Foot and Ankle Surgery Team Roles

Foot and Ankle Surgeons

The department of Foot and Ankle Surgery at Kaiser Santa Rosa is staffed by foot and ankle surgeons credentialed by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery. You can learn more about the Doctors of Podiatric Medicine that make up our team by browsing our Foot and Ankle Surgery physicians & staff page. The physicians' homepages and 'More About Me' pages contain additional information about their personal and medical backgrounds. Furthermore, the physicians' homepages will have many additional resources that they have tailored for.

Learn more about our doctors affiliations with the American Board of Podiatric Surgery, the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons and the the American Podiatric Medical Association.

Residents

Among the doctors providing services at the Foot and Ankle Surgery Department at the Kaiser Medical Center in Santa Rosa are two resident doctors.

The residents are licensed doctors of Podiatric Medicine (DPM). Prior to becoming a licensed DPM, a resident must have obtained an undergraduate college education, then graduate successfully from a four-year podiatric medical school. It is only after these intensive years of education and becoming a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine that they enter residency training (a three-year Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency in the case of our residents).

During the course of their three-year Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency, our residents receive additional hands-on supervised experience that includes, but is not limited to: internal medicine and medical sub-specialties, emergency medicine and traumatology, general surgery, plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, diabetic foot and ankle care, general foot and ankle care, foot and ankle surgery, and foot and ankle trauma management.

Each resident spends four consecutive months at the Foot and Ankle Surgery department at the Kaiser Santa Rosa during the second year of their three-year podiatric medicine and surgery residency. Therefore, we are confident that each resident is highly qualified to render quality care in the supervised environment that we provide.

Orthopedic Technologists

Our team also consists of orthopedic technologists that are certified by the National Board for Certification of Orthopedic Technologists. The orthopedic technologists will work directly with you, along with your doctor. In this role, the orthopedic technologists are involved with the application and removal of casts and splints and other patient care areas, such as the removal of sutures. Our orthopedic technologists will also call you after a cast application to assure that you are progressing comfortably. They will be your resource if you are having any cast or splint problems. Furthermore, our orthopedic technologists also will help patients with the fitting of over the counter items recommended by our doctors.

Read more about each of our orthopedic technologists.

Licensed Vocational Nurses

In our team, the Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) has a number of critical roles:

• One of their most important roles is to function in a communication role with our patients. The LVN will receive phone calls from patients that pertain to medical questions. In turn, the LVN will deliver doctor-directed medical advice to our patients. In this role, the LVN works as a critical link between you and your doctor, when you have medical management questions by phone.
• Our LVNs are also involved with scheduling surgeries in our local anesthetic surgery suite in the Stein Building. Furthermore, they are actively involved in setting up and running the surgery suite, as well as guiding you through your surgery appointment on the day of your surgery.
• Additionally, our LVNs may become involved with your clinic care either as back-up personnel for our Medical Assistants, or whenever their special training is called for, such as in providing injections or flu shots.
• Our LVNs will typically call you after an operation to check to see how you are doing.
• Finally, our LVNs are responsible for supervising back-office operations, with Mercedes Escandon, LVN filling this important role and Laurie Bush, LVN backing her up.

Our LVNs have extensive experience in foot and ankle care and are committed to fulfilling the department mission, leading to a quality and efficient care experience for you.

Medical Assistants

Our MAs should be as recognizable to you as your doctor. This is for a good reason – our MAs work closely with you during your visit with us. The MAs will:

• Greet you and escort you to your doctor's treatment room.
• Help you get positioned comfortably in the doctor's treatment chair.
• Take your blood pressure and other vital signs as needed.
• On the treatment room computer, bring up any x-rays or other imaging studies that you may have had performed.
• On the treatment room computer, record information about your condition for the doctor to review.
• Remove bandages and sutures.
• Set-up office procedures.

Behind the scenes, our MAs work closely with the doctor and attend to the many details to make your visit a quality and efficient care experience.

Patient Service Representatives

Our PSRs work in the following roles to serve you:

• Register you for your appointment.
• Receive your phone calls and route your message to the Doctors and LVNs.
• Make your follow-up appointments.
• Assist you in purchasing over-the-counter items from our Depot Store.

Administrative Team

Our administrative team monitors our processes to assure that we are achieving our mission consistently. Please contact us, should you have questions, comments, or concerns about our team or your care.