Specialty Hospital Medicine Internal Medicine Facility Sacramento Medical Center Department of Palliative Care E-mail your doctor

My Qualifications

I attended medical school in New York and completed my internship in general surgery in Hawaii. After completing my service time as an Army Staff Physician, I completed my residency in Internal Medicine in California. I have proudly served as the Chief of Medicine at Kaiser Permanente Sacramento/Roseville for the last 19 years. In addition, I was elected to Fellowship in the American College of Physicians in 1996 (FACP), and I was recently promoted to Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at UC Davis Medical Center.

My Credentials

Medical school	New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY
Internship	Tripler Army Medical Center, Tripler Amc, HI
Residency	Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield, CA
Residency	Letterman Army Medical Center, St. Louis, MO
Board certification	Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

My Career at Kaiser Permanente

I joined Kaiser Permanente in 1984 and would not think of working for another medical group; as I respect the quality of our medical care, the physicians I work with and the patients I have treated in the last many years.

In the twenty years that I have been with Kaiser Permanente, I have witnessed the transformation of our organization from physician centered practices to patient centered practices. In fact, I helped to pioneer some of this transformation with our easy access program, our work to establish new members with primary care doctors and our never ending desire to ensure all of your experiences at Kaiser Permanente are genuinely warm and friendly. I have practiced in primary care, hospital based care and recently started practicing in palliative care.

Palliative Care is a relatively new subspecialty of Internal Medicine that seeks to ensure people living with chronic diseases have not only their medical needs met, but also their social and spiritual needs; and seeks to ensure that the patient's goals are transmitted throughout the organization, so that your medical care is aligned with your hopes. I find this work personally rewarding and see it changing my primary care and hospital based practices.

My Philosophy

If you were to ask about my philosophy of being a doctor, I would answer that all patients are to be treated as if they were my own family. I have been privileged to be invited to share the most intimate parts of peoples’ lives, watching entire families grow and blossom as they tackle their own challenges; both social and medical. I have taken care of children from high school and watched them become successful business owners, college professors and, yes, even physicians. The value and meaning these relationships add to my own life are truly immeasurable. I want to be more than just your doctor, but also the person you may seek in times of personal challenge or crisis.

I am actively involved in the teaching program through UC Davis Medical Center and find that I am not only able to hand down some of my expertise, but am able to absorb new information, new techniques and new procedures that have come to the forefront since I trained 25 years ago.

On a personal note, I, along with my entire family, get our care at Kaiser Permanente; and as my children have grown into adults, they continue to brag about being “Kaiser Kids.” They continue to seek Kaiser Permanente now that they provide themselves with insurance. I am thrilled to receive my care at Kaiser Permanente; and would trust no one else with my health needs.

My Outside Interests

When I'm not working, I enjoy spending time with my wonderful family: my wife Shelly (who is also a Kaiser Permanente physician) and my three children, Angie, Joey and Nick. I recently acquired the interest to travel (though not the budget) and look forward to traveling more in the coming 1-2 years. Were I to choose a second career, I would like to become a vintner; and I've started taking classes at UC Extension in Enology and Viticulture (aka grape growing and wine making). If you cannot find me in my office, you may want to check my wine room. I'm a firm believer in the benefits of moderate consumption of red wine for your health!

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