Michael Sweeney, MD

Read more about Michael Sweeney, MD, part of family medicine services and also an 'Everyday Hero'.

"I had scheduled an appointment a few years back on Halloween and although I'm not normally superstitious, I felt a bit wigged out by seeing a doctor on that day. Dr Sweeney made me laugh and feel better when he entered the room dressed as Buzz Lightyear!"

In honor of National Doctors’ Day (March 30), KaiserSantaRosa.org gathered together stories about our doctors to show our heartfelt appreciation of their dedication and service. Top ranking member-patient satisfaction scores tell us again and again that, along with being exceptional clinicians and surgeons, our physicians are also very caring individuals.

Kaiser Santa Rosa is very fortunate to have such an outstanding team of doctors. They proudly deliver the best in patient care and service to Kaiser Permanente members. It’s no wonder why so many new and seasoned practitioners choose to join our physician team.

Inside our clinics and hospitals, doctors embrace our new technologies such as HealthConnect, support the LMP partnership, and promote teamwork within individual departments.

Stacey Nuccion, MD

Read more about Stacey Nuccion, MD, part of family medicine services.

"She is always bubbly, upbeat, huggable and listens and will do her best to fit you into her schedule. She has always given me what I've needed and answered all my questions. She takes care of me as well as my Mother and my adult daughter and I feel totally confident in her care for us."

Off the Clock Activities

When not at work, our doctors are environmentally aware, athletes, cyclists, serving as community volunteers and leaders; and publicly advocating for health as Kaiser Permanente ambassadors and physician advocates. Gerry Lazzareschi, MD, helps to reverse global warming; Drs Pappas and Bartels win medals at marathons; Shaun Brierly, MD, volunteers at a local clinic.

Laughter

Equally important, our doctors know how to laugh and enjoy life, despite working long hours with serious demands.

Since 1990, our country has recognized National Doctors’ Day as the time to show appreciation for these dedicated professionals who provide vital treatment and care to our members, ourselves, and our loved ones.

Appreciation Stories from Our Members

Appreciation of Frederick Challoner, MD

Read more about Frederick Challoner, MD, part of the hospital based specialist department

"My story begins when I brought my aunt into the emergency room when I noticed she was very week and with signs of blue to her skin. Having a emergency medicine background, I recognized this as a very bad sign of not enough oxygen in her blood. She was admitted after doing lab tests and x-rays.

It was her wish not to be intubated and a 'do not resuscitate' (DNR) was in place as per her wishes.

The next morning I went to check on her and see how she did through the night. I happened to walk into her room the same time as Dr Challoner. His calm and caring demeanor caught my attention right away.

He asked me if I would like to look at the x-rays with him and he would explain what was going on. We viewed the x-rays and it was clear that my aunt was in a lot of trouble. The x-rays showed pneumonia, renal failure and what looked like some kind of perforation in her abdomen. Dr Challoner said, "I am so sorry but we cannot do anything heroic here today". I realized that we had to make the decision to take her off the ventilation and let her go.

Christopher Crossland, MD

Read more about Christopher Crossland, MD, part of family medicine services.

"What a great guy to have as a primary care physician. Here is a doctor who presents a great professional image while also being the most caring of physicians. He always listens to my concerns and spends enough time with me to speak fully to each of them. I feel so fortunate to have him responsible for the road map of my care."

I asked Dr Challoner to give me a few hours to get the family together at the hospital before we turned off the ventilator. He looked me in the eye the whole time with one of his hands laid on my shoulder giving me strength through those simple gestures.

Once the family were assembled my aunt was given her medications and made ready for the vent removal. After the vent removal, she was breathing on her own for a while and we had enough time to sing church songs to her and give her the last rights. There were at least eight pairs of her families hands on her when she left her body. Dr Challoner came back in and checked her heartbeat and declared her gone.

I happened to see Dr Challoner the next week and his compassionate eyes met mine and he enquired how my family and I were. Out of all the hundreds of patients that he see, he hadn't forgotten my aunt or my family. Dr Challoner displayed integrity, compassion, respect and empathy and I am blessed and honored that he was there to help ease the passing of my aunt.

Dr Challoner made the reality of her situation a better transition for us by the way he helped us."

Appreciation of Tim Hurley, MD

Read more about Tim Hurley, MD, part of the gastroenterology department

"I had just given birth to my first son when I started to have problems with my liver. I had test after test to try to determine what was wrong with me, but a concrete diagnosis was not found.

Time went on and I was doing ok however the problems re-surfaced and I was referred to Dr Hurley. He was honest with me and told me he was not sure as to what was wrong with my liver although he was very thorough in the testing he did. He went over the results of an MRI and explained that I had a congenital liver abnormality.

During this ordeal, I had alot of questions and I would email Dr Hurley frequently. To my amazement he was quick to respond with an answer and I never had to wait an entire day for him to get back to me. This made me feel that he truly cared about my situation and my anxious thoughts.

I had one other appointment with Dr Hurley and since then with the correct medicine, my situation has improved greatly and I don't suffer with daily pain.

I would like to share my appreciation of Dr Hurley for the care he has given me, for his quick responses to my emails and for putting up with me and all of my questions. My experience with Dr Hurley has been nothing but satisfying. I feel like all my questions have been answered and that I now have a concrete diagnosis to my situation which makes me feel much more comfortable."

Appreciation for Mark Sloan, MD

Read more about Mark Sloan, MD, part of the pediatrics department

"I am a registered nurse who worked closely with Dr Mark Sloan in the intensive care nursery from 1991 to 1998. During that time I developed great appreciation and respect for him as a skillful, caring physician and an especially likeable human being.

Some time after leaving the position as a nursery nurse, my husband and I became foster parents to a set of newborn twins. They were automatically covered by Medi-Cal and their care was assigned to the family practice residency program through Sutter Health. Desiring more permanent and pediatric focused care for our children, we asked to have their care managed at Kaiser Santa Rosa. I was told that this was a possibility, however not likely to happen because a Kaiser physician would have to personally accept my children into his or her practice (and most of them already had full practices) and would probably not want to deal with the paper work required to fulfill my request.

Although I had not been in contact with Dr Sloan for nearly 8 years, I sent him an email and asked if he would accept my children into his practice. He replied that he would be happy to do so and patiently walked through the laborious process of making this happen.

Pat English, MD

Read more about Pat English, MD, part of surgery department.

"When my husband was in the hospital Dr English always treated him and our family with respect, care and compassion, but most appreciated of all, with honesty. He told us exactly what was happening and what to expect as clearly as he could and made it so we could have as much good time with our husband and father as was possible. I can't ever thank him enough for giving us those last months together by being so caring and professional."

After about 2 years of having Dr Sloan provide excellent care to my foster children, we adopted them. So Dr Sloan again walked through the process of transferring our children's care from Kaiser Medi-Cal to the employee family plan, and again walked through the paperwork when we gave them new names.

Without so much as a heavy sigh, Dr Sloan accepted every phone call, email, message, form and office visit. He is consistently friendly, positive, funny and caring in addition to being a skilled practitioner. He has an open heart and open arms for us whenever my family walks through his door.

My children actually look forward to visiting him and only partly because they know he's going to give them a new book before we leave. We love and appreciate Dr Sloan, and we want him to know it!"

David Vidaurri, MD

Read more about David Vidaurri, MD, part of the physical medicine & rehabilitation department

"I have been fortunate to have been treated by Dr Vidauri for several serious problems. Dr Vidauri is the most professional doctor I have experienced at Kaiser, and I've had some good ones.

This is a doctor that is not only tremendously competent, but is personable, warm, and caring, and just happens to have a good sense of humor. He has gone out of his way to provide treatment to me and has established a bond of trust for me that means a lot for my mental comfort. I have serious low back pain and other complications make it almost intolerable. Dr Vidauri injects the joint under fluoroscopy. It's not a fun procedure but he makes it almost fun for me. He's a treat to be around and a real credit to Kaiser."