Introducing Jeff Ritterman, MD: Paying it Forward as the Clinic's New Medical Director

When Dr. Jeff Ritterman retired as Chief of Cardiology and Assistant Chief of the Department of Medicine at Kaiser Permanente’s Richmond Medical Center, little did he expect that his involvement in the hospital’s retired physicians’ network would lead him to the Order of Malta Clinic of Northern California several years later. 

But as fate would have it, Dr. Jeff was just the person the Clinic needed when Dr. Susan Fernyak announced she was stepping down as Medical Director last Autumn after skillfully overseeing the Clinic’s recent expansion and telehealth patient services program. Hearing about the Clinic from several Kaiser colleagues and learning more in a subsequent conversation and tour with Clinic Manager (and fellow Point Richmond neighbor) Anne Brussok, DM, Dr. Jeff knew it was the right place, at the right time, to once again bring his medical expertise and passion for community health to serving the greater good.

“Dr. Susan did a terrific job, and I am in awe at what she and the Clinic team have accomplished,” he says. “I am here to help but also to learn. There is nothing that needs ‘fixing’ here, and I see incredible opportunities to continue to expand what we do and increase the number of patients we can serve.”

Dr. Jeff’s distinguished career is framed by undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, medical school at Temple University, and specialized training at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and University of Washington. While with Kaiser, he oversaw the Richmond campus’s cardiology division responsible for the care of 75,000 patients. “Diabetes, hypertension, and obesity were common among my patients there, and they are the most frequent conditions we see here at the Clinic,” he notes. “My goal is to get to these ailments before they become chronic.” 

“Giving back is critical to who I am, and I view my work here as my next chapter in paying it forward. I’m looking forward to the future and how we as the Clinic family can develop this wonderful place into the best, truly free medical clinic of its kind, anywhere.”

When he left Kaiser, Dr. Jeff’s lifelong passion for social activism led him to run for a seat on the Richmond City Council. Over four years, he led the city’s successful establishment of its anti-tobacco ordinances as models for the state and advocated for one of the nation’s first soda taxes – an effort that was emulated by public officials in Berkeley, San Francisco, Mexico City, and elsewhere to generate public funding for childhood health and nutrition programs.

In what he calls the “fabric of his life,” he has always been committed to service both locally and abroad, volunteering his time and sharing his expertise with medical relief agencies in Central America and across Southern Africa. “Bringing medical supplies and care to refugees around the world is something that has always motivated me,” he says, “and I again have the privilege of working with many international patients and their families here at the Clinic.”

Dr. Jeff is a long-time board member of the Bay Area chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and currently sits on the Community Advisory Council for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. He has been honored by several organizations for both his clinical excellence and community service.

With more than half of his time at the Order of Malta Clinic devoted to direct, hands-on patient care, Dr. Jeff sees an incredible opportunity to help more of the Bay Area’s uninsured and under-insured populations. “I’m a pretty good doctor, a pretty good social activist, and a really great grandpa to my five grandkids,” he laughs. “Giving back is critical to who I am, and I view my work here as my next chapter in paying it forward. I’m looking forward to the future and how we as the Clinic family can develop this wonderful place into the best, truly free medical clinic of its kind, anywhere.”