Susan Ruffner-Statzer, MD

Bio

I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and moved to the Los Angeles area when I was eight years old. I lived there, enjoying "college at the beach" and then moved to Northern California where I attended medical school at UC Davis. I love the open spaces, agriculture and animals too much to ever return to the urban sprawl.

I completed my residency program in Santa Rosa in 1988 and was Board Certified in Family Practice. I started practice at Kaiser Permanente in 1989. I enjoy working with an outstanding health care team made up of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, medical assistants, physical therapists, social workers and receptionists. It is this team that helps me provide outstanding care to my patients every day.

I joined the Department of Gastroenterology in 1997 to direct the Hepatitis C Clinic. Hepatitis C affects almost 2% of our population and yet many people do not know they are infected. It is both challenging and rewarding to work with patients who are newly diagnosed as well as those who have been working with their disease for some time. Hepatitis C is a slowly progressive disease. It is considered a curable illness in certain patients, though the treatment is long and can cause significant side effects. I believe it is important to know each of my patients, as individuals, and as members of families. I feel that it is my role to guide and support them through the evaluation, and management of this disease. I also care for patients with Hepatitis B, other liver diseases, and gastrointestinal complaints.

I have also been the Medical Weight Management Director for Kaiser Santa Rosa for the last 10 years. I work closely with the other directors from Northern California to design and implement programs to aid with the management of overweight and obesity. As our country gets heavier, we struggle with many more diseases, particularly diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease, and heart disease. The Northern California Weight Management team works together to plan and implement programs that can help patients achieve their weight goals. The Santa Rosa facility offers many programs to assist patients including classes through Health Education, on-line programs, as well as discounts at athletic clubs and Weight Watchers.

My Medical Specialty

More details about my specialty:

I am Board Certified in Family Practice. However, for the last 13 years, I have been working in the Department of Gastroenterology, caring for patients with liver disease and directing the Hepatitis C Clinic.

Hepatitis C is a fairly new disease, with the first tests available in 1992. The knowledge about Hepatitis C and its treatment is always growing, and changing. It is very rewarding to work with patients, helping them manage, and sometimes cure, their disease. Hepatitis B stays challenging due to newer guidelines and new medications that are available to help control the disease.

My specialty interests and affiliations within my field:

I am also interested in the field of obesity and act as the Medical Weight Management director for Santa Rosa. I teach the Bariatric Surgery Overview class and I work with the Health Education Department in developing new classes. Our lastest class addition is "Understanding Emotional Eating."

Current projects or research:

Specially tailored treatment plans for Hepatitis C patients.

Great health resources that I refer to:

UpToDate
Ovid Search
Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
Gastroenterology
Hepatology
Obesity

Interests

Currently reading:
Hepatology/The Lies of Locke Lamora

My favorite book or author:
Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society was my favorite of the last year

Great movie:
Avatar

Hobby Photos & Links:

On my deck, covered in quilts

Family & Friends

People in my life:

I have been married to a wonderful man, John, for 20+ years. He is now retired from wine-grape growing. He had vineyard designated wines from every type of grape grown on our ranch,Ash Creek Vineyards." His Cabernet Sauvignon from Benziger Family Winery and Imagery Winery won 7 gold medals in 7 years. It was Gold Medal, Best of Class in 2001 and Gold Medal in 2003 at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. Other vineyard designated wines include: Ash Creek Vineyard Chardonnay from Gary Farrell 1997, Mariah Ash Creek Zinfandel, 2002.

He also grows roses, and provides the family with organic fruits and vegetables.

My children and people I care about:

We have 2 children, 20 & 14 who grew up "in the country." They can read animal prints in the dirt and can spot the marks of a rattlesnake. They can drive tractors and don't worry about what's at the bottom of a pond.

Now they are "citified," living in Santa Rosa where they both go to school full time. They both love to play lacrosse.

An interesting story about my family or friends:

Every year in August, when the Perseid meteor shower is due, we have a camp out to watch the shooting stars. Last year was the 35th straight year for this event. All of our friends come with their families. During the day we hike and swim and, at night, we stay up late, and count the shooting stars. In 2004, 334 shooting stars were counted and verified by all. We got tired and our eyes got dry, and we went to bed.

Tinkerbelle: a 6 year old English Mastiff. She is 140# of good tempered, friendly dog. She has some protective instincts but needs to feel provoked.

Whatever you do, don't sit on the ground or be ready for a lap full of dog.

Yaqui: our Appaloosa horse died 2 years ago of cancer
Mack: our mustang was too lonely and has been adopted by the SRJC riding program

Travel

An adventure I've had:

My husband and I have traveled to a number of places in the South Pacific, from Hawaii to the Cook Islands. Swimming with the sharks on Rangiroa and trying to get our dinner fish off the spear before the grey sharks stole it was exciting (truthfully a little too exciting for me). I love the Polynesian people and their culture, the color of the water, and the exotic fish.

Favorite place in the world:

My favorite place in the world is Sorrento, Italy where I was married. It is a beautiful town, near Naples, of cobbled streets and wonderful food. People were friendly and tolerant of my Italian learned in "10 minutes a day."

One of my recent trips:

My heart has been stolen by Kona, Hawaii where the weather is perfect, the people are friendly and the fresh fruits and vegetables continuously amaze me with new tastes. Many fruits I have never even heard of but can't wait to eat again. It is truly paradise--did I mention the Kona coffee???

Travel Photos:

A Photo of One of My Favorite Places:

Sorrento, Italy

Trip Photos: