrology practice in Sherwood is aiming to change how patients experience specialty care.

Dr. Marilia Campos opened her Sherwood practice, Optima Kidney Care, in November 2025, bringing a preventive-focused model of kidney and cardiovascular care to the community.

A nephrologist — “a kidney and high blood pressure specialist” — Campos said she launched her own private practice after working for a large group following her training.

“I opened it at the end of November, and it's been really exciting,” she said. “I graduated from OHSU in 2022 and had been working for a very big private practice group, and decided to do my own thing.”

Campos stopped working for her previous group in September and began preparing to open her practice while still employed. 

“I was working on getting all the things set up for my new practice while I was still working for my old practice, and was able to open shop in November,” she said. “It's been really good so far.”

Although she lives in Portland, Campos said she chose to open in Sherwood to remain close to patients she previously served in the Newberg and McMinnville areas.

“I really like the patient population here, so I don't mind the commute, I'm happy to be here,” she said. “I just wanted to be available for the people in Sherwood and the nearby areas as well. There's a big lack of providers, and I think I offer something different that could potentially benefit a lot of people in the area.”

A preventive approach to kidney and heart health

At Optima Kidney Care, Campos treats patients with chronic kidney disease and high blood pressure that is difficult to control.

“I see a lot of patients with chronic kidney disease. I also see patients with high blood pressure that's hard to control,” she said. “When their main doctors are not able to control it, they send them to me.”

What differentiates her practice is a strong emphasis on prevention and education, she said.

“I'm very interested in preventive care. I think we don't see a lot of that,” Campos said. “I'm spending time with patients talking about exercise and how they should be eating. I'm very focused on preventing cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes.”

She added, “I treat if I need to treat, but I also want to prevent patients from getting to a point where they need treatments.”

Campos said her passion for prevention grew out of seeing advanced disease in older patients.

“I see a lot of patients that already have chronic kidney disease and already suffer from consequences that could have been prevented if they had been treated before, or if they had had education before,” she said. “There are a lot of things that are not discussed because we don't have time.”

She hopes earlier education can interrupt what she called “the vicious cycle that high blood pressure is and obesity and kidney disease is.”

“Once patients have it, you can't really get any better. You can just control it, but you'll always have it,” Campos said. “So the goal is to prevent it before they get to a point where there's no return.”

Building a sustainable model

Campos said starting her own practice was also about work-life balance after becoming a mother.

“I have a daughter. She'll be two years old in May,” she said. “I went back to work three months postpartum, and it was really hard to leave her at home.”

She described her previous workload as demanding and often unsustainable. 

“I was working a lot, and I was always on call, and my priorities really shifted pretty quickly when I had my daughter,” she said.

By opening her own practice and working three days a week, Campos said she has created a more flexible schedule.

“I'm able to see them for a longer amount of time than I did before, so I've been able to provide better care, have better relationships with my patients,” she said. “It's also allowed me to spend more time with my daughter, be able to be a good mom and also a good doctor, and feel like I can do it all in a sustainable way.”

She acknowledged that business ownership comes with new challenges. 

“Now I'm a business owner, it's a lot of fun, but then I've had to learn a lot,” she said.

Smaller patient panel, membership model

Campos intentionally keeps a small patient panel and reserves time for urgent needs.

“I intentionally keep a smaller patient panel,” she said. “I intentionally leave my last slot of the day open always, just so that if there's someone who calls me and says, I need to see you urgently, I can fit them in and I can see them.”

To support that model, she charges a monthly membership fee for certain patients. It's $35 a month for services that are not covered by insurance. Membership is optional but highly recommended since it supports the preventive-care, high touch model, she said. Standard medical visits, labs and medications are still billed to insurance. 

She emphasized that medical visits are still billed to insurance as usual and that she does not charge the membership fee to patients on Medicaid.

The membership includes:

• Longer, unhurried appointments focused on prevention and education
• Direct messaging access between visits
• Ability to schedule existing patients within one to five days for urgent needs
• Ability to schedule new patients within two weeks or sooner if urgent
• Lifestyle, nutrition, and weight-management guidance when appropriate

“I also give them access to an app where they can message me directly, because I know how hard these days it is to actually get ahold of your doctor,” she said. “It allows me to give them a bit better care than I would otherwise be able to with a bigger patient panel.”

Campos said she can typically see new patients within two weeks and offers a free introductory call.

Services and community focus

In addition to kidney disease and complex hypertension management, Campos offers a weight loss program for patients with obesity who meet FDA-approved criteria for medication.

“I do offer a weight loss program for patients that have obesity and have an FDA-approved indication to lose weight,” she said. “I'm able to prescribe GLP-1 medications.”

She described her practice as designed for patients who value long-term health.

Patients with high blood pressure, kidney disease, obesity or weight-related concerns, or those who want to better understand their cardiovascular and metabolic health are welcome to contact the practice. Most insurances are accepted, and referrals are usually not required.

Campos, with heritage hailing from Costa Rica, is fluent in Spanish and English and welcomes Spanish-speaking patients.

“The most important thing for me is I care very deeply about patients understanding whatever it is that they're being referred to me for,” she said. “Kidney disease, obesity, cardiovascular risk, high blood pressure, they're all pretty scary terms, and I take pride in being able to discuss it and answer questions and make sure that they understand things and feel reassured.”

Campos is giving a community talk at the Sherwood YMCA on April 28 at 4:15 p.m. on GLP1 medication education. 

Optima Kidney Care is located at 20055 S.W. Pacific Hwy., Ste. 106 in Sherwood. Patients can call or text 503-749-9939 or visit www.optimakidneycare.com to learn more or schedule a free meet-and-greet.