Best dentist
Some people actually like going to the dentist, especially when the men cleaning their teeth are Drs. Martin Rayman and Charles Spitz, both pediatric dentists and co-winners in this category. What’s their secret — sedatives in the fluoride?
“Most kids are looking forward to coming in and they wonder why the parents didn’t make their appointment sooner,” said Rayman, a member of Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon.
“The things that set me apart from the very beginning is encouraging the parent to join me in the office,” said Rayman, who wanted to be a dentist since he was 10.
There’s a long line of mouths waiting to see Spitz, too, but good things come, of course, to those who wait — and floss.
Those lucky enough to use Spitz, whose patients are almost all by referral, benefit from what he calls”good bedside manner. … I’m just a people person, a good active listener, in tune with patients’ needs and what the children’s needs are.”
First (tie):
Dr. Martin Rayman
912 Grand Ave. Ste 202, San Rafael
(415) 459-1444
Dr. Charles Spitz
50 S. San Mateo Drive, Ste. 160
San Mateo
(650) 375-8300
Second (three-way tie):
Dr. Eric Citron
3031 Telegraph Ave. Berkeley
(510) 849-1660
Dr. Derric DesMarteau
1375 Grand Ave., Ste. 101, Piedmont
(510) 652-0921
Dr. Daniel Lewis
4040 Park Blvd., Oakland
(510) 530-5530
Best doctor
J. readers’ pick for best doctor, Dr. Brian Kaye of the Arthritis Center, is literally a friend of many of his patients.
The rheumatologist specializing in arthritis and autoimmune diseases also said that he has”this amazing privilege of working with people of all different backgrounds from literally all over the world and getting to share parts of people’s lives that I probably wouldn’t meet in any other way.”
Kaye is also very active in the Jewish community. He was this year’s president of Jewish Community High School of the Bay and vice president of Beth Jacob Congregation in Oakland, where he will be president next year.
First:
Dr. Brian Kaye
The Arthritis Center
3010 Colby St., Berkeley
(510) 845-3856
25 Orinda Way, Orinda
(925) 254-4860
www.berkeleyortho.com/arth.html
Second:
Dr. Denise Davis
3031 Telegraph Ave. Ste. 235, Berkeley
(510) 883-1046
Best psychiatrist
Say what you will about psychiatrists, our two first-place winners aren’t impersonal about what they do.
Tied for best psychiatrist were San Jose’s Dr. Saul Wasserman for children and adolescents, and Oakland’s Dr. Richard Leavitt for adults.
Leavitt said being a psychiatrist is similar to being a rabbi, because both jobs confront struggles and affirm life.
“It’s the funnest thing in the world there is to do,” he added.
Wasserman said,”I think [psychiatry is] the contemporary reincarnation of being a Talmudic scholar. … You have to be thoughtful, deliberate and believe in what you’re doing.”
He credits his young patients for being”quiet heroes” for the way they deal with adversity.
First (tie):
Dr. Richard Leavitt
Kaiser Permanente
3900 Broadway, Oakland
(510) 752-1075
Dr. Saul Wasserman
2516 Samaritan Dr. Ste G, San Jose
(408) 358-7026
Best family doctor
Got the flu, need stitches, or in need of an exam? Look no further than our winners, Drs. Cheri Forrester and George Kimmerling, j. readers’ favorite family doctors.
“I try to really talk to my patients,” said Forrester.”I want my patients to leave my office with an understanding about what their health issues are, and a motivation and direction about how to participate in their health care.”
When Kimmerling started practicing medicine, he was primarily a family doctor while practicing endocrinology on the side. But over his three decades in the business, the advantages of being a specialist has outweighed the joys of family medicine. Now he practices endocrinology more than family medicine.
In either case,”my basic interest is in people,” he said.”I love to hear the stories and find out about how families are evolving with time.”
First (tie):
Dr. Cheri Forrester
655 Redwood Hwy. Ste. 375, Mill Valley
(415) 383-4744
Dr. George Kimmerling
3838 California St. Suite 108, S.F.
(415) 221-7273
Best gynecologist
Women know the sometimes-dreaded visit to the gynecologist can be uncomfortable. They want a doctor who understands them best, and in our readers’ poll, that’s Dr. Gabriel Farkas of Kaiser in San Rafael, who has been in practice 30 years.
Delivering babies was the thrill that hooked him into gynecology during medical school, but Farkas has since moved on to a special interest in infertility. He sees most of the facility’s infertility patients.
First:
Dr. Gabriel Farkas
99 Montecillo Road, San Rafael
(415) 444-44400
www.permanente.net/kaiser/pages/c1910-top.html
Second:
Dr. Risa Kagan
2915 Telegraph Ave. Ste. 200, Berkeley
(510) 845-8047
Best plastic surgeon
A great plastic surgeon is a medical artist, reshaping the body as needed. At the top of this art, j. readers say, is Dr. Sheldon Kabaker of Oakland.
After 34 years of practice, Kabaker said he does not plan on stopping anytime soon.”It’s hard to retire at this age because it’s still a lot of fun to do,” he said.
First:
Dr. Sheldon Kabaker
3324 Webster St., Oakland
(510) 451-1116
Second:
Dr. Michael Cedars
3300 Webster St., Ste. 1106, Oakland
(510) 763-2662
Best podiatrist
J. readers have given Dr. Curtis Leviant a foot up on the competition.
Leviant, a San Carlos podiatrist, also fills the shoes of president of Temple Beth Jacob. He has been in podiatry for 20 years, and active for 10 years on the boards of Jewish organizations — where he’s found an ailing arch or two among that hard-working bunch.
He said he treats patients with a caring attitude — the way he would want to be treated.
First:
Curtis Leviant
961 Laurel St. #100
San Carlos
(650) 593-8083
Second (tie):
Jay Glasser
1178 San Pablo Ave. # A
Albany
(510) 526-1335
Jenny Sanders
100 Bush St., Suite 420, S.F.
(415) 956-2884
Best chiropractor
To an askew back, the magic hands of a chiropractor do more than align spines and alleviate serious joint and muscle tension. They provide a little bit of genuine TLC.
“To me it’s about the hands and the heart,” emphasized Barbara Berkeley, one of three chiropractors tying for first place.
Charlie Prins, co-winning chiropractor and kinesiologist, said that by spending”time listening to people, I can get to the root of the problems and help them achieve optimal health.”
And Lenny Stein, the other co-winner, also focuses on connecting with patients:”Everyone is important to us, and it is important that we be as thorough as possible while trying to use the best techniques available to help our patients reach their goals.”
First (tie):
Barbara Berkeley
977 Valencia St., S.F.
(415) 285-2500
Charlie Prins
1308 Solano Ave., Albany
(510) 526-6243
Lenny Stein
3727 Buchanan St. Ste. 310, S.F.
(415) 563-1655
Best oncologist
Cancer must be fought with the best treatment out there, as well as with limitless patience and compassion. J. readers obviously believe Dr. Harold Keer of Stanford is tops at doing just that.
For 10 years, he’s volunteered at Stanford Advanced Medicine Center with cancer patients in addition to researching and developing new treatments for cancer with the biotechnology company Exelixis.
The volunteering enables him”to be able to truly answer all of a patient’s questions, to be able to perhaps explain to them what’s going on, to be able to comfort them —something that can’t really be done on the clock,” he said.
First:
Dr. Harold Keer
Stanford Advanced Medicine Center
900 Blake Wilbur Drive, Clinic E, Stanford
(650) 723-7621
Second (tie):
Dr. Lisa Bailey
2500 Milvia St., Suite 120, Berkeley
(510) 883-1095
Dr. Alan Glassberg
UCSF/Mount Zion Medical Center
1600 Divisadero, 1st floor, S.F.
(415) 353-9888
www.cc.ucsf.edu/people/glassberg_alan.html
Dr. Garrett Smith
350 Parnassus Ave. Ste. 701, S.F.
(415) 682-0843
Best physical therapist
J. readers think they’re in the best hands with Julie Lyons, who treats patients on both sides of the bay in her Alameda and San Mateo offices.
Lyons performs a combination hard to find. She specializes in acupuncture and osteopathic manual medicine, a technique that uses the hands to diagnose and treat illness.
According to Lyons, the combined method lets her trace lines of pain precisely to their source.
First:
Julie Lyons
2241 Central Ave., Ste. E, Alameda
(510) 865-6361
136 N. San Mateo Drive, Ste. 201
San Mateo
(650) 906-7855
Second (tie):
Redhawk Physical Therapy
580 Market St., Suite 200, S.F.
(415) 788-2100
Star Physical Therapy
1779 Woodside Road, Redwood City
(650) 780-9700
Best hospital
If you need to go to a hospital (and we certainly hope you don’t), our readers say the California Pacific Medical Center is the place to check out.
CPMC, the community-based nonprofit academic medical center, combines the technological research one might expect from academics with the personalized care of attentive physicians.
According to Christine McMurry, a hospital spokeswoman,”We really try to combine the art and science of health care.”
She also noted that”we live here, we work here, we’re part of the San Francisco community and we have been since the Gold Rush days.”
First:
California Pacific Medical Center
Main Campus: 3700 California St., S.F.
(415) 600-3928
Second:
UCSF Medical Center
350 Parnassus Ave., S.F.
(415) 476-1000
Best pharmacy
Shoppers can choose a balance of treatments between Eastern herbs and Western medicine at Berkeley’s Elephant Pharmacy, which was designated best pharmacy along with the omnipresent Walgreens.
At Elephant, medical prescriptions can be filled alongside Chinese and Ayurvedic herbal prescriptions, and specialists in both fields can be consulted for information.
What makes Elephant Pharmacy stand out is its customer service, according to Beth Plevy, a store spokesperson.
Walgreens spokeperson Carol Hively also cited commitment to customers as a key to running a successful pharmacy.”Since the first Walgreens opened in 1901, the company philosophy has been to keep customers happy,” she said.
First (tie):
Elephant Pharmacy
1607 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
(510) 549-9200
Walgreens
multiple locations
Best health club
Looking for more than just a place to sweat, J. readers picked the Koret Center for Health, Fitness and Sport at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco as best health club.
And 12,000 Jewish and non-Jewish members can’t be wrong. The fitness center appears to have it all — from state-of-the-art swimming facilities and cardio machines with individual TV monitors to physical therapy, a dietician and child-care facilities.
Tom Nelson, fitness center director, said,”Whether it’s fitness, better health, more energy … we’re trying to get members to participate, as opposed to signing them up for a membership and hoping they never come again.”
First:
Koret Center for Health, Fitness and Sport
JCC of San Francisco
3200 California St.
(415) 292-1215
Second:
Byer Athletic Center
Peninsula Jewish Community Center
800 Foster City Blvd., Foster City
(650) 378-2703